It’s now clear that digital innovation is fully integrating with traditional hobbies, where VeVe Digital Collectibles is preparing to launch a game-changer for comic book enthusiasts with their VeVeVerse.
This virtual reality platform, highlighted in a recent VeVe YouTube teaser from creative design talent VeVeVaultMaster, is poised to revolutionize how collectors display and interact with their comic book collections. Click HERE to check it out on YouTube!
THE NEW ERA OF COMIC SHOWCASING
For this article, I’m just focusing on COMIC SHOWCASING as there are 1000’s of ways digital assets can be presented, but aligning our ages-old enthusiasm for showing off our physical comics is about to get OMEGA LEVEL COOL when you start to grasp what’s ahead.
It’s no secret we comic book collectors have taken immense pride in curating physical spaces for their treasures. Shelves meticulously aligned with colorful covers, walls adorned with framed first editions, or entire rooms dedicated to comic lore have been hallmarks of so many collector passions.
THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRTUAL COMIC SHOWCASING
With VeVeVerse, this love for display goes beyond the physical realm, opening a new frontier for collectors to exhibit their digital assets in an immersive, customizable virtual environment. It's quickly gearing up to introduce digital showrooms where collectors not only display their comic books assets, but interact with them in unprecedented ways.
If you haven’t tried out the app yet, you can already purchase incredible comic grails, keys and limited edition modern drops (same-day as their physicals are distributed), but you can read them without ANY risk of damage or degradation and place them in animated reality settings for incredible ways to enjoy them!
As the video teaser so clearly showed, imagine entering your virtual collection room, pulling a digital comic off the shelf to read, host a gathering where friends from around the globe can admire your collection in real-time and share their thoughts (the REBIRTH OF BOOK CLUBS???) and far more I can’t even imagine yet.
Who remembers 1994’s DISCLOSURE with Micheal Douglas & Demi Moore? All that Artificial Reality where just by adding some fancy goggles you could access digital files, hold conversations and run around all over the place? NOBODY believed we’d ever see that. We laughed it off…
Like, what if your virtual showroom is so cool that a Marvel artist decides to visit or share time with you as its SO MUCH EASIER than coordinating physical trips, then SHARES your link with his or her 1000’s of fans…or maybe play interactive games, visit other stores & virtual museums, hold fireside chats with everyone’s avatars & real voices ready to rehash a comic selection of choice?
Check out the WEBV COLLECTIVE "GET TO DA COMICS" YouTube channel - each Friday, host @OzmanKollects (Alex) selects a comic to read with a fan, which I’ve done by the way, and it was a DELIGHT! Of course we read Daredevil #1 where I played the part of Matt, but if you love comics and ever wanted a space to read 'em out loud with fellow enthusiasts, reach out to Alex!
This isn't just about showcasing; it's about enhancing the storytelling aspect of comics through augmented & virtual reality, making each collector's space a narrative in itself. FAN Engagement on a FAN-tastic level where brands will absolutely FAN the FLAMES.
Utility, incentives, rewards, new products, shoutouts, you name it - it’s all coming, and if we're seeing this many new channels & content creators from where we are now, just imagine where we're headed in a very short time horizon!
Although my personal opinion, I’ve shouted this out since day one when I entered the digital collecting space - it isn't a fad or trend; it's a surge that will significantly elevate the value of older, physical collections.
I can't describe this any better than 'StandofChart' with his recent acquisitions of Hulk 181 (phygital) + Wolverine's FA as a character collectible on the VeVe app:
These amazing digital asset opportunities are drawing in new collectors who’ve never bought a comic before, maybe didn’t know about their history having only watched the movies or Disney+ streams, might not have made the connection between the monstrous power of the comic industry or its impact on modern media.
What about guys like me, who found digital assets and came back heavily into comics after more than 20 years without buying hardly any books? I'm now buying A LOT and just loving it.
Then of course, there are those of you seeing where this all headed. I follow two physical comic collectors, @MazerO and @CleverJerk, who happen to have massive physical collections.
Denis has one of those incredible “Comic Walls” in his home office. He now collects Marvel Licensed digital assets, even placing some of them in Augmented Reality right from his iPhone to enhance his enjoyment of his room. CJ pairs his physical comics and collectibles with assets from VeVe, further showing them off in Augmented Reality to enhance some of his vacation photos shared with friends… This is all happening a lot faster than many of us realize…
THINK ABOUT WHY THIS MATTERS TO OUR INDUSTRY
How many people today lack actual space for owning or displaying physical comics or collectibles in their homes? Could digital showrooms add another level of excitement for new collectors to show their creations?
What about access itself? Not everyone lives close to a comic shop and in some countries, most mainstream comics aren’t even available. What does this mean for potentially onboarding many more new users who are just ‘comfortable’ playing and living digitally?
New collectors, intrigued by the digital ownership and utility experience, are definitely delving into the physical market, desiring to own tangible pieces to pair their collections (PHYGITAL), further intertwining the pages of old with new.
It's no surprise younger audiences have gravitated to genres like Manga, but as they find those limited edition, digital titles on the VeVe Comics app, it's so easy to move into the VeVe Collectibles app, where all those COMIC KEYS, GRAILS & FA / FE TITLES abound. And well, they're grabbing up those up too. That opens more knowledge, more purchases & revenue flowing into both big and independent publishers, helping grow the overall business category.
Many have LEAPED into showing their unique A/R collections on socials, so imagine when the tools are launched to bring these creative flexes into truly virtual environments? If you can, follow @VeVefanart on X - you'll be amazed at some of the images he curates from physical settings paired with his VeVe digital collectibles - again, anyone can do this right from their phones, but in the hands of skilled artists...LOOK OUT!
Facebook changed its name to META. Crypto is the fastest growing asset class of all time. Damn, the new US President wants to build a Bitcoin reserve. We’re living through incredible times of technical adoption, and while VeVe's approach is not just about collecting, it sure is about growing and connecting a massive community of collecting enthusiasts.
The VeVeVerse could just be setting the stage for a renaissance in comic collecting, where both digital and physical enthusiasts find common ground, share their love for comics, and potentially see a new peak in the cultural and financial value of their collections. Let’s see how this vision turns out!
Check out more VeVeVerse teaser examples from outstanding content creators currently BETA TESTING the platform, such as COLD CHILLIN and MR FALCON:
6 WAYS TO PREPARE FOR THE VEVEVERSE (FREE TOOLS):
