An Interview with Superpuft, WAX’s Resident Meme Lord
On this most spooky of days, we catch up with everyone’s favourite jester to discuss his animation journey, mecha-Godzilla, and of course, bubbles!
AUGUST 13, 2021. INTERVIEWS. WRITTEN BY HYDRO.
If you hadn’t noticed already, today is Friday the 13th. Woo! Or should that be boo?
With this day traditionally ruled by fear and nervousness, I think it’s time to buck the status quo and inject some smiles and laughter into proceedings. On the WAX blockchain, there is quite honestly nobody better suited to the task than our resident NFT netizen, the meme-y maestro himself – Superpuft.
Above all else, what are we in the NFT community for? To have fun of course! Puft perfectly incapsulates this mantra, with his kind heart and witty mind making him an absolute pleasure to be around.
Behind the smiles, there’s a lot more to this joyous joker than meets the eye. There’s a steely determination, fiery passion and a whole lot more besides, and you can discover all of it right here.
Read through to the end of the interview for our Superpuft Interview Card!
Pssst… there’s three hidden claim links within this article. Happy hunting!
Hydro: Hey Puft! Could you tell me a bit about yourself?
Puft: Oh man, what is there even to tell? I would go along with my usual answer and say “I’m a simple bubble!”, but I don’t think that’s the answer that you’re interviewing me for!
My real name is Colton, I’m 26, and I’m single, ladies! (Puft pls)
I’ve always been super into cryptocurrency, and I’m also a huge fan of free stuff. One of my favorite meme coin projects happened to be Banano. I don’t participate in its community as much as I would like to, but I folded for a long time to earn Banano. As soon as I heard about their free CryptomonKeys NFT airdrop launch on WAX, I was all over it. Who doesn’t like free stuff?
I had a WAX wallet for around three or four months just for CryptomonKeys. That all changed when they announced Alien Worlds mining, and I dove into the rabbit hole from there.
Can you tell us about your background?
Background? I was first born when a bigedumdum bought a bottle of bubbles at the local dollar store for their weedumdum offspring. The child blew bubbles enthusiastically and one of those bubbles just happened to be me.
Of course, I wasn’t sentient at the time. Before I could perish like all my other bubble brethren usually do when they make contact with the earth, there just so happened to be the infinity dumdum meme stone (the second infinity dumdum stone created when the first dumdum ever dum’d) coincidentally on the ground where I landed.
Coming into contact with the stone granted me sentience, an encyclopaedic knowledge of memeology, and a thirst for KFC. I also naturally became much more resilient than other bubbles, otherwise I would’ve popped by now…
Strangely enough, there was a small voice whispering in the back of my head; ”Nftssss… Arthurrrr… Weeee… Waxxxx… Crik iz bade maine…” and as one usually does when they hear voices in their head, I listened to them – and here we are now!
Errr…. uhhh-huh. So… what about your actual background?
My background… well, when it comes to digital art, NFTs, and all the other technical stuff that goes into what I do, I’m entirely self-taught!
If I were to fill out a resume right now for a graphic design position or some sort of digital art position with a business or company, I’d be laughed out the building. I’m just a bigedumdum that picks things up quickly and has been lucky enough to have been blessed with wonderful connections, friendships and opportunities in the NFT community.
Personal background? I’m not gonna get too in depth on this part sense I still want a bit of anonymity. Mainly because I’m a bit shy and have pretty low self-confidence, and also, in my unprofessional opinion, because a bit of mystery sells.
I’m from the Midwest United States. Grew up in the middle of nowhere on the Missouri-Arkansas border, in a town with a population of 600, maybe 700 people max? My bus rides to school were usually like an hour to an hour and a half long – that’s how far away I lived out of town.
I grew up surrounded by woods and ended up a total tech nerd. Tell me how that happens. LOL.
I’ve dealt with mental health issues for most of my life, mainly dealing with severe depression. That’s why a lot of my favorite charities are mental health nonprofits.
On the topic of dealing with mental health issues. I was actually in a really rough place before I got into NFTs. Not gonna lie, NFTs and the WAX blockchain may have somewhat saved me in a way. Everything in the NFT space has been keeping me so insanely busy I don’t even have time anymore to get too steeped in my emotions and thoughts.
Don’t get me wrong, my problems haven’t gone away, but I am in a 1,000 times… no, 1 million times better place than I was before – and I actually have money now from all the NFT stuffz to actively work through treating my mental health!
It’s so heart-warming to hear you’ve found a home and a community that’s there for you on WAX!
What’s the story behind this little blue fellow?
The story behind Bubble Boi is actually insanely simple. I’m fond of doing random doodles, and one day, my mom was feeling rather down, so I just drew her a really crappy, kinda cute bubble that had a face spilling out of a soap bucket. I decided to redo it on my computer and that’s how Bubble Boi in his current form came to be.
Most people probably know Bubble Boi better by his meme-y form – the Loudmouth Bubble.
Him becoming my mascot was honestly just a spur of the moment decision when I was first creating my NFT collection. I had no idea what I really wanted to mint, and I needed something to test with. I had a completed bubble thing just laying around in a folder on my computer, so I just went with it!
Originally, I was focused on doing a series called Heart of Wood, but the amount of animation that’s required for what I want Heart of Wood to be is far beyond what I’m currently capable of. I’m 100% going back to it as soon as I’m able to!
What made you choose WAX as the blockchain to mint your NFTs?
I’d always stayed away from NFTs due to the high starting cost on the Ethereum network. When I learned how cheap it was to mint on wax, I started to consider creating my own NFTs more and more.
I’ve never really considered myself an artist, but I knew I could at least pull something out of my big booty. When I started my NFT collection on AtomicHub, it was all learning as I went to be honest!
For most things, I actually do really well by just jumping in headfirst! Do you know how old my NFT collection is?
Almost six months!
Well, that’s how long I’ve been animating. That was something I learned specifically so I could bring more to my collection, and I wasn’t going to start it without figuring out how to do it anyway.
Woah! What was the flash point for starting your animation journey?
Before I’d even created my collection, I knew if I was going to mint NFTs, I had to have some sort of established social presence. Even just a small one, 50 people, even just… I don’t know… 69 people (pls), I needed to figure out how to build an audience.
That’s when I came across the creator of Blockchain Cards on Twitter. I interacted with him a bit, just liking and sharing his tweets here and there. Then, on one post of his, even though I’d only ever animated one single thing before saying this, I commented; “Hey if you ever need any animation work done for your NFTs, hit me up.”
I didn’t expect anything to come of it to be honest, but he replied asking for my portfolio. In turn, I proceeded to shit bricks because, like I said, I’d only ever animated one thing before, and I had no portfolio to speak of at all!
So, I pulled up my sleeves, said fuck it, got an image of one of his static NFTs, and proceeded to completely animate it.
When it was finished, I sent it over to him and explained how I didn’t have a portfolio because I was completely new at it all. I said that I didn’t have much experience but was willing to work for cheap since the main reason that I wanted to work with him was that he had a large Twitter following, and that working with him would promote myself and eventually my own NFT collection.
Miraculously, he decided to take a chance on me, and I’m forever grateful. I’ve now animated quite a few of his NFTs. More specifically, I’ve animated a decent amount of his burn receipt NFTs – for those who choose to redeem their NFTs for physical cards.
What a way to get into animation! From that, you’ve now gone on to do an insane number of collaborations – Bubble Boi has been everywhere! WAX has thrived on creators working together; what do you think that says about the community as a whole?
Yeah, Chris from Blockchain Cards was fantastic to work with as well!
Have I really collaborated with that many people? Still feels like I’ve barely dipped my toe in the pond!
I wouldn’t be where I am right now, as the meme lord of WAX, if it wasn’t for all the different communities that have supported me throughout my journey. There’s honestly too many people to name!
As an indie creator, the community is really what makes or breaks your project. If you’re not actively engaging with the community, or just doing this as a cash grab, your project is going to fail. It’s all about the effort you put in and the interest you generate from that.
I just wanna make cool shit for people who like my stuff. I’m very disorganized and I don’t always manage to complete everything I set out to do, but engaging with the community helps to put things into perspective sometimes. Interact with the community and I guarantee you will find some sort of success!
How has your animation journey progressed so far?
2D animation is insanely simple, but a HUGE time sink. You’re doing everything frame by frame. That’s why having a copy-paste mascot like my bubble is insanely useful.
When I first started animating, I was able to pull off some really cool stuff, but I did it very inefficiently. I created animations that were in the double digits for frames, sometimes even in the triple digits for key frames. If you know 2D animation, you know how terribly I was going about things, considering how simple my animations are.
At the time, I didn’t know any better – I was teaching myself as I went. Just like being in the NFT space, me and digital art – we’re learning new things about each other every day.
3D? Don’t even get me started on my attempts at learning 3D animation so far. It’s definitely on my to-do list, but I’ve tried to throw myself at it several times only for it to curb stomp me into the sidewalk on my birthday. A curb stomp on your birthday is just brutal, and that’s what 3D animation is like when you’re trying to teach yourself. Brutal.
What was your first experience with crypto?
It’s so stupid, but my first interaction with cryptocurrency was Bitcoin. I was collecting it slowly through faucets and what-not, plus buying it on Coinbase in my early high school years – back when it was still in the hundreds of dollars and not the insane price it is now. I wish I’d held onto them!
What has your favourite part of being within the WAX community been so far?
Everything, literally everything. I honestly can’t pick a single moment that I’ve been involved with the WAX community that I haven’t enjoyed!
I guess if I HAD to choose my favourite part of it all… it’s meeting new people every day, especially creators! I love exchanging tips, knowledge and woes with fellow creators who are caught up in all this chaos the same as me. It’s fun having us all run around to keep up with the constantly evolving nature of the WAX community every day!
I’ve never really been a part of community before, and I have to say, I quite like it!
Would you say you have any inspirations for your work?
Of course! As mentioned, the original Bubble I drew was to cheer my mom up. The rest of the bubbles have honestly just been lightbulb ideas that popped off!
As most people are probably aware by now, I meme quite a bit. Heck, I made the max supply of my PUFT token 6,980,081,350.
Other than memes, there’s an endless list of fellow creators in the NFT space that inspire me every day!
What are your favourite artists and collections on WAX?
CryptoMoonies, CREEK, all of Magnta’s collections, SixPM, Deckovarmints, CryptomonKeys, HodlGod, NFT Insider (thanks!), Survival Game, Eleblobs, Mutant Warriors… and many more besides. There’s just so many I love!
What do you like to do outside the NFT space?
Oh man, I feel like the NFT space is kind of taking over my life. I need to take a break sometime soon to be honest. In my free time, I just play video games, watch anime, read manga, draw, play guitar, uhhh… hmmm… – I’m not quite that interesting to be honest LOL
Oh! I just started with a local magazine as their graphic designer, so that’s cool.
What’s your favourite NFT that you’ve made so far?
Under my collection? Believe it or not, it’s the Heart of Wood Champion Variant. The small amount I’ve done for Heart of Wood so far has had me overcoming loads of technical hurdles in learning 2d animation. In my opinion, this one looks damnnnnnnnnn good!
Runner up would be Mecha-Bubzilla. Drawing that Mecha-Godzilla helmet was so much fun!
What are your thoughts on NFTs in general?
Love NFTs! You have no idea how much I wish that I still owned all of the digital content I purchased on my Xbox 360 back in the day, but alas, buying digital content in the gaming space is more like a rental right now.
Are we in a bubble (heh)?
Nah, we aren’t in a bubble – projects are in bubbles. Overall, I’d say the economy for NFTs on WAX is fairly stable when it comes to NFTs that were created just for collecting, such as GPK, MLB, Horrors, CryptoMoonies etc. The collectors of these collections help to maintain their value.
When “utility” becomes a part of a collection, the collection creates its own bubble economy based on said utility promises. The FOMO this inspires brings in a ton of collectors that aren’t even fans of said collection, so the economic balance that comes from traditional fans buying and selling is thrown into chaos.
This happens most often with dApp partner collections. Many collections have their values inflated due to anticipated token earning rates. There’s examples of new collections that the community have thought would be able to earn tokens, and therefore sold out incredibly quickly – but when it became less and less clear if this token-earning ability would happen, the value of the collection crashed. The bubble popped because people who weren’t even fans of the collection lost interest.
Think of WAX NFTs as more of a bubble bath – each collection is its own bubble with its own economies in the same space, rather than one big bubble.
What would you like your future in the NFT space to look like?
I’d like to be rich enough that I can slow down on all the things I do for my own collections, and maybe hire more stuff out! I’d also like to promote awareness of this fantastic space if I had the time and money to do so. I’d love to host tons of different workshops and seminars just going over different subjects and introducing as many people as I possibly can into the world of tangible digital assets!
I hear you have a token now! Could you tell us a bit more about it, and what you’ll be able to do with it?
Haha, I’ve been insisting that people DO NOT FOMO into the PUFT token, because everything planned for it is still in its infancy. The only people who’ve seen v0.1 of the PUFT token roadmap are my Bored Members and those who’ve agreed to a standard NDA.
I will say though, I’m currently looking for devs with a working knowledge of WAX blockchain integration for… reasons.
Anything you’d like to say directly to the reader?
I hope you enjoy all the stuff I make, and I hope it brings a smile to you when you’re down! Stay Puft Up!
It’s quick-fire time!
What fuels you?
Stubbornness and pizza.
Favourite altcoin?
Banano bb!
One unusual fact about you?
I learned how to read from the PlayStation game, Final Fantasy VIII. Selphie is bae.
You can invite three people, real or fictional, to dinner. Who do you choose and why?
Hydropwrd, stuckatsixpm and Creek. Wanna chill with the homies lol (you massive cutie omg)
What is your purpose in life?
To find purpose. Currently my purpose is trying to remain sane.
How can we follow you and your work?
This handy dandy Biolink is tied into almost every social I have!
I’ve got to say a massive thanks to Superpuft – for agreeing to this interview, for opening up about his story, and for genuinely making this one of the most enjoyable interviews I’ve conducted so far!
His willingness to put himself out there and learn on-the-job, his wonderful nature, the joy he spreads in the community – we are all truly blessed to have Superpuft around, and I cannot wait to watch his art and animations continue to grown and progress!
In celebration of this wild ride, we have our Superpuft Interview Card dropping tomorrow, and Timmy gets meme-y in a collab, coming soon!
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Collection: nftinsiderio
Max mint: 150 (1 reserved, 99 public, 30 OGs, 20 Promo Holders)
Drop price: 25 WAX
Dropping: 14/08 22 UTC (public), 22:05 UTC (OGs), 22:10 UTC (Promos)
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Collection: puftcreative
Max mint: ???
Drop price: ???
Dropping: ???
Drop link: Check Puft’s socials!