With the trading volume and market sentiment picking up steam over the past couple of weeks, and with a packed launch schedule going into April, I believe we’ve got some interesting weeks ahead. I will do my best to cover all the most promising new projects in April, starting with the 5 below.

As always, none of this is financial advice. Only buy NFTs you like with money you can afford to lose. And most importantly, try to get some fun, friendships, and learnings out of it!

PREMINT Collector Pass

If you’ve been active in the NFT space for a while, you’re probably familiar with PREMINT already. It’s one of the most popular tools for collecting entries for raffles with specific requirements. You can see an example below.

And now, PREMINT is releasing their 2022 Collector Pass to turn all their data, insights, and connections in the NFT space into even more value for their supporters.

Here’s what you’ll get as an owner and why I’m personally really excited about this drop:

Track the hottest projects. See all the public projects that are currently active and which lists are growing the fastest.

See what lists you can join. See exactly which projects the NFTs in your wallet make you eligible for and get on the lists quickly.

Private newsletter. Stay informed and learn about upcoming mint dates and projects to pay attention to.

Private calendar feed. Get a personalized, dynamic calendar feed showing you registration times and mint dates for all the mints on the platform.

Collector Pass exclusives. Access a section of PREMINT that shows you exclusive Collector Pass collaborations.

Guaranteed access to next year’s pass. All 2022 Collector Pass holders will be guaranteed a spot to mint the 2023 pass, released at the end of the year.

I plan on minting a Collector Pass and encourage you to hurry up and register for the mintlist raffle if you’re interested.

• When? April 1, 6 pm UTC
• How many? 10,000
• How much? 0.25 ETH
• Twitter: 18,000 followers

fRiENDSiES by FriendsWithYou

fRiENDSiES is a collection of 10,000 3D characters, created by Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, aka FriendsWithYou. They’ve used the main fRiENDSiES character for years in various exhibitions, art installations, and events. Now they’re turning the brand into an NFT collection.

Aside from the artists and the brand’s track record, what’s really unique about this project is how the avatars are created. Each one is custom-built by the collector during the mint, using the one-of-a-kind NFT builder called the ‘FRENGEN’. You can see some examples below or try it out for yourself!

Some test fRiENDSiES created with the FRENGEN NFT builder

Longer-term, the team wants to bring fRiENDSiES into the metaverse, create more real-life experiences, art installations, and limited edition items. The ultimate goal is to create an AR AI companion that will help bring joy to its holder and their community.

• When? April 2, 5 pm UTC
• How many? 10,000
• How much? 3.33 to 0.1 ETH (Dutch auction)
• Discord: 17,000 members
• Twitter: 21,000 / 48,000 followers

VARIANT

VARIANT’s roadmap includes a full manga series, merchandise, a serious dedication to community involvement, and plans for the metaverse down the line. Interesting, but by no means the reason why you should be interested in this project. Rather, what sets VARIANT apart is the artwork!

The high-quality humanoid VARIANT avatars are full-body and 3D with a backward-leaning posture and some stylish futuristic-looking clothes and accessories. They look unlike anything else I’ve ever seen in the NFT space. And I love everything about them.

The team consists of two founders, two lead artists, and three additional team members. The first four are doxed on their website. They recently said that the collection size will be 7,777 with a mint price of 0.088 ETH in the pre-sale. However, these numbers are yet to be confirmed.

I encourage you to go check out the art and the roadmap, pop into the Discord server to feel the anticipation among its 35,000 members, and try to buy a VARIANT if you’re just half as excited about them as I am.

• When? April 3
• How many? 7,777 (TBC)
• How much? 0.088 ETH (TBC)
• Discord: 35,000 members
• Twitter: 95,000 followers

Chill Bear Club

With 70,000 Twitter followers and 26,000 Discord members in a server that only recently opened up to the public, there’s plenty of hype around Chill Bear Club. And for good reason.

Minting a Chill Bear Club NFT won’t just give you one avatar, but actually five. First up you’ll get the classic 2D profile picture avatar. Later, you will get your bear as a pixel art avatar, a 3D voxel version, a full 3D model, and a Minecraft avatar. The latter will be available through Minecraft after launch.

The future vision and roadmap for CBC aren’t super clear though. Aside from the launch of their five collections, that is. And that’s probably enough for now anyway. Especially considering the mint price of 0.06 ETH, which would be considered a completely fair price for just one regular 2D avatar.

• When? April 5
• How many? 5,555
• How much? 0.06 ETH
• Discord: 26,000 members
• Twitter: 70,000 followers

Cool Kids Walk

I’ve referenced Invisible Friends multiple times as the project that kickstarted the animated NFT avatar genre. What they’ve also inspired is a sub-genre of animated, walking character collections. Cool Kids Walk is the newest one of these, with Imaginary Ones, Multiversal Walkers, and others to follow.

The artwork is done in the simple, colorful 2D thick-line art style that’s still super popular in the space. The characters have floating heads and most of them appear to be faceless. What’s also interesting is how the avatars’ bodies bounce as they walk, somewhat of a signature trait of the collection.

As of this moment, we don’t have any information about the team behind the project or their plans for the future. We don’t even have a roadmap. All those things will be revealed soon, according to an announcement on March 27th.

Cool Kids Walk has 57,000 Twitter followers and almost 22,000 members in their Discord server (which is currently invite-only). With new updates from the team getting hundreds of reactions (see screenshot above), and a highly active chat, the community seems to be excited for the launch though!

• When? Early April 2022
• How many? 5,000
• How much? 0.065 ETH
• Discord: 22,000 members
• Twitter: 57,000 followers

Closing thoughts

April is shaping up to be yet another exciting month for new NFT drops. The PREMINT Collector Pass promises to provide some tangible utility for NFT nerds like myself and could be a great addition to your wallet if you’ve mainly been collecting avatars and art until now.

I’m a big fan of NFT projects based on existing brands created by experienced artists. fRiENDSiES is definitely one of those. It also provides a unique take on the minting process and gives buyers control over the look of their avatars.

VARIANT, Chill Bear Club, and Cool Kids Walk all lack some things that I would normally want to see before buying into a project. Think utility, a larger project vision, a roadmap, and/or identified and experienced teams. But they all make up for it with their artwork. And with promises to disclose some of the other components soon!