Canadian art collective Sphynx Ink Inc. is partnering with OpenSea’s exclusive “Drops” platform to launch Winkles & Flam, a ground-breaking Digital Collectibles project introducing the first cartoon duo of the web3 space.
Created by Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Adam Benzine and BAFTA®-winning illustrator Dele Nuga, Winkles & Flam – the ‘Cosplaying Canadian Kitties’ – are adorkable sibling Sphynx cats who dress up in homemade, video game-inspired outfits. A year in the works and featuring original, hand-drawn art, the project differs radically from current NFT projects. It is not a PFP (Profile Picture). Nor does it use generative elements.
Launching April 3 with weekly content drops, rather than all at once, Winkles & Flam will run for five seasons, with sets of hand-drawn images comprising a mix of free mint, fixed-price and auctioned offerings. Each set draws inspiration from an iconic video game, with an educational component – Winklepedia™ – focusing on the history of video games.
A Season Pass goes on sale today (March 27) exclusively via OpenSea Drops, limited to just 1,000 copies and guaranteeing buyers all 30 cards from Season 1.
Winkles & Flam is the first major project to use Mintplex Lab’s cutting-edge, visual metadata editor Mint Foundry, which allows creators to edit and update information in real-time, without coding knowledge.
Winkles & Flam Creator Adam Benzine says: “Winkles & Flam marks the start of ‘Phase 2’ of the Digital Collectibles space, focusing on original characters, narrative, quality and reliability, led by doxxed creators with a proven track record.
“The market has grown tired of low-quality, rug-pull pump-n-dumps and vaguely conceived, cash-grab metaverses. A steady stream of garbage profile pictures has turned off consumers. It’s time for something fresh.”
Winkles & Flam Co-Creator Dele Nuga adds: “We’re thrilled to partner with OpenSea Drops and grateful to the geniuses at Mintplex Labs for devising a solution for our unconventional release strategy. We believe Winkles & Flam will be the first of many projects to move to a character-based, weekly release strategy, focusing on personality, storytelling and community.”
Season 1 of Winkles & Flam launches on April 3 and runs for 10 weeks, with weekly free mint cards (featuring Winkles) and fixed-priced cards (featuring Flam) released on Polygon. Winkles & Flam: Platinum cards (unique 1-of-1s featuring the duo together in playful scenarios) will be auctioned daily on Ethereum. Check out winklesandflam.com for more info.
(NOTE: Winkles is the pink kitty with blue eyes. Flam is the grey kitten with green eyes.)
Founded by Oscar®-nominee ADAM BENZINE and BAFTA®-winner DELE NUGA, Sphynx Ink Inc. is the Toronto-based art collective behind WINKLES & FLAM™, The Cosplaying Canadian Kitties™!
Winkles & Flam on OpenSea Drops: opensea.io/collection/winklesandflam-seasonpass/drop Official Site: winklesandflam.com LinkTree: linktr.ee/winklesandflam Creator Adam Benzine: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/adam_benzine Mintplex Labs: mintplex.xyz
