An interview with the first collector to complete a full set of the first 100 Artblocks projects

An interview with Charley, who owns at least one of every single art blocks collection to date.

Loopify

Posted on Jul 30, 2021

Meet Charley. The collector that ow Approximately worth 500 ETH for the 101 pieces that make up the first full set of the first 100 projects. That’s right. The first collector to own the first 100 artblocks collections.

Check out his collection here. As you can see he owns every single collection from curated, playground and factory. Here is an exclusive look into his reasoning and journey.

When did you find out about Artblocks?

I first heard about Artblocks in January this year in the Cryptopunks discord – just as so many of us. It was the time when people started to mint tons of Squiggles and Snowfro still had time to hang around. I looked into the concept and was stoked right from the beginning.

Verify Message —

{ "address": "0xC3A7bF2c9D9D04A789Ca41F160bfdBbd73B5DBd5", "msg": "1/ When did you find out about Artblocks?\n\nI first heard about Artblocks in January this year in the Cryptopunks discord – just as so many of us. It was the time when people started to mint tons of Squiggles and Snowfro still had time to hang around. I looked into the concept and was stoked right from the beginning.", "sig": "0x135bdb173d6b81dcb14d7d50e70d9fb330c5449aeea7829dee69625019fa2f5d4b50e7bea803c05c85dd43e1d357623ce4e41edab89cab2925bbc84ee27ef38700", "version": "2" }

What drew you to complete the FULL collection?

Actually, I think this almost happened by accident. I have always been sort of a collector, whether it was seashells I found somewhere on the beach or Pokémon cards in my youth. When the new projects were released in mid-January, I was amazed by their variety and innovation. Just imagine how different Ignition and NimBuds are – still both generated along with the same principles of generative art. I couldn’t stop, wanted to be part of each facet of the story and so I continued to mint or purchase what I was still lacking.

After I found myself owning at least one piece of the first 50 or 60 projects, I was keen to go on with the first 100 ones (and maybe more). With Casey releasing project 100 as the last curated one to conclude season three, I thought this will be a worthy finale and called it the full AB101 set.

Verify Message —

{ "address": "0xC3A7bF2c9D9D04A789Ca41F160bfdBbd73B5DBd5", "msg": "2/ What drew you to complete the FULL collection?\n\nActually, I think this almost happened by accident. I have always been sort of a collector, whether it was seashells I found somewhere on the beach or Pokémon cards in my youth. When the new projects were released in mid-January, I was amazed by their variety and innovation. Just imagine how different Ignition and NimBuds are – still both generated along the same principles of generative art. I couldn’t stop, wanted to be part of each facet of the story and so I continued to mint or purchase what I was still lacking.\nAfter I found myself owning at least one piece of the first 50 or 60 projects, I was keen to go on with the first 100 ones (and maybe more). With Casey releasing project 100 as the last curated one to conclude season three, I thought this will be a worthy finale and called it the full AB101 set.", "sig": "0xd9a3ab9d6625727c0ee9a236b2c724f2536d672db861ffcd67cb4b8f48aae5cf37e86f707daf4ccd72f295d834737d61b158b62e7709dfd9caed4e8213e1393800", "version": "2" }

How did you meet ends to afford many of the pieces?

When I got into Artblocks, I had around 0.5 ETH to spend and two punks in stock. Still, I was pretty early to the party and gas wars did not really exist back then, so I could easily afford two pieces in a drop. I kept the one I liked more and was able to sell the second one quickly after, mostly for profit. In addition, I was flipping one of my punks and immediately reinvested the gains, too. I remember well how hard it was for me to let my second Ringer go, but it had to happen if I wanted to acquire more art.

Having said that, I know how critical some artists are when they see their art being traded for financial gain and I can feel this. Without flipping however, it would not have been possible for me to continue and support even more artists at the end. And what I really appreciate is that with based on this technology, they can participate in secondary sales as well.

Verify Message —

{ "address": "0xC3A7bF2c9D9D04A789Ca41F160bfdBbd73B5DBd5", "msg": "3/ How did you meet ends to afford many of the pieces?\n\nWhen I got into Artblocks, I had around 0.5 ETH to spend and two punks in stock. Still, I was pretty early to the party and gas wars did not really exist back then, so I could easily afford two pieces in a drop. I kept the one I liked more and was able to sell the second one quickly after, mostly for profit. In addition, I was flipping one of my punks and immediately reinvested the gains, too. I remember well how hard it was for me to let my second Ringer go, but it had to happen if I wanted to acquire more art.\nHaving said that, I know how critical some artists are when they see their art being traded for financial gain and I can feel this. Without flipping however, it would not have been possible for me to continue and support even more artists at the end. And what I really appreciate is that based on technology, they can participate in secondary sales as well.", "sig": "0x8cc3d9885a1e49de7c8da9f5ab993beb1dc9b8197cea34e924a6b5bdd9e4d974461fca3332701f93c079465ff183a65d2de9ff324cc272635de4c6bddc3355da01", "version": "2" }

How dedicated were you to complete a full set?

Well, sometimes it almost felt like a full-time job especially when we were approaching the last like ten projects that were still missing to complete my AB101 set (not talking about refreshing a page every few seconds for hours when The Eternal Pumps came out). Moreover, the drop mechanisms changed – e.g. Venetians can only be minted in person – and drop times were not always compatible with my schedule, too. When the portals were auctioned off at five in the morning my time, I had just received my second COVID vaccination the day before and was still suffering from some side effects. I still forced myself out of bed and was rewarded with a wonderful piece of art by Jeff.

Verify Message —

{ "address": "0xC3A7bF2c9D9D04A789Ca41F160bfdBbd73B5DBd5", "msg": "4/ How dedicated were you to complete a full set?\n\nWell, sometimes it almost felt like a full-time job especially when we were approaching the last like ten projects that I was still missing to complete my AB101 set (not talking about refreshing a page every few seconds for hours when The Eternal Pumps came out). Moreover, the drop mechanisms changed – e.g. Venetians can only be minted in person – and drop times were not always compatible with my schedule, too. When the portals were auctioned off at five in the morning my time, I had just received my second COVID vaccination the day before and was still suffering from some side effects. I still forced myself out of bed and was rewarded with a wonderful piece of art by Jeff.", "sig": "0x84d42fd2e47dbdce78d073172af50b60fa4cd6975987a8b9610fc8b31b05a8b90f0ed1d3255ce75ff20c8e5c4278ca5882379cceed32560a08708e605ef13dfc01", "version": "2" }

What are your favourite pieces in your collection?

This is a really tough question because honestly, I like them all and when I start talking about them, I can’t stop anymore. However, three of the pieces are still somewhat special to me. The first one is my fuzzy Squiggle, my first Artblock mint. The second one is my 720 Minutes because it incorporates the time I was born. And last but not least, my The Eternal Pump with fast speed. It represents the excitement I still feel right before each drop.

Verify Message —

{ "address": "0xC3A7bF2c9D9D04A789Ca41F160bfdBbd73B5DBd5", "msg": "5/ What are your favourite pieces in your collection?\n\nThis is a really tough question because honestly, I like them all and when I start talking about them, I can’t stop anymore. However, three of the pieces are still somewhat special to me. The first one is my fuzzy Squiggle, my first Artblock mint. The second one is my 720 Minutes because it incorporates the time I was born. And last but not least, my The Eternal Pump with fast speed. It represents the excitement I still feel right before each drop.", "sig": "0xd83c4b0f8036db50c7831b0cb2a70456300886a76920f2c3f2e9c88018a6572644a95396dcdfcad1facc43fb963cc652af25e925ce9230c966d5b0ef72523b6901", "version": "2" }

Will you keep going to have a full set?

So far, I still managed to acquire one piece of each project. However, I’m fully aware that it will be impossible to continue forever and as soon as the first 1 of 1 of 1 will be minted, I may not be able to keep going with the series. In any case, I will continue to acquire more beautiful pieces of generative Artblocks art that I am looking forward so much to be released.