--- title: "Buyer’s remorse: Unexpectedly ugly $9k+ NFTs - The Hustle" description: An anticipated NFT drop went very wrong thanks to a hideous turtle and his friends. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1007507730-News-Brief_2022-03-08T002217.016Z.webp --- # Buyer’s remorse: Unexpectedly ugly $9k+ NFTs ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: March 08, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 Remember when people hated on [Sonic with teeth](https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/sonic-the-hedgehog-movie-teeth)? Well, wait till you get a load of Pixelmon. ![Buyer’s remorse: Unexpectedly ugly $9k+ NFTs](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1007507730-News-Brief_2022-03-08T002217.016Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1007507730-News-Brief_2022-03-08T002217.016Z.webp) [Pixelmon](https://www.pixelmon.club/) is supposedly an open-world game in which players train and battle Pixelmon — essentially NFT Pokémon that players can buy, sell, and trade in the metaverse. (We’ve covered similar games [here](https://thehustle.co/01062022-square-enix/).) Gameplay [demos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGW3J3rM8hc&t=42s) showed scenic landscapes with swells of cinematic music, leading to a project so hyped that a collection of 10k Pixelmon was auctioned off in an hour, raising $70m, [per](https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/people-spent-9k-on-pixelmon-nfts-then-they-saw-the-art/) *CNET*. Some people paid $9k+ for a single Pixelmon, all of which looked like cartoon eggs upon purchase. Eggs “hatched” on Feb. 26, and… #### **… Big oof** The [actual art](https://opensea.io/collection/pixelmongen1?search[sortAscending]=true&search[sortBy]=PRICE) looked *nothing* like the art that had been [advertised](https://twitter.com/Pixelmon/status/1496375755592593408), so much so that some [claimed](https://www.fastcompany.com/90726569/nft-horror-pixelmon-investors-lose-disfigured-pokemon-clones) they’d been [rug-pulled](https://thehustle.co/01282022-crypto-scammers/) — a crypto scam where someone hypes a fake token, then disappears with the money. The game’s developer, using the pseudonym Syber, [admitted](https://twitter.com/Syberer/status/1497402570478075907) they had goofed by revealing unready art and vowed to spend $2m to fix it. Meanwhile, the collection’s value tanked on OpenSea. As of Monday morning, the cheapest Pixelmon was ~$2.5k. “Kevin” — a Frankenstein’s monster-esque turtle that’s being widely [memed](https://twitter.com/jeffcoleart/status/1498340581868654599) — is an exception. That NFT’s value hit [$2m+](https://opensea.io/assets/0x32973908faee0bf825a343000fe412ebe56f802a/4924) on Monday. #### **But who is Syber?** [Per](https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/03/03/comically-bad-nz-made-nft-scheme-pixelmon-sparks-outrage/) *1News*, he’s Martin van Blerk, a 20-year-old New Zealander who previously raised a $50.5k Kickstarter for a game several backers have yet to receive. But he [swears](https://twitter.com/Syberer/status/1492281611169460225) Pixelmon is a real game that will be just as amazing as promised upon launch. Also, no refunds. For now, please enjoy this [hilarious tweet](https://twitter.com/_LaGuez/status/1497545882631389192). Topics: [Cryptocurrency](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/cryptocurrency) Topics: [Cryptocurrency](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/cryptocurrency) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![How do we not know who Satoshi Nakamoto is?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/254575623-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-satoshi_20230705231801.webp) ### How do we not know who Satoshi Nakamoto is? - ![Thailand is betting on crypto to spur tourism](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1945728039-News-Brief_2021-12-01T021436.364Z-1024x802.webp) ### Thailand is betting on crypto to spur tourism - ![Wash trading and crypto, explained](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/396502987-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-14T013317.765Z.webp) ### Wash trading and crypto, explained - ![FTX’s wild start to the week, explained](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1790528552-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-14T010919.228Z.webp) ### FTX’s wild start to the week, explained - ![Digits: Jordan, Ferrari, and Yellen](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1558970479-HS-News-Brief_2022-09-18T225913.540Z.webp) ### Digits: Jordan, Ferrari, and Yellen - ![Digits: Jordan, Ferrari, and Yellen](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1558970479-HS-News-Brief_2022-09-18T225913.540Z.webp) ### Digits: Jordan, Ferrari, and Yellen - ![Why do people buy NFTs?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/2117651270-HS-News-Brief_2022-07-07T043926.149Z.webp) ### Why do people buy NFTs? - ![Digits: The CIA’s gym, anonymous donors, and more](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/2027526157-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-26T232529.058Z-1024x684.webp) ### Digits: The CIA’s gym, anonymous donors, and more - ![Coinbase is feeling the chill of crypto winter](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1991649465-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-09T003737.030Z.webp) ### Coinbase is feeling the chill of crypto winter - ![Digits: Harry Styles, Formula 1 inflation, and more](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1458778000-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-05T213424.088Z.webp) ### Digits: Harry Styles, Formula 1 inflation, and more Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. 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