⚓ I bought a $50 Disney NFT...

so you don't have to!

people have been asking me what got me writing about NFTs again.

the answer might surprise you…

no, it wasn’t people making a fortune on Solana and memecoins.

no, it wasn’t surging Bitcoin and Ethereum prices or Ordinals.

it was something much dumber…Disney Pinnacle ⤵️

ALPHA ⚓

what is Disney Pin Trading?

Disney Pinnacle is a new app from Dapper Labs. Dapper Labs you may remember from NBA Top Shot and Doodles 2.

this time they’re linking up with another giant…Disney…in order to recreate the magic of Disney Pin Trading with NFTs. think the aforementioned NBA Top Shot, but instead of trading cards, it’s pins that you would put on your daughter’s backpack.

you may not know it, but Disney pins are big business.

just go on eBay and look around. if you have the means, go to the theme parks and see collectors with binders full of pins. it’s one of the most thriving collector ecosystems out there.

I live in the shadow of Disney and was a pin collector myself when I was a kid. I liked collecting the Disney California Adventure pins (see below). so I’ve always been a fan.

BETA ⚓

what is Disney Pinnacle?

when Disney announced this in November 2023, I was excited.

however, I was alone in that. not only was it the doldrums of the NFT bear market (so even NFT people didn’t care about it), but from the other side of the aisle, there was a lot of anti-NFT sentiment floating around too.

no one asked for this, but Disney and Dapper Labs were going to give it to us anyway.

not surprisingly, the word NFT is nowhere to be found in the marketing or the app itself. I imagine this is because Disney doesn’t want the backlash.

Disney Pinnacle operates a lot like IRL Disney Pin trading. there are pins available for sale at all times. then, there are rarer ones available via drops which are limited edition.

the app itself is barebones. right now, you can buy pins and rip pin capsules. you can display your pins in a virtual binder of sorts. you can’t trade Disney Pinnacle pins with other users, but I imagine that will become a feature later on…as that is an essential part of the traditional Disney pin trading experience.

however, it’s getting the job done. what attracted me to Disney Pinnacle is simple: I have always liked Disney pins, and I think it’s a perfect use case for Disney and NFTs.

fake IRL pins run rampant on eBay. you can head the Disney pin trading Reddit to see many people trying to verify that their pins are authentic.

by putting Disney Pinnacle on the blockchain we no longer have to deal with this issue. we can collect pins and know they are real and what their mint count is without having to do any research online. it’s all in the app.

GAMMA⚓

the $50 “pin”…

Disney Pinnacle sent me an email that they were dropping an “Up” collection (I’m a big fan of the film and Pixar in general).

I knew this was a chance to elevate my Disney Pinnacle collection, but with a $50 sticker price, I had my reservations. but I had to do it for YOU…my dedicated subscribers and my insatiable gambling habit.

I entered the drop a bit late (I’d say 15 minutes or so).

it didn’t appear to matter. I was able to jump right to the purchase page, which shows me that the demand for these might not be that hot.

you can check my unboxing here. I pulled a Russell. even though I was hoping for Dug or even the rarest Balloon House…I was satisfied with my pin.

it honestly looks great and the collection itself is cohesive and eye-catching. I now have certified myself as a Disney Pinnacle super collector with this purchase (by my own designation).

now, is it worth $50? that remains to be seen. my initial guess is NO. as I’ve mentioned, I don’t see much buzz around Disney Pinnacle so the resale value on this will be low if anything at all.

that won’t stop me from continuing to collect these digital pins though. yes, I guess I’m still a degen at heart.

DELTA⚓

why I’m bullish

jokes aside, there is potential here for Disney Pinnacle to be something more.

I can see a world where Disney Pinnacle will have real-world redemption stations at their theme parks (for example, I’m only able to buy a certain Star Wars pin inside the Star Wars Trading Post in Downtown Disney). I can see pins trading becoming popular when challenges are implemented (like in NBA Top Shot).

and while, it’s not hot right now, Disney collectibles have a longtail typically. though the company is trending towards being washed, I’ve always been excited for them to get into NFTs. that’s because their collectibles tend to be “blue chips. from BivNFT 2022:

“That’s because their brand has a global and diehard following. But it took a recent trip to Disney’s California Adventure for me to realize how ravenous Disney-heads (what I’m calling them) are for anything that has the famous Mickey ears on it. From pins to lithographs, to merch, there has always been a great demand for the mouse memorabilia.”

if Disney really commits to this, it could truly be the future of Disney Pin Trading, which has already proven to be a great vertical for collectors. however, we are in a time where Disney is cutting budgets and scraping films. I’m not sure they have the stomach to grit it out with NFTs, especially considering the toxic conversation around them currently.

if Disney Pinnacle can survive though…it might just be a way to gain some mainstream adoption of NFTs.