By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
Walmart is making another play for the Pudgy Penguins crowd this holiday season with an exclusive plush bouquet, and it’s giving the toy a prime spot in its holiday catalog.
The Pudgy Penguins Holiday Plush Bouquet costs $49.99. It features the brand’s popular characters Pax Pengu and Polly, described as “mates for life,” in winter-themed styling. Each bouquet comes with a promo card for VIBES TCG, the brand’s trading card game, in multiple rarity tiers.
Walmart also picked the bouquet as a “Top Toy” in its Holiday Gift Guide, which the announcement says will be delivered to more than 40 million homes across North America.
The holiday product follows a Valentine’s Day version of the bouquet, which Pudgy Penguins says sold tens of thousands of units. That version was sold only through PudgyPenguins.com and the brand’s New York City pop-up, where the company says fans waited up to three hours in freezing, penguin-appropriate temperatures.
Pudgy Penguins, which debuted three years ago, says its product collections at retail are averaging more than three times the industry growth average, making it one of retail’s fastest-growing character franchises.
The brand credits part of its success to what it calls the “Collector Couple.” Pax Pengu and Polly are known online as the ultimate “mates for life,” and the concept has caught on with real-life couples across America. Fans share the brand’s memes as a modern love language, then become collectors of plush, games, fashion, seasonal items, trading cards, and other products, the company says.
Pudgy Penguins have largely been promoted through a series of ultra-short, ultra-cute videos. More recently the company entered into a licensing agreement to release its first official origin story in comic book form at San Diego Comic-Con 2026.
The three-part comic book series, titled “Adventures of Pax Pengu & Polly,” debuted at the pop culture convention in July. The series reveals the origin of the brand’s central character, Pax Pengu, his first meeting with life mate Polly, and the founding of their home in a setting called The Berg.
The release represents a shift for Pudgy Penguins from a collectibles brand into a character-driven entertainment franchise built around an original storyline. The company told TLL that the comic marks the first time it has told a long-form story, which also establishes a shared canon for future entertainment projects.
The post Walmart Doubles Down on Pudgy Penguins for the Holidays appeared first on The Licensing Letter.