Today's edition is brought to you by MetaMask Learn - learn web3 with the leading web3 wallet! 🤓

Hi everyone. It’s TPan - a friend of Milk Road.

The Milk Man is out of town this weekend (he left his OOO message as: real Gs move in silence like lasagna), so I’m taking over and delivering that NFT milk.

Here’s the lineup for today:

• This week’s biggest movers 📊

• Pudgy Penguins launch toys 🐧

• Nike releases Our Force 1 👟

• Checks go to Christie’s ✔️

NFT’S TOP MOVERS OF THE WEEK 📊

Here were this week’s top movers (in terms of sales volume):

• Milady (+70%): A whale sold off their holdings in the collection, along with additional activity from Blur’s lending platform, Blend.

• Pudgy Penguins (+31%): The collection of cute flightless birds gains volume with its toy launch.

• Opepen (+40%): NFTs from this collection exchanged hands over 1,500 times as details around the next artist release were revealed.

LEARN HOW NFTS ARE RELEVANT TO CREATORS

How could you and your art benefit from learning about NFTs?

Whether it’s to understand the hubbub of what they’re really about, explore another medium for your craft, or just learn more about how web3 paid out an average of $174,000 per creator in 2021, this interactive lesson from MetaMask Learn is designed to help you.

NFTs can be many things, but at these tokens' core, an NFT is a provably scarce digital item. Web3 artists’ favorite wallet, MetaMask, wants to inspire you to learn about NFTs so you can see for yourself if you’d like to explore this community-centric field that’s disrupting the creator economy.

Interested in learning about how NFTs are relevant to you as a creator?

PUDGY PENGUINS LAUNCH A NEW TOY 🐧

Everyone was talking about one thing this week: Pudgy Penguin Toys.

Here’s why:

• $500,000 worth of toys sold within the first 48 hours of launch

• Hit #1 in multiple toys categories on Amazon

• Pudgy Penguins NFT floor price rose from ~4.5ETH → ~6ETH (+33%)

The craziest part? The toys are making people money.

Here’s what’s been happening:

1. A person buys a Pudgy Toy

2. They scan the QR code on the Pudgy Toy “birth certificate”

3. They enter Pudgy World, an online clubhouse for Pudgy Penguins

4. Open trait boxes from the purchase

5. Buy, sell, and collect traits

Here’s an example of how it works in action:

The cherry on top: The Pudgy Penguin NFT owners that the toys are based on have a licensing deal, and get a percentage of toy sales. Talk about a win-win.

So, what’s next?

• Amazon is just the start. The toys will launch globally and will hit other major retailers like Walmart in June.

• Their secret weapon is the Pudgy Penguins Instagram account, which has over 547,000 followers. The team hasn’t announced Pudgy Toys to that audience…yet.

• Pudgy Penguins hasn’t spent any money on marketing. That will change after raising $9 million, announced earlier this month.

The Pudgy Penguins team is showing that there are different ways to achieve success in the world of NFTs and building IP.

Luca Netz, the CEO of Pudgy Penguins is a legend in the e-commerce space. Prior to entering the NFT space, he sold over 9 figures of products online.

So…if you’re looking for a gift for your kid, young relative, or adult friend that acts like a child, consider a Pudgy Toy.

PS: One of the secrets to Pudgy Penguins’ success has been their GIF game. The Pudgy Penguins GIF collection has 2.8k uploads and over 3.4 billion views.

PPS: I did a deep dive on the Pudgy Toys effort here.

NIKE RELEASES OUR FORCE 1 👟

Nike launched the Our Force 1, and these virtual sneakers are fresh.

What are the quick hits?

• The sneakers come in two styles: New Wave and Classic Remix

• In order to purchase, you need to have a .SWOOSH account. You can join the waitlist here.

• Each of these boxes cost $19.82, which is the year that Nike’s Air Force 1’s debuted

• Over 73,000 boxes have been sold, which is over $1.4M

• The total supply of these boxes is 106,453 which is a play on the T-9 keypad. (remember those?) 6-4-5-3 = N-I-K-E.

Why does this matter? Well…it’s Nike.

One of the most popular brands in the world is entering the world of NFTs. And if you look closely, they want to make these more than just digital collectibles.

I expect these boxes to sell out within the next few weeks. If you have a .SWOOSH account, you might want to grab a pair, or 4 (the maximum per account). They’ll probably be the cheapest pair of sneakers you’ll find!

CHECKS GO TO CHRISTIE’S ✔️

Checks is a digital art collection that started as an $8 open edition in January this year by the giga-brain designer Jack Butcher. 16,031 Checks were minted.

What has the collection achieved since then?

• Over 75,489 ETH in secondary sales

• Launched a new collection, Checks Elements that was auctioned off on Christie’s

• Made the word ‘check’ a thing. My favorite Jack Butcher saying: “Don’t trust, check.”

After the Christie’s auction concluded, the Checks Elements collection held an additional auction for the remaining editions of the 152-piece collection. Each holder will also receive a physical print from Cirrus Gallery.

What was the highest sale? 22.69 ETH, or ~$40,000 buckaroos. I could be Twitter Verified for 400 years with that money!

So what? We’re continuing to see the fine art world embrace digital art. Artists like Jack Butcher are creating novel ways to engage with the traditional art community on one end while supporting the rise of the digital art community on the other end.

MILK & COOKIES 🍪

StepN begins selling NFTs on its iOS app.

China's national TV broadcaster features Meebits.

Mercedes announces their Web3 arm: Mercedes Benz NXT.

MILKY MEMES 🤣

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.