Barbie-verse: Mattel signs multi-year agreement with Cryptoys NFT exchange

Mattel intends to employ its trade secrets, including trademarks like Barbie and Hot Wheels, to build interactive avatars that will be traded as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in a future virtual world.

Mattel, a prominent toy company, has announced a multi-year deal with Cryptoys, a gadget non-fungible token (NFT) exchange, to display its brands solely on the network.

Cryptoys is the main product of OnChain Studios, which has garnered investment from crypto-focused investment firms such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Dapper Labs. It is scheduled to launch in the summer months of 2022 on the Flow (FLOW) network.

OnChain Studios also wants to create a Cryptoys multiverse and other play-to-earn applications in which Mattel’s unique products, such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Leaders of the World, will be transformed into accessible characters.

Mattel President and Chief Operating Officer Richard Dickson claimed the firm was the “first toy company to enter NFTs” and that the virtual world presents “great opportunities for our beloved franchises and iconic IP.”

Cryptoys previewed the relationship on June 8 with a mysterious 17-second video using some of Mattel’s vintage product promotions on its Twitter account.

Mattel has previously experimented with NFTs, collaborating with the WAX network to issue a series of Hot Wheels NFTs in October 2021. Mattel also auctioned three one-of-a-kinds NFTs in cooperation with French designer brand Balmain in January 2022, netting the companies over $49,000 for all three.

Other toy makers have developed NFTs to take advantage of the growing demand and establish new sources of revenue for their businesses, with the NFT market predicted to expand to roughly $800 billion within the next 2 years.

Hasbro, which primarily includes brands like Action Man, My Little Pony, and G.I. Joe, debuted its first NFT series for its Power Rangers brand in October 2021 to match the NFT industry.

Pop-culture product behemoth Funko has released several NFT sets, the first of which included the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in August 2021, soon after the company bought Tokenwave, an NFT display and monitoring system.

Cryptoys wants to sell a variety of unique avatar-like NFTs, with these so-called “digital puppets” enabling modification via additional NFTs that can modify clothing, decorations, and traits for usage in the company’s planned “Cryptoyverse.”

Mattel’s NFTs will be added to the Flow cryptocurrency with other well-known ventures such as NBA’s Top Shot and UFC’s Strike.