Today marks the public launch of ghostwrite: the first true collectible brand. We’ve been working behind the scenes for more than a year. But now, we’re ready for prime time.
The town is already buzzing. You can read some of the media coverage here and here.
We’ve got a ton of exciting drops coming up. But for now, I wanted to share background on the company, how we got here, and where we’re going.
The First True Collectible Brand. Two Years in the Making.
We started working on ghostwrite in 2022. We spent the first year designing the figure. For a ‘blank canvas’ collectible, the shape is the brand. We worked with over a dozen designers and cycled through countless iterations to arrive at the silhouette you see: a kid with a crown; a ghost.
ghosts tell stories. The very ethos of ghostwrite is that these are toys which tell others’ stories. A ghost has no face, no gender. It’s not a character, it’s a canvas – a platform for storytelling.
Once we had our canvas, we obviously needed paint. But what started as a simple task – what skins look best on a ghost – quickly evolved into a much higher calling. How do we build a true collectible?
Here is some of the work that we’ve done so far:
- Consumer Goods Product Development, like manufacturing and packaging design. This is ante-to-play stuff. The quality of the product itself, which includes the packaging (not just the box, but also the theme song!) simply must be great or nothing else matters;
- Platform Toy Design, like practicing the creation of skins on everything from hand painted solids to highly-detailed Mike Amiri outfits to the abstract interpretation of sneaker store tables;
- Brand Development, like placing ghosts on-site at cultural institutions like Toy Tokyo, Zero Bond, Urban Necessities, and the global HQs for the NBA and MLB;
- Hype Economy Compatibility, like figuring out embedded authentication, building grading partnerships, integrating resell partners, and building a digital archive to provide full transparency to collectors;
- Alternative Communication Channels, like the theme song (you know), an AI-enabled best seeding package ever (you’ve seen); and streaming content directly from the crown (coming soon!); and
- Just General Take-Care-of-Your-People, like blessing our employees, friends, family, investors and supporters with ‘wear-test samples’ of the first true collectable brand.
Now, after two years of work, we’re finally opening our doors to collectors . . . and resellers, retailers, parents, kids, (but not kidults!), normies, and every other person, brand and company in “culture” – that amorphous and overused term that simply means, at bottom, a community connected through stories. Stories we will tell.
Uncommon. Stories.
ghosts tell stories. The ghostwrite “One”, dropping tomorrow, tells the story of ghostwrite itself. Most ghosts tell the story of the brands and artists that we love. Stories like Rocky’s Matcha, Eastside Golf, professional athletes and more – all of which will be dropping in the coming weeks and months.
ghosts are Uncommon. Yes, they are limited, exclusive and rare (buzzwords that have lost all meaning) but much more than that – they are true collectibles. We designed ghosts to be easily graded, easily authenticated, and easily resold. In short, we’ve taken everything we’ve learned from sneakers and trading cards and applied those lessons to ensure the long-term value of ghosts.
It starts with the drop itself. Tomorrow ghosts will be sold via Blind Dutch Auction, a method we first introduced for footwear, two companies back, and then used again for trading cards, at the last one.
Uncommon. Strategy.
We believe that a Blind Dutch Auction is the most fair, and easiest, way to set the price for a true collectible – like a ghost. So in addition to the product and brand and hype economy work, we’ve ALSO been building our own, next-gen auction platform. We had to. We believe that equitable distribution – supply transparency, fair access and fair pricing – is required to create a true collectible.
In the last few months, we held two Friends and Family auctions to beta-test that platform. Our first 400% F&F “ghost” sold for a Clearing Price of $356; our second 400% F&F “No. 2 Pencil” went for $417.
How much will the ghostwrite “One” sell for? That’s up to you. And whatever you decide is fine with us. In a Blind Dutch Auction, the price is determined by supply and demand – exactly as it should be for any true collectible.
Uncommon. Team.
Other great brands have created great collectibles. But those creations have happened largely by accident.
In 1952, did Topps intend to create a baseball card that would eventually be worth north of $20M? Obviously not.
In 1985, did Nike intend to spawn a multi-billion dollar resell industry with the Air Jordan 1? Obviously not.
But at ghostwrite, we actually are intending to create a true collectible. And if there’s one reason I believe we can do it, it is because of our team.
Almost everyone at ghostwrite is a veteran of the sneaker and or trading card industries. Almost everyone has experience at one or both of the companies I previously founded. They understand the mission. They are extraordinary; they are Uncommon; and I am proud to be their leader.
So with that, I welcome you to ghostwrite. The first true collectible brand.
-Josh Luber
Founder, CEO, and Chief Collector, ghostwrite
ghostwrite 