[Uehreka]

But the thing is, I get the historical significance of the Mona Lisa and Mickey Mantle. I don’t need an appraiser or something to know why they have value. The value proposition of these Bored Apes is a lot less clear, and acting like “we all just play the game in our everyday lives already” is kind of hiding the ball.

[chrisco255]

I have thousands of baseball cards stored away from when I was a kid. I remember pouring over the monthly appraisals published in Beckett magazine. I haven't checked in years. The cards could be worth thousands for all I know.

It actually doesn't make any logical sense that baseball cards have value. They are stock photos printed on card stock. They sold for pennies. I don't own the rights to the image. I can't even play any sort of interesting game with them in the same way I could with Magic the Gathering cards or Pokemon cards. I simply own the card and can resell it to other people and try to assemble interesting collections and discuss with other collectors. There really is no other utility other than that.

Bored Ape Yacht Club has memed itself into relevance, as indicated by your casual mention of their brand. They are digital collectibles but they also have become a true club in the sense that there are exclusive events both in real life and in the metaverse that BAYC holders get access to.

They also have gaming franchises in the works. And I imagine if U.S. securities laws weren't so draconian, they would probably arrange profit sharing among holders for proceeds from merchandising the franchise.

But for now, ownership of a BAYC grants you ownership of a meme. That's not an insult, by the way, quite the contrary. Human culture is memes all the way down.

[The-Bus]

There's also only one Mona Lisa. Copies and images of it are just that.