What's going on: Today, I have caught news of ITV Studios, the British free-to-air television network who are responsible for broadcasting many of Gerry Anderson's shows (Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds, etc.), has partnered with Reality Gaming Group, which is an NFT studio. 

 

What are NFTs: NFTs are Non-Fungible Tokens. They are digital assets that represent real-world objects such as art, music, in-game items, and videos/TV shows/movies. NFTs are a type of Cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency/Crypto is any form of currency that digitally or virtually exists and uses cryptography (the art of writing or solving codes) to secure transactions.

The point of Cryptocurrency is to fix the problems of traditional currencies by putting the power and responsibility in the currency holders' hands. But as you might've guessed, it isn't all that it's cracked up to be...

 

What do NFTs do: NFTs were created to supposedly make buying, selling, and trading more efficient while reducing the probability of fraud. NFTs give the artists/players ownership, meaning that they can sell the tokens whenever they want and earn part of the resale of these items. 

 

Why are NFTs bad: NFTs are horrible because they are connected to a Cryptocurrency called Ethereum, which uses up a lot of natural energy and fossil fuels (or carbon footprints) to create, which is bad for the environment.

Not only that, NFTs aren't supporting artists. This is not the same as online commissions or buying legitimate works of art/portraits. When an artist wants to sell cryptocurrency/NFTs, there’s a huge fee for it, meaning that there’s a chance you’ll lose more money than you’ll make. On top of that, it’s a pyramid scheme. 

Not to mention that the majority of the time, NFTs just look ugly, low-quality, or both. This is because they are computer-generated without much or any care at all.

I mean... just... look at these...

And further on top of that and unsurprisingly, NFTs are useless. Because you're paying for a picture/video you can pretty much just download yourself for free, or a skin you cannot use in any other game, often for a ridiculous price. 

 

What do these Thunderbirds NFTs look like and what do they do: Well...

From an artistic perspective, these are awful. The noses are too thick, the mouths and chins look off, their chests are bulky for some reason, the eyebrows feel too low (especially for John, who's in the purple sash), Gordon in orange looks like he has double eyebrows, Scott's shoes and hat don't even match his teal sash, and Virgil's (the one with yellow) eyes are blue. They're supposed to be brown. Any other artist or modeler can do a better job than this. 

From a marketing perspective, who is this aimed for? If it's for the younger generation, they wouldn't want to be bothered by it because they know the harmful effects of NFTs. If it's for the older generation, they'll either not recognize the reference of the show or understand NFTs entirely. Much like with all of these "tokens", these Thunderbird skins are completely useless.

 

What happens if ITV continues with this: The worst-case scenario is that they along with RGG could have a chance to target other Anderson shows and turn them into NFTs as well. And it'll just be another business that'll keep NFTs/Crypto from truly becoming extinct. NFTs are dying, but they aren't dead, and this out-of-touch business choice ITV has made isn't helping.

 

What can we do: By signing this petition and spreading the word through the power of the web, we can create enough backlash to make ITV remove this disaster of a project.  Now, I can't guarantee this or the change happening overnight, but the power of words and perseverance can go a long way. 

The Anderson/Thunderbirds community is a small and obscure one nowadays, but a community that still stands nonetheless. Even if you may not have heard of Thunderbirds, Gerry Anderson, or anything, any signal boost would and will be greatly appreciated. We cannot let ITV and Reality Gaming Group get away with this NFT spiel.

 

On the bright side, Anderson Entertainment recently is releasing a non-NFT Thunderbirds card game. Feel free to check that out and support it if you like!

 

Thanks to all who took their time to read all this and wanted to help as much as they could! Please remember to stay safe and take good care of yourself and others�❤����������