BAG BIAS: Yuga Labs CEO Michael Figge Addresses Yesterday’s Sling Bag Claim And Says BAYC Has Plenty More Drops In Its Bag!

The swamp was split yesterday between Apes who claimed a free sling bag from the Bored Ape Yacht Club and those who didn’t. But whichever side you found yourself on, fear not. There’s plenty more to collect coming soon!

Things were anything but boring on Tuesday as Apes everywhere aped into the club’s first ever free, limited edition apparel drop to claim a crossbody bag.

 

The collection was claimed out in minutes, leaving some Apes holding the bag and others bag-less and frustrated with the drop’s mechanics, particularly its use of Tokenproof, an app many hadn’t used since the last ApeFest.

But Yuga Labs CEO Michael Figge addressed those concerns head on, first assuring Apes that the team has been working to help those who experienced checkout issues and confirming that Yuga plans to move its tokengated drops and claims toward Glyph going forward.

“First, the team’s been contacting people who had issues with checkout and we’ve got many folks squared away,” he said. “Thanks to everyone who reached out to us. it sucks to stay up until 5am for a drop, or fumble through an app on your phone, and then run into a tech problem… Tokenproof is a great app, but it comes with a lot more machinery than we need, which means it’s easier for stuff to break glyph is our native system, and it’s optimized for our ecosystem. we prefer this and have been moving towards it.”

 

As for those who missed out on yesterday’s bag, don’t fret. Figge made it clear that there won’t be a one size fits all approach to BAYC merch going forward, with the team planning everything from limited freebies and paid drops to, raffles, and more.

 

“In the future there's going to be limited, unlimited, free drops, paid drops, preorder/made-to-order, collab drops, stuff for OGs, stuff for new people, egalitarian approaches, raffles, and a bunch of other ideas,” he said.

 

As the Gazette previously reported, apparel and fashion have been a point of emphasis for Figge since he stepped in as Yuga Labs CEO back in April.

 

Over the last few months, BAYC has worked with artists and designers like King Saladeen and Sean Wotherspoon as part of a broader push to put the “Yacht Club” back into the Bored Ape Yacht Club through more intentional design, aesthetics, and storytelling.

“We’ve also been thinking about what it actually means to be a Yacht Club - not just the name, but the feeling behind it,” the BAYC tweeted in April. “That’s starting to take shape. From here on out, you’ll see it show up more clearly in our apparel, our collaborations, and an aesthetic that finally does the Yacht Club name justice.”

 

The Gazette will continue to follow all things apparel around the swamp and will let you know when and how you can ape in. Stay tuned for updates!