Disney opens NFT-based digital collectibles market for Star Wars, Pixar and princess pins

Disney is launching an app with Web3 startup Dapper Labs to let people collect digital pins, becoming the latest major brand to try an NFT-based program, without using the term “NFT.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Disney and Dapper opened a waitlist today to join the new mobile app called Disney Pinnacle, which digitizes pin collecting, a fan subculture that already is popular among Disney enthusiasts. The partnership represents another notch for Dapper Labs, a startup that basically kicked off the NFT craze in 2021 having teamed up with the NBA on Top Shot a year earlier; Dapper also works with the NFL on digital collectibles. For The Walt Disney Co., the new app signifies a step into Web3 technology, after the company shrank its metaverse ambitions earlier this year. Also read: How brands are rethinking NFTs With the app, Disney fans can buy pins that are digital versions of the types of pins that have become collectible items through sales at Disney parks. The digital pins are based on Disney’s original intellectual property, Pixar and Lucasfilms’ assets, but that does not include Marvel IP, according to Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs. Collectors will be able to buy and trade pins with other collectors inside the app, and the experience is built on the mechanics of Web3, without overloading users with jargon and technology. For instance, the acronym NFT, which stands for non-fungible tokens, won’t appear anywhere in the product; instead, the pins are called “digital collectibles.” The collectibles will be minted on the Flow Blockchain, and users technically will need a Dapper Labs crypto wallet to store the pins, though that is all built into the app, Gharegozlou said. Prices for the pins were not disclosed. “As the technology gets better we can sort of abstract it out more, so the word ‘NFT’ doesn’t show up anywhere in the product,” Gharegozlou said. “It’s all about digital collectibles and digital collecting. But the open nature of Web3 platforms is why we can have the full authenticity, and guaranteed tradability, and full ownership, and all of these features, that set these products apart from stickers in WhatsApp or whatever it might be.” Disney did not immediately return a request for comment on its new digital collectibles program. Disney is following in the footsteps of other major brands, including Starbucks and Nike, which have turned to NFTs to foster collector communities. Some of the technology around NFTs, such as wallets and blockchain, have fallen out of favor in marketing, as there have been negative connotations with the mysterious markets built around crypto and NFT sales. Marketers, though, are interested in the utility of creating digital goods that are authenticated through blockchains. And blockchain-based collectibles can form the foundation of loyalty and rewards programs. Consumers can also use Web3 technology to own and sell digital goods. “Every transaction is verified on the blockchain, but nobody has to pay attention to that if they don’t want that,” Gharegozlou said, “so they can be fully immersed in a Disney experience.” Disney, which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, downsized its broad “metaverse” plans when it laid off its Web3 team in March. Disney has still made some moves in the world of mixed reality and spatial computing, though, including when it announced in June that it would offer Disney+ through Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro headset. Also read: Disney's Asad Ayaz on celebrating fans and creators with ‘Disney 100’ Dapper Labs has been a pioneer in digital collectibles and basically started the first boom in the NFT markets in late 2020 with NBA Top Shot. In early 2021, a LeBron James Top Shot, a video clip of him dunking, sold for more than $200,000. The market has cooled considerably since then, but Top Shot continues to be a place for collectors in search of rare digital cards. In fact, NBA NFTs are having another moment riding the popularity of San Antonio rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama, whose digital trading card sold for more than $100,000 on Sorare earlier this month. Watch Victor Wembanyama's first Barcode sports drink ad Dapper Labs is no stranger to the ups and downs of NFTs and crypto, either. The startup was sued in U.S. federal court in 2021 by Top Shot collectors who claimed the company should have registered NFTs as securities. The case remains open after a judge in February denied Dapper Labs’ motion for it to be dismissed. The Disney Pinnacle app will have digital collectibles that range in rarity, so some of the same market dynamics could create value depending on the pin. There also will be mystery packs of pins that could contain rarer digital Disney collectibles, according to Ridhima Kahn, VP of business development and partnerships at Dapper Labs. Kahn worked with Disney to translate its collector culture, which grew out of fans at the parks buying pins, to the digital sphere. Kahn went to top Disney parks about 15 times to understand the mood of collectors, she said. “It’s about community, social collecting, completing sets, completing the collection that you have, and trading,” Kahn said, “and these are the values that we brought into the experience.” Disney Pinnacle users will be able to build sets of digital pins and show them off on social media, Kahn said. There will be digital pins for characters, such as Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Darth Vader and Disney princesses. Kahn and Gharegozlou did not reveal all the types of pins and collections, only saying there would be “a lot” of them. “There will be a balance between accessibility, as well as limited and super-limited edition items that are just going to be harder to get,” Gharegozlou said, “and they are going to come in more expensive packs and be for sale at higher prices just like physical collectibles at the parks would be.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs

Disney opens NFT-based digital collectibles market for Star Wars, Pixar and princess pins

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