IP SUPERCYCLE

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Andrew Forte
@AndrewAsksHowNov 6, 2025

The Spaces explored the Web3 IP supercycle through real-world examples and practical playbooks from leading teams. Porxy (Doodles) framed great IP around three pillars—characters, stories, and worlds—emphasizing world-building as the underappreciated engine for longevity. Cam (Yuga/ApeChain) detailed a headline Amazon character activation that overwhelmed anti-bot systems, positioning Otherside as the communal home for new and legacy IP. Shiv (Pudgy Penguins) highlighted mainstream partnerships (DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda, Cryptoys’ Disney) and a broader shift from speculation to conviction-based collecting, while Nick (Claynosaurz/HEBOU) and Josh (HEBOU) outlined a platform approach to shepherd IP across lifecycle stages, including Nobody Sausage’s social-native success. Kyle (Nobody Sausage) shared origin and creative instincts; Fugs reported Giphy/Instagram virality and Asia plans; Bandit (Kaito) discussed measuring Spaces impact; V (World of Women) advocated utility-driven attachment as an alternative IP model. The panel stressed regional strategy (Asia-first), IRL activations (e.g., Doodles x McDonald’s), community co-creation, and operational discipline, closing with concrete Q4 roadmaps and product drops across brands.

IP Supercycle—Web3-Native IPs Enter Their Next Phase

Who’s who and context

  • Andrew (host; collector with roots in both physical and digital collectibles)
  • Shiv (co-host; Pudgy Penguins)
  • Cam (Ape ecosystem; Board Ape/OtherSide/ApeChain)
  • Porxy/Porgy (Doodles)
  • Nick (HEBOU; consumer products; recently in Tokyo with David Horvath)
  • Bandit/Ben (Kaido; collector; spaces co-host)
  • Kyle (Nobody Sausage; creator)
  • Josh (HEBOU; platform strategy)
  • Shimpers (Chimps IP)
  • V (World of Women)

Note: The session began with multiple “rugs” (technical dropouts) before stabilizing; the group proceeded to cover IP creation, distribution, partnerships, collectors’ behavior, regional strategies, and upcoming plans.

What makes a great IP (core framework)

  • Porxy (Doodles) framed the core ingredients of strong IP as:
    • Worlds: a rich, lived-in environment (e.g., Doodleverse; “Transmissions from Dollsville”) that people can vividly imagine. Worldbuilding is often overlooked yet crucial.
    • Stories: compelling narratives that can be told across formats once the world is established.
    • Characters: relatable, identifiable anchors that pull audiences into stories.
  • Emphasis: When worlds are deeply realized, storytelling and character arcs compound, creating durable IP that can scale across media (citing games like Skyrim to illustrate how the “world” is what sticks).

Case studies and milestones across IPs

  • Pudgy Penguins (Shiv)

    • Partnerships:
      • Kung Fu Panda (DreamWorks): a surreal milestone aligning a web3-native IP with a mainstream legacy IP.
      • “Abstract” side partnership with Cryptoys to bring Disney IP on-chain (Mickey Mouse, Star Wars, etc.).
    • Metrics: 250+ billion views; Instagram approaching 2M followers.
    • Pipeline: a new product featuring one of their characters launching near Christmas; strong Q4 momentum; major presence planned for Art Basel Miami.
    • Meta: Web3-native IPs built in ~3–4 years are now rivaling and partnering with decades-old IP; the broader industry’s achievements feel “day-to-day” inside crypto, but are staggering when viewed from outside.

  • Ape ecosystem (Cam)

    • Amazon collaboration: positioned as the first web partner to create an Amazon character (campy, fun, interactive). The announcement drew huge applause at a Vegas event; the mint overwhelmed Amazon’s bot prevention due to mass demand (causing password reset issues for some—an “applause-worthy” champagne problem).
    • Strategy: OtherSide as home for community IPs; make an environment welcoming to third-party IPs; get people creating new IP together, not just porting existing ones.
    • Chain thinking: tech is maturing to be chain-agnostic for end users; network effects and audience alignment matter more than which chain or token you use.
    • Onboarding IPs: Cool Cats and others moving to ApeChain; balanced approach focused on network effect and tech advantages without letting chain decisions dominate all choices.

  • Doodles (Porxy)

    • Legacy Collabs: Universal Monsters partnership (comics + short animation); connecting a 200-year-old IP like Frankenstein to web3-native brands.
    • IRL footprint: Comic-Con appearances; short film premiere at Toronto International Film Festival; McDonald’s activation (reported ~110 million cups distributed across all US locations—surreal to see strangers carrying the IP; family anecdotes of collecting cups highlight the cultural reach).
    • Cultural note: Encouraged the space to “double click” on celebrating wins; zoom out and acknowledge how much ground web3 IPs have covered in a few years.

  • Fugs (Yacht/Fugs)

    • Distribution: Giphy presence for ~4.5–5 months; ~160M views across ~500 curated GIFs (prioritizing quality over volume).
    • Instagram: early push into animated Reels (only ~1 month in) drove explosive growth; ~7.5K followers in a month; a single Reel surpassed ~35M views; content experimentation led to unexpected hits.
    • Takeaway: Viral success often originates in Asia; curation and cross-platform testing can produce outsized results rapidly.

  • Nobody Sausage (Kyle)

    • Origin: Began ~6 years ago during TikTok’s inflection; creator left an advertising/motion design career (Google, Apple clients) due to burnout, pursued a passion project that went viral repeatedly; character matured over time without a rigid initial plan.
    • Creative process: Highly organic; sometimes audio-first, sometimes animation-first; solo workflow enables flexibility; intuition-driven pattern recognition.
    • Trend instincts: Identifies viral cultural moments at lightspeed (e.g., reacting overnight to halftime show content); “if you’re not first, you’re last” execution mindset.

  • Chimps (Shimpers)

    • Brand-building arc:
      • 2022: foundation—story, world, community.
      • Early 2023: brand/mascot development; emotional resonance via short-form relatable content.
    • Growth strategy: Keep it stepping-stone and organic; prioritize core fandom over vanity metrics; leverage strategic collabs (Molang—lifestyle character with Netflix series & large TikTok following; Joga Man from Line Friends; Kung Fu Bober, etc.) for discovery among adjacent audiences.
    • Principle: Emotional connection and community care drive licensing/commercial success.

  • HEBOU (Josh/Nick)

    • Platform thesis: Build for IP at every lifecycle stage—newborn, adolescent, and legacy revival—so creators and communities can co-author trajectories.
    • Current slate:
      • Kleenasaur(s) and Popkins: web3-native; staked for HEBOU token; game and TV show under development; brand/merch pipelines active.
      • Nobody Sausage: 35M followers; 3.5B+ views; massive character brand on social; web3 engagement via token buybacks tied to future deals; licensing and merchandising ramping.
      • Legacy IPs: in talks with major studios (e.g., Warner Bros) to revive older franchises through community input and new tech.
    • Enablers: Communal storytelling as crypto’s native advantage; convert 2D IP into 3D environments with traits and communication/gameplay; “Made by Apes” shows >700 global businesses using Bored Ape IP—evidence of a creator-led commerce layer.

Collectors, nostalgia, and market dynamics

  • Shift to conviction: Shiv noted a transition from short-term speculation to collecting based on conviction, community, and attachment—echoing the 2021 wave when major collectors entered and stayed.
  • Nostalgia drivers: Andrew, Nick, and Bandit discussed how collections (Pokemon cards, DBZ animation cels, comics, sports cards) anchor identity; web3 adds provenance—seeing ownership histories is a game-changer.
  • Liquidity differences: Physical collectibles often have long transaction cycles (weeks to months), cross-border paperwork, and limited liquidity; NFTs offer faster, verifiable trades, but collectors rarely buy only to flip—much behavior is driven by fear of missing out on scarce items rather than pure speculation.
  • Flywheel behavior: In NFT bull cycles, profits from flipping often flowed into “blue-chip” collectibles (Punks, Apes, etc.), creating a healthier collector base versus purely memecoin cycles where capital rotates out.

Regional strategies and expansion

  • Asia leads trendsetting: Andrew emphasized Asia as the origin of “cool” across fashion, collectibles, and IP (premium “god-tier” stores, constant appetite for novelty). Western markets often catch up 1–2 years later.
  • Pudgy Asia division: Ongoing tours (Thailand, China); Latin America (Devconnect in Argentina) flagged as underexplored but promising.
  • Fugs: Signed an Asian streaming partner (details forthcoming); plushies are a recurring request—considered a tough but essential consumer product route.

Operational challenges for new IP founders

  • Fugs (Yacht) on team-building: The biggest overlooked hurdle is hiring the right team—talented, caring, trustworthy—and learning to delegate. Founders with product backgrounds can struggle to let go, but empowered teams drive scalability.

Alternative IP strategy: utility-led attachment (World of Women)

  • V (World of Women) proposed a different IP model:
    • Instead of relying on constant content to stay top-of-mind (Disney-style pipeline), build emotional attachment via products that solve real problems.
    • Apple analogy: When products deliver utility and ease, brand love becomes durable; for women-centered IPs, the adoption curve may be steeper, making utility an especially powerful differentiator.

Community and IRL engagement

  • Shiv: IRL meetups provide enduring fulfillment—matching faces to PFPs, repeatedly meeting global community members builds stickiness.
  • Principle: No matter how large an IP scales, community interaction can’t fizzle out; losing that core breaks the growth engine.
  • Spaces value: Bandit argued Spaces conversations carry more depth than timelines and should be better measured (if not monetized); Kaido and others could innovate around analytics for live audio to capture the real value.

Upcoming plans and roadmaps (as shared)

  • Chimps (Shimpers):
    • New collaboration in the next couple weeks.
    • First blind box pre-order; more product-side launches coming.
  • Kleenasaur/Popkins (Nick/Josh/HEBOU):
    • More pointed announcements on the episodic side (Nick working with Sherry).
    • Gameloft soft launch (holders beta ongoing; targeting Philippines and Australia timeline, per internal estimates).
    • Merch and limited-edition releases for holders.
  • Pudgy Penguins (Shiv):
    • Recent: Kung Fu Panda announcement; Cryptoys partnership for Disney.
    • Q4: Art Basel Miami “home premiere” style activation; strong IRL presence.
  • Fugs (Yacht):
    • More animations/experimentation.
    • Merch store.
    • Asian streaming partner announcement.
    • Collector profile upgrades, new SBT rewards, and an AI companion in development.
  • Nobody Sausage (Kyle/Josh):
    • Web3-first moves: token buybacks for future deals.
    • Big licensing/merch revenue deals in the coming months.
  • World of Women (V):
    • Likely presence at Art Basel; continuing “Wasster/Waster” (project referenced) development.
  • Ape ecosystem (Cam):
    • Continued network-effect expansion via ApeChain and OtherSide; welcoming third-party IPs and enabling collaborative creation.

Key takeaways

  • Worldbuilding matters: Rich worlds amplify story and character longevity; it’s often the most underestimated ingredient.
  • Community is core: Persistent, genuine engagement—online and IRL—powers sustainable IP growth and brand love.
  • Partnerships and platformization: Cross-industry partnerships (Amazon, DreamWorks, Disney, Universal) + platforms (OtherSide, HEBOU) show how web3 IPs can scale beyond crypto-native confines.
  • Region-tailored activation: Asia’s trend leadership demands dedicated strategies and local partners; Latin America is a promising frontier.
  • Sustainable growth over hype: Collecting based on conviction and identity is replacing short-term speculation; provenance and fast digital liquidity complement physical collecting’s constraints.
  • Alternative IP playbooks: Utility-led attachment (solving real problems) can be a durable route for IPs with tougher adoption curves (e.g., women-centered IPs).

Closing sentiment

Despite a rocky technical start, the session underscored a clear narrative: web3-native IPs are professionalizing—building worlds, forging mainstream partnerships, bridging regions, and anchoring communities with products and stories worth collecting. The “IP supercycle” isn’t about hype; it’s about execution, attachment, and platforms that let creators and communities build together.