11th Nov 2022
Ryan “The RyBred” Hawks

Interview with the Yeti: The OG NFT Family of Algorand

The Algo Yeti project is coming up on their self-proclaimed “12.69” month anniversary. They’re one of the older projects on Algorand, with creator, artist, social media manager, and head of household, Yeti doing it all. Yeti calls himself “a simple beast,” who just wanted to create lovable art for lovable people. But what he has done is build a close knit family of Yeti lovers that collect his family of tundra-dwelling humanoids.

 

 

Learning How to Build a Family

Yeti says that when he started the project, he had been in the space for a little bit and thought he should try his luck at putting out his own art. He states he “only knew art, didn’t know Discord.” He saw a lot of projects that were doing cool real animals. Yeti decided to go with something in the same vein – but slightly different.

In the words of Yeti, a Yeti has “a human element to it, I think we can relate with that type of creature.” It is true Yetis are actually quite shy and docile – about as lovable as can be. All they really want to do is just chill, hang out, and eat snacks.

The first Yeti drop was on the classic AB2 Gallery on October 20th 2021. Priced at the only entry point that made any sense, 69A, the drop was a smashing success. “The first instant sell out was very exhilarating. I’ve never sold ‘my’ art before. I do graphics all day long for business, but this was my art. Super exciting.”

 

 

Growing the Yeti Pack

“It all goes back to love,” says Yeti when asked what the thought process was behind making his Yetis a cohesive family. The male Yeti came first. Then his mate, the female Betty. From there, they welcomed a little one to their frozen den, Eddie. “It just kinda made sense… I really liked the idea of finding a mate and rewarding those who were so lucky to find their match.”

It does give a different dynamic to the collection. Most want at least one of each. But it might take patience to get the right one of each three to mesh. For example, there is a Frankenstein Yeti. Naturally he would probably want to pair with another spooky themed Betty, where some options include an actual Frankenstein’s bride, but some might settle for a vampire Betty, or devil Betty. And if that was the couple one had, they’d probably want to shoot for buying Goat Eddie over say, birthday cake hat Eddie.

Another cool feature of the collection is the method of shuffle. While most project do instant shuffle, or use Discord Bots to choose winners, Yeti keeps a “hand-crafted” method of using Twitter for shuffles. Users have to Retweet their potential Yeti fam piece to be entered into the “Wheel of Names” that magically decides who is worthy of the piece in question.

 

The Fam is More Than Just the JPEGs

Yeti may not have known much about Discord, and admits that he is about as reclusive as an actual yeti. Still, he created a Discord channel that has become a tight-knit community of tundra-loving collectors. “The fam is pretty damn chill,” says Yeti. “People come and go, it feels comfortable. I’ve built what I consider friendships with quite a few people.”

He is grateful that his community is responsive to the pace at which he does his art. Though he states he would love to work on Yetis full time one day, he does have multiple day jobs he works. (“You have more than one job right, I mean everybody does” – Yeti). But the pace of a drop or two a week does allow for constant drops, something that many other projects don’t have.

Initially Yeti said that he was going to do 1,000 Yetis for the collection. He quickly had to walk that back, realizing that he could not get the output that many generative collections have. Though he initially got a little pushback, the community ultimately understood, opting instead for a smaller, more high quality collection of 1/1s. There are ultimately going to be 200 Yetis, 100 Bettys, and 50 Eddies. All of the Eddies are already out in the wild, but stay tuned for more shuffles for Bettys and Yetis!

 

 

The Legend of the Yeti

Yeti overall is glad that his outlet for art has spawned a community. He states, “I spend a lot of time here (in the space) and enjoy it.” On my end, I’ll even break character and speak in the first person to state that Yeti has been a pleasure to meet. We’ve DMed each other recommendations for post-punk and Darkwave, or strategies to keep up on self-care.

I’ll leave with a gem of a quote from him: “I’ve been told I’m the most modest, kind man in the world. I agree.”