Archived on 15/05/2025

PROPOSAL: NOUNish Friends (NOUNS TOWN) Collectible figures and more by BigshotToyworks

BigshotKlim

This is a proposal to create, manufacture and distribute a series of NOUNish collectible figures with a unique style and unlimited utility possibilities.

WTF is the NOUNish friends project ?

A modular collectible physical toy series based on NOUNs. Uniquely crafted in a new look and style that will showcase the fact that “nounish” does not just mean “pixelated”. Unique packaging and interactive elements will make this series stand out above all other figures in this format.

STAGE 1 (DEVELOPMENT & PRE-PRODUCTION)

  1. Finalize sculptures (1 modular body, 7 heads, accessories & base stand)
  2. Create prototypes (1 set of 1st prints, 3 sets of paint masters / tooling patterns)
  3. Create paint masters (design colorways, tampo prints, 2 sets of samples & AI production files)
  4. Packaging design for individual boxes & display cartons & master cartons

Cost Estimates:

Design & sculpture: $9-12K (3-4 ETH)

Prototypes (12 figures / 6 heads / accessories x2): $11-14K (4 ETH)

Paint masters (12 figures / 6 heads / accessories x2): $9-14K (3-4 ETH)

Packaging design (templates, die lines, color callout for production): $4-6K (1-2 ETH)

TOTAL STAGE 1 ESTIMATED COSTS: 11 - 14 ETH

Klim and his team have been working on this project over the past 3 months and the final designs are fun, playful, modern and we feel represent NOUNs well in this funky new style. The sculpts are ready to go but we have gone as far as we can without help.

A much more robust description of the proposal dealing with production costs and beyond is here;

As always we will be building out in the open and will engage the community with regular updates and sharing opportunities.

Noun12

I would likely support, after some thinking and discussion, and am happy to put this onchain when it’s ready for it. This proposal, the Google doc, is very thorough and well put together.

  1. Rough numbers after Stage 1’s 14 ETH: ~20 ETH for Stage 2 and then >100 ETH for 25k units produced/shipped/sundry, X for marketing.

  2. It’s hard to assess the demand for these or how we’d use them, it’s a big TBD, but I would guess the demand for us internally to have these made would be high nonetheless. Need more thought on this and where it fits.

  3. How do we choose the 7 heads?

  4. What toy out there would the best compare to?

  5. There may be a desire to do this via Sablier rather than multiple stage proposals.

  6. How do you see this next to @DAVID and Nouns Sofubis?

DAVID

For 6, my take is The nouns studio 1 sofubi are not actually toys at all but rather “context creators” to break through the attention membrane in a space which both is completely overrun with characters via advertising and critical to make impact with highly influential specific segments of the consumer market in an important point of contact in an effort to have an impact on surrounding territories. Our project, while “toyetic” is not a “Toy” or even an adult collectible, but a tool to draw a very specific beam of attention from a very specific audience.

BigshotKlim

Thanks for your question and positive response I will do my best to answer and keep things open ended since there is so much going on in this space so fast. [quote=“Noun12, post:2, topic:967”]

  • Rough numbers after Stage 1’s 14 ETH: ~20 ETH for Stage 2 and then >100 ETH for 25k units produced/shipped/sundry, X for marketing.

This is about right for an all in project like this. Many of these are one time costs that will not be a factor if we do series 2 and beyond. I feel that it is a good value for the main goal which is to proliferate Nouns and the community.

  • It’s hard to assess the demand for these or how we’d use them, it’s a big TBD, but I would guess the demand for us internally to have these made would be high nonetheless. Need more thought on this and where it fits.

Many of these would be used as promotional giveaways at shows and conferences as well as holder redemptions. The packaging will have a comprehensive linktree to allow for easy sharing of information about nouns, CC0 and connections to any web content and AR activations. projects like this usually take about 8-12 months to develop and ship and we are already 3 months in here on it. We will have a window of time to develop some additional content as a parallel projects leading up to the release that should add a lot of utility to the toys and value to the overall project as a whole. It is too early to discuss those plans but the big idea is that when the project is ready to ship we will be able to activate everything .

  • How do we choose the 7 heads?

I picked the 7 heads that have a nice cross section and have quite a few others already sculpted and blocked out. I have share them before on Discord and will share ore as we get this project started.

  • What toy out there would the best compare to?

There is no real comparison because this project combines so many parts of the collectible space and helps bridge the physical and digital together to make something unique. I would say Medicom Bearbick, KidRobot Dunny. Superplastic janky. and Roblox /minecraft are things that are similar but not the same.

  • There may be a desire to do this via Sablier rather than multiple stage proposals.

Not sure what this is but I would love to learn more.
We always structure payments in multiple stages in order to facilitate faster milestone payments when we need to wire funds to the factory or pay vendors on the spot. this also gives both parties a way out if the situation is a mess of sorts. I would prefer to keep things as they are since we are in such a new space

  • How do you see this next to @DAVID and Nouns Sofubis?

David is a good friend and we worked with him and @4156 on the design and execution of the sofubi, I think that his explanation above is 100% on point. The two things are very different, but I feel both have a lot of value for the NOUN brand.
Hope this helps answer your questions, We are in full work mode on this so this is very encouraging and the community insight is welcome.

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BigshotKlim

Based on the overwhelmingly positive response and the sheer volume of time and work I have invested into this project I decided to move this one step closer to the next and prototype the figures so that it is easier to visualize what they will look like and maybe get ore traction here so that these can be available for the holidays. the figures will be about 4" tall and have a stand that would help keep their giant heads and bodies balanced and standing.I have a ton of other ideas of how to add more heads, generate more engagement but all of this needs to be done in baby steps I should have images of the se in about 7-10 days If anyone has any questions I am here =) OI am also open to discussing any potential collaborations as we build this out

brennen.eth

I love this!

What would the cost be to update to a larger amount of heads? At what point does it become too expensive to produce unique heads? I would like to see a cost break down at different levels of heads and maybe that would allow us to determine what we could support even at a larger stage.

BigshotKlim

I think each series would add more heads and accessories. retiring parts of the previous sets.
Some designs don’t translate into physicals and others can not be manufactured, so there would need to be some flexibility within the community to understand that this is a NOUNish project and the aesthetics and designs may not be the same. here is an example of other NOUNish designs i did. As you can see some are new others are familiar. We plan to continue this with new body styles as well.

if this works the way i envision we will be able to offer CAD data and other utilities with each toy so the owner can 3Dprint new heads.

BigshotKlim

mail call today was very exciting…

BigshotKlim

image
We have UNICORNS

BigshotKlim


and some cold beverages

BigshotKlim

progress … having physical samples in hand is key to the development process. now that we have these a whole new flow of ideation and design thinking is taking shape.

Oni

really exciting proposal!

i like the thought process on a unique take beyond the current pixelated nounish look, but being so early in the brand’s life would it make more sense to first focus on figures that are more traditionally “nounish” / recognizable?

one concern i have is that with the re-imagined body type combined with all these other types of glasses, is that they don’t immediately make me think of nouns.

image

image

I am reminded of the aesthetic volatility comments that 4156 had made when they decided to have all the glasses be the traditional “noggles” so that there was still cohesion across the collection

If we go with this unique body type I think it would make more sense for all the eyewear to be the traditional square glasses that have immediate brand recognition

-for stage 2b, 24,000 pieces + another 7,000 in the 1k ROYGBIV sets feels a bit high? what are your plans around distribution/retail cost?

BigshotKlim

Lots of good questions, I will do my best to answer about my design choices and the marketing plan later this week or I can jump on a call in discord to discuss my vision for this series and answere any questions in depth? let me know, my schedule is mostly flexible.
Having spoken to a number of people about the shapes and after reviewing he prototypes for durability I am making some changes to get be body to be a bit less curvy and dial it back a bit to the more angular look but still keeping it production friendly and pleasant in hand/tactile experience

9999

I agree with @Oni that aesthetics should more closely match Nouns artwork and about bringing down the number of units down by a large amount. I’d feel badly about putting so much stuff into the world unless it had a good reason to be there.

BigshotKlim

I am in agreement about dialing back the design a bit to reflect some of the nounish aesthetics, but you have to keep in mind that non of the PFP details transfer well to 3D or manufacturing at scale with good quality paint

BigshotKlim

happy to talk abot our strategy and will have something up regarding that in a few days.

noun22

i agree -

these should all be more explicitly nounish - they all need to have the signature glasses in my opinion
and we should do a small trial first to see if there is actual demand before we do a massive order

BigshotKlim

taking in all of the Feedback i dialed back the forms to be a bit more in tune with the NOUN forms without getting too angular and keeping in line with the classic Art Toy aesthetic. Went back to just one classic shape for the glasses with a nice range of paint options. This is a mock up of the rainbow genesis set that I think would be an awesome way to start the collection with just 500 sets (all 7 figures in a nice box)

Noun12

What is the cost differential per unit difference on a 25k, vs 10k, vs 5k run? Trying to tease out how cost scales.

Thanks!

BigshotKlim

The bulk of the costs are in the up front development, tooling and preproduction. and logistics. we can get this down to 10000 pcs, but the per unit costs would go up by a bit. I can recalculate for 10 K but remember that this is a 15 dollar collectible figure (this deco design is not final) that would most likely be given away at events and sent to retailers, reviewers and influencers to help proliferate the brand. Each figure would come packaged with a QR code (or possibly a POAP?) that would get the user unique access to other NOUN related content that is currently being developed (coloring books, new 3D animated content and games)

BigshotKlim

Thanks for all the thoughtful feedback about the design of the figure. I am taking everything into account and will definitely use things that make sense. To be clear this is a small 4" figure series designed to have interchangeable parts with a common body shape that can be decorated in production with multiple paint applications similar to a BearBrick or a Kid Robot Dunny. The legs have swappable parts that will allow us to have 4 separate height options and change the proportions visually. The reason for having soft and flowing edges is to give the figures a nice feel when you are holding them in hand since the sharp edged toys like Roblox and Minecraft figures all feel cheap and poorly are based on the methods used to produce them. Happy do jump on a call of have a chat about plans for this series and beyond> have been working on these for the past 3 months with considerable time and capital already spent on the proof of concept, happy to colaborate on some feedback and looking forward to taking this to the next steps .

BigshotKlim

In order to try to clarify some of the design choices here i put together some notes. to help explain why these look “off model” While I can certainly make these as limited artworks out of wood with incredible paint in small editions the point of this particular concept is mass adoption and proliferation.
Happy to re quote this at 10K or work through quantities once we are ready to go to production but I would love to get the development funded first so We can continue the work.
The NOUN PFP is a gorgeous example of pixel art and quirky fun simplicity that can only be communicated in a flat 2D manner or tiled as flat pixelated 3D layers.
This look does not translate effectively into a 3Dimentional mass produced object for manufacturing reasons both with molding and paint deco at scale.
The simple on model translation of the body only really works if the shapes are blocky yet soft edged to have a nice tactile feel in hand. The heads all need a certain level of reimagining in order to translate into 3D, work as a figure and be suitable for production
Once you get away from the waist up only look and add the lower body and second arm
The aesthetics start to look off and loose the charm and style of the original when brought into 3D for production.

I wanted to approach this project slightly different and start from scratch using the Characters as reference and guides but working to create a new look that works as physicals, commands a presence on the shelf, Is fun to play with and be cost effective in manufacturing. I wanted to make sure that the proportions were modern and had a cool line flow aesthetic and also allow for a more uniform design language throughout the entire line of characters.
The other reasons for this style variation is to give the characters a more animated fun style that can be easy and fun to animate and evolve the look
I wanted to have a strong example that really embraces the CC0 concept and embraces that this brand can be and look like anything that you want. When I onboard artist the first levels of pushback is always “I don’t work in the pixelstyle” and this erases that stigma immediately opening a much wider range of opportunity to work with a whole new range of builders and creators.

Sam

I for one, love the idea and aesthetic you have here Klim. I really hope some Nouners get the proposal on-chain soon.

I want to start my collection.

Much like Kenner did with StarWars they began with a limited SKU.

Stickers or vinyl clings like “color-forms” of the accessories that you could stick on the shirt would be cool too. (though paint would be higher quality)

BigshotKlim

Stickers are a definite yes. the vinyl clings would not work due to size and curved surface as well as materials. ( i tried LOL) I plan to have these executed at the highest quality level possible since the goal of this project is engagement and not profit we can spend the margins on quality and not walmart profits. We have a robust marketing strategy for all of our NOUN engagements but have to start with stage one first Thank you so much Sam

BigshotKlim


After quite a few rounds of group feedback and tweaks I think that we managed to come up with a happy medium for the figure design that looks nounish and makes sense as a 4" collectible blind box figure.
We are going to use the classic Noggles for series one and I refined the design to have a less curvy/bouncy look and make the figure have a more upright posture. The shape is great to hold in hand and all the joints (waist, wrists, ankles) are nicely hidden in the way we separated the parts.
These figures will have fully painted heads. bodies to reflect the classic NOUN colors and shirt designs. and come in a beautiful box and display carton and each figure will have a collectible trading card inside with more information about NOUNs and possibly include a POAP for additional experiences
We also reduced the run to 10K pieces with 7 unique heads.
Hopefully we can get this on chain so that I can begin production to meet the tight DesignerCon delivery
Please let me know if you have any comments or questions. We have what I think is an exceptional distribution/proliferation strategy and I am happy to discuss Thank you.

Benbodhi

I absolutely love the amount of professional work that’s already gone into this. They look amazing.
I also can’t wait to start my collection.

Best of luck!

BigshotKlim

Here is a review of a similar figure we just released with our frineds DALEK and 3Dretro, this one is 6" ours will be 4 but this gives you an idea of the articulation cuts and how fun these things will be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxWuMgnuqGU

BigshotKlim

As the votes are coming in I wanted to share another design update based on more collected feedback. This is far more in tune with the final look of the figures that reflect an aesthetic of art toys and will look great and are production friendly in color and final materials. The Unicorn and Warewolf will look more like the shark does now and we may sub one of them out for a taco. Happy to jump on a group call to discuss the process and strategy.before 11 am EST Tuesday.
The stage 1 ask was for design and development of this series so there is some flexibility with which characters and some of the aesthetics but there is some practical reasons why a lot of the design choices. Thank you for your time

BigshotKlim

Another update to help the voting process and to show that the stage one is for the development of the figures. these are looking really good and we hope that this gets a pass to teh next stage

BigshotKlim

Deep dive into revisions on the body forms and overall proportions yields some awesome results

Any feedback and reactions would be appreciated here or in the discord

DAVID

Love that bottom row! Feel like that body in relation to the head without the super long neck is really right on now. Pretty cool.

BigshotKlim

I figured out how to still get some fun movement with out the neck so I think it will be pretty rad when we get the prototypes made. Still a lot of micro tweaks to get these to 100% and then will start on the heads. Going with the cloud now since it is the easiest to visualize then will move to the other heads

Benbodhi

Agreed! That short version is really nice.
I know you’re not to heads yet, but I’d like to see the skateboard as the whole head rather than the face with the cap, if possible. I do like the hat concept and how well it makes for the depth that’s likely needed for a head on these. But I’m also into the idea of keeping it as similar to the actual head as possible. Just a thought.
Either way, they look amazing Klim!

BigshotKlim

Glad you like these, I am still tooling around with multiple changes and will share them late next week. Things like the skate board or the stiletto, potleaf and some others have no volune to connect to the neck/body which is why i added the hat for volume Please Keep in mind that these are 4" mini figures meant to sell for 15-20 USD. There is carful consideration for part count, construction and durability(we try our best not to never ever make things that break easy) This series has a very specific strategy and needs to be low cost/high quality, and i am using all my knowledge to find a happy balance. The whole skateboard head has a risk of potentially snapping if the hat volume is not there and also looses the fun head rotation that we get with these that add oodles of personality and character to each figure but as you said, we are not at the head tweaks just yet so some of the options i am trying may work out for this suggestion

Benbodhi

Totally understandable!
You certainly know what’s up in this realm and it’s clear how much work/time goes into these.
I can’t wait to collect them!!!

krel

the general aesthetics feels much better than when i first saw this project but still feel like it got some ways to go before it feels properly nounish

BigshotKlim

there is a certain level of balance that needs to be created with forms since most of the noun heads are impossible to mass produce at scale within a reasonable price point, and still need to have some sort of a cohesive family look.
While i am still working on the final designs it is important to note the target price, materials, size and reason for doing these in the first place which is to use these as a mass proliferation/onboarding tool for non crypto native people who have no idea what nounish means but love characters, stories and toys as well as inspire new people to think outside of the Pixelated boxy look that is already established and try to push the boundaries of imagination for new folks that come to the project. If you can help define “nounish” that may give us a good place to look for some design cues.

krel

just want to state upfront that i understand you’re working within the constraints of the medium here! <3

  • while pixel-style is hard to do, “blocky” or low-fi is more nounish i think?
  • unicorn, skateboard, shark, wiz hat all pretty good imo!
  • the smaller/shorter body feels more nounish than the prev tall design
  • I’m guessing 1 arm just looks amputated? been tried?

I’m trying to find what would make me excited to put these of a shelf and I think a more blocky/abstract design would do it

sorry for incoherent thoughts!

BigshotKlim

1 Arm is a constant thread in the design process since @4156 suggested it on the Sofubi. it is not working as well in this particular format but I will get that up for discussion with the next update.
agreed on the mosts of your points and you will see that in the next update.
Scrapped the beer and weed for now to make the project all ages.
Are you a toy collector? Do you have things like BearBricks, Dunnys or other art toys? I think that beyond just hype these objects need to be experienced IRL which is what the goal is here.
Incoherent thoughts are OK which is why we need NOUN coffee

BigshotKlim


Spent a considerable amount of time and revisions balancing out the round shapes that work for toys with the angular boxy shapes of NOUNs and found a pretty happy spot here. Still need a few tweaks as i move into some additional heads and maybe explore some poses but as 4” mini figures I think these are going to be stellar. Any feedback is always appreciated and will be considered as we move forward

krel

10x more nounish imo! excited to see this develop

DAVID

new versions are awesome 100%

BigshotKlim

Slightly more refined figure with two arms. I can not decide which is a better design but I think that one arm is a lot more nounish. What do you think?

Benbodhi

Yeah I like both, but the one arm is more ⌐◨-◨ imo

krel

I like 1 arm but wonder if there is a middle road?

I see nouns as having 2 arms, but we normally only see one form the usual 2d pixel perspective.

I wonder if you can have 1 arm lying flat towards the body and have the other one stick out (some spacing between arm and body)?

If you out the recent 2 designs side by side, something about the 1 arm version does look bit amputated?

BigshotKlim

there is a certain level of WTF charm with the one arm, it is a lot more on model and follows the language we are establishing with the SOFUBI and the wood toys i am working on. Spacing the arm does not work in this scale (3"-4" figure), it is also changes the silhouette to what does not quite work as well visually and has been tried before and did not work. Still keeping that option open for any larger size figures when the project goes to phase 2

krel

leaning into wtf/quirky seems like a winner

BigshotKlim

once i start adding the colors to the models the whole thing will come together these will also need a small base and that should be fun too, Perhaps adding a POAP to each toy to enable access to future additions

Benbodhi

I like the idea of 20" figures!
And also the POAP. Could have a tamper sealed QR code in the box or under the base or something. Probably makes sense to have them as separate cards that come in the box. Another opportunity for more branding material.

BigshotKlim

each toy has a QR code with a link tree. A POAP would be great and easy to do I am just not sure what it will activate or add engagement. but will do it.
Adding a trading card or a sticker is definitely in the plan but i still need to see if the stage 2 gets passed
20" is huge and would be fun indeed if my DCON booth idea got traction

BigshotKlim

Update: after dozens of iterations reviews and back and fourth I can finaly show what I have been working on. This in my opinion is as perfect as perfect can be. Please remember that these are 3" and were designed to be a low cost fun onboarding tool for non crypto native folks as well as a way to engage with all ages about NOUNISH behavioud and lifestyle. ( I removed the beer and the weed toys specifically to reduce any friction. ) These will be blindboxed and come with a small base, a trading card and a unique POAP that will enable future engagement and activations for all of the things that we plan to do. Pricing info is still incoming. Prototypes are currently in the works. Thoughts, criticisms and suggestions are always welcome and I am here in the DMS to chat about anything and everything Thank you



advisry

Yoooo this one is so sick. Love the glasses on the shark

krel

think you landed in a v good place with these, after so many revisions

the collection feels tight and coherent

my small small nitpick would be that there are 2 NIL and 2 YAY accessories

krel

oh and great job with the attention to detail for the backside of the nouns, especially skateboard and croc

BigshotKlim

these are just quick comps all of the designs in the series will have unique shirts and different color NOGGLES that will all be interchangeable with things like 3D and Disco have a more rare distribution within the assortment Thanks @krel the revisions and constant back and fourth is part of the process, it has just been a lot more stressful than normal because we are building this in the open and there is a lot of explaining and onboarding that has to happen for the “civilians” that may not know what it takes to build out a successful product. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to look and comment and I hope that we can move to the next stage of manufacturing so that we can make the holidays and I can start building out some additional ideas like playsets and animated AR games

BigshotKlim

It is very important to me that these feel really good in your hand since the tactile experience of these will be so important IRL I spend insane amount of time making sure that the overall forms have a good form and line flow and the materials we will be using will add the “feels good” vibe when you pick one up

BigshotKlim





The Production and manufacturing portion of the proposal is ready to go on chain if someone is interested in helping me dial it in and put it up. The prototypes will be ready shortly and if we hurry I can have these available as a for sale of a free distribution item at the Rose Bowl parade with the Stoopid Buddy float /activation.
Please let me know

AndrewLaddusaw

I’m interested in seeing the final prop! Also, I think we should send it through Nouncil. This is super cool man. Can’t wait to try and buy some!

BigshotKlim

The prop is essentially the same since so far only part one has been funded
The tooling and manufacturing is next and it is fairly similar just a lot more clear.
The thing I want to run through the nouncil is the marketing and proliferation budget because it is a separate ask that also ties in the noggles, pins and all of the future projects we may make as well as offer soem additional benefits to other builders

BigshotKlim


prototypes are looking fantastic, digital deco really pops.

BigshotKlim

New prop for manufacturing these babies is going up for review shortly