Blue-chip NFT peripherals enter retail channels

In the past three years, the NFT market has experienced ups and downs and a bear market with constant fluctuations and disputes. The vast majority of teams have sadly exited due to accusations of cutting leeks and RugPull. Licensing the IP of NFT avatars to develop and market peripheral products was once a topic. Currently, Pudgy Penquins and Ape Water are actually produced and put on mainstream retail shelves in the market. The former has successfully entered the children and teenagers toy market, while the latter is based on mineral springs. Water shelves to convenience stores.

Pudgy Penguins focuses on the children’s doll market, and collectors have the opportunity to license it

Pudgy Penquins is an anomaly in the NFT world. While Bored Ape and other blue-chip NFT holders are making money from staking, Pudgy Penquins has turned the market to physical retail. Pudgy Penquins translates into Chinese as Fat Penguin. It is a toy that is very attractive to children among many avatar NFTs. The fat and cute shape of the penguin combined with simple lines and casual clothes is very healing and is loved by both adults and children.

Pudgy Penguins’ penguin-shaped plush toys are gradually being put on the shelves of Walmart, the largest retail supermarket in the United States. Walmart has a market capitalization of US$542 billion, second only to e-commerce leader Amazon's US$1.9 trillion. Pudgy Penquins announced last month that it will enter Target (NYSE: TGT ), another department store in the United States. Target has a market capitalization of US$67 billion, making it the 11th largest retail channel in the United States. Pudgy Penguins' main customer age group is Y2K teenagers aged 16 to 24 years old of both sexes.

PMI Children's World, a toy factory that specializes in working with video game brands, has developed a second line of Pudgy Penquins and is shipping them to Walmart and Target. Target recently launched six different styles of Pudgy Toys. The shapes of these penguins are all produced with the authorization of NFT avatar holders. Each Pudgy Penguins toy includes a QR code that links to the penguin character in the Pudgy World Web3 game. In addition, Pudgy World developed an online adventure game supported by the blockchain company zkSync Era. Players can customize their penguin character, participate in missions, and more. The current sales volume of the Fat Penguin physical plush toy is said to have reached 1 million. Now we are also cooperating with Rakuten Market in South Korea.

Ape Water recently joined the Thank Ape accelerator in hopes of opening the door to NFT-licensed goods in the food industry.

Boring Monkey canned water APE Water is available in convenience stores

The Boring Ape series, once the leader in the NFT circle, also began to want to make money with IP and Metaverse games. Later, only a California startup, Ape Water, actually used the ape avatar to license the production of products and put them on the shelves. APE Water advertises its products as natural mineral water from American mountains, and is 100% made in the United States from packaging design to materials. Access includes 7 Eleven, Terrible’s, Green Valley Grocery and more.

In terms of avatar shape, Boring Ape is an anthropomorphic ape, and its expressions and accessories may not necessarily be suitable for the development of the mass market. Compared with the simple lines of the fat penguin, the product printing produced by Boring Ape needs to present the details of the ape in detail on the packaging. Design is a big challenge.

Fat Penguin NFT holders take profits from physical product sales

Pudgy Penguins Via the OverpassIP product licensing platform, Pudgy Penguins NFT holders can apply for NFT IP authorization on the platform to develop new Pudgy Toys production lines. Fat Penguin holders can receive 5% royalties from licensed Fat Penguin-shaped toys. Pudgy Penguin NFT holders not only own NFT, but also receive a steady stream of income generated in the real world.

Early founders appear and the new founder is a legendary young serial entrepreneur

The early founders of Pudgy Penquins were Cole Villemain and Clayton Patterson. Cole Villemain was accused of constantly painting a bigger pie for the community. He was all talk but no action. The promised tokens, games, and educational book series projects were all inactive, and he kept funds in his own pocket for a long time. This early founder was voted out. Sending him away, he later sold his shares in the company to Luca Netz.

In April 2022, Luca Netz acquired Pudgy Penquins for 750 ETH (equivalent to $2.5 million at the time). This 25-year-old entrepreneur appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine. The title of the cover of the current issue is: Furry: Forget the boring ape, thank Walmart for signing this flightless fluffy bird. Created by the 25-year-old entrepreneur The most popular and cute N FT series in the world.

The rise of Luca Netz is quite mysterious, and it is a very inspiring chicken soup story. He was a street friend when he was 16 years old. Born in Los Angeles, he slept on other people's sofas. His family's poverty forced him to drop out of high school and founded His first company, selling fake gold necklaces in Shopify, made him a millionaire at the age of 19. He invested in the Von Dutch casual cap brand and has good experience and taste in the retail market and e-commerce. Before taking over Fat Penguin, he was the marketing director of Gel Blaster toys. He has first-class public relations skills and it is easier than ordinary people to break into the retail channel.

As for the founders who came out early, what are they doing now? Cole Villemain (X @ColeThereum) posted today on X that he is selling his Penguin with an asking price of $8 million.

Strong challenge to enter physical access

The U.S. retail industry is facing unprecedented inflationary pressures. Transportation, warehousing, and manufacturing have all surged. In recent years, public security has been poor. Many department store retailers have chosen to close their stores due to endless break-ins and robberies. In addition, supply chains and product promotions The founder of Fat Penguin, Luca Netz, is preparing to expand into the Korean and Japanese markets in Asia. He may have to face another geo-economic challenge. The animation and toy markets in Japan and South Korea have long-lasting loyal supporters. In the future, Fat Penguin can Whether it can carve out a niche is worthy of further observation.

This article Selling dolls and water, NFT authorized products Pudgy Penguins and Ape Water enter the retail industry first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.