Popular entertainment company and non-fungible token collections VeeFriends announced a partnership with one of the hottest toys of the last two years on Monday.
Here’s a look at the partnership, how you can get the new product and why Squishmallows is so popular.
What Happened: VeeFriends, an entertainment brand launched by Gary Vaynerchuk (aka Gary Vee) in 2021, announced a collaboration with Squishmallows Monday.
The collaboration will see the launch of four special VeeFriends Squishamllows plush characters. The four characters included in the collection are Adventurous Astronaut, Humble Hedgehog, Intuitive Iguana and Karma Kiwi.
Each Squishmallow in the collection will be 12 inches tall and come with a retail price of $24.99. The Squishmallows will be available for sale exclusively on Jazwares.com and the VeeFriends merch store.
The VeeFriends x Squishmallows plush toys will launch Aug. 7 and will be available in limited quantities.
Owners of VeeFriends Series 1 NFTs of the four respective characters can claim their character, with claiming details to come soon from the VeeFriends team.
“We are excited to see the partnership with Squishmallows debut Intuitive Iguana, Humble Hedgehog, Adventurous Astronaut and Karma Kiwi as collectible plush toys,” VeeFriends President Andy Krainak said.
“These VeeFriends characters have unique stories and designs, and we can’t wait for people of all ages to enjoy them. Our goal through this partnership is to spread joy and happiness and the values of VeeFriends to fans and collectors worldwide.”
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Why It’s Important: Fans of VeeFriends and those who attended past VeeCon events may have heard a tease of the collaboration.
The partnership with Squishmallows and parent company Jazwares continues the path of bringing the VeeFriends characters to life.
In 2022, VeeFriends partnered with retailers Macy’s M and Toys “R” Us to launch vinyl and plush collectibles of characters from the NFT collection and brand. Ten of the VeeFriends characters were brought to life as part of the collection with Practical Peacock, Willful Wizard, Genuine Giraffe, Adventurous Astronaut, Gratitude Gorilla, Patient Panda, Empathy Elephant, Common Sense Cow, Heart Trooper and Be the Bigger Person included.
“We chose characters that we think embody exciting features for first-time collectors," Vaynerchuk said at the time.
The plush and vinyl collection came with price points of $9.99 to $29.99.
VeeFriends NFTs launched in May 2021 with a subsequent collection called VeeFriends Series 2 launching in April 2022.
“This is my Disney. This is my Pokemon,” Vee has previously said about building the VeeFriends brand.
Along with the Macy’s and Squishmallows partnerships, VeeFriends has also collaborated with brands like Johnnie Walker, Fanatics and Mattel Inc MAT.
The Connection Between Squishmallows, Warren Buffett: Squishmallows were launched in 2017 and have become one of the hottest toys around, selling over 100 million units in 2022 alone.
The toy brand is owned by Kelly Toys, which is a subsidiary of Alleghany Capital. Thanks to a series of acquisitions, Squishmallows is now owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B), the conglomerate managed by legendary investor Warren Buffett.
Squishmallows has previously partnered with brands like Hello Kitty, Pokemon and The Walt Disney Company. The company also partnered with McDonald’s on Happy Meal toys.
In 2022, the toy gained popularity thanks partially to becoming a trending topic on TikTok. The toy was named the number one best selling toy by NPD for 2022 and won several TOTY (Toy of the Year) awards.
“Jazwares is a gem. And, Judd and Laura are the ideal Berkshire managers,” Buffett told Reuters of the Squishmallows creators, as shared by Business Insider.
A Squishmallow version of Buffett was sold during the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting in 2023.
Jazwares has seen around 40% of its annual revenue in the last two years come from the Squishmallows brand.
"The idea of having something that was nurturing, cozy, cuddly — it was affordable and accessible. Instant gratification,” Squishmallows founder Judd Zebersky previously said. “Our demographic is very wide and broad and it’s very unusual in our business to have that.”
VeeFriends Price Action: At the time of writing, the floor price for VeeFriends Series 1 NFTs is 1.87 Ethereum ETH/USD, or around $3,461. The floor price for Series 2 NFTs are 0.11 ETH, or around $203.
The floor price for Series 1 of the four characters included in the collection was 7.9 ETH at the time of writing.
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Photos courtesy of VeeFriends.
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