Stephen Fung, a renowned Hong Kong-based actor, filmmaker, and creative partner at Azuki, has partnered with digital artist Michael Lau to launch non-fungible token-inspired figurines. The Azuki NFT team has joined the rapidly growing list of top non-fungible token projects in the physical-backed NFT market, where the Pudgy Penguins NFT team is the market leader.
It’s dope to see a trait from the Azuki collection come to life in tangible ways like this. @stephenfungfdl is an accomplished director and has exciting plans to build out the IP.
BUCKET MAN x Michael Lau vinyl art toy with PBT pre-order: https://t.co/KG2Rqb7orh pic.twitter.com/YhxxB8pRMV
— Zagabond (@Zagabond) March 24, 2025
Azuki Launches NFT-Inspired Figurines
In a March 21 blog post, Zagabond, one of the Azuki founding team, shared that he is extremely happy to see a trait from the Azuki collection physically come to life. Launched in 2021, the Azuki is a non-fungible token collection featuring a limited edition of 10,000 anime-themed NFTs hosted on Ethereum blockchain networks. The Azuki NFT team has also created the Beanz Official and Azuki Elementals.
The PBT-enabled Bucket Man Red Edition figurine is open for exclusive Azuki community pre-order.
Details below 👇 pic.twitter.com/gYKVMPbOxT
— Azuki (@Azuki) March 21, 2025
In the recent integration, Stephen Fung joined Michael Lau, a digital artist known for his painting, sculpture, and design of toy figures, to introduce Azuki NFT-inspired figurines to the market. Stephen Fung becomes a creative partner with Azuki, joining as an advisor to help reimagine anime fandom and storytelling. Fung is renowned in the NFT market as Bucket Man.
Before joining the Azuki NFT team, Fung previously took inspiration from his own Azuki NFT collection to craft the Bucket Man, a vibrant original anime IP. Today, Bucket Man symbolizes resilience and limitless potential, rising above challenges to defy all odds. Lau and Fung have joined forces to create a decentralized anime IPs brand at the intersection of the Azuki NFT community, art, technology, and culture.
For the Bucket Man launch, Fung has enlisted the expertise of the “Godfather of Designer Toys,” Lau, to create a limited-edition Bucket Man figurine powered by Azuki that integrates Physical Backed Token (PBT) technology, enabling seamless on-chain ownership tracking with a simple scan. This Bucket Man NFT-inspired toys collection is available for pre-order until March 31, 2025, at www.crazysmiles.com.
Azuki Joins Penguins In The Toy And Figurine Market
The Azuki team appears to follow the footprint of the Pudgy Penguins, which have also launched a series of physically backed products. Igloo Inc., the team behind Pudgy Penguins, a globally acknowledged non-fungible token collection featuring a limited edition of 8,888 penguin birds hosted on the Ethereum blockchain network, entered the toy and figurine market in 2023. At the time, Pudgy Penguins partnered with PMI Toys, enabling NFT licensing through Overpass IP.
Following our recent retail expansion, Pudgy Toys are now available in 10,000+ stores worldwide.
Can you guess where Pengu will go next? pic.twitter.com/aprJKb3YjU
— Pudgy Penguins (@pudgypenguins) March 2, 2025
This model allowed the Pudgy Penguins and Lil Pudgy non-fungible token holders to profit from commercializing their digital assets, making it a passive income source for collectors. Within just one year, the Pudgy Penguins NFT team sold over 750,000 Toys, generating over $10 million in revenue. Pudgy Penguins launched its toys series on Amazon but later expanded to major U.S. retailers like Walmart, Target, and Walgreens.
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