Walmart expands availability of Pudgy Toys to 1,100 more stores

Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, has expanded the availability of Pudgy Toys — the NFT collection Pudgy Penguins' toy line — to 1,100 more U.S. stores, bringing the total to 3,100 stores nationwide.

Walmart is introducing 30 new Pudgy Toys, including Lil Pudgys Igloo Collectibles and Action Figures, each priced between $2.99 and $11.97. Pudgy Toys debuted at Walmart last September, initially appearing in 2,000 U.S. stores.

"The expansion into additional Walmart locations, alongside exclusive toy offerings, underscores the enduring appeal of Pudgy Penguins characters," Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins, said in a statement.

Each Pudgy toy comes with a QR code that provides access to Pudgy World — a multiplayer digital social platform where users can build their "Forever Pudgy" characters, play mini-games, and interact with other users. Pudgy World is based on the Ethereum Layer 2 network zkSync Era and is currently in open beta mode.

Royalty payments

All Pudgy Toys are inspired by and connected to Pudgy Penguins NFTs, and those NFT holders who submitted their pieces for licensing will receive royalties through Pudgy Penguins' NFT licensing platform, OverpassIP, which is still in beta mode.

Pudgy Toys and Pudgy World were first launched in May last year to blend NFTs and blockchain technology with physical toys. The toys are also available on the online retailer Amazon. Pudgy toys are made by PMI Kids' World, which also produces toys for Fortnite and Among Us.

Last week, Pudgy Penguin NFTs briefly surpassed Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs in floor price for the first time. The floor price represents the value of the cheapest available NFT in a collection and serves as an indicator of demand for the NFT.

Overall, Pudgy Penguins is the twentieth-largest NFT collection by sales volume of all time, according to CryptoSlam data. The Ethereum-based collection, comprising 8,888 NFTs featuring cartoon penguins, was launched in 2021 and sold to Netz for $2.5 million in 2022 after the community voted to oust the project's founders. Pudgy Penguins holders had claimed the founders didn't keep their promises, like making a kids' book and a metaverse game.