Grillz and Thrillz: The FangGang NFT Introduction

If you’ve spent time in any major city around the world (especially New York or Los Angeles), you’ll have come to know and (un)appreciate the furry little rodent creatures that roam around in allies and subways. These ‘mischiefs’ often band together into little cliques that stick together through thick and thin — less the occasional inter-tribe dispute.

Fortunately, two ingenious digital creators and visionaries have brought humankind thousands of cute furry creatures, that bear an overwhelming human resemblance, to the web3 world for us all to love and appreciate. Paca (ironically the name of a South American rodent) and Junshi have combined their geniuses to bring to life The FangGang, who all reside in New Fang City as a banded together gang of twisted lunatics that come alive at night to hang out and party in dark alleys. These Fangsters are not the boyfriend you want your daughter hanging around.

The Fangsters NFT Community

As I alluded to, this collection of misfits have all too many common characteristics of your everyday group of troublemakers. They are also extremely deceiving; while some may appear to be ‘well-to-do” or nicely put together, that’s more often than not a facade covering their inner demons. There are so many different variations of these guys, from satellite heads with menacing fangs, to skull heads with a fu-manchu beard carving, to just a cute little furry friend with a top hat and sweatshirt. All equally looking for a good time with the gang.

One community member who has been involved for quite a while, ArtySparks, said “The FangGang IP just works in so many situations…It strikes the perfect balance between cute and cuddle…But also quite dark and creepy at the same time.” Couldn’t have summed it up better myself, Arty. Across the board the colors are compelling and mix really well — lots of yellow, purple, and hues across the turquoise pallet.

Out of the original Fangsters originated the Grillz trait, which became wildly popular and a stamp of the originality and creativity that attracted so many long-term holders. This trait features about seven (or six and one half) triangle shaped fang-like teeth in purple, turquoise, and orange in a rectangular shaped mouth. Not only does it serve as a staple of the art and a focal piece on lots of their merchandise, but also a springboard of creativity inspiring other artists in their profile picture-esque caricature creations.

Outside of the original 8,888 Fangsters (that sold out in eight minutes after mint!) the team created PxlFangs, another collection of 8,888 gangsters with fangs — only this time in pixelated form. These stereotypical “jpeg” quality images lacked only in data storage requirements, certainly not creativity or excitement. In fact, this drop was part of an initiative to reward the holders of the original Fangsters for their dedication to the project, each receiving a free one at mint. This was only the beginning of the utility that Paca and Junshi sought to provide to their loyal community.

$AWOO Token

Evidently, one of the biggest elements that draws people into a community is the art and utility that comes with being a part of a digital community. The team realized early on that it was imperative to supplement their creativity with utility — and to do so meant engaging with their holders and community on a deeper level.

In order to reward those loyal to the community and, above all, all around good people, they came up with the $AWOO, a FangGang specific token currency that was developed with utility in mind, giving members the ability to use it on merchandise, gaming, and intra-community purchases. Holders of a PxlFangster, Super PxlFangster (a higher quality PxlFangster upgraded with $AWOO), and Fangster accrue these tokens each day for holding and is stored in an internal wallet as a type of “credit” to avoid the gas fees we all know and hate.

I will say, the merchandise that they’ve made available in print and in the metaverse is pretty dope, with fresh embroidery and really well done designs. It’s evident that the team really wants to hone in on using the $AWOO and member loyalty to drive community engagement and utility, and their clothing line is just one piece that’s providing utility on such a high level.

The NFT Project Community

It’s hard to accurately describe the sense of camaraderie and friendship that the discord server and twitter engagement foster within this collection. There is almost a shared sense of desire to make everyone feel heard on a personal level and attaching a real world utility to all of the interactions, whether that be a couple kind words to someone under the weather or riding out the bull and bear markets together with unwavering faith and trust in the founders and community.

The project’s Event Manager, ArthurSparks, said, “The reason I stayed was because of the incredible people involved in the project, team, and community alike. I’ve made some great friends here since the beginning that I still talk to everyday.” Him and some other members of the collection went on to illustrate just that, with comments and discussion about events and moments in one another’s lives that show they connect on a personal level.

Not only is the community unwavering in support and deep connection, but at its core is a learning environment that helps newcomers to web3 become acclimated to the ecosystem and find friends and leaders looking to support them across their journey. ArthurSparks weighed on this as well, saying how FangGang was one of the first projects he bought into while he was experimenting around with NFTs, and throughout the course of a year he feels as though he’s done a full master’s degree of learning with the FangGang.

My impression of the ethos in the community centered first and foremost around family. A longtime member named Old Spicewalker said, “The FangGang family is an undercurrent in the entire web3 space because the people creating it are genuine and hold space for all sorts of artists from everywhere” as their ethos of giving back and strengthening friendship rubs off on all their collaborators. Countless artists are OG members of the Gang, and draw inspiration from their “home collection” — as evidenced by the ‘Fangster Party’ trait in the Losers Collection, by longtime FangGang member Jvon.

It’s no secret that the FangGang is a tight knit group of forward thinking individuals looking to find real friends and connections in an ever evolving web3 world. My hope is that newcomers looking to find a home in this new digital era choose early on to be a misfit rebel in New Fang City where they can learn and grow alongside a community of supportive spirits.

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