Close Menu
NFT InsiderNFT Insider
      Ad1
      What's Hot
      Tokyo Beast to Launch $TGT Token on May 21
      May 16, 2025
      What is Super Champs? Everything You Need To Know
      May 15, 2025
      Pixelmon Signs Avalanche Deal for Mobile Game Releases
      May 15, 2025
      X (Twitter) Telegram WhatsApp LinkedIn
      NFT InsiderNFT Insider
      • NFT News
        • Metaverse News
        • NFT Digital Collectibles
        • NFT Industry
        • NFT Digital Art
        • NFT Events
        • NFT Drops
        • NFT Community
      • NFT Gaming
        1. Battle Royale Games
        2. Fantasy Games
        3. Fighting & Combat Games
        4. MMO Games
        5. MMORPG games
        6. RPG Games
        7. Racing Games
        8. Shooter Games
        9. Sports Games
        10. Strategy Games
        11. View All

        What’s happening with Blankos Block Party?

        March 28, 2025

        Treasure to Launch Web3 Strategy Game ‘Warlock Paper Scissors’

        December 26, 2024

        Off The Grid Team Secures Coinbase Ventures Investment

        November 22, 2024

        Party Icons to Launch Closed Beta Test on November 6

        November 4, 2024

        Forgotten Runiverse to Launch Global Early Access on March 26

        March 25, 2025

        DeFi Dungeons Reveals $GOLD Tokenomics Ahead of TGE

        March 18, 2025

        Dark Fantasy Action RPG Immortal Rising 2 Is Live

        September 12, 2024

        ONE Fight Arena Sui Network Game Now Live on Mobile

        April 30, 2025

        Off The Grid Spawns Black Market Ahead of GUNZ Launch

        March 10, 2025

        Moonray To Launch on Xbox Series X/S in 2025

        February 3, 2025

        Engines of Fury To Launch On Epic Games Store On February 25

        January 22, 2025

        Creepz Offers Weekly Free Spin for Access to Playtest

        May 12, 2025

        Pixels and Forgotten Runiverse Launch 5 Million $PIXEL Event

        May 5, 2025

        Star Atlas To Star in $100,000 Shaga Creator Campaign

        April 17, 2025

        Star Atlas and Shaga Launches $100K Creator Campaign

        April 11, 2025

        MapleStory N to Launch on Avalanche, Coming May 15

        May 2, 2025

        The Sandbox Launches Final LAND Sale in AdventureWorld

        April 30, 2025

        Forgotten Runiverse Launches Limited-Time Dungeon Run

        April 25, 2025

        Pixels and Forgotten Universe Ally For New $PIXEL Token Utility

        April 4, 2025

        Pixelmon Signs Avalanche Deal for Mobile Game Releases

        May 15, 2025

        Moonfrost Reveals Gameplay Updates Ahead of Early Access

        April 7, 2025

        Battlebound Announces Shut Down, Pausing Anterris Development

        March 21, 2025

        DeFi Dungeons Reveals $GOLD Tokenomics Ahead of TGE

        March 18, 2025

        Square Enix Brings Symbiogenesis to Soneium

        May 12, 2025

        Goblintown: Really Hard Driving Game Launches on Steam and Epic Games Store

        May 9, 2025

        ZED Run Relaunches as ZED Champions on Base

        April 29, 2025

        A Complete Guide to Nitro Nation: World Tour

        March 29, 2025

        Creepz Offers Weekly Free Spin for Access to Playtest

        May 12, 2025

        Adidas to Launch Digital Apparel Mystery Boxes for Xociety

        May 8, 2025

        Xociety Opens Pre-Registration for Upcoming Playtest

        May 7, 2025

        Star Atlas To Star in $100,000 Shaga Creator Campaign

        April 17, 2025

        10-HUT! NFL Rivals Game Review and Survival Guide

        April 2, 2025

        FIFA Announces First Post-EA Mobile Game Featuring NFTs

        November 25, 2024

        Web3 Mobile Game NFL Rivals Kicks-Off Year 2 With Big Updates

        September 2, 2024

        Tokyo Beast to Launch $TGT Token on May 21

        May 16, 2025

        Trump to Launch Monopoly-Inspired Crypto Game

        April 16, 2025

        Heroes of Mavia Reveals 2025 Roadmap

        April 15, 2025

        Eve Frontier to Launch Game Trial, Open to All

        April 10, 2025

        Tokyo Beast to Launch $TGT Token on May 21

        May 16, 2025

        Pixelmon Signs Avalanche Deal for Mobile Game Releases

        May 15, 2025

        Meebits Launches Interoperable Wearables with PlayerZero

        May 14, 2025

        Gods Unchained Season 3 Battle Pass Launches With No Free Tier

        May 13, 2025
      • Blockchain News
        • Bitcoin NFTs
        • Ethereum NFTs
        • Solana NFTs
        • Immutable NFTs
        • Polygon NFTs
        • Ronin NFTs
        • Other NFTs
      • Web3 Guides
        • Blockchain
        • Digital Collectibles
        • NFT Collections
        • NFT Marketplaces
        • NFT Game Reviews
        • Metaverse Gaming
        • Web3 Companies
        • Airdrops
        • NFT Guidelines
      • Learn about NFTs
      • Contact
      X (Twitter) Telegram LinkedIn Facebook
      NFT InsiderNFT Insider
      Home » Latest NFT News » An Interview with John, Co-Founder of Ultra Rare
      Interviews NFT Digital Art WAX NFTs

      An Interview with John, Co-Founder of Ultra Rare

      July 1, 202111 Mins Read
      Share Telegram WhatsApp Twitter Copy Link
      Ultra Rare NFTs -featured
      Share
      Copy Link Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Telegram Email

      Ultra Rare’s The Horrors II: Gruesome NFTs Drop July 2nd

      Ahead of The Horrors II dropping on 2nd July, we sit down with one of the brains behind the madness to discuss playground trading cards, horror films and comic books!

      2021 has been a banner year for WAX so far. Millions of accounts have been created, strong communities have been forged, and of course, a plethora of exciting, creative, high-quality projects have found their home. One such project has been a backbone of the WAX community since the year began – Ultra Rare.

      Now just a day away from dropping their 4th major series – The Horrors II – when the team arrived in January, they quickly gathered a huge following, which has only continued to grow with each release. That’s no surprise – their uniquely gruesome illustrations and high-calibre effects easily put them in the upper echelons of WAX projects, and inject some serious FOMO into the community!

      Ultra Rare are one of the stalwarts of WAX, and after this interview, you’ll understand why they’ll continue to be so for a long time to come.

      Stick around to the end of the interview for our Ultra Rare Interview Card, dropping Saturday at 22 UTC!

      Pssst… once again, there’s three hidden claim links to previous Interview Cards within this article. Happy searching!

      ultra-rare-logo2

      Hydro: Hi! Could you tell me a bit about yourself, your background and how you got into NFTs?

      John: Hi! I’m John, and I’ve been working in the creative industry for a number of years now. Before NFTs, I was a screenwriter here in the UK, writing on films and TV shows. Way before that, I trained as an illustrator and animator, so creativity has always been in my blood.

      Richie – my partner in Ultra Rare, who I’ve been friends with for the best part of a decade now – introduced me to the idea of NFTs many years ago. I’d ignored his tip on Bitcoin, so I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice! Then, Garbage Pail Kids released on WAX. I’m a big GPK fan, so I was all-in on those. And we quickly realised – this is it; this is that thing we’d talked about years before. As soon as AtomicHub released the Creator Tool, we started creating. And that was that really.

      032-ths1

      What is the idea behind The Horrors, and what has changed between Series 1 and Series 2?

      When we began our project, we looked at the market and what we felt it was missing. There were lots of GPK-inspired parody sets, but there wasn’t much in the way of dark, adult material. I’m a big horror fan, so I pushed us down that route. I remember being fascinated by horror cards as a kid in the playground, and I wanted to capture that spirit with our set.

      Although it was only January when we released our first series, I think we’ve come a long way and learned a lot since then. With every release since, we’ve pushed ourselves to make something better than what came before it. With Alien Horrors, we introduced colour (The Horrors: Series 1 cards were all black and white), with Horsemen, we introduced animation. The Horrors II feels like a culmination of everything we’ve learned up to this point. With over 1300 unique NFTs, it’s been a huge undertaking – almost twice the size of Series 1. We’re very proud with what we’ve achieved and can’t wait for people to crack their packs!

      You mentioned being introduced to NFTs many years ago – had yourself and Richie been collectors before you started with Ultra Rare?

      I’ve always been a collector, ever since I was a kid. My original GPK sets are amongst my most treasured possessions. Before NFTs, I was a big retro video game collector – I think I’ve got around 500 SNES games.

      Richie was a crypto guy and a pro poker player before this. He gets the gamble and I understand a collector mindset, which makes for a good combo in this space. I’m very proud of the fact Ultra Rare has turned Richie into a proper collector. He loved the flip before all this!

      032-gpk 032-sincity

      Who, or what, inspires the art behind your collections? Are their particular pieces of media (film, comics, music etc.) that have informed your work?

      Wow, that’s a tough one! I love an array of pop culture, which all finds its way into our sets. The movie-inspired sets we’ve done, and Alien Horrors in particular, all wear their influences on their sleeves. More generally though, I’d say our trademark black & white style is hugely influenced by Sin City. It was a big reference for myself and our lead artist, Macauley Etherington. We share a lot of love for the same video games and movies, so we have an easy shorthand when it comes to references.

      Got to ask – what are your favourite video games and movies, both retro and more recent?

      Favourite games – I love loads: the Legend of Zelda games, anything by From Software: Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro etc. Super Castlevania is my favourite on the SNES. Most recently I’ve really liked Hades, a rogue-like on the Switch.

      Film-wise, I love a lot of 80s horror: Nightmare on Elm Street, Fright Night, especially The Thing – my favourite all-time movie. More contemporary stuff – things like Hereditary and It Follows, which there’s a little nod to in Horrors II.

      032-th2p 032-desk2

      What do you think NFTs have done to the value of digital artists and their work, and how do you see this developing?

      I think NFTs have been incredible in terms of empowering artists. The arts are a notoriously difficult sector to make a living in, but here we’re seeing artists thriving. If you can build a community and create something cool and fresh, you’ve got a great chance in this space.

      It’s hard to know where we go from here, but I see NFTs opening up interesting pathways into conventional media, such as films and music. I love to experiment and I feel the medium encourages that as it’s so new and accessible.

      Speaking of inspirations, are there any other NFT artists/collections that you admire, WAX or otherwise?

      I’ve been lucky to work with some great artists in the space already. We’ve had Puma and Schwarzbacca work on The Horrors, two of the best effects guys on WAX. I’ve always been working with artists like Gary from Dusty Pixels, Renderhead and Dirty Flapjack – artists whose work I really like. Personally though, my favourite collection at the moment, outside of Ultra Rare, is Chain Creatures. I really like what those guys are doing.

      032-cc 032-medusa1

      What is your favourite card from The Horrors II and why?

      Ahh man, now you’re asking! There are so many awesome cards to choose from – The Mad Scientist, Horror Kong, Loup Garou – it goes on. Then you’ve got Glass and Living Legends – some of my favourite variants we’ve done. If I had to pick one though, I’d go Medusa Colour Guest – it’s just so clean and bold.

      Your art style has certainly won a dedicated fanbase! Are there any plans to branch out beyond NFTs into other media (e.g. prints, merch, physical cards)?

      We’ve talked about merch and it’s something our community have asked for, but it’s not something we’ve wanted to rush into. We’re a digital company first and foremost and that’s where we’ve focused our energy. But in time, I’m sure we’ll do something.

      In terms of other media, we’re moving into comics next, but I’m also very keen to get into gaming. I’m a huge gamer myself, so that’s where I’ve always seen us ultimately heading.

      As with the physical items though, it’s not something we’re rushing into even though it feels like every project around us is. We want to do it properly and take our time with it, so when it comes, it stands up on its own and it’s awesome. We’re working on it behind the scenes – and what we have planned is very exciting – but no announcements planned for the immediate future.

      032-th2p2 sixpm-wax

      You’ve dropped a few series on WAX now. What has your experience been like in the WAX community thus far? What hopes do you have for the future of WAX?

      The WAX community is amazing and we’ve really found our place here. I think with the pandemic and people finding themselves isolated, finding a home in the NFT space has been a godsend for me and many others I imagine. As for the future, it’s hard to know where any of this goes, but hopefully we see WAX become the genuine King of NFTs.

      Macaulay did a piece of collab art for WVM, who we interviewed last week. Are there any other collaborations we can look forward to in future?

      We’re always working with different projects and artists, so there’s a tonne of stuff in the pipeline. At the time of writing, we’re just about to drop a collab with Writer, the team behind CryptoFinney. Beyond that, we’re lining up another collaboration with Alien Worlds, as well as signing up some great artists – Dirty Flapjack, Dusty Pixels, DedHed – for a set we’ll be releasing later in the year. I’m getting the art through now and I’m already pretty excited for that one!

      032-finney 032-cb2

      These first 6 months of 2021 have been incredible for WAX NFTs. Could you let us know what plans you have up til the end of the year, and maybe beyond? Where would you like the future to lay for Ultra Rare?

      As I mentioned earlier, after The Horrors II, comics will be our main focus. They were always where we heading from the start – it just took us a little longer than we anticipated to get the tech right. But we’re seeing it now and playing with it, fine-tuning that user experience. I think people will be really excited with it when we unveil it all.

      We’re in discussions with some super interesting projects outside of the space, and we have a couple of collectible releases lined up, but the next instalment of the Horrors series won’t be this year I imagine. A games world is our ultimate aim and that’s where we’re heading long-term – something that that will take everything we’ve done so far to another level entirely.

      Is there anything you’d like to say directly to the reader?

      You can join our new Discord or our Telegram – we have one of the friendliest, most generous communities around. Come and get involved, and get collecting with us!

      032-discord 032-doctor

      Quick-fire question time!

      What fuels you?

      Bringing happiness to our collectors.

      Long-term, which will be the predominant currency, crypto or fiat?

      Crypto.

      One unusual fact about you?

      I’m a doctor!

      You can invite three people, dead or alive, to dinner. Who do you choose?

      Sir Alex Ferguson, Stanley Kubrick, and Hidetaka Miyazaki.

      Let’s stoke some local rivalry… Magpies or Black Cats?

      Black Cats. (This is the wrong answer!)

      What is your purpose in life?

      To create.

      032-mufc

      From chatting to John, there’s no doubt as to why Ultra Rare is enjoying such a great level of success. The love, determination and passion for what they’re doing is resulting in some simply outstanding work, which only continues to get stronger with each new drop.

      At a time when fear, uncertainty and doubt are creeping into many collections and project, both new and established, it can be difficult to know which project to invest in. There’s none of that fud here. Ultra Rare are doing things right, they’re in it for the right reasons, and we’re incredibly privileged to have them as part of the WAX community!?

      The Horrors II drops tomorrow (Friday 2nd July) at 17 UTC. There’s two card packs available – a 10-card pack for $12, and a 25-card pack for $30. Head to the Ultra Rare Discord, Telegram and Twitter to receive the latest updates, and to find the drop links.

      To mark the interview, we have our Ultra Rare Interview Card, dropping this Saturday at 22 UTC!

      ur-card

      The Gruesome General
      Collection: nftinsiderio
      Max mint: 150 (#1 and #17 reserved, 98 public, 30 OGs, 20 Promo Holders)
      Drop price: 25 WAX
      Dropping 03/07 22:00 UTC (public), 22:05 UTC (OG), 22:10 UTC (promo)

      Drop link: Check our Twitter or Discord!

      Let’s connect…

      > Follow us on Twitter (X)
      > Learn more about us
      > Contact us 

      john nft insider
      John

      COO & founder of NFT Insider. Bullish on web3. Competitive soul.

      ultra rare
      Follow NFT Insider Follow NFT Insider Follow NFT Insider

      Related Posts

      Rektguy Explained: The Cultural Zenith of the Web3 Industry

      Blockchain March 22, 20257 Mins Read

      Cozomo de’ Medici Explained: The Grand Patron of the Digital Arts

      Blockchain March 12, 20257 Mins Read

      XCOPY Explained: The Acclaimed Dystopian NFT Artist

      Ethereum NFTs February 2, 20258 Mins Read

      Beeple Explained: The World’s Leading NFT Artist

      Ethereum NFTs January 4, 20256 Mins Read
      Add A Comment

      Comments are closed.

      Search
        Ad1

        Wax - NFT News

        View More

        Alien Worlds Update Enables Cross-Game NFT Utility

        November 25, 2024

        Brawlers Expands to Mobile With iOS Beta Launch

        October 31, 2024

        Web3 MMO Machiavellic Launch Season 0.1 The Dawn of Conflict

        October 17, 2024

        Latest - NFT News

        View More

        Tokyo Beast to Launch $TGT Token on May 21

        May 16, 2025

        What is Super Champs? Everything You Need To Know

        May 15, 2025

        Pixelmon Signs Avalanche Deal for Mobile Game Releases

        May 15, 2025

        What is Coldlink? Cold Wallet Security, Hot Wallet Flexibility

        May 14, 2025
          Ad2
            Ad3
            Follow
            • Twitter
            • Telegram
            • LinkedIn
            • Facebook
              banner4
              Archives

              The #1 source for web3 gaming news, NFTs, the metaverse and more. Pushing web3 forwards one word at a time.

              Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Telegram
              Latest Web3 Gaming News
              Tokyo Beast to Launch $TGT Token on May 21
              May 16, 2025
              What is Super Champs? Everything You Need To Know
              May 15, 2025
              Pixelmon Signs Avalanche Deal for Mobile Game Releases
              May 15, 2025
              Quick Links
              • Learning – NFTs for Beginners
              • Web3 Guides
              • Advertising
              • About us
              • Contact us
              © 2025 NFT Insider is owned and operated by POW3R Media. All rights reserved.
              • About
              • Contact
              • Advertise
              • Terms of Use
              • Cookies Policy
              • Privacy Policy

              Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

              Go to mobile version