Mattel has taken a break on his flagship Hot Wheels Virtual Garage NFT Program, which announces that there will be no further releases of new NFT series or functions “for the near future”, while the toy giant reconsider the future in the long term of his digital collective objects.
“While we are evaluating the changing world of virtual collecting objects, we have established that the time has come to end our series and to play drops in 2025 and continue to play,” Mattel said in an official update posted on his website.
The decision puts an end, at least temporarily, on the Hot Wheels Virtual Garage Project that was launched in November 2021 – one of the earliest NFT projects of the brand to get out of a large toy manufacturer.
Mattel collaborated with the Worldwide Asset Exchange (WAX) for his initial Mint, who offer collectors digital collection objects and silver -plated cast cars.
Ten series were released in total and the last drop went live in December 2024.
Mattel assured fans that “all existing and excellent repayments … will be fulfilled as promised”, including models such as the Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 and the classic TV series Batmobile.
The toy giant said that although users cannot currently transfer their NFTs to external portfolios or market places, “we explore future options … and share updates with the community.”
There is currently no revival of the program planned, but Mattel claims that a long -term strategy is developing.
NFT holders can continue to buy, sell and trade on the Mattel Digital Collectibles Marketplace, and the “My Collection” portal and the official Discord community remain online via at least 2025.
Customer support will also continue to work during this period, the website is.
Reconsider brands NFT -efforts
The decision of the toy manufacturer lands as older brands in the industry into account the collapse of the Early NFT -Hype and the Legal Fallout that has been followed.
Only two weeks ago, Nike was hit with a proposed Class Action law shop of $ 5 million about his abrupt closure of RTFKT, the digital fashion startup that it acquired in 2021.
Claimants claimed that Nike RTFKT’s hypeded Ethereum-Based NFTs, such as Clonex and Dunk Ghost Edition, only to quietly support a “soft carpet”, leaving investors with illiquid assets behind.
The complaint claims that Nike is said to have promoted non -registered effects and has violated the consumer protection legislation.
Mattel’s Web3 –
Mattel has expanded the Web3 footprint much further than hot wheels in recent years.
In 2023 it collaborated with women-guided Crypto Brand Boss Beauties to launch Barbie NFTs in honor of the 250 career persona’s career personas, from astronauts to CEOs, designed to “explore women and collectors.”
The company also worked with Luxe fashion house Balmain in 2022 to launch a Barbie and Ken NFT collection, described as a “unique digital and physical art collection”.
Around that time, Mattel launched his own NFT marketplace on the Flow Blockchain, making it possible to to-eat peer-to-peer trade in crypto and hints on plans to Tokenize.