FRANKLIN E. CALDWELL
“Since I have no art skills, that is the quickest and closest way that I’ll ever come to being an artist; just show the Apes that I own.”
Franklin e. Caldwell, known as @franklinisbored on Twitter, owns a whopping 67 Bored Apes. He works for Peraton as a structural engineer and spent four months in 2020 as an intern for NASA. This engineer got into crypto at the end of 2020 and began placing bets on various sports and earning cryptocurrencies, primarily Bitcoin.
“My first introduction to NFTs was in March of 2021 with NBA Top Shots,” Franklin says. He eventually came across Apes and decided to buy the Apes before they sold out. “A lot of people that I follow changed their profile picture to Apes. So there’s that FOMO cycle, then the euphoria, and everybody just talking about their Ape and how much they like the artwork.” After acquiring a dozen Apes, Franklin found the Gold Ape and bought it. By the end of 2021, he had acquired a whopping 33 Apes.
Eventually, Franklin aimed to acquire an additional 36 Apes to create a ‘square.’ “You can have a square. I would always do a collage. Not having any weird or blank spaces or different sizes.”
To get his voice heard and make himself known as a collector of art, Franklin aimed to change the game by expanding the base of who could show off their artwork. “Since I have no art skills, that is the quickest and closest way that I’ll ever come to being an artist; just show the Apes that I own.”
Franklin has always been a collector and collected cards as a child. This motivation still drives him today and can be seen in how his NFTs are displayed. Interestingly, he didn’t trade because of monetary incentives but for the information around it. “It was basically just to read out, look at the stats, and figure out the players. I just like stuff like that.”
Since then, his collection has grown to include 1-of-1 art. “I might buy one or bid on one today just to support. We get a ton of artists coming in all the time, so the amount of support that is required to please everybody is a lot and isn’t as profitable as for me as a collector.”
During early 2023, Franklin suffered a financial emergency and had to sell many of his Apes, but still proudly holds 10.