When in 1936 the Hergé submitted his illustration for its cover “The Blue Lotus”, Tenten’s publisher said it would cost too much to reproduce in color. However, the gouache and watercolor illustration of a skinny dragon glaring down at Tintin and Milo crumpled inside a Chinese vase belatedly gained recognition when it sold at auction in 2021 for $3.9 million.

Now, the image that never made the cover of the Belgian reporter’s adventures in Japanese-occupied China is back under the hammer. This time as part of a NFT collection.

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This is the first such venture from Tintinimaginatio – they are the rights holders of Hergé’s work – and aims to bring die-hard fans of the comic into the world of Web3. There are two versions of The Blue Lotus NFT: the first is a lithograph in 777 copies. The other is a digital lithograph in 1,777 copies. The number “7” winks at Tenten magazine’s subtitle: “The super magazine for young people from 7 to 77 years old”.

Both versions include an NFT certificate of ownership, a booklet created by Hergé expert Philippe Goddin exploring the fifth volume of Tintin’s adventures as well as insider access to the new NFT skin for Tintin. The purely digital version comes with three digitized editions of the comic “The Blue Lotus” and a family ticket to the Hergé Museum in Belgium.