Nearly a year after Pudgy Penguins had a change in leadership, the popular NFT collection announced a new toy line which was first announced last summer. The toys stem from licensed tokens within the collection, providing additional benefits to holders that agreed to feature their unique penguins in the product lineup. 

The move marks a major milestone in NFT branding and utility after a rough year that has seen NFT sales continue to drop as more and more crypto enthusiasts turn their back on the once-popular investment trend.

What’s the new toy line

Pudgy Penguins’ new line of toys features a variety of different products that are marketed toward children. The toys include plushies in various sizes, plastic figurines, and igloo accessories to play with. 

While the toys have not been rolled out to all stores in the United States yet, they are already available for purchase on Amazon; and, while sales have not been recorded yet, there is a chance that these toys could become collectibles themselves for some of the most enthusiastic token collectors. 

Access to Pudgy world

One unique aspect of these toys is that they all come with access to Pudgy World, Pudgy Penguins’ virtual world where people can congregate online to play games and trade similar to Roblox.

Similar to most modern games as a service, Pudgy World will be managed in a season system. This common feature is how many free-to-play games roll out major updates and keep games interesting for players. 

SBT and tradeable assets

Purchasing a Pudgy toy also does more than just grant customers access to Pudgy World because Pudgy World is a decentralized environment unlike its web2 counterparts. When logging into Pudgy World, users will be instructed on how to open a new wallet and given a soul-bound token that they can use as their avatar. 

This SBT can then be customized further with various accessories that are earned in-game or through trades with other players and collectors. To keep transactions and activity cheap (and practical), the Pudgy World game and NFT accessories will all be hosted on the Polygon network instead of Ethereum which will give players more flexibility to enjoy the game. 

The rare NFT success story

Pudgy Penguins represents one of the most successful stories in all of NFTs alongside the Bored Ape Yacht Club with the success they’ve encountered since Luca Schnetzler first took over leadership. 

With his addition to the community, Pudgy Penguins as a brand has exploded in value with collectors all around web3 recognizing its new success after the project announced a new board along with its toy deal.

The project also saw significant partnerships with Sotheby’s which held a special auction for Pudgy Penguins that sold noteworthy tokens including Cole’s original penguin along with unique SBTs. 

With Pudgy Penguins toys finally arriving, messaging has become clear - not all NFTs are scams. When strong artwork and thoughtful leadership are brought together, NFTs can have a meaningful impact on people with utilities and branding that is enjoyable. 

We’ve seen similar stories with other projects such as Pixelmon which was lambasted as the worst rugpull in all of NFTs when it was first deployed in early 2022, but even they have been able to turn their collection around into something much more impressive, proving that these projects do have the ability to become legitimate.