KARTOON Studios said its batch of more than 8,000 Stan Lee digital collectibles sold out “nearly instantaneously” on Monday (Jul 24), illustrating strong demand for some virtual assets still exists despite the slow recovery of the non-fungible token (NFT) market.

The release, in commemoration of what would have been the famed comic book writer’s 100th birthday recently, marked the first phase of a roll out of a broader Stan Lee collectibles universe, Kartoon said in a statement on Monday. Lee is famous for creating of plethora of well-known superheroes including Spider-Man, the Hulk and Iron Man.

The collectibles sold for US$15 each, Kartoon Studios’ partner Veve said on its website, meaning the drop of 8,294 netted about US$120,000 in revenue.

They had risen by least 500 per cent on Monday morning New York time, with the cheapest collectible available for sale listed at US$81 at 10.40 am, while the most expensive was US$749, according to the Veve Collectible app.

Crypto markets have resurged recently after turmoil following the collapses of major exchanges like FTX Trading and BlockFi, with Bitcoin up 76 per cent this year. NFTs have struggled in comparison, with the highest market value NFT CryptoPunks up just 19 per cent in US dollar terms, according to CoinGecko. BLOOMBERG