American toy maker Mattel has announced that its Mattel Creations Virtual Collectibles platform would soon feature a peer-to-peer marketplace for NFT or digital collectibles, as the Nasdaq-listed toy brand doubles down on Web 3.0 with ‘best-in-class experience for the fans of Mattel’s iconic brands’. The new platform, to be launched later this month, will enable Mattel NFT owners to display, trade and sell their digital assets seamlessly.
The concept of Mattel’s P2P marketplace, developed in collaboration with Rarible, wallet-as-a-service provider, Magic and blockchain partner Flow, is aimed at enhancing the NFT offerings of Mattel. With Magic’s non-custodial wallet SDK, Mattel was able to white-label and simplify the wallet generation experience, providing customers a secure, seamless onboarding experience. This feature is key to Mattel’s objective of being a platform for mainstream consumers, which is why one does not need to use crypto currency to make purchases.
Mattel, which owns one of the strongest catalogs of children’s and family entertainment franchises in the world, was the first toy company to launch NFT and continues to expand in digital collectibles and experiences.
Mattel’s foray into the NFT market follows the steps of other major toy companies such as Disney, Walmart, Hasbro, and Toy R Us, which have also launched NFT over the past few years.
Earlier in October, Mattel released an official “Masters of the Universe ” digital toy collection to mark the franchise’s 40th anniversary and later collaborated with the Veefriends NFT project for a limited edition UNO deck featuring Veefriends characters. Other NFT collections that have been brought by Mattel include Cryptosys and Boss Beauties x Barbie. The second collection of its Barbie NFT line will drop in May.
The Mattel Creations Virtual Collectibles Platform was first launched in November 2022 and offers collectibles inspired by Mattel’s iconic brands at a practical price point and in a seamless user experience. Each release of Hot Wheels NFT Garage digital collectibles have quickly sold out, with Series 4 selling through 30,000 packs in less than 12 hours.
Meanwhile, the launch of the new peer-to-peer marketplace platform from Mattel will coincide with the introduction of Hot Wheels NFT Garage Series 5, which will showcase some of the iconic brand’s most popular car designs. The Series 5 comprises 40 unique cars from McLaren, Pagani, Aston Martin, Chevrolet and Porsche.
Each pack includes seven Hot Wheels NFT – four common, two uncommon and one guaranteed rare car. As Mattel gets more involved in the NFT space, it is offering physical perks alongside its digital goods.
For instance, if a collector is lucky enough to get their hands on certain rare models like a Premium or Treasure Hunt digital collectible, like McLaren F1, ‘17 Pagani Huayra Roadster, Aston Martin Vulcan, ‘55 Chevy Panel or Porsche 911 GT3 RS, then they will also be eligible to receive a physical die-cast version.
Mattel’s Hot Wheels NFT Garage Series 5 consists of 40 car designs, with digital collectibles available in packs for US $25 each. Developed by the same team behind Hot Wheels die-cast cars, Series 5 of the Hot Wheels NFT Garage is the latest way for fans to collect digital artwork, featuring Mattel’s iconic intellectual properties and features some of Hot Wheels’ most popular car designs in an all-new digital format.
