An NFT collection refers to a set of non-fungible tokens created around a similar theme and sold together as part of the same launch. NFT stands for non-fungible token - it is a unique digital asset that represents ownership of a specific digital item like art, music, videos, and more.

Why Create an NFT Collection?

There are a few key reasons artists, musicians and creators establish NFT collections:

1. Unify the brand or theme - Having all the NFTs designed around the same theme or visual style helps reinforce the brand.

2. Reward early supporters - Many NFT collections offer pricing tiers - early supporters who take more risk get better pricing.

3. Build community - Attracting a group of collectors/owners around the same collection helps drive interest, engagement and demand.

4. Generate ongoing revenue - Creators often build ongoing revenue models into collections through commissions on secondary sales or exclusive content/items.

Examples of Popular NFT Collections

Bored Ape Yacht Club

One of the most well known NFT collections is the Bored Ape Yacht Club - a set of 10,000 randomly generated cartoon apes with different attributes. The Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs were first launched in April 2021 and became hugely popular as celebrity collectors like Jimmy Fallon and Steph Curry bought apes.

Owning a Bored Ape provides membership access to an exclusive online club for other ape owners. Many see it as both an investment and a status symbol. Bored Apes also come with full commercial rights - owners can use the ape likeness however they want, including putting them in videos, games, merchandise and more.

Some additional key facts about the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection include:

• Total trading volume: $3+ billion
• Number of unique owners: Over 19,000

The huge success of the Bored Ape Yacht Club spawned many spin-off collections. These include the Bored Ape Kennel Club (dog characters), Mutant Ape Yacht Club (weird/zombified apes) and Bored Ape Chemistry Club (apes dressed as scientists).

CryptoPunks

CryptoPunks launched as one of the first major NFT projects in 2017. It is a collection of 10,000 pixel art images depicting punk characters with unique attributes. Key information about the CryptoPunks collection:

• Each punk generated algorithmically
• Features like glasses, headbands, zombification make each one unique
• Inspired early NFT speculation & demand from serious collectors
• Total trading volume: $2+ billion

Like the Bored Apes, CryptoPunks give the owner full commercial rights to the character. Celebrities like Jay Z and Snoop Dogg have bought CryptoPunk NFTs. Part of the appeal is flexing online status.

The success of CryptoPunks also resulted in spinoff projects like the Apes below.

Azuki

Azuki is a collection of 10,000 anime-inspired avatar NFTs launched in January 2022 by Chiru Labs. Some key details on Azuki:

• Sold out in under 10 minutes upon launch
• Unique 2D anime characters generated from over 150+ attributes
• Strong brand building through art, stories about the Azuki universe

Holding an Azuki NFT gives owners access to digital items like merchandise, exclusive artwork and events. There is also a 10% royalty on secondary sales paid to the original artist as an ongoing revenue stream.

Like Bored Apes and CryptoPunks, celebrity fans helped drive early interest in Azuki. Notable owners include Steph Curry,Chainsmokers and Gary Vaynerchuk.

Moonbirds

Moonbirds is a collection of 10,000 profile picture (PFP) NFTs created by Proofs, a collective of well known NFT artists.

The Moonbirds brand is built around space travel and an accompanying roadmap promises an ecosystem of linked products, rewards and utility.

Their easy entry point combined with plans for integrated experiences make Moonbirds one of the most interesting new projects for 2022 and beyond. Celebrities who bought in early include Snoop Dogg and The Chainsmokers.

World of Women (WoW)

World of Women is a collection focused on increased representation of female NFT characters. Key facts about this project:

• Launched March 2022
• 11,111 uniquely generated 2D portraits of diverse women
• Speak to social conversations about representation/inclusiveness
• Massive demand at launch crashed site due to heavy traffic
• Key owners include Reese Witherspoon & Eva Longoria

Rather than representing membership or status, the World of Women collection has aims built around gender equality & empowerment. The roadmap focuses on telling stories that feature women from history and folklore.

The instant success of World of Women shows there is demand for NFT collections speaking to social purpose as well as flexing status.

CLONEx

CLONEx is an unusual NFT collection in that the art and characters are not originally developed. Instead, they are created by analyzing and copying existing popular Profile Picture collections like the Bored Apes.

The goal with CLONEx was riding the hype cycles around existing collections by copying the style. But controversial cloning without creative re-interpretation ran afoul of legal protections and community standards.

Key Takeaways

As we have seen, launching an NFT collection centers around:

1. Establishing a strong, cohesive brand identity

2. Engaging a community in ongoing dialogues and experiences

3. Building lasting economies around primary/secondary sales

4. Offering additional member benefits like exclusive content

The collections achieving the most success excel in most or all of these areas over a longer-term.

Issues can arise when trying to capitalize on an existing brand without approval or attempting to generate interest through gimmicks alone.

Sustaining excitement around an NFT collection over many months/years hinges on tapping into a core target audience while expanding utility and access for growing your community base over time.