The good, the bad and the ugly

Those who have been around the NFT space long enough will remember Pudgy Penguin’s NFT collection as one of the earliest blue chips. Launching in mid-2021, the collection quickly stormed sales charts, making waves in the NFT space as the new favorite cartoon animal themed PFP NFT project. NFT influencers endorsed the penguin avatars, celebrities wanted them, and even The New York Times featured them. Needless to say, all the attention made some of them NFTs sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Cut to 2022, however, the Pudgy Penguin NFT project took a turn for the worst amid blanket accusations against its founder. This was followed by new management taking over the project in a $2.5 million deal. True, while some wrote the project off as a dud, others questioned its future. Yet, in what may be “the greatest comeback story,” the Pudgy Penguins’ new leadership turned their future around. Despite the bear market, sales for the project soared in August 2022, with one NFT even selling for 400 ETH (roughly $600,000 at the time).

So how did the Pudgy Penguins NFT project go wrong? More importantly, how did the project make a phenomenal comeback?

This is the story of the Pudgy Penguins NFT project: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

What is Pudgy Penguins NFT?

Launched in July 2021, Pudgy Penguins is a collection of 8,888 penguin avatar NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. The collection was sold out in just under 19 minutes, making the penguin avatars an instant hit. At the time, some of the rare NFTs in the collection fetched as high as $463,500. Also, celebrities such as NBA All-Star, Steph Curry and Canadian rapper Tory Lanez are among the collectors.

Currently, the project has raised over 64,000 ETH or approximately $81 million in sales (at the time of writing). Also, the floor price is 2.34 ETH.

Who created Pudgy Penguins NFT?

The original creators of the Pudgy Penguins NFT project include Clayton Patterson (aka “mrtubby”), Mickyj, Jonah and Cole Villemain (aka ColeTherium) – most of them students. One of the main reasons for the project’s initial success was the many promises made by the founding team. From a native symbol to a children’s book and a metaverse game, the road map was quite tempting. Unfortunately, the founders not only failed to deliver on the many promises, but allegedly tried to drain the project funds for themselves.

The Breakdown: Rug pull charges against Pudgy Penguins Founders

The Pudgy Penguins NFT project’s downfall began in December 2021 when community moderator Darth left the project publicly, calling out the founders for their “unprofessional” behavior. He was allegedly promoted to the role of community manager without the two agreeing on terms of employment. Cole reportedly even offered Darth 1 ETH to keep quiet about the incident. To be sure, Cole has previously been associated with several projects that drew the curtain.

Later the next month, NFT influencer, 9x9x9 alleged that the Pudgy Penguin founders were trying to sell the project after taking all the money from the project. Additionally, they claimed to have rejected an offer to buy the project for 888 ETH. Disappointed, many of the Pudgy Penguin holders canceled the project’s founders.

New leadership to the rescue

Despite the controversies, some community members came forward to save the project. In April, a group led by Pudgy Penguins owner and Los Angeles-based entrepreneur, Luca Schnetzler bought the project for a whopping 750 ETH (around 2.5 million dollars). This in itself led to an increase in NFT sales from the collection, with the floor price going up to 2.5 ETH after falling as low as 0.7 ETH weeks before.

“Everything is lining up to make this one of the most widespread projects of all time,” Schnetzler said Coindesk according to the agreement. He added that he plans to turn the project into “a brand that is known both inside and outside the NFT world.”

For the most part, Schnetzler’s vision for Pudgy Penguins NFT is bearing fruit. Months after the acquisition, things are looking up in the penguin world – or “The Huddle”, as they call it. For example, in July, the project dropped its first soul-bound token for plush physical collectibles. It has since released a number of other soul-bound tokens.

Meanwhile, in August, sales of the project increased significantly after the team announced the Pudgy Toys line. After the announcement, sales increased 370% compared to the previous day. Also, in the same month, the rarest NFT in the collection sold for around $600,000.

The Future of Pudgy Penguins NFT Collection

In September, Pudgy Penguins announced its partnership with leading children’s toy manufacturer PMI Toys for release physical versions of Lil Pudgys. This is a subset of 22,222 NFTs released in December 2021. Just weeks before, the project had announced its physical toy collection, Pudgy Plushies. In particular, all the physical toys are officially licensed by the project’s community.

“These collectibles, along with our Pudgy Plushies, are just a sneak peek at the diverse range of toys included in our collection,” Pudgy Penguins tweeted at the time. “As we continue to bring Pudgy Penguins to life, we’re ecstatic to be at the forefront of IP usage in Web3.”

Also, the project’s recent activations include the Pudgy Penguins Meme Maker – an easy way for anyone to give a Pudgy Penguin twist to popular memes. In addition, Pudgy Penguins will be present at the upcoming Art Basel Miami on December 1st. Recently, the project announced the Pengu Princess soulbound token to honor the sub-communities focused on Web3 female empowerment.

With a focus on innovation, initiatives to connect the Web2 and Web3 worlds, and community building, Pudgy Penguins NFT has certainly risen from the ashes. After a rough few months, the future looks bright for these adorable cartoon avatars. All things considered, Pudgy Penguins offers a hopeful lesson for NFT projects struggling to succeed in the space.