Collectors Universe ➡ Collectors & Pudgy Penguins' New Owner
PSA's owner rebrands and launches a vault product, and Pudgy Penguins gets a new ruler
Cultured is a newsletter that gets readers up to speed on the most interesting things going on at the intersection of finance, art, collectibles, NFTs, and more. Cultured is produced by Otis, an alternative investment platform that was recently acquired by Public.com.
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🗞 STORIES OF THE DAY
Collectors, freshly rebranded, secures $100M in funding and launches a vault service
Collectors Universe, the parent company of PSA, announced it would now be known as just plain old Collectors. The company also said it planned to launch Collectors Vault, a new storage and sales service, this summer.
The announcements came after Collectors closed a $100 million financing round that put its valuation at more than $4 billion. The cash will help the company launch the vault project, as well as hire new staff to clear PSA’s massive grading backlog.
The company’s vault product will be similar to those offered by Goldin and PWCC. Collectors can send their cards to be graded by PSA and then immediately transfer them to the company’s vault, where it will be stored until it is sold.
Our Take: PSA’s hold on the trading card grading market is a major advantage for Collectors Vault.
While several other companies offer comparable grading services, PSA is by far the most popular. There’s a reason for that: getting a card graded by PSA gives it a 30% premium on the resale market. Collectors (the company) can take advantage of PSA’s popularity among collectors to boost sales for its vault product.
Pudgy Penguins waddles to a new owner
Control of the collection of 8,888 NFTs was sold to LA-based entrepreneur Luca Netz, who paid 750 ETH ($2.5 million) to become the leader of “The Huddle.” Netz will have commercial rights to the tokens, as well as the ability to launch new products.
In January, Pudgy Penguins owners voted to give the boot to their original leadership team. The move came after the team failed to make good on a host of promises for penguin-related projects, including a children’s book, a token, and a metaverse game.
Under Netz’s control, Pudgy Penguins is finally expected to release its much-anticipated $PENGU token. After the deal was announced, the floor price for a token rose to 2.5 ETH, up from a low of 0.7 ETH a few weeks ago.
Our Take: Just like a failing business, a new owner might be what Pudgy Penguins needs to avoid collapse.
When shareholders start to raise issues with a company, they’ll often demand new leadership (especially when the problem stems from mismanagement). NFT projects operate with a similar structure, and the Pudgy Penguins community took a similar approach to dealing with mismanagement. While it’s too early to tell if the change worked, the sky-high prices for these flightless birds suggest that the market is optimistic.
✨ AROUND THE INTERNET
BAYC’s Discord was hacked on April 1, along with several other servers. It appeared to be a well-timed attack designed to coincide with April Fools.
Switzerland’s freeports are back in the spotlight after art industry insiders raised concerns about Russian oligarchs using the facilities to store art and other collectibles.
A super rare 1987 Buick GNX, one of just 547 ever made, is up for auction at Bring A Trailer. The current bid: $220,000 with one day to go.
UNESCO has warned that the war in Ukraine was likely to have damaged the country’s cultural heritage. It’s currently working to assess conditions at many of the sites.
Logan Paul just broke the record for the most expensive Pokémon card sold in a private sale, buying a rare Pikachu Illustrator card for $5.3 million.
