Many have described ASCII SMOLSKULL as the profile picture that belongs on museum walls.  And that’s what makes ASCII SMOLSKULL a beloved collection of generative pfps — museum-quality art combined with a helping of magic and mystery.

Mark Knol released ASCII on November 19, 2021, as a follow-up to the original SMOLSKULL collection. Where the OG smol collection featured 2,000 iterations, ASCII was released as a 500-edition boutique set. The ‘special edition’ feeling about ASCII is apparent from the get-go. ASCII features custom text and characters created by Mark combined with the fxhash community’s love for skull art.

The collection also hits a few other sweet spots, including the first ASCII art release on fxhash. It plays on the nostalgia many of us have for the early DOS days by combining text + characters into a matrix that procedurally generates a pattern resulting in a skull. If you were around when ASCII minting opened, the magic of minting a colorful skull generatively built from “gm” texts, smiley faces, keys, and the illusive mknol signature was pure magic.

Moreover, rare mints, like the monochrome skull built from ghosts, dots, numbers, and the XTZ currency symbol, added to the lore of this sequel and helped set it apart from SMOLSKULL as a standalone release.

ASCII-SMOLSKULL #134 Monochrome with a mknol signature

Like OG smols, part of the fun in collecting ASCII is seeking out rarity. However, rarity check tools don’t always pick up on the traits people find desirable. For example, 911 ASCII skulls have the number 911 in them.

ASCII-SMOLSKULL #21 Example of a 911 skull

Other community-driven traits like punisher, MF Doom mouth, and more also appear in ASCII skulls. To get a sense of what’s desirable outside the rarity rankings, spend a few minutes parsing through the smolskull channel in the fxhash discord.

ASCII-SMOLSKULL #410 An MF Doom Mouth

The entire ASCII collection can be viewed on Mark Knol's smolskulls website. With this hit sequel Knol cemented the legacy of the SMOLSKULL series. ASCII SMOLSKULLS add a cultural richness with variety, depth, magic and mystery to our smol world on fxhash.