Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Schnetzler tells Toy World about the IP’s focus on community, what it offers licensees, and how the characters are making collectibles cooler than ever before.

Chubby little penguins. Some in beanies or pirate hats, others rocking shades. Some with mohawks, others with afros, others still with bows or flowers atop their bald, round heads, tie-dye t-shirts and kimonos on their portly, colourful little bodies. Welcome, reader, to the fast-growing digital world of Pudgy Penguins.

Within the core Pudgy Penguin NFT universe there are exactly 8,888 characters (and no more will ever be created), and while the initial mint sold out long ago, you can still get your hands on one – if you have around $8,000 to spare. Those watching the pennies (or cents) can instead buy one of 22,222 Lil’ Pudgy NFTs, which, also at the time of writing, could be picked up for around $600 (0.32 ETH). The brand is a vast, community-driven ecosystem that promotes positivity, good vibes and happiness – and Luca says this is all down to the Pudgy Penguins fans.

“Regardless of where you are on the scale, everyone has a little ‘pudgy’ in them,” he tells Toy World from his office in California. “We didn’t create the ethos of the brand. The Pudgy Penguins community did, and we just leaned into it. We had no way to know the IP would take off the way it has. We just set out to create a cute penguin character that could become the backbone of penguin IP, and to do something that hadn’t been done before – injecting technology into the IP business and completely shaking it up in the process.”

Having secured a major toy licensing deal with P.M.I. Kids World, which has already launched its range of collectibles, action figures and plush to huge success, Pudgy Penguins now heads to the Las Vegas Licensing Expo from 13th-15th June with its sights set on securing plenty more partners. It’s fair to say the door is wide open to any and all interested parties who’d like to chat with Luca at the show. If you haven’t booked an appointment yet, we suggest you do so ASAP.

To find out more about Pudgy Penguins, including the company’s strengths as a licensor, how its blurring the lines between physical and digital play, and why Luca believes digital collectibles are the future, click here to read the full article published in the June 2023 issue of Toy World.