Vegas Vickie is Getting Her Own Beer and NFT

By Scott Roeben, on June 23 2022
5 min read 6 comments
Downtown Las Vegas Las Vegas Las Vegas Bars

Circa Las Vegas is making the most of its iconic neon sign, Vegas Vickie.

Not only did Circa make the rejuvenated Vegas Vickie the centerpiece of this downtown resort, Vickie is now getting her own beer and NFT.

No, we have never had a beer. And, no, we have no idea what an NFT is, but this isn’t the first time we’ve written an entire blog post having no actual idea what we’re talking about, so let’s soldier on.

There’s no boom like booze boom.

While the Vegas Vickie NFT is probably a bigger deal than the beer thing, we’ll start with the beer because we have an exclusive, and it’s all about us, obviously.

We were recently chillaxing, or whatever the kids are doing now, at Circa and noticed a few Circa executives drinking beer from Able Baker Brewing Company.

As we are a noted investigative journalist, we asked the executives, “Hey, what’s up with the beer?”

We were told Circa is collaborating with Able Baker to create a “blonde ale” in honor of Vegas Vickie called Vegas Vickie Neon Blonde.

Able Baker is a local brewery which we already love because Able Baker is a reference two the first two atomic bombs detonated at the Nevada Test Site. No, really. The company’s duck logo is a nod to the only animal to survive those atomic tests, a duck.

From the can, we saw the beer has 4.5 ABV, or “alcohol by volume,” possibly the most important measurement of anything, ever.

No, we didn’t taste it. Beer is made of plants. That’s weird.

Some smartass will no doubt chime in to say beer is different from ale, or some other beer nerd trivia, and we welcome the nerdery. We’re really just here to talk about the proliferation of all things Vegas Vickie, one of our favorite neon signs.

After some investigative badgering, we persuaded one of the Circa executives to show us the beer label design on his phone (see photo at the top of this story). Suck it, Woodward and Bernstein. Exclusive!

Yes, the label says the alcohol content is 5% by volume. This is just the kind of scandal we love.

The blurb on the can will say, “Originally debuting above downtown Las Vegas’ famous Fremont Street Experience in 1980, Sin City’s most celebrated kicking cowgirl has made her triumphant return and now resides within the Circa Resort & Casino lobby, overlooking her namesake bar. ‘Vegas Vickie’ is one of Nevada’s most iconic neon masterpieces and this welcoming ‘neon’ blonde ale was inspired by her nostalgic allure and our desire to ensure Vegas’ history and originality. Never stop shining…or kicking.”

Hey, Able Baker, not for nothing, but there’s no such thing as “most iconic.” Something is either iconic or not. Also, period after “originality.” We’re here to help.

The label has a pic of Circa owner Derek Stevens in one of his signature blazers. It’s not a photo taken recently, as Stevens has lost quite a bit of his trademark cherubic cheek fullness in recent months due to some dietary adjustments, but he’s the only casino owner we know of that sits at his own bar greeting guests, so he can put his picture on anything he wants.

We trust the label is a work in progress, and big thanks to our mole for sharing the sneak preview.

Vegas Vickie’s world domination doesn’t stop there, of course.

She is getting her own NFT.

We have read the definition of NFT approximately 2,700 times since they were invented three months ago or so.

It’s not so much that we don’t understand what they are as why they are, but Circa’s NFT is the closest we’ve gotten to grasping that because there are real world perks involved with owning the Vegas Vickie NFT.

According to Wikipedia, an NFT (non-fungible token) is “a financial security consisting of digital data stored in a blockchain, a form of distributed ledger.”

Now, was that so hard to understand?

Let’s try again: An NFT is a digital asset that represents objects in the real world. In the case of the Vegas Vickie NFT, the real-world object is a painting by an awesome artist, Jason “Borbay” Borbet.

A likeable, talented, low-maintenance artist. Imagine that.

An NFT is a digital certificate of ownership.

We like to think of the Vegas Vickie NFT in terms we can actually comprehend: It’s a lanyard.

This particular lanyard gets you things like access to parties and experiences and deals. We have no idea why an NFT is better than a lanyard, other than the fact it gives people in public relations and marketing something to talk about.

Then again, we are old enough to have played Jarts.

There will be four “collections” involved in the “minting” of this new NFT, each with its own set of benefits (also called “utilities,” because we aren’t already knee-deep in jargon).

The collections are basically four versions of a Vegas Vickie image painted by Borbay.

Here’s what the news release says, “Featuring four unique collections, each tier of the Vegas Vickie NFT will showcase the 26-foot tall blonde cowgirl in various styles. This will range from the 1/1 sole digital copy of Borbay’s original painting plus a glass print of the work; 54 iterations of Vegas Vickie that resemble a full deck of cards (jokers are always wild); 250 versions inspired by slot machine icons; and 2,500 works designed to emulate a poker chip.”

Our friend Jeff Victor, Vice President of Operations at Circa Resort & Casino, was one of the driving forces behind the return of Vegas Vickie to downtown, and was the one who liaised with Borbay and made the Vegas Vickie NFT happen.

He says in the news release, “When Borbay approached us about turning Vegas Vickie into an NFT, we knew we wanted it to go beyond the digital space and have real-world benefits.” Now, we’re getting somewhere. Because at Circa, “real-world benefits” pretty much always involve liquor.

Please see the earlier part of this story about Vegas Vickie Neon Blonde ale.

The “collections” have some sweet goodies, and obviously the prices presumably go down with each tier (you know, old-school supply and demand).

You can see all the various options on the official Vegas Vickie NFT site.

Fun fact: You can’t buy these in dollars. You buy them in Ethereum, otherwise known as a “barrier to entry.”

Once the NFT collections are available for sale (“minted”)⁠, everyone⁠—people on an “allowlist” get first dibs⁠—apparently bids on the original and there are fixed prices on the other offerings.

No date has been set for the release of the NFT, but figure on it being the week of June 27.

There will be a kick-off for NFT owners, the Vegas Vickie NFT Summer Bash, August 1-3, 2022.

You can get more information about the Vegas Vickie NFT on Discord, whatever that might actually be. It won’t help clarify any of this, but just play along.

This FAQ seems to cover a lot of ground.

Here’s more about how to buy NFTs.

We have no idea what a Vegas Vickie NFT will cost, but since we collect casino chips, it seems likely we’ll spring for one of the 2,500 Vegas Vickie chips. That means we get to attend the kick-off party, plus there’s a welcome bag and cocktail.

We’ll mostly get a Vegas Vickie NFT so we can say we are a noted NFT expert.

Props to our friends at Circa for always keeping things interesting, and we’ll see you at Overhang, flashing our NFT while getting baffled looks from our fellow kids who have no clue whatsoever who Woodward and Bernstein are.