Hot Properties

Toy World Takes a look at the very latest properties that are currently taking the licensed sector by storm.

Fuggler - Libertas Brands

www.fuggler.com - fugglers@libertasbrands.com

2025 has been a successful year for the Fuggler brand. With its partners at Blue Zoo Studios, over 80 live-action episodes have already been released, along with 200+ YouTube shorts. New shows like Fuggler Law & Disorder, Road Trip with Fugglers, Fuggler FOMO and The Great Big Butt-on Hole Quiz Show are all dropping throughout the rest of the year and into 2026.

Fans span kids and kidults, with 60% of the fanbase being female teens and kidults. TikTok is buzzing with followers, up 253% this year, with over 60,000 pieces of fan-made content racking up 811m views. Across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, the brand’s own channels now boast more than 950,000 followers (+140% YoY) and engagement regularly hits 5% or more.

On shelves, Fuggler’s global plush partner Zuru is making sure these loveable weirdos are everywhere. By the end of 2025, they’ll be in over 70 markets at retailers like Walmart, Target, Tesco, Smyths, Amazon and many more.

There have also been a multitude of collaborations. The Gremlins x Fuggler range continues to cause trouble worldwide, alongside Lord of the Rings x Fuggler and the special 50th Anniversary Jaws x Fuggler. 2026 brings even more oddball team-ups with SpongeBob keychain Fugglers, PowerPuff Girls and Care Bears. Meanwhile, the core line is expanding with new themes like Butt Ugly Pets, MisFits Monsters, Fugg Life, Old Fogies, Fuggalicious and Alley Cats, plus more surprises are in the pipeline.

Away from plush, Fugglers are making their way into collectibles, apparel, accessories, stationery, pet toys, homewares, publishing, costumes and even digital trading cards. Partners already on board include PMI Kids World, Poetic Brands, Difuzed, The Jacob Company, Sinco Pets, Hunter Price, Rainbow Productions, Spirit, Issac Morris, Surreal Entertainment, Spin Master Games, Aduro, MoonPig.com, Trends International, Themed.co.uk, Pogo, Lake Press, Centum Books, Iconix, Accessoires Innovation, Buffalo Games and Tibles with the FuggClub app. There are plenty more deals in motion across the globe.

Fuggler has also teamed up with Retail Monster (US/Canada), Haven Global (Australia/NZ), Creative Minds (Japan), Future of Play (China/HK/Taiwan) and WildBrain CPLG (everywhere else). Libertas Brands covers the UK & Ireland.

For licensing inquiries, get in touch via the details above.

Kiss - Pophouse Entertainment

jon.spalding@pophouse.se

Pophouse Entertainment, the Stockholm-based company co-founded by EQT’s Conni Jonsson and Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus, invests in and develops some of the world’s most iconic music artists, with a clear vision to turn iconic music IP into global entertainment brands through experiences and powerful storytelling.

With a portfolio that includes Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, Cyndi Lauper and Kiss, alongside productions such as Mamma Mia! The Party, Pophouse is rapidly scaling, acquiring IP and adding value to the artists’ catalogue by creating new concepts and experiences, ultimately turning timeless music into multi-dimensional experiences that resonate with fans across generations.

In 2024, Pophouse acquired the Kiss music catalogue, brand name, trademarks and likeness and now partners with Kiss to bring the band’s stories and larger-than-life personality into the world in ways that feel fresh, engaging and unexpected. With over 100m records, over 200m concert attendees and reaching over 32m monthly listeners today, Kiss has a truly global fandom. Its superfan base, The Kiss Army, has over 17m social followers, spanning generations and over 100 countries. Whilst an iconic music band, Kiss has always gone beyond music with its electrifying live shows, iconic characters and disruptive pop-culture partnerships with Marvel, Hello Kitty and The Simpsons.

Pophouse’s mission is to amplify this legacy, releasing music, creating new stories, innovative products, immersive experiences and connected digital platforms. The company aims both to reward existing fans and recruit new audiences. The viral Kiss TikTok channel, launched in March 2025, has already brought in over 1m new fans, especially targeting young women aged 18–24 who make up the majority of the platform users and can be drawn to the band’s makeup, spectacle and showmanship appeal.

Music is the core of the Kiss strategy, with music releases, remixes and collaborations, but the company is developing a long-term roadmap that doubles down on Kiss as a character-driven IP with limitless storytelling potential. Biopics, documentaries and comics celebrate the band’s history, and animation, gaming and horror stories unlock new worlds. All of this builds up to the Kiss Avatar Show (Pophouse is a founding investor in Abba Voyage) to bring fans face-to-face with technology and emotional connection. As Pophouse builds its commercial and creative roadmap, it will focus on partnerships within Lifestyle, Play, Digital & Gaming and Experiences. Since the beginning of the Pophouse and Kiss partnership in 2024, several tentpole campaigns have been launched across different areas. In Lifestyle, Dsquared2’s spring/summer 2025 runway featured a Kiss-inspired fashion collection, reimagining the band’s iconic imagery. In Play & Collectibles partnerships with NECA, Weta and Funko cement Kiss as a pop culture powerhouse, whilst in Digital & Gaming: The World of Tanks x Kiss collaboration shows how immersive platforms can tell Kiss stories in new ways. As Pophouse expands into experiences ranging from kids’ animation to horror universes, live events and sports crossovers – plus the upcoming Avatar Show – Kiss will engage fans in truly unexpected spaces.