Witty

Two months of research. Three platforms. Four pillars. And a few opinions I had to change. The updated Digital Collectibles Prospectus is here. Since August, I’ve researched more, collected more and tested my original impressions against the data. Some held up. Others didn’t. The Prospectus is better for it. The question remains: what makes collectors stay? Scarcity matters, but it needs buyers. An easy purchase matters, but so does the ability to sell. A public blockchain matters, but so does the control collectors can actually exercise. And a desirable drop needs to lead somewhere beyond the next desirable drop. I want something worth owning, the freedom to use it and a reason to come back. Here’s where three platforms landed. 👇 🃏 B+ overall | Panini Blockchain @paniniamerica remains the strongest traditional card-collecting experience. Prizm. Kaboom. Downtown. Rookies, parallels, serials and sets. Familiar collecting ideas executed exceptionally well in digital form. Its marketplace is accessible, and challenges, promotions and burning cards for points toward new packs give collectors reasons to return. September’s middle buyer spent $75, compared with $27.08 on Top Shot. Panini’s market contracted too: August buyers fell 19% year over year, while volume fell 54%. Strong spending sits alongside concentrated demand and sports collectibles still effectively contained within Panini’s ecosystem. 🏀 B+ overall | NBA Top Shot Earlier this week, I said I really like @nbatopshot. I still do. And the research gives me more reasons to appreciate it—and some reasons to stay cautious. Its marketplace search is better than I originally gave it credit for. Fast Break makes tonight’s games relevant to my collection. Repeat buying exceeded Panini’s in every matched starting week we studied. That supports an upgrade from August’s B to B+. But August buyers were down 42% year over year. Sales volume fell 57%. Good tools and an engaged remaining community can’t make that contraction disappear. 🎨 D+ overall | Candy Digital @candydigital still demonstrates what digital collectibles can be. Its animation, video, sound and creative execution deserve recognition. The 2022 Hall of Fame ICON Series remains one of my favorite examples. But buying was cumbersome. Demand was narrow. Later Gold releases struggled to sustain singles activity. Then SOL was stolen from collector wallets, and the protective freeze left collectors unable to trade or move their collectibles. Candy’s recovery work is meaningful. It has committed to restoring SOL and enabling transfers into collector-controlled wallets. Its previous external trading deserves credit too. Restored transfers and clearer evidence of independent access and recovery could bring its ownership grade into Top Shot’s range. But today’s grades reflect the experience collectors can actually use. THE GRADES ARE ONLY THE START Panini and Top Shot earn the same grade for different reasons. Panini delivers the stronger traditional card-collecting experience. Top Shot does more to connect collecting, commerce, ownership and the sport itself. Neither has put all four pillars together well enough to earn an A. But an overall grade only tells you so much. This post is a small snapshot of a much more detailed assessment. The full Digital Collectibles Prospectus grades each platform against all four pillars, explains what changed since August, and brings together two months of research, graphics and the limitations behind the numbers. If you want to fully understand why each platform earned its grades—and what would need to change for those grades to improve—read the full DCP. Read it here. First reply. 👇

I can’t believe I’m saying this. I like @nbatopshot. I mean I really like it. Working on this weekend’s updated Digital Collectibles Prospectus has helped clarify why—and why most of my Candy collecting is moving to Top Shot and Panini. Top Shot’s collector engagement is outstanding. Whether that’s new or I’m finally paying attention, I’m excited to log in every day. Fast Break gives me a reason to use my collection. Building my Raptors collection gives me something meaningful to chase. Mostly, I’m mad I didn’t collect more. Smaller rookie mint sizes are encouraging. I’d like to see that discipline extend to base supply. Get debut pack pricing right, and I think there’s an opportunity to bring collectors back. The marketplace data is encouraging, too. Active buyer wallets are declining, and that matters. But spending has held up, repeat buying was strong in my research, and the marketplace isn’t relying solely on a handful of big spenders. And the good Moments I want don’t seem to be getting dumped at giveaway prices. Someone sell me a Kawhi Game 7, please. Which brings me to Candy. I still love their collectibles, and I appreciate the effort CEO Tad Smith is putting into the company. I want Candy to succeed. But it’s getting harder to plan future collecting there. Declining interest in Gold and All-Star was already concerning. Returning to collecting strategies that struggled in previous years hasn’t given me much confidence that things will change. The security breach raised bigger questions for me. Candy has outlined how it plans to protect collectibles going forward, but I’m still working out what that means for my confidence in collecting there—and how much control I actually have over the collectibles I’ve purchased. Those questions matter more to my future collecting decisions than the technical fixes alone. I can love the product and still struggle to commit more money to it. And that’s the difference right now. Top Shot has me planning my next purchase. Candy has me questioning whether I should make one. Meanwhile, I’m thinking about my next Fast Break lineup, which pieces of Raptors history belong in my collection, and what that mysterious Monday wheel might mean. I’m engaged. I’m excited. I want to see what happens next. That’s a good place to be as a collector. Don’t worry, @PaniniAmerica. You continue to be great. Updated Digital Collectibles Prospectus grades on Saturday.