Ask GCG members about the gang, and they use words like "family" or tell you that the Gutter feels like "home."
@r0seNY, leader of the Gutter's renowned Puffer Gang, found his home in the Gutter during the fall of 2021. He'd "just recently become liquid," and "spent like 8 hours watching the floor on pigeon mint day looking for the right bird." He came across #244 and was blown away: "it had the complete, intentionally designed look" he wanted, and he snapped it up.
But, "in true degen fashion," he "immediately listed it for a modest profit." Thankfully for the Puffer Gang, "that didn't hit," and @r0seNY and his puffer pidgy stuck around.
As he tells it, "The Puffer Gang was a complete accident." Sometimes the best inventions are.
"During the Gutter x Diamond Supply activation I wanted to do something fun, so I opened Photoshop and threw the Diamond logo on my Puffer." That "was a hit on the timeline" and he realized he "didn't need to buy another asset to change my PFP."
The first custom Puffer r0seNY designed was inspired by "Timberland boot season in NYC." He "made a wheat colored Puffer" and his "DMs blew up." He said, "Next thing I know I'm creating custom Puffers for others in the community." In the midst of "the craziness," the Puffer Gang was born; to this day @r0seNY doesn't know who coined the name, but it stuck.
Now a Gutter fixture and referenced in Gutter Dan's recent announcement as "inspiring," the Puffer Gang is bringing IP to life: "online activations, branded products, IRL business ventures." The Puffer Gang has a group chat, and a "large presence" in the wider GCG community. "And yet, it still feels like we're just getting started," @r0seNY explained.
"I still think of myself as a regular kid from Queens, but then I look at what we've been able to put together, and I begin to think that I'm underestimating myself." What began as "updating a jpeg" has "graduated into a living, breathing community that doesn't take no for an answer."
What the Puffer community has put together is remarkable: @r0seNY made "puffer vests and shipped them to different corners of the world" despite having no background in clothing/textiles. Bo_Knows (@Molbert_1) has "planned an event in Dallas and created a full blown itinerary. Tacocat (@hbarbacoatacos) secured a brewery for an event, and MagnumAPI (@amazzara1) made his IP available."
Additionally, @r0seNY said, "Damn near the entire Puffer Gang made sure they participated and shared throughout the entire Gutter Roast Gauntlet event for visibility."
When @r0seNY thinks about what makes the Puffer Gang "Puffer," he uses the word "selfless." He said, "We support each other's initiatives" and "we very much move as one." The beautiful thing he notices, "is that it all doesn't just flow around me -- Magnum, Cleaner, Rudy, Carried, Case, Taco, Mamba, Bo, Zen -- any of these people can organize the group in an instant and this list goes on and on. Puffers care." @r0seNY's care for this community comes through: "Being a Puffer is the reason I stayed in web3 when the bear market hit the space hard. Being a Puffer is why this fire protection project manager from Queens, NY has created business relationships across the world..."
He emphasizes, "Being a Puffer is why I'm the best version of myself that I have EVER been. Being a Puffer has unlocked a more caring, more dedicated version of myself that I never knew existed. And for these reasons I will be forever indebted to my Puffers. Gang Gang."
Stay tuned for Part II of @guttercatttimes story on the Puffer Gang as we hear more from OG and new members. Plus, we are currently interviewing folks from another GCG subcommunity -- the Tracksuit Gang! I smell a friendly rivalry. Gang Gang!
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