Thierry Courtin, creator of the youth mascot, has put 2,022 digital illustrations up for sale on the Kalart platform. They are sold between 250 and 1000 euros.
Created in 1992, the T’choupi youth mascot has accompanied many generations in learning to ride a bike, managing anger or taking their first steps at school. Today, the famous penguin leads adults to the market for NFTs (non-fungible tokens). The creator of T’choupi, Thierry Courtin, published Monday on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the character a collection of digital illustrations on the French platform Kalart. But the initiative caused misunderstanding on social networks.
“The generation that knew T’choupi when it was created is now over thirty years old.. We are aimed at those who grew up with it, rather than children», assures Stanislas Mako, CEO of Kalart. “We wanted them to take a new step: the discovery of this new technology. This is a generational step for grandparents for example, who may be interested in purchasing NFTs for their grandchildren. Internet users who speak out against T’choupi NFTs are in fact speaking out against the image of NFTs in general, on which they have prejudices”he defends himself.
The idea for this NFT collection was born from the interest of Adrien Courtin, the author’s son, for the virtual art market. “My father already knew about NFTs”, he confides. “I just had to submit to him the idea of celebrating the existence of T’choupi in a new way and he was willing.
This launch comes at a time of a loss of speed in the NFT market, while transactions had reached 17.6 billion dollars in 2021. For Adrien Courtin, this is not a problem: “It’s a party first and foremost. We want to offer a part of T’choupi to the fans and to offer varied decorations compared to the usual offer. If it’s not profitable, it doesn’t matter.
2022 NFTs for sale
In all, 2022 NFT, from the designer’s original illustrations, are offered for sale. Almost all are at the price of 250 euros each, with the bonus of the possibility of receiving a physical reproduction of an original creation by Thierry Courtin.
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About thirty “premium” NFTs are sold for 1,000 euros. They allow you to receive a framed work, signed and dedicated by the author if the sale takes place before September 30, 2022.We wanted to make all transactions simple, in euros,” says Stanislas Mako. “Behind that, there is a desire to teach web3 to older generations”.
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If all the NFTs are sold, Thierry Courtin plans to celebrate T’choupi’s birthday in the metaverse, that is to say on the blockchain games The Sandbox or Decentraland. The purchasers of the NFT will be able to come and meet the avatar of T’choupi, that of Thierry Courtin and exchange with them.