Ryan “The RyBred” Hawks
Dino Goanna – The Cult Underground of Knock of Goannas
Al Goanna has been the unquestioned most hyped second generation of a project all time. As the final drop drew near, many people started to get antsy. They wanted new Goannas. That thirst was so strong, that “knockoff” Al Goannas started appearing that mimicked existing V1 Goannas. So where did this happen? Well, Rosen, the creator of Algo Dinosaurs started taking commissions to make replica V1 Goanna/Dinosaur fusions. Find out the story below.
Algo Dinosaurs Origin Story
Algo Dinosaurs dropped towards the end of January 2022 on AB2 Gallery. The collected denotated a total of 600+6 NFTs. 350 are the base “Rare,” 125 “Ultra Rare,” 25 “Ultra Rare,” and 6 originals. The base Dinos were released at an affordable 10A, and with the Ultra Rares still an affordable 75A. They remained relatively under the radar due likely in large part to them not having a Discord channel.
But the affordable price tag and lack of noise doesn’t mean that this project doesn’t have some absolute bangers of pieces. Even a few of the rares have traits like wings, basically turning the once landlocked reptiles into dragons or angels. There are even some ninja turtle look-alikes and fan-favorite laser eyes. Many of the Ultra Rares are a vivid, vibrant gold, with crowns or halos. The 10 Legendaries take on a purple galaxy theme, often complete with a unique mask.
Return of the Dino
Based on NFT Explorer, sales for Algo Dinosaurs basically halted for almost six months. The project saw three sales sprinkled throughout March 2022, but then just three more sales from April to August of the year. Then on 9/6 something happened. Al Goanna mod Hedda provided the catalyst the caused a huge spike in sales. September 6th and 7th saw a total of 30 sales for the Algo Dinosaurs, bringing them essentially back from the dead. Sales continued consistently about September 13th.
In speaking with Rosen, the creator of Algo Dinosaurs, he mentioned that Algo Dinos became somewhat of a meme in the Al Goanna community. People joked that the Dinos were actually a secretly dropped gen 2 of Goanna. But of course that was not the case.
At the same time, a strange phenomena appeared of people posting their Al Goannas side by side with an Algo Dinosaur that was drawn to mimic their Al Goanna’s appearance. A Goanna community member, Buddro, asked Rosen to draw their Al Goanna as a Dino. This set off a chain reaction of people requesting the same for their Al Goanna. Overall it was a natural pair – Al Goanna and Algo Dinosaurs are both mainly green reptiles, and the happened to both be posed in a way that actually made them pretty similar side by side. People started dubbing them, “knock off Goannas.”
The Future of Dinos
The original 500 Algo Dinosaurs are still being slowly rolled out. Rosen notes that there are plans to potentially create some V2 Goanna/Dinosaurs from there. There have been discussions within the Goanna community on how to make this happen. She is excited to take on the challenge and feels that drawing the Goannas have given her an excellent opportunity to improve on her art skills. He claims V2 Goanna/Dinos will be some of her finest artwork.
Finally, she wants to thank the entire community for contributing to the project’s recent cult status. Specifically Buddro, who commissioned the first Dino Goanna, and of course Benji, for accepting Dino Goannas into the community. Stories like this are what the Algo NFT space is all about.
View Algo Dinosaur Collection: https://www.nftexplorer.app/collection/algo-dinosaur
Twitter: https://twitter.com/algodinosaurnft
Ryan is a person whose life purpose empowering people to pursue their passions. He has a Masters in Sport Psychology and is starting his consulting business, Hawks and Co. Pristine Performance. By day he works in social services and by night he’s an algo NFT degen. His other main interests include fantasy football and Final Fantasy.
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