Leading toy company Mattel is venturing into Web3 amidst the NFT market crash and outrageous FTX collapse, and it’s confidently doing so. The toy manufacturer giant has been launching Mattel NFT collections since last year and it seems the company can’t get enough of the blockchain! After collaborating with several platforms and brands, Mattel is ready to move a step further in the Web3 space. Mattel recently announced the launch of its very own NFT marketplace, Mattel Creations Digital Collectibles, which is clearly saying that Mattel NFTs are here to stay.
So what are Mattel’s NFT collections?
Mattel Hot Wheels NFTs
Mattel announced its first NFT collection, Hot Wheels, back on June 17, 2021. The renowned toy company stated that venturing into the NFT space is an attempt to further evolve its toys as art collections. The best way to kickstart its Web3 journey is to launch the first NFT collection of Mattel’s beloved and popular Hot Wheels Garage brand.
Hot Wheels, in their design, are a collectible brand. Despite being toy-like and essentially made for children, the brand quickly rose to become a must-have for car collectors of all ages. Mattel has partnered with many brands to design specific and exclusive car collectibles. Some might argue that these exclusive pieces are for display only. Thus, Mattel saw it as an opportunity to launch the Hot Wheels NFT Garage Series to celebrate the long-standing brand.
The Mattel NFT collection consisted of packs that included four to ten Hot Wheels NFTs with different levels of rarity. Also, 5000 NFTs were redeemable. The project minted 40 types of Hot Wheels at the price of $15. Moreover, the success of the first Hot Wheels NFT collection motivated Mattel to continue launching more Hot Wheels NFT series’. Right now, there exist 4 series of the Hot Wheels collection with each having its own four rarity types. The latest series will launch on December 15. It will offer a RARE redeemable physical piece that comes with the Premium/NFTH type. “Some lucky buyers will get a Premium or NFTH card, which will give them access to a physical die-cast car. These castings are some of the most limited editions we’ve ever produced.”
Mattel Barbie NFTs
Barbie x Balmain
What better way for Mattel to promote an NFT collection than having its ICONIC Barbie on front and center stage? There’s actually a better way. Mattel collaborated with French luxury fashion label, Balmain, to launch the Barbie x Balmain NFT collection back in January 2022. The two giant corporations teamed up to create a limited collection of physical Barbie-sized Balmain clothing line for three one-of-a-kind Barbie and Ken NFT dolls.
After 62 years since Barbie came into the world, Barbie now enters the digital world of the blockchain. The Barbie x Balmain NFT collection consisted of three Barbie and Ken dolls completely dressed from head to toe in Balmain couture. The three unique NFTs were auctioned off at launch, where the highest bidders got the NFT and a physical Barbie-scaled version of the outfit that the Barbie avatar is wearing.
Barbie x Boss Beauties
In October 2022, Mattel announced its collaboration with women empowerment NFT brand Boss Beauties to launch a new NFT collection consisting of 15,000 NFT portraits. The collection will be a celebration of Barbie’s iconic 250 careers across its product since 1959! “Career traits will range from astronaut to archeologist, beekeeper to CEO, and everything in between, reminding girls they can be anything,” the brand stated. Meaning, the collection will playoff around Barbie’s collectible-natured careers, while still giving hardcore fans huge nostalgia.
The brand will donate $250,000 of its revenue for both the Barbie Dream Gap Project and the Boss Beauties Foundation. Both initiatives focus on helping and supporting girls to realize their dreams.
Mattel Collaborates with Cryptoys
Earlier this year, Mattel announced its partnership with the NFT platform Cryptoys to turn Mattel NFTs into digital collectibles for use in-game. Cryptoys is an on-chain studio that uses Flow blockchain and targets the web3 game sectors and metaverse experiences. Cryptoys explore the future of toys as digital collectibles to be played in a game. Moreover, Mattel was the first toy brand to collaborate with Cryptoys. Since both Mattel NFT collections are more or less targeted at collectors, people questioned whether Mattel is moving away from engaging kids in its new projects. However, the partnership with Cryptoys will open a door for Mattel to include kid-related digital collections. The company later launched Masters of the Universe NFT collectible avatars that make toys playable inside the metaverse!
Mattel Creations Marketplace
Alongside the release of Mattel’s series 4 of the Hot Wheels NFT collection, the toy company will launch its own dedicated NFT marketplace, Mattel Creations Digital Collectibles Marketplace. The NFT marketplace will be built within its existent Mattel Creations consumer platform, expanding to include its digital collectibles.
The NFT marketplace will also be built on the Flow blockchain. However, Mattel stated that the marketplace will be “mainstream consumer” friendly, meaning that consumers will not require to use cryptocurrencies for purchases. The market also intends to include a “peer-to-peer trading platform that will allow collectors to trade digital collectibles among themselves.”
This is not the first time a brand decides to create its own marketplace. Huge brands in various industries prefer to launch their NFT collections on their own websites/marketplace. That way, brands can control what happens on the platform and give fans a sense of trust and authenticity. Trading on secondary marketplaces could lead consumers to buy fake NFTs. Nike has recently launched its Swoosh NFT marketplace and DC trades its NFTs on its official website.
The Future of Digital Toys
Mattel could be the first giant toy manufacturer company to venture into the blockchain space, however, we are seeing more and more brands taking a likeness to the Web3 world, ignoring the market’s declining charts. Therefore, we might see other mega-toy companies making their way into the blockchain in the future as the metaverse gains more popularity.