The world can be a strange place — especially at The Strange and Unusual Oddities Parlor in Kingston, Pennsylvania. Here a master curator of the weird, Josh Balz, has an expanding collection of curious objects from far corners and dim lit notches of the world. FACINGS has collaborated with The Strange and Unusual to produce Exhibit A: an assortment of the unique trinkets, mementos, and taxidermy specimens from The Strange and Unusual collection, in a first of its kind set of digital collectible NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Exhibit A will open for public viewing starting October 8th.
Lars Kommienezuspadt’s signature photography style lays the foundation for a hand crafted set of 40 cards presented across six captivating varieties. Each item in the Exhibit has been professionally presented to give the viewer a unique and engaging experience with multiple ways to enjoy the curiosities.
What is The Strange and Unusual set?
Picture yourself opening the door to an Oddities Parlor and getting a guided tour through a fascinating collection of weird and thought provoking artifacts with crafted descriptions and audio commentary by Doug Bradley, the acclaimed actor, most notable for portraying ‘Pinhead’ from the cult horror classic Hellraiser. This Exhibit will seek to provide as close to a real life tour of the parlor as possible through a set of digital collectible assets.
The Strange and Unusual set is a release of NFT collectibles available in packs of assorted cards that can be traded, collected, and enjoyed forever. They do not suffer the perils of tangible curios that weather and wear away when passed from one person to the next. Instead, once owned, one is free to flaunt their collection wherever and however they please.
What Makes This Set Unique?
Collectors can expect to find the unexpected with variants ranging from rust riddled Entropy cards, to those inspired by the famous Pepper’s Ghost illusion of the 1800’s. Every image in the set was taken, treated, and processed specifically for this Exhibit. Some cards have even been seen to move by those setting up the Exhibit; Twitch cards may just be a myth but are included in the odds, just in case. Never before has an oddity parlor been presented as it will be in Exhibit A.
Visitors who purchase a pack will also be dealt a pair of Tarot cards to be used in a Tarot Reading on the Exhibit’s website to earn additional collectibles. This fun and casual game allows visitors to the Exhibit to combine their Tarot cards for intriguing X-Ray cards, which can be further combined to unlock a redeemable The Strange and Unusual T-Shirt. More surprises await those who take part, but no one seems willing to divulge those details.
Variants
Oddity — Carefully curated photographs of the Exhibit by Lars Kommienezuspadt
Entropy — These Exhibit photographs were formed in brass and left to rust to perfection
Memento Mori — Items of interest strewn about in the Exhibit, gathered for examination
Pepper’s Ghost — It is hard to say whether the ghastly green effect on these photographs is an illusion or if something much more bizarre is going on behind the parlor’s dark curtains
Twitch — The curators of the Exhibit preferred we separate this selection of oddities as they seem to move or otherwise draw the eye of passers by
Narration — Displayed on a Lazy Susan alongside the baritones of the Exhibit’s special guest Doug Bradley
Merchandise — As a token of appreciation and way to immortalize your visit to the Exhibit you can obtain redeemable T-Shirt NFTs during your visit to wear on your mortal journey
X-Ray — In order to provide provenance and authenticity, the Exhibit’s curator Josh has agreed to supply X-Rays of his skull for verification by any trained medical examiner
Special 1/1 Clinical — Certain specimens needed additional study. Those findings are presented in a short series of 1/1 sketches found within the packs
Tarot — A pair of Tarot cards awaits you in every pack — a sort of two-card cross reading, if you will. The Fool or Death is accompanied by a card that will help you determine your situation and solution in the universe, via the Tarot Reading page.
What Comes In a Pack?
There will be two types of packs available in The Strange and Unusual Exhibit A release — an Dearly smaller Pack and a Beloved larger Pack. The Dearly pack consists of 8 cards, plus an additional pair of Tarot cards. The Beloved pack contains 16 cards and includes an additional Tarot pair. Both packs will have a different selection of Tarot cards, so collectors will want to snag at least one of each type if they intend to have a complete Tarot reading and earn a redeemable T-Shirt.
Both packs have the same odds or probabilities of pulling a certain card, but differ in the Tarot cards that they can provide as well as the amount of cards in each pack. Narration and Merchandise cards are available in both pack types as an additional roll, which means if either type of card is pulled it will not replace the 8 or 16 cards guaranteed in each pack, but instead be an additional card. Tarot cards are provided as an additional guaranteed chance, ensuring each pack gives you two Tarot cards.
Probabilities
Photo Tier (Oddity) — 40%
Photo Tier (Entropy) — 32%
Photo Tier (Memento Mori) — 13%
Animation Tier (Pepper’s Ghost) — 8%
Animation Tier (Twitch) — 8%
Illustration Tier (Tarot) — Guaranteed Tarot Pair (Additional Roll)
Video/Audio Tier (Narration) — 42.86% (Additional Roll)
Illustration Tier (Clinical) — .17% (Additional Roll)
Photo Tier (X-Ray) — Crafted
Redemption Tier (Merchandise) —.17% (Additional Roll) and Crafted
Prices
Dearly Pack — $15
Beloved Pack — $30
- Available in fiat (credit card) and WAX
Total Pack Supply
Dearly Pack — 3,290 for sale.
Beloved Pack — 3,290 for sale.
- The pack supply will be split between WAX and fiat
- A percentage of the total supply will be held by FACINGS and The Strange and Unusual for marketing purposes
Card Supply Per Template
Photo Tier (Oddity) — 840
Photo Tier (Entropy) — 672
Photo Tier (Memento Mori) — 672
Animation Tier (Pepper’s Ghost) — 336
Animation Tier (Twitch) — 336
Illustration Tier (Tarot) — Coming Soon
Video/Audio Tier (Narration) — 250
Physical Redemptions (Merchandise) — 50
How and When Can I Purchase a Pack?
The Exhibit opens on Friday, October 8th at 2PMPST / 5PM EST / 9PM UTC via The Strange and Unusual Cards shop page. Visitors to the Exhibit must have a valid credit card (no Amex or Discover available), or WAX to purchase.
In order to purchase a pack right at 10AM collectors need to be waiting in the Shop page of the website. The website will automatically refresh at 10AM PST / 5 PM UTC to allow you to complete your purchase. Please disable any ad blockers and be aware that using a credit card may require you to input an additional code or 2FA. Purchases need to be authorized using an ‘authorize payment’ button which will appear during the checkout process. There is no need to refresh your browser and your packs are reserved during the checkout process.
After you purchase your packs, you will be taken to the Inventory page where you can view your NFT (non-fungible token) collectibles. Clicking on the assets will enlarge them and allow all the dark details to shine through.
What Can I Do With These NFTs?
Any NFT you collect from The Strange and Unusual collection is yours to own forever. NFTs can be traded on markets such as the AtomicHub, viewed on the Inventory page as well as apps such as TokenHead, and used in the Tarot Card reading feature of the website. NFTs are digital assets and any third party can decide to integrate The Strange and Unusual NFTs into their product, allowing them to be used in games, to earn tokens, or for display in metaverse worlds.
What Can I Do With The Tarot Cards?
After opening a pack, collectors are rewarded with a random selection of Tarot cards. By visiting the Tarot Reading page on the website you can combine these Tarot cards to create new NFTs only available through the Tarot Reading feature. Discover your past, present, and future while being rewarded with some of the rarest collectibles in the set. The Tarot Reading feature is ever expanding and new recipes could appear at any time, or not — the future is not foretold.
The Tarot readings can be thought of as a two card cross with one card representing the situation at hand and another the solution. You should ask a question before opening a pack to see if the cards you receive help you solve it. The packs always provide The Fool or Death however, so collect the entire major Archana set for a full reading of your own.
The Tarot reading will provide the only way to access the X-Ray and Merchandise variants of The Strange and Unusual Exhibit. After receiving a Tarot reading and completing your set of X-Ray NFTs, combine them to receive a The Strange and Unusual T-Shirt, redeemable post launch. Receiving a T-Shirt will not be easy and requires a large amount of empty pack wrappers. This is to prevent one person from quickly redeeming every shirt. Shirts are also available in packs (12 total). Collecting all X-Rays in the set is considered completing it, and the T-Shirt redemption is only for the committed.
What is WAX?
WAX is a blockchain designed for collectibles like The Strange and Unusual Exhibit A release. They describe their mission as bringing NFTs to the mass market in the “safest, most secure, environmentally friendly, and easy-to-use marketplace in the world.” WAX does not use nearly the amount of electricity to operate and does not cost the user fees to conduct transactions, which is common on other top chains. By collecting NFTs on WAX, you support an environmentally safe solution to collecting digitally scarce goods.
Who is FACINGS?
FACINGS is a publisher of high quality NFT projects. They specialize in launching innovative and unique collections using state of the art technology. FACINGS’ tech is engineered from the ground up to improve the expected user experience on WAX and gives collectors a fun and safe way to collect the digital NFTs they want.
FACINGS has teamed up with The Strange and Unusual to provide a custom built pack opening and crafting experience that is unmatched on WAX today. It is designed to reduce the frustrations and defects that users dealt with in other past campaigns.
Are NFTs Bad For The Environment?
While all NFTs do use electricity to be produced, the amount that is consumed on the WAX blockchain is 125,000 times less than Ethereum. In fact, WAX is carbon neutral. WAX NFTs have offset almost 4 million tons of carbon emissions by not being minted on the Ethereum blockchain. As technology improves, WAX will continue to use less energy and find ways to use renewable sources for the energy it does consume.
Promotional Offer
Promo NFT: Sign up for more information on the website and you could have a chance to claim a Free NFT. There will be a time based drop for the NFT on AtomicHub limited to only those who signed up on the website before the drop time. We will announce the cutoff for signups and the time and location of the drop soon.
What Else?
Wax Cloud Wallet: Wax Cloud Wallet (“WCW”) is an easy to use way to store and manage your NFTs on the WAX blockchain. When users sign up or sign in to WAX Cloud Wallet, a WAX blockchain account is automatically created associated with your email address. Secure your wallet with 2FA for the most user friendly and safe custodial wallet in blockchain.
Resources
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