GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, July 31, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NetworkWire -- For the first time ever, a trove of actor William Shatner's most personal memorabilia is available to the public in digital form on the Worldwide Asset eXchange™ (WAX) Blockchain. Demand when the primary sale commenced on July 30 was so high that the initial 10,000 packs filled with approximately 125,000 digital photographs sold out in just nine minutes. Sales and trades on secondary markets are now booming as collectors are buying, selling and trading photographs from the iconic actor’s personal life and career.
William Shatner is one of film and television's most beloved stars, with a career spanning more than 60 years. The Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor has starred in an endless list of roles that includes Captain Kirk in television's most famous science fiction series, “Star Trek,” to the title role in “T.J. Hooker,” to the iconic Priceline Negotiator in advertisements for Priceline.com.
The scenes in the WAX Blockchain series of Shatner’s memorabilia include a picture of Shatner at the moment he found out his daughter was born, a candid photo of him hugging fellow “Star Trek” actor Leonard Nimoy, and even an image of Shatner’s dental X-rays (the first such collectible image on the blockchain)!
There were two types of packs that went on sale on July 30, 2020, at noon EST on shatnercards.io:
- 3,000 Mega Packs containing 30 digital collectibles. These sold out in three minutes.
- 7,000 Standard Packs containing five digital collectibles. These sold out in nine minutes.
“I’m astonished at how quickly it all happened – nine minutes! My goodness! My hope is that by trading the shard pieces on the various sites that people may find friends they would have never met otherwise,” Shatner said. “The cards themselves represent a beautiful past. The verification of being on the blockchains represents a great future. So we have the past and the future mixing together.”
This is the third such record-breaking NFT sale on WAX since May 2020.
William Shatner Digital Trading Cards on the WAX Blockchain:
William Shatner has been a vocal fan of blockchain-based products for years on social media. “There is a saying that putting something online is forever. I disagree. Putting something on a blockchain is forever,” he said. The blockchain records every aspect of every collectible transaction and stores it forever. These blockchain records can’t be changed by anyone and can be seen by everyone. Therefore, the blockchain is proof that the collectibles are authentic, and they can be traded or sold at any time without ever taking a chance with a buyer or seller because it’s verifiable on the WAX Blockchain.
The series of Shatner’s digital trading cards is made up of a type of blockchain-based collectible, called NFTs (or non-fungible tokens). Every NFT is one-of-a-kind and features unique characteristics that differentiate it from any other NFT, and it can never be counterfeited or duplicated. Collectors purchase packs, which they then open to reveal the collectibles inside which are cards and/or shards. When you combine the three matching shards for any given card, the full card and its rarity are revealed.
Owners of the William Shatner NFTs can:
- Sell them on a marketplace.
- Trade them instantly, with anyone, anywhere in the world – for free.
- Trade with confidence that every collectible is certified authentic, unique, and can never be altered.
- View a collectible's full ownership records and trading history.
- Showcase their inventory on social media.
- Search wishlists of other traders.
Some of the William Shatner NFT trading cards can be combined to create new and more rare collectibles, and others can be redeemed for physical merchandise personally autographed by Shatner himself.
Data for William Shatner cards on the WAX Blockchain includes:
- Detailed specifications for each card and shard, including the date it was created, its rarity, images of the card, proof of its authenticity and more. With this information, collectors know exactly which cards and shards they are trading – no guesswork, no need to trust or verify other traders.
- Comprehensive ownership records that show who traded the item and when. Since everyone can see its full ownership history, no one can ever fake ownership.
- Complete trade history.
William Shatner Digital Cards Sale Details:
The collection includes:
- 10,000 digital packs.
- Expected 124,935 shards.
- A total combined possibility of 41,709 individual trading cards.
- 25 cards that can be redeemed for an autographed headshot.
- One card that can be redeemed for an autographed Captain Kirk action figure.
“I love this release,” says Evan Vandenberg, director of business development for WAX. “It's so unique, not only from the perspective of William Shatner's personal memorabilia being put on a blockchain, but the shard concept and the ability to craft cards is a simple yet awesome mechanic that should really take NFTs to another level.”
What Are Collectors Doing with Them?
Once the packs were released, a buying and trading frenzy commenced. Collectors can still buy and trade or chase after their missing pieces to create full cards on secondary markets.
Collectors are buying and selling the collectibles on secondary marketplaces, including:
- Shatner.Market
- Wax.simplemarket.io
- Collectables.io
This launch is one of a series of NFT sales that WAX has planned for 2020. The most recent NFT sale sold out in 67 minutes, with the prior NFT sale selling out in 28 hours. Read more about The Worldwide Asset eXchange™ Blockchain and Shatner Trading Cards on the WAX blog here.
About WAX:
WAX is the safest and most convenient way to create, buy, sell and trade virtual items – to anyone, anywhere in the world.
Hundreds of millions of people around the globe already trade digital and physical items. But the problems that plague the digital goods and trading community have stunted its growth far beneath its full potential.
WAX has created a full suite of blockchain-based tools that allows anyone to trade digital or even physical items instantly and securely, to anyone, anywhere.
Participants of the Worldwide Asset eXchange gain access to a global community of collectors and traders, buyers and sellers, creators and gamers, merchants, dApp creators, and game developers. For more information, please visit https://wax.io, and follow along on Twitter and Telegram.
About William Shatner:
William Shatner has cultivated a career spanning over 60 years as an award-winning actor, director, producer, writer, recording artist and horseman. He is one of Hollywood’s most recognizable figures and a major philanthropist. Additional information can be found at the official William Shatner website via the following link: https://williamshatner.com/ws/.
Jassy Jackson
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