Pudgy Penguins is back in Web3 news with the announcement that the collection has sold over one million NFT toys in the past 12 months. The milestone was announced on May 13th by CEO Luca Netz, just a day after he revealed that Pudgy Toys would become available at the U.S. retail giant Target.
Pudgy consists of 8,888 unique penguin-themed avatars created in 2021. After its original founder got caught up in rug pull accusations, it was purchased by Netz in 2022 for $2.5 million. Since then, the family-friendly collection has risen to become one of the top NFT collections in the space. Currently, it has done over 350K ETH in total sales volume or just over 1 billion USD.
Launching a line of physical toys that connect customers to Web3 applications has been one of the major contributors to the collection’s success. In September, Pudgy Penguins announced a partnership with Walmart stores around the U.S. Its current business model is unique in that it enables holders to earn 5% royalties on sales from the physical toys that feature their NFTs.
This isn’t the first time we’ve written about the success of the Pudgy Penguin toys. At the end of March, we reported that nearly 60,000 new wallets had been created from the toys, proving that they were fulfilling their role in onboarding customers to Web3. Each toy comes with a QR code that lets customers claim a “Pengu” avatar that can be used in the Pudgy World metaverse.
As might be expected, the collection has responded well to the recent string of good news. At the time of writing, its sales volume is up over 120% over the past seven days, making it the top collection on OpenSea for the week. Its floor price is currently 12.8 ETH, or just under $38,000.
“Phygital” Products Becoming More Popular in Web3
One of the main drivers of Pudgy Penguins’ success has been the strategy of releasing physical products tied to Web3 technology and experiences. This concept of bridging the physical and digital worlds via Web3 tech, often referred to as “phygital,” has become increasingly popular in Web3. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve covered dozens of articles about brands, creators, and companies launching phygital products. Here are three recent stories.
First, on May 2nd, Casio partnered with Astar Network for a new NFT collection celebrating its 50th anniversary. The NFTs were inspired by Casio watches, and 10 collectors of the digital assets had the chance to win a limited-edition, physical Casio “G-Shock” watch.
Next, on April 24th, the former first lady of the U.S., Melania Trump, released a gold necklace for Mother’s Day that comes with an accompanying NFT. The necklaces can be personalized to create a 1:1 piece of jewelry. They are priced at $245 apiece.
Finally, on April 22nd, Louis Vuitton unveiled a new leather-jacket designed by Pharrell Williams that’s linked to an Ethereum-based NFT collection. The jacket was only made available to 200 holders of LV’s ‘VIA Treasure Trunk’ NFT collection.
Tying NFTs to physical products has several benefits, not least of which is the NFTs serve as certificates of authenticity and ownership. In Pudgy Penguins’ case, its line of physical toys are also helping to onboard non-Web3 natives into the space and expand the brand’s name recognition around the U.S. and world. At Rarity Sniper, we’ll be on the lookout for any updates to the story.