Pudgy Penguins Begin to Soar- in Price
One of the most popular NFT projects that don't have punk or ape in its name has begun to gain a lot of traction. Pudgy penguins launched in June 2021 and have recently started to spike in price, with the floor for a ‘Pudgy” rising 83% in the past two weeks and 69% over the last month, according to data from NFTPriceFloor.
“We’ve been working our tail off for the last six months, and I feel like it’s finally getting noticed,” Luca Netz, Pudgy Penguins CEO, told Decrypt.
Plans to expand beyond a computer screen have been in the works for months, as these penguins planned to launch a line of collectible toy plushies and children's books. These ambitious goals are finally coming to fruition.
“We’re announcing our children’s book partnership this week as well as an announcement regarding our partnership with Non-Fungible Films to help bring Pudgys to life,” he said.
At the beginning of this month, the NFT project announced the special Penguin PFPs that would headline the “Pudgy Toys” collection, launching its own Pudgy NFT marketplace.
However, it should be noted that plush toys will not be the only items in this collection, as Netz said the toy line will be “diverse.”
On Sunday, the penguins continued their hype train by revealing the nine members of its new advisory board, which included leaders and tech industry bigwigs, including Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik, COO of Saks Fifth Avenue RJ Cilley, Hasbro’s head of licensing Jess Richardson, and Jordan Sterling, who works on Meta's partnerships team.
Just a day after the reveal, the most expensive penguin in the collection sold for a whopping 400 ETH or $630,000.
This recent hot streak is a nice break from the press the NFT collection had earlier this year, as scandal rocked the community when members slammed former CEO Cole “ColeThereum” Villemain, accusing him of failing to come through with promises made, bribing a former moderator, and rug pulling his community when he released a set of fishing pole NFTs
When Pudgy holders began calling for Cole to step down, wrapping their NFTs to stop him from gaining royalties, NFT enthusiast Luca Netz stepped in. Netz then purchased the entire collection for $2.5 million in April, replacing cole, and the project has seemingly had no hiccups since.
“Everyone is locking down and being frugal during the bear market,” Netz said of the past six months since he began spearheading the collection.
“For us, this is a perfect moment to capture attention and to show people what we’re about.”
NFTs have struggled this year after setting record numbers within 2021. What pudgy penguins have done to keep their community engagement is something other projects should watch and learn from.