FA LA LA LA LA! (First Appearance Loveable Assets)

It's that time of year when I like to take stock of the incredible compilation of cool collectibles stacked over the past few years & appreciate what I hold in my own Santa Sack while adding to my wishlist of First-Appearance, loveable assets yet to snag.

If you're new to digital assets / collectibles, real world asset tokenization or just NFTs, these are items that often have physical counterparts, tokenized or 'minted' on blockchains (immutable digital ledgers) and can be OWNED in digital form.

Easy to carry & transport (in your phone), viewable at any time (no degrading or damaging), playable in full Augmented Reality & metaverse spaces and of course, sellable if you choose.

Enough intro chat - I'm eager to start writing & hope you enjoy my choices, but do feel free to add any you might change!

A: ALPHA FLIGHT

The CANADIAN Team that trained my favourite mutant, WOLVERINE. Who knows how popular Wolvie could have become without the 'Nucks, so I'd say the X-Men & Pro X owe a few chestnuts of gratitude for this. The original comic by John Byrne released May 1983 with an August '83 cover, where it's new digital FA counterpart dropped Jan 13, 2022. It's a fun read and the "rare" pencil cover variant by Jay Anacleto is one of the nicest cover art pieces in the entire app!

(I debated AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 comic, or the ASM Collectible (first ever Spidey on the blockchain), but went with AF1 for the purely maple syrup reason that...I'M CANADIAN, EH!)

B: BOBA FETT

NO surprise here, Boba is my all-time favourite Star Wars character since first seeing him on-screen in May 1980 (Empire Strikes Back). His digital asset first appeared on VeVe July 30, 2022 and instantly sold out across all 3 variants offered. The Ultra Rare fires his 'criminal-catcher-cable' and IYKYK, the physical toy is the all-time highest selling Star Wars toy of all time. It's Highly Coveted by toy collectors, so key mint number Bobas are always on my watch list (as are ALL the comic titles we have on VeVe too!)

C: CALIFORNIA COMICS

Not quite an actual collectible, but spending time in the WORLD'S FIRST METAVERSE COMIC BOOK STORE is a wonderful way to enjoy the Christmas wish-list season! Their team have collected some of the most compelling mint (edition) numbers available, which are highly coveted & museum quality. Seeing some of their acquisition posts on X is akin to that day your best pal rode up on his brand new Chrome Diamondback BMX bike, while the rest of us had to make due with our Kuwaharas!

D: DAREDEVIL

Unequivocally, Matty is so well represented in the VeVe app I want to go and personally thank Marvel for licensing these assets for VeVe. Daredevil #1 is by far my largest comic 'stack' in the app, where we now have 5 of the first 10 original titles to choose from (Daredevil #7 is another biggie for me, with the FA of his iconic red suit), including MANY of the new runs & key issues like his FA with The Punisher or KingPin.

And don't forget, this book dropped October 28, 2021 at New York ComicCon, where the Rare & Exclusive Rare variant covers (pencils & inks by Creees Lee & colours by Chris Sotomayor) were the SECOND EXCLUSIVE-TO-VEVE covers ever made by Marvel Artists! There's also the Daredevil AND Mat Murdock collectible versions (think more like a figurine / statue in your fave LCS), with Elektra & KingPin to keep DD happy!

E: EVERMIND

Published by 24/7 Comics & digitally released on VeVe May 1, 2024 (thx COMICWATCH for a fun overview), this is just a really, really fun read with outstanding artwork that draws you quickly into the story. Check out their KICKSTARTER that's enabling more exciting editions to hit the market, but I would be more than happy to have a few more of their awesome covers in my bag! For the statue / collectible fans, they even created the first MechBobo NFTs to pair with your digital & print comic collections!

(Sorry @FROECOMI - I had really thought about ELEKTRA here, cuz of my DD fanatasism, but thought I'd leave a few more of her assets for you to score haha!)

F: FANTASTIC FOUR

Marvel's First Family Foursome is also one of VeVe's FIRST digital asset comic books released as Licensed Collectibles on the VeVe app back on August 21, 2021 along with Marvel Comics #1 (Aug 19) and Journey Into Mystery #85 (Aug 20). FANTASTIC FEATURED FILMS, fun character powers, Doom-worthy Villains, what's not to love about stacking these while we still can!?!

There are now many Silver-through-Modern age FF titles on the app, incredible collectibles with fiery flaming animations & Marvel's first appearance MIGHTYS line for we playful collectors.

I'm also a FOCUSED FAN on Fantastic Four #13: not only is this book The Watcher's FA, but the Rare & Exclusive Rare covers are the FIRST EVER Marvel licensed, commissioned exclusive-to-VeVe covers. So if you're a bit of a speculator like me & think VeVe having these FA's could be a big deal, you might want to check 'em out in the market too (though not too many left!)

G: GALACTUS

Where to begin...looking back into my box of physical comics, where my SUPER VILLAINS CLASSICS #1 has been held since 1983, it was a big thrill when this dropped as a digital asset on Dec 23, 2024 where I still need to pick up JUST ONE missing cover to complete the set! Then there's the ENTIRE GALACTUS FA Run where I'm ALMOST complete on the entire variant series, with some GIGANTICALLY-GREAT fully animated collectibles any Galactus fan just has to have.

Paired with the FA SILVER SURFER collectible (2022 ComicCon Exclusive) & Silver Surfer #1 comic, well...these Silver Bells could take up an entire Santa Sack of their own!

H: HAWKEYE

As a kid growing up in the 70's, who DIDN'T have at least ONE bow & arrow set? You were either a Ninja, The Green Arrow or Hawkeye. I was the latter, as I couldn't swing nunchaku & green made me look sick. So early on, I connected with Hawkeye & still adore my print Hawkeye First Series (1983 Issues #1 - #4) & Tales of Suspense #59, Clint Barton's Hawkeye FA in Sept '64.

Today, I also enjoy owning the digital partners, his animated collectible and of course, the original WEST COAST AVENGERS #1. Happy to have Santa Stack the Sack with more if he so chooses & YES - I enjoyed the Kate Bishop series on Disney+ if asking!

I: IRON MAN

Has anyone checked GoCollect lately for the Tales of Suspense #39 values? A 9.8 CGC sold in April 2024 for $850,000 USD. For those that don't know how horrific the exchange rate is for Canadians, that's $1,175,500 Loonies. With over 3,000 graded, this incredibly IRON CLAD Marvel Legend continues to rock the popularity charts. And let's face it...Tony Start was able to build this in a cave, with a box of scraps.

OK, maybe Marvel (Stan Lee & Larry Lieber) made Iron Man, but damn if he ain't one of the coolest heroes. With the FA of the FE "Iron Man #1" Series, several 1:1 exclusive artworks, a Phygital FUNKO partnership, a fully animated flying, movie-accurate suit NFT and of course, the Golden Moment FIRST EVER digital asset of Iron Man dropped by none other than DISNEY on VeVe Nov 10, 2021, Iron Man represents technology & innovation, so what better way for Disney & Marvel to feature him that with a cutting edge digital collectible! There's no shortage of Iron Assets that can be stuffed in this fan's stockings!

J: T-REX & JURASSIC PARK 30TH ANNIVERSARY

Around 1990 / 1991, I read Michael Chrichton's Jurassic Park novel laying on a Maui beach with my parents. In 1996 I saw it hit theatres opening night in my home town. BLEW US ALL AWAY with its book accuracy & absolute realism. The book & flick put the fear into T-Rex & Velociraptors like Jaws put into Great Whites. So when T-REX hit VeVe as a Universal-Licensed NFT I went all in. Set complete, my jaws are now set on several items in the 30th Anniversary collection!

K: KNIGHT RIDER

More 80's Nostalgia - Knight Rider, The A Team, AirWolf, BattleStar Galactica, TJ Hooker...come on man, this was an ERA where TV-Ville was EVERYTHING. We KITT car fans had THE HOFF before Baywatch, and damn if I didn't sometimes pretend my 1984 Pontiac Trans-Am, complete with 4-barrel carb & T-Tops wasn't helping me navigate oncoming missile attacks! Having dropped on VeVe April 2022, I am ASHAMED to still need one of these in the TOY BAG!

L: LIGHTSABER COLLECTION

My FA Lightsaber experience began with seeing A New Hope back in May 1977. I can't remember, but it seems like 10 minutes later I had my dad at the local toy store picking me up my first SPACE SWORD, getting it under a lamp to build up "green glow power" as fast as we could get home. Over the years I had several other models, and have been a BIG Star Wars fan since opening week.

These days, it's all digital - and let me be blunt, the Lucasfilm-Licensed Star Wars Lightsabers are Kyber Crystal WORTHY! Movie-accurate sound, full animation with sabers from Luke, Yoda, Kylo, Mace & Ahsoka, these FA digital lightsabers are a must have. By the way, did you know Disney reported back in 2024 they sell over 10,000,000 lightsabers a year? Let that sink in...imagine if just 1% of those buyers decided to pair their physical blades with a defined scarcity digital equivalent? HEY SANTA!!

M: MARVEL COMICS #1

What can I say here, except I'd love to have more, more, more! OK, I know Christmas is about giving, but if that means I can give myself gifts, then the MC1 Common (original grail) cover is the one I'll keep stacking. The book that helped launch Marvel Comics from their Timely brand, it also FA'd Namor and The Human Torch.

EXTREMELY scarce in physical form with just 70 listed on the CGC Census by GoCollect, anything over an 8.0 Grade these days would likely fetch over $1,000,000. Back in August 1939, the first 80,000 were printed with another 88,000 quickly put out in November to meet demand. Marvel Licensed digital assets on VeVe only minted 60,000 where a handful of owners locked 'em up with only 110 available today in the after-market!

N: NO TIME TO DIE (ASTON MARTIN)

James Bond. Every lad ever would watch a Bond flick & want to update his entire wardrobe, vocabulary and of course, CAR. The James Bond-Licensed No Time To Die theatrical poster release series were my first-ever VeVe NFTs, where we now have Moonraker lasers & jet packs, 1:1 custom artworks, multiple movie posters and of course...THE ASTON MARTIN.

I'm watching the full (in-order) series with my son on Amazon Prime, and if Pussy Galore wasn't enough to start your engines, the VeVe Aston Martin DB5 - S2 (007 Interactive with opening doors, hood & .50 CAL MACHINE GUNS), with only (7) EDITIONS should do. The current floor is $750 US, so I'll have to ask Santa, but pretty sure this beauty won't be fitting in his sleigh...

O: OMI TOKEN (Ecomi)

This is VeVe's in-app cryptocurrency one can use to purchase assets (can still use credit card & Apple Pay too), which also allows stacking for bonus 'MCP' reward points or just speculative crypto investing. I'm Bullish on Bitcoin & Ethereum (NFA), and tend to shy away from most of the other poop-coins (altcoins), but OMI has real use utility, is burned during transactions (deflationary) and has a lot of potential for other use cases, so I wouldn't turn any of them down if Rudolph needed some gift ideas for me!

P: PINK PANTHER

Blake Edward's PINK PANTHER aired in 1964. It was one of those flicks I watched with my parents as a kid & my Dad would bust his gut laughing at those Peter Sellers / Cato battles, while Mum just shook her head. Being young back in the early 70s, I loved the shows as they started with the animated 'pink panther' I came to associate with the brand.

So when VeVe released these as MGM-Licensed collectibles on Sept 10, 2023, I grabbed several. I'm just missing one variant to complete the set, so maybe Mrs. Claus can sneak that into the sleigh when Chris Cringle ain't lookin!

Q: Q-Boat from The World is Not Enough, 1999

That boat chase scene...a wee faster & more technical from the one we saw in From Russia with Love & a nice way to quickly catch a touristy view of the Thames! I find it so neat how massive IP like James Bond recreated their movie props to deploy as digital assets, and with only 2007 of the Q-Boat (from Q of course!) existing on VeVe (released December 14, 2023), it's sort of a nice Christmas consideration...almost like an unopened Die Hard VHS!

R: REBELLION, AGE OF: BOBA FETT #1

I mentioned some Boba Fett affliction earlier, but there's a special feature of this particular comic I was compelled to change the name in the list for (It's actually 'Age of Rebellion'). In this series, as the VeVe 'Secret Rare' cover variant (Extremely Scarce at just 80 minted editions), the WHITE BOBA FETT PROTOTYPE HELMET designed by none other than RALPH MCQUARRIE is featured.

Released Sept 9, 2024 on VeVe, this is absolutely another stackable asset I'd love to sneak under the tree as this represents THE FIRST BOBA FETT WHITE ARMOUR NFT on the blockchain!

S: STORMTROOPER CUTAWAY HELMET

Another Star Wars Fandom FA, this is the first-ever Lucasfilm Licensed digital version showcasing the interior of the ever-famous Stormtrooper helmet. Fully A/R enjoyable & so incredibly detailed that the physical 501st Legion can use these for schematics on their own armour sets, Lucasfilm worked directly with VeVe artists & 3D animation teams to create incredibly accurate helmets for this series, delivered on May 4th, 2025 (May The 4th Be With You...and December 25th too if Santa reads this!)

Of course, "S" has SEVERAL SALIVATING SETS I need to honourably mention, since they're definitely on my continuing wish list: SUPERMAN (the FIRST Official DC-Licensed Superman NFT collectible minted on the blockchain), STAN LEE (the first Stan Lee Universe Officially Licensed NFT minted on-chain) & of course MICKEY MOUSE - STEAMBOAT WILLIE NFT, which is really, the animation that started all animation. These 'characters' need no intros, but I appreciate the thousands of hours I've enjoyed with them!

T: TOO MUCH MAGIC! (Disney Mickey Mouse NFT Collection)

Flipping the page, the animated 'Uncommon' variant of Mickey Mouse as The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Disney's first Licensed NFT of this iconic character, is another one of those special pieces Disney collectors will definitely enjoy. Released Dec 22, 2021 on VeVe, this was 81 years since the groundbreaking musical anthology released in 1940! With the current floor hovering around $10 USD, this is a fairly easy stocking stuff - especially if you use the FREE $10 USD sign up link!

U: ULTRAMAN

IKYDK, VeVe is a global distributor of NFTs / Digital Assets with a big focus on Asian markets, where Ultraman is the popularity equivalent to Superman. Having first appeared on screen in 1966, this IP has generated over $20,000,000,000 in today's dollars. VeVe has a variety of Licensed Ultraman assets, from the FA character collectibles to a variety of movie posters to the comic book series released by VIZ Media, there's really something for every fan on this one!

V: VEB

If you're into things that are a tad more obscure, or just plain weird, VEB might be a good choice. As a character from 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, this Marvel-Licensed, ooze-spoozing FA digital collectible is its own set (if you're into stacking MCP reward points) with only 1,000 that will ever exist, making it rare too!

If you're into collecting brand logos, a great 2nd option might be any of the VEVE LOGOS, many of which earn holders some decent real-world utility like VeVe party access, bonus reward points or some major flex. I'm pretty sure Santa has a never-ending digital hall pass though!

W: WOLVERINE

SNIKT SNIKT & there goes the bottom of Santas brand new bag. Connecting Alpha Flight #1 to the ADAMANzing number of Marvel Lincensed Wolverine digital assets on VeVe, any Wolvie fan is going to be the proverbial 'kid in the candy store' on this one.

From his FA comic appearances in Incredible Hulk 180 & 181 (debate ongoing!), the new X-Men team in Giant-Size X-Men #1, his first series, exclusive 1:1 artworks from the likes of Skottie Young & Mark Brooks, to the phenominal audio / animated AR Wolverine Collectibles, I have a long way to go to have at least one of each on the office toy shelf (aka my iPhone haha)!!!

X: X-MEN '97

The incredible comic paired with the incredibly successful release of the animated series, XM97 #1 dropped March 27, 2024 as a "same day as print" distribution digital collectible. BUT - where the print run can have 10's to 100's of thousands of copies, this version will only ever have 1000 existing, with the Secret Rare cover having just 40 CAPPED EDITIONS. XM97 sold out in minutes on VeVe Comics, where all (4) issues are now available in limited quantities in VeVe's marketplace.

Pair 'em up with a Marvel Licensed X-Men logo & you're VeVeVerse showroom will rock that Neon Light Effect like Scott's Rays I LOVED THE NEW SHOW as much as I did the first release in 1992, so now holding this entire comic run set, at my age, proves I STILL BELIEVE!

Y: YOU'LL FIND THAT I'M FULL OF SURPRISES

LUKE SKYWALKER FIRST Lucasfilm Licensed NFT Digital Collectible is on VeVe, as is his Lightsaber, his X-Wing, the AT-AT (and AT-ST) to name a few, with oh yeah, his FA in Star Wars #1 in limited release. In my nostalgic world, Luke is one of those ultra-special heroes dating back almost as far as I can remember.

I saw his FA on film in May 1977, cried when he lost his hand & lost my shite when Vader let him know the truth. All these memories & plastic figurines later, he's now fully animated in my phone. Alas, I'm missing one of his 3 assets to complete the set, so...

ZED: ZOMBIES ZOMBIES ZOMBIES!!!

Yeah, Halloween is long gone, but not the love of enjoying ZOMBIES! From Marvel Zombies #1 through character collectibles like Zombie Captain America, Deadpool & Spider-Man, the list of terrifying toys tempting fans in VeVe is long. Though more naughty than nice, some of these are just pure fun to hold, with some amazing Marvel exclusive-to-VeVe comic cover art to boot!

So there it is...if you made it this far good grief you ARE a Christmas and VeVe fan, so MERRY CHRISTMAS and I hope your bags, be they stockings or digital, are full of wonder & enjoyment.

Thanks for Reading!

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