Ponke Meme Coin Brand Teams With RIPNDIP for Blind Box Collectible Drop

For years, blind box drops in crypto have followed a familiar script: the digital component first, often through marketplaces, and the physical goods secondary. A new collaboration between Solana meme coin brand Ponke and streetwear label RIPNDIP is trying to flip that model by starting not on-chain, but on store shelves first. 

The Ponke x RIPNDIP blind-box collectible is a physical product distributed through RIPNDIP’s existing retail and mainstream channels. The blockchain component, built on Coinbase-backed Ethereum layer-2 network Base, comes into play after purchase, quietly powering ownership verification and digital claims through an NFC chip.

In other words, this is a Web2 product with a Web3 backend, rather than the other way around.

“Unlike many Web3 blind-box drops that center on digital mechanics, this RIPNDIP x Ponke release is a premium, retail-first product designed to live on store shelves,” a representative from the Ponke team told Decrypt. “Blockchain [is] used quietly in the background to extend ownership and engagement beyond the point of sale.”

Collectors can purchase a sealed physical blind box through RIPNDIP’s website—with the online presale starting at 12pm ET Friday and running for 72 hours—with the wider retail launch planned for April. Each box contains a collectible figure, with rarity mechanics handled entirely offline. No crypto wallet is required at checkout.

After purchase, owners can tap an NFC chip embedded in the collectible to unlock the digital layer, powered by Base. That layer enables proof of ownership and post-purchase claims without forcing customers to interact directly with crypto infrastructure—unless they choose to.

The strategy reflects how some consumer crypto projects are trying to onboard users without tokens, allowing brands to use it for provenance, loyalty, and downstream experiences while onboarding new users—without requiring them to understand or engage with crypto upfront.

The “rare” headline collectible in the drop is the Lemon Love Bomb figure seen above, which is seeded in roughly one in every 12 boxes.

While most buyers are subject to standard blind-box odds, the Ponke team said that “larger purchase options shift those probabilities.” Collectors can choose between a single box, a three-box collector pack, or a six-box whale pack that includes one guaranteed rare figure.

Crypto brands have struggled to break into mainstream retail without dragging wallet friction and speculative baggage along with them. Similar to how Pudgy Penguins rolls out its toys, anchoring the experience in a familiar consumer product and relegating blockchain to an optional post-purchase layer, the Ponke x RIPNDIP collaboration tests a different thesis—that crypto may work best when it is invisible.