A Look into From the Corner Machine

CryptoMoogle
4 min readJul 7, 2022

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One of my goals has been to help more artists and the broader Web3 space in general. Consequently, when I saw this tweet from @RexFlexasaurus, I was immediately intrigued.

A month or so later, @tezvendmachine was revealed.

What will come out?

VendingNFTs is the “first digital vending machine for random art distribution.” The project aims to support the ecosystem by distributing half of the revenue to Tezos-based initiatives. Additionally, it aims to breath new life into collections by introducing collectors to new artists.

With a price of 2 XTZ for 1 piece 5 XTZ for 3 pieces, the low barrier to entry means that people can also collect from artists that they otherwise might not have access to.

I thought it was a novel idea and one that would be fun to participate within.

But how?

The answer was right in front of me—wouldn’t a vending machine vend vending machine items?

Yes!

After a few drafts, I landed on the concept that became “From the Corner Machine.” The pieces are chock-full of references that often make light of the way that copy is written on packaging.

This concept imagines a lonely vending machine, somewhere on a corner, dispensing convenience to whoever wants it.

A majority of the collection has been donated to VendingNFTs to make use of the vending machine as a method of distribution. In this manner, there are variable chances to get something a collector may want. This scales with the pricing of the item, so a bottle of moscato from the fictional “Definitely Not Champagne” company will have a lower probability of being dispensed than something like PB&J Cheddar Crackers.

Travel-sized for any “me party” that you might have!

Speaking of pricing, I wanted the price of the items to have some relation to the real-world. Something that would be around $1, consequently is 1 XTZ. The issue that I run into here is that the 2 XTZ minimum price to use the vending machine makes receiving a 1 XTZ piece seem not so worth it.

The solution: airdrop!

Any collector who receives such an item from VendingNFTs will receive a copy of the item. This item can be distributed to whoever the collector wants or kept as a duplicate. This case specifically applies to:

There are a few items that have not been sent to VendingNFTs. At some point in the future, a window will open up to consume one or more of the above three items (by burning) to receive a new item. Follow me on Twitter to stay up to date on when this will happen.

To further extend the metaphor of this vending machine, I was reminded of times when I would use a vending machine. One of the most exciting moments for me was when the corkscrew would keep on spinning dispensing more than one item.

I wanted to reproduce some sense of that excitement with this project.

As a result, when all of the items have been retrieved from VendingNFTs, I will randomly choose transactions based on the order they are received. These lucky transactions will receive a duplicate of them item received as if two items were dispensed at the same time.

Two for one! So lucky.

Though most of the tokens will be distributed via the vending machine, some will be sold within the collection and others will be distributed in a promotional fashion. This is important as there’s one last thing…

Any collector who is able to collect all 26 pieces, not including the “Mysterious Royal Piggy Jelly,” will receive a new piece as a gift commemorating the feat. This applies to the future should pieces change hands and new collectors take up this challenge, as well. To claim this perk, don’t forget to reach out.

Hope you enjoy this collection as much as I’ve had fun creating it! Follow me for more quirky things like this and insights as it relates to Web3.

PS: Special shout out to Flex and the VendingNFTs team for creating this fun way of distributing art!

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