Galactic Brands: Pudgy Penguins

Launched in June 2021, Pudgy Penguins got up on a roller coaster ride, having crossed the downs filled with controversies until it finally took over with storms, marking its territory in the NFT ecosystem and the Web3 space!

The penguins from the glacial space further witnessed a turn of fate with the new owner, Luca Schnetzler acquiring it for 750 ETH, and kickstarting a fascinating comeback for the brand. Backed by loyal community members like Luca, the collection also experienced a mind-blowing sale of one of its rarest NFTs for 400 ETH (~$640K as of Sept. 2022). And with the entire community's support, they are now voyaging through the cool mission of becoming a global brand with penguins as the mascot.

With this episode of Galactic Brands, we take the initiative to help you get versed with Pudgy Penguins and what they've been up to so far!

Understanding Penguins

Pudgies are one of the popular PFP collections of 8,888 penguins with varying attributes (background, face, body, head, and skin) based on the ERC-20 standard. They belong to the Web3 space's glacial regions (Pengu Nation), as the collection depicts, reflecting cool vibes with a warmer heart and deep-rooted positivity.

Pudgy Penguins' main goal is spreading good vibes. To do this, the company has established its position by emphasizing inclusivity, art, and toys, and intends to keep winning for the sake of web3.

Lil Pudgys

Lil Pudgys is a collection of 22,222 randomly-generated penguins, standing as allies of Pudgy Penguins, battling against negativity. These are the kiddie versions of Pudgy Penguins with nine different attributes and unique fashion traits.

This is a second-tier collection of the project, offering the owners the same perks as Pudgy Penguins. The overall collection was distributed as follows:

• 13,334 NFTs in a public sale
• 8,888 freely claimable NFTs for Pudgy Penguin holders

Brand IP

Pudgy Penguins has outlined its intellectual property rights, making it possible to ensure that the community and the project team agree on the community's rights to the NFT artworks.

• Although allowing new owners to use their NFTs for any creative endeavor they can think of, the developers hope to honor their inventors by safeguarding their works.
• The present NFT owners are granted a restricted non-exclusive license by the creators, enabling them to copy, access, and make use of their digital penguins. They lack the authority to grant a sublicense, though.
• The developer also permits holders to utilize their Pudgy Penguins and artwork for profit. They may, for instance, sell both real and digital things. However, they are restricted to making a gross income of at most $500,000.

The Previous Fall of the Pudgy Penguins

The rug pull, which occurs when a project's founders abscond with funds backers gave in good faith to help it develop, is the biggest faux pas in the NFT arena. The value of a project can plummet with just the tiniest hint of such a thing. That's exactly what happened in late 2021 when the Pudgy Penguins community learned that the original team had spent all of the project's finances.

Pudgy Penguins Rug Pull and Further Takeover

Even before the release of this PFP collection, ColeThereum, the creator of Pudgy Penguins, was discovered acting in a way that was suspiciously close to a scam. After learning of the founders' recent and previous actions, several of the project's most famous contributors immediately turned to social media to express their worries about the project's future. In particular, 9x9x9, who by January 2022 supposedly possessed over 200 Pudgy Penguin NFTs, sent out a flurry of tweets in which they openly lambasted the founding team for how it had treated its members and for seemingly wanting to jump ship.

9x9x9 made it known to the public that they had turned down a proposal to buy the IP for the collection outright for 888 ETH. Further with this, another community member volunteered to make it all right!

NFT fan Luca Netz stepped in to help when some Pudgy owners demanded Cole's departure and "wrapped" their Penguins to stop him from receiving future royalties. Once Cole sold the collection to Netz for a cool $2.5 million in April, everything seemed to be going swimmingly.

Pudgy Penguins Comeback with the New Leadership

The Pudgy Penguins team completed a sale in April 2022 and turned over project management. As a lifelong supporter of the project and its community, Luca Schnetzler accepted the collection for 750 ETH. Over the past five years, he has already grown several brands to nine-figure revenue levels.

The project's new leadership positioned the Pudgy Penguins IP as a serious player in the four months following the acquisition. The current management team has been working hard to provide the community with new opportunities to show their support for the project, whether via media or retail. They have also been looking for ways to onboard new users into the quickly expanding community via a strong social media presence.

Additionally, Schnetzler has demonstrated a profound awareness of the Pudgy Penguins IP's broader appeal by referring to it as "a feel-good brand." Schnetzler has concentrated on rebranding initiatives to leverage the IP's capacity to "uplift people and make their day a little simpler" in service of this.

Pudgy Toys

Pudgy Penguins joined forces with PMI Toys, a company with decades of toy industry experience. By transforming their NFTs into toys, the project offers holders significant licensing prospects in the real world. The Pudgy Toys are designed to make the holders smile and allow owners to exercise their intellectual property rights and create new revenue sources.

The NFT collection also introduced its "Pudgy Toys" line and opened its online store for Pudgy NFTs. It also revealed the specific Penguin PFPs that were selected for it.

But the next toy line won't solely consist of plush toys; according to Netz, it will be "diverse."

Pudgy Penguin's Recent Price Surge

Beginning with August 2022 with a floor price surge of ~400%, the collection has witnessed a steady and continuous increase in its floor. Within the last week of 2022, the price surge has been over 50%, rising from 4.5 ETH to 6.92 ETH at the moment.

Since December 2021, the floor of the collection has varied between 0.59 ETH and 4.09 ETH; on December 10, 2022, it eventually broke upwards to 4.9 ETH. On December 27, 2022, 4 Pudgies sold out for 25 ETH, 27 ETH, 33 ETH, and 40 ETH as a part of the 175 ETH floor sweep, pushing the collection to the 6+ ETH range.

Currently, the collection stands at ~131,693 ETH in total volume with an average floor price of ~5.2 ETH and 52% unique owners.

Here are the top 5 Pudgy Penguins sold recently:

The Bottom Line

What started as an increase in price in August has grown into what might be a significant and long-term expansion for the project. The rise occurred after a year in which the Pudgy project itself was sold off in a multi-million dollar deal, handing it over to new management just as confidence in its founding team was eroding.

With this series of Galactic Brands, we bring deep-dive and analytics for selective, top-rated NFT collections and projects with stronger value, adding utilities for Komet’s collectors’ community.

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