The Fugglers were created by a woman named Louise McGettrick, who sold them on eBay while at home. Her business became big really quickly and she was unable to keep up with the workload so she sold the company in 2018 to Spinmaster. They created many new characters known as the “originals,” but as the uprising events of 2020 came the Fugglers disappeared. “Fugglers were worried about the state of the world so collectively decided to go into hiding for a bit as they saw things that shocked even them,” according to the Fugglers website.  They came back even stronger in 2021 and have dropped twenty-three collections so far and a blind box mini figure collection. This was oversaw by Mark Kingston who is the CEO and Co-Founder of the Libertas Brands.

What does your position entail?

I oversee the Fuggler brand for Libertas Brands who secured all rights globally for the brand from Spinmaster in 2023. Our aim is to build the Fuggler brand into a well known family friendly franchise around the globe through intriguing products, content and experiences.

Have you ever held a different position through the company?

Libertas Brands was founded to build the Fuggler brand so was only incorporated in 2024 – previously I have worked for major family entertainment brands such as Paramount, Nickelodeon, Disney, BBC and ZAG Studios.

Were you involved in the new production of the Fugglers as the original Fugglers were sold and made by Louise McGettrick? If so, what was your role in the production process and would you mind sharing your experience in as much detail as you can provide.

Our plush partner has been a UK based company called ‘Addo Play’ who with their talented team of designers and product development team created the range of Fugglers with the help of Libertas Brands that were launched in Walmart in 2024. During 2024 we moved our plush partner to the global toy company, Zuru Toys, who going forward are working with Libertas on all the designs and themes for the new Fugglers that will appear in stores from now on. We typically work 18-24 months out on coming up with ideas and themes and then a team of talented designers create various Fuggler designs for the team at Libertas, Addo Play and Zuru to then whittle down to a shortlist and the final selection of characters to go into production and sale.

What was the design concept when creating such a toy?

The design concept is to create ‘Funny Ugly Monsters’ that incorporate the key attributes of a Fuggler – human-like teeth, vacant or button eyes and a unique ‘Butt-on-hole’ with 1 in 24 being a different color to drive collectability and rarity.

What is your mission statement?

To bring mischievous fun to Fuggler fans around the world while spreading the word that beauty is in the eye of the beholder – people often refer to Fugglers as ‘ugly but cute’

In your opinion has your business ever had a rough patch? If so, could you explain how it was handled and how you came out of it?

There have been many ups and downs already on our journey to relaunch the Fugglers, some aspects are confidential, however the real challenge has been convincing retailers to re-try a brand that had previously been launched and failed. We ensured that we had built a strategy and a communication and content plan that would engage with the fan base and ensure that there was demand when the new Fugglers hit retail shelves.

Did you expect the revamped product to be popular in many countries? 

We have been patiently building our content and our social media following and knew that the new designs we had were winners (we had successfully launched in the UK and Australia so knew fans loved the new take on Fugglers).

Should we be on the lookout for your products hitting the shelves in other countries? 

We will be rolling out in 30 more countries in 2025 and launch over 150 new Fuggler plush characters across various different sizes and price points.

When can we expect the drops in the US for certain products that are sold in other countries? This includes but not limited to double trouble, hairy fuggs and fartface. 

These will all be coming out in 2025. The Gold Fuggs have officially dropped at Walmart. 

Are you looking to get them into other brick and mortar stores?

Yes – we will be launching in all major retailers in the US through 2025 so watch out for more Fuggler mayhem and chaos.

Have you thought about different branding ideas to get your product seen more with social media?

We have had over 650M views with the #Fuggler on Tik Tok and the more Fugglers that are purchased the more UGC content is created and fuels even more views, likes and followers. Our Tik Tok following has grown from 70k at the beginning of Dec 2024 to over 240k today.

Is there an online shop on your website coming soon or down the line?

We’re looking at options – for now our products will be on Amazon.com and major retailers online sites

What is your opinion about the social trend of beautifying/personalizing your product? Some examples I have seen include eyelashes, piercings, tooth gems, makeup, and fake tattoos.

We love that our fans love our Fugglers so much and that they want to personalize them – we’re working on some product ideas and themes that will enable fans to immerse themselves even more in this trend.

Do you personally have a favorite Fuggler? If so, who and why are they your favorite?

How can I choose from our beloved family!!! – although I do have a soft spot for Sketchy Squirrel – he’s a really cheeky Fuggler!

How many different eye designs do you have for the Fugglers?

We have approximately 8 current different designs

Are there going to be different fabric textures for the upcoming Fugglers?

Yes – we are experimenting with some amazing new fabric textures and techniques 

How many collaborations have you had in the past? 

4 have launched to date – TMNT, SpongeBob, Gremlins and DC Heroes. We have just announced our Lord of the Rings collaboration and we have many more in the works. We will aim to launch 2 or 3 collaborations per year.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) Fugglers all have a different design rather than using the same design and adding a costume. Can you expand on the reasons for the design differences?

We worked closely with the team at Paramount to ensure we matched the right Fuggler character species with the relevant personality of the Turtles – when looking at our collaborations it’s actually our Fugglers in cos-play as their favorite characters to trick us stoopid hoomans!! 

Are there any new possible ideas that you’re working on? If so, would you be able to provide me with any details?

We have lots of great news themes coming through that are top secret at the moment – we have recently revealed out Gold Fugglers & Hairy Fugglers and also announced our new Vacay Vibes Fugglers.