Chimpers and The Boring Ape Chronicles are born from the imagination of Timpers, a well-known artist in the NFT space. The Chimpers team is building a multimedia brand with a a unique story through animations and books. The Boring Ape Chronicles is the adventurous tale of select Bored Apes, who are on a quest for the Diamond Fleece.
The community’s rallying cry “!CHIMP” can be found all over NFT Twitter and within the Chimpers Discord. In the current bear market, Timpers and his team are still working to build for the long haul. But the Chimpers didn’t just come out of nowhere — this collection had been planned for nearly a year before they launched into the Chimpverse.
What is TBAC — The Boring Ape Chronicles?
Long before Chimpers, there was The Boring Ape Chronicles. TBAC is a collection of adventure stories starring certain Bored Apes from the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection. It was founded in July 2021, only a few months after BAYC minted out, and one of the first to use the Bored Ape IP in its own collection.
There are 100 editions of each Episode available, with a total of six Episodes in Series 1. Each of the early Episodes minted for 0.25 Ethereum. 10 percent of the primary NFT sales went to charity. In addition, there is an animated production NFT bringing all 6 Episodes to life, plus an eBook NFT of the tale.
Collectors have been rewarded with major various airdrops along the project’s life cycle. Specifically, holders of Episodes 1 through 4 were rewarded with Episodes 5 and 6 (plus the eBook, Animated Production, and Diamond Fleece), meaning they became a full set holder.
The plot of the story is about apes “embarking on a quest for the Diamond Fleece, a sacred artifact and the ultimate source of power and wisdom.” Each artwork is unique.
TBAC Collection
The artist behind the work is Timpers, the writer and community manager is NFT1nsight, and the strategy and operations director is PunkHot10. Timpers and NFT1nsight are twin brothers who created the project together.
Before TBAC, Timpers had a 1-of-1 artwork collection on Foundation. He was also an artist for RTFKT, Rolling Stone, and NounsDAO, plus had a successful YouTube channel teaching Photoshop skills.
Also in the collection is a Diamond Fleece NFT and a Diamond Dust NFT. The Diamond Fleece was a reward given to the 83 collectors of the TBAC full set (Episodes 1-6), with 17 held by the team. The fleece can be burned for a Genesis 1-of-1 Chimpers, hand-drawn by Timpers.
One lucky fleece-burner would land the 1/1 Diamond Fleece-wearing Genesis Chimpers, and receive a bonus Diamond Fleece sent to them as a reward. Plus, whoever burned any Fleece received the Diamond Dust NFT; its mysterious use is still to be revealed.
Chimpers Collections
The first Chimpers collection was the Genesis collection, and there are a total of 100 1-of-1 NFTs in the pixel art collection (only 97 have been revealed). These are all hand-drawn by Timpers, with no traits.
Genesis Chimpers will be the focus of Series 2 of TBAC. They were each minted by holders by burning a Diamond Fleece NFT. The floor for Genesis is currently 30 Ethereum. The highest sale so far for one was 52.5 Ethereum, around $100,000 USD, in an April 2022 auction.
Chimpers NFT Collection
The latest set, Generative Chimpers, are a collection of 5,555 pixel art NFTs of apes and other creatures. Holding a 1-of-1 Genesis Chimper allowed six allowlist spots for the new generative Chimpers collection.
The allowlist for the project was divided up across many different holders, plus a Premint raffle opportunity for the remaining spots. The mint cost only 0.07 Ethereum each, in order to get new collectors in the Chimpverse at an affordable price.
The IP rights that holders have will be announced sometime in the near future. The top generative holder has 143 in their wallet, as shown on the website’s leaderboard.
Chimpers NFT Rarity and Traits
The generative collection has 10 different metadata categories with a variety of possible combinations. The rarest Chimpers are Divine (only three exist) and Legendary (19). Similar to other PFP collections, collectors also value low number of traits.
There are four- and three-trait NFTs that command higher floors. Pearl (three total) and Gold (eight total) type traits are also extremely rare.
The pixel art quality is extremely detailed and unique, and collectors relate to their attributes and expressions. Many in the community like to find one of these fun NFTs that mirrors their own unique personality. From cat hats, to frog eye patch, to “Chimpborg” robot eyes, there is truly a Chimpers for everyone.
Around 2,700 unique owners hold at least one, and the current floor is 2.95 Ethereum. The highest generative Chimpers sale so far was for a 1-of-1 Divine Type for 60 Ethereum, around $117,000 USD at the time.
TL;DR Chimpers and TBAC by Timpers
The ethos of TBAC and Chimpers has always been to underpromise and over-deliver. On the website, the team says: “We will quest, uncover the mysteries of the Chimpverse, and most importantly, we will unite to create a universe that will be remember for decades to come.” Also, it is yet to be seen what the mysterious dojo that the project recently referenced really is.
From its start in July 2021, TBAC and the Chimpers world has continuously added value to their collectors. There have been many NFT projects that have utilized the Bored Ape Yacht Club IP rights given to holders, but TBAC is amongst the most innovative.
Chimpers is the next chapter in the story of this immersive NFT multimedia brand, which plans to continue through Series 2 and beyond.