Back in March 2022, RTFKT delighted their Clone X NFT holders with Clone X SZN1 NFT collection that featured exclusive apparel inspired by Clone X characters. The best part was that these items could be redeemed for physicals at no extra cost. One year later, RTFKT announced the Clone X SZN1 shipping will start and hell broke loose – in both a good and bad way.
To be fair, the reactions were split in two polarities, part of the community was pleased and ecstatic at what they received. However, some were highly disappointed to the extent of Clone X floor price dropped 2.5 ETH in one month!
Was it that disappointing?
Is everyone exaggerating?
What the hell is RTFKT doing to itself?
Is Clone X on the verge of losing its bluechip status?
Let’s dive and you be the judge of that.
What is the Clone X SZN1 Forging?
One month after the successful mint of Clone X, Nike acquired RTFKT in Dec 2021. This opened a whole new world for RTFKT, especially that of physical items. Given that Nike is a beast at what they do with apparel and shoes. This is part of why the Clone X SZN1 shipping of the real items was judged so harshly. However, I don’t know how accurate it is to assume that Nike would be responsible for RTFKT’s physical merchandise…
Anyway, 8 months after Nike’s acquisition and doing a “test run” with its forgeable Nike AR Genesis hoodie, RTFKT launched the RTFKT Clone X Forging SZN 1 Collection. That was a very smart move and one of the smartest ways to utilize NFTs to bridge the gap between digital and physical.
Forging implies forming something, usually metal, by heating and hammering. RTFKT is using it in a sense of transforming digital items into the physical. Genius wording and marketing if you want my opinion.
Each CloneX holder can mint up to two items from their NFT’s respective DNA. Then, receive an item from the GenesisX collection or a corresponding t-shirt for free. With the exception of RTFKT’s Nike AF1s, all of the digital CloneX clothing — t-shirts, hoodies, pants, socks, and hats — can be forged into physical goods for its owner.
Clone X SZN1 Shipping Disappointment
After the Clone X forging collection successfully sold out, all what was left is the arrival of physical items. Ignoring the fact that it took RTFKT a whole damn year to deliver the products, what matters is they did. After a rather long pause and silence on Twitter, on March 14, 2023 RTFKT announced the Clone X SZN1 shipping will take place over this month and June. It was a bittersweet moment, unaware of the storm coming ahead.
I’ll brief it for you with some tweets, so here’s how it went down:
#1- Announcement Tweet:
Clone X SZN1 will start shipping this month. We will be shipping the clothing in batches and will share updates after each batch is shipped out 📦.
Thanks for your continued patience!
🧘♂️ pic.twitter.com/nuDxsD7s2U— RTFKT (@RTFKT) March 14, 2023
#2 – Lashback Tweets: Community wasn’t pleased.
Why did @RTFKT @benitopagotto bait and switch our AF1s?
Compare the original demon they told us we would get when we minted and this new gross basic version.
I wouldnt of minted any of these if i would of seen the new version. I expected to receive the mock up that was given… https://t.co/HQDyNv1LEU pic.twitter.com/0easgmvOy2
— GlitchFace.eth (@SirGlitchface) March 14, 2023
Doing my best to reserve judgment until it is in my possession
but here is what @RTFKT sold versus what they are delivering.
Looks like it went from sleek and stylish to a frumpy dad hat 🤨 pic.twitter.com/i9BBmwQJiR
— Bag Holder (@BagHoldingNFTs) March 15, 2023
#3 – Defense Tweet: Zapito Comes to the defense.
Sneak peak of the iRL Clone X forging Samples 👀⚒️
It’s hard to fully recreate the quality materials and finishes with a digital render. 💿
Excited for our community to see our upcoming Lookbook featuring both Apparel and Sneakers to experience the true quality 🤌 pic.twitter.com/SSsLKYDhpd
— Zaptio RTFKT (@Zaptio) March 15, 2023
#4- Appreciation Tweets: Not all the items were bad.
Credit where credit is due
looks like @RTFKT killed the Footballverse Jersey drop. Kudos to the team!
My confidence in Forging SZN 1 has been renewed 🙏 pic.twitter.com/z2HpuBkvPc
— Bag Holder (@BagHoldingNFTs) March 17, 2023
I really love it 🥰 My first fungible item from a non fungible token.
And I heard it glows when you take photo of it with flash 😍@RTFKT x @Nike Footballverse Jerseys ⚽️
Thank you! pic.twitter.com/BS6TwNfO2j— Suenwins (@Suenwins) March 16, 2023
As you can already tell, RTFKT didn’t exactly mess up THAT much on their physical items. Some were overcriticizing and I think it’s justified because of RTFKT’s lack of interaction and presence with their community. It was exaggerated to a point that someone created this infographic to explain the tragedy of being a Clone X holder.
Will RTFKT Survive This?
Yes, maybe RTFKT messed up a bit, but the web3 space is simply ruthless. Every mistake is blown out of its proportion. We can also say that they did deliver well on their other items like that Jersey, but the charts don’t lie. Notice the slippery slope Clone X’s floor price went under from February 16 at 5.99 ETH till 3.4 ETH on March 18. That’s a 2.5 ETH loss in almost a month, the Clone X community is fudding out.
I can’t predict the future of RTFKT and Clone X, but I think there’s an underlying problem here. The community is just upset that RTFKT doesn’t interact with them so often, and keeps all details and processes to themselves. Web3 clearly has the building in public nature, and not even the Bluechips can outrun it. RTFKT recently tweeted about their upcoming forging event next month, and Holders are pleased with their shipped Clone X SZN1 items today. Maybe things will turn out for the better.
I’ll leave you this insightful thread from a Clone X holder’s perspective, and you decide if RTFKT has a chance or not.
Why the sentiment for @RTFKT is so poor right now, and how we can fix some of it.
I’m a diamond hand holder since #CloneX mint, paid the full dutch price. ( for perspective)
As a Clone, I’m writing this because I care about the brand, not because I want them to lose
A thread🧵 pic.twitter.com/p9owZAEKGn
— ♎︎𝖘𝖆𝖙𝖛𝖗𝖓 (@satvrneth) March 16, 2023