Imaginary Ones has always stood for joy, imagination, and connection. In its latest collaboration, the Singapore-based creative studio joins forces with Peppa Pig and PlayMade for a heartwarming celebration that bridges digital art, family entertainment, and real-world experiences. Centered around the introduction of Baby Evie into the Peppa Pig universe, this partnership brings together beloved characters, collectible plushies, and bubble tea fun in a way that feels both nostalgic and refreshingly new. 

We spoke with Greg Poon, chief marketing officer of Imaginary Ones, about how this collaboration came to life and how it continues the brand’s mission to spread positivity and wonder across generations.

OpenSea: How did the collaboration between Imaginary Ones, Peppa Pig, and PlayMade first come about, and what made this partnership feel like the right fit?

Greg Poon: At Imaginary Ones, our mission has always been simple yet powerful! To spread joy, wonder, and positivity through our art and the world we built for people of all ages to enjoy. From the start, our IP was designed to be universal and heart-warming, and a big part of that has been our work in children’s content through Imaginary Junior, where we create sensory videos for babies and toddlers, and S.T.E.A.M. learning content for young children.

Alongside that, we’ve been developing our own animated series, Twirly Whirly Bubbleland, guided by a world-class consulting team of ex-Warner Bros, Netflix, and Disney experts. This series introduces the Bubblios, a magical group of five friends living inside a giant gachapon machine in a whimsical carnival world.

So when Hasbro approached us to celebrate the arrival of Baby Evie into the Peppa Pig family, it felt like a natural synergy! They saw how our characters resonate deeply with children and families, and recognised that the Imaginary Ones universe is built on the same values of positivity, imagination, and heartfelt storytelling that define Peppa Pig’s global legacy.

We also tapped into the worldwide craze for blind boxes and keychain plushies! We worked closely with our manufacturers, fine-tuning every detail to make sure our characters weren’t just cute on the outside, but irresistibly squishy to the touch.

And of course, bubbles have always been an iconic part of who we are! Our genesis collection features characters entirely made of bubbles, which is also no surprise why our token is called $BUBBLE too. “Bubble fun” has always been part of our DNA. So bringing in PlayMade, a beloved Singapore bubble tea brand co-founded by one of my closest friends, made the collaboration even more meaningful.

This partnership beautifully unites three worlds alongside the blind box trend:
• Peppa Pig’s global family appeal
• Imaginary Ones’ SG homegrown creative universe
• PlayMade’s SG homegrown bubble tea culture

Together, we’re creating a joyful, collectible, and delicious celebration where every sip and every unboxing is designed to spark smiles.

OpenSea: Baby Evie is being introduced as part of this launch. What does this new character represent to Imaginary Ones creatively or symbolically?

Greg: Baby Evie is the heart and star of this collaboration as it’s about us celebrating her birth! Her introduction marks a global celebration of new life, family, and warmth within the Peppa Pig universe. These are all themes that align deeply with Imaginary Ones’ storytelling ethos.

While Imaginary Ones began its journey in web3, our vision has always extended far beyond technology. Our true north has always been IP building, crafting stories, characters, merchandise, games, and eventually entire worlds that families can experience together. Our ambition has never changed. We are setting out to become the next great entertainment IP that brings joy across generations.

So partnering with Hasbro to celebrate Baby Evie allows us to bridge those worlds, merging digital-native creativity with mainstream family entertainment, and reinforcing our promise of creating meaningful, heart-felt moments in both the digital and physical world.

OpenSea: Imaginary Ones is known for blending web3 storytelling with mainstream culture. How does this project extend that mission?

Greg: This project is a powerful reflection of how Imaginary Ones bridges our Web3 storytelling foundation with mainstream culture in ways that feel natural, joyful, and globally relevant. While we originated in web3, our intention has always been to build an entertainment IP that resonates universally across families, collectors, gamers, and everyday consumers.

With this collaboration, we brought together several major cultural forces. The global craze for blind boxes and keychain plushies has become a phenomenon across all ages, and we recognised how perfectly this format aligns with our IP’s storytelling and collectible roots. At the same time, bubble tea has become a beloved part of modern lifestyle culture, so integrating PlayMade allowed us to tap directly into a trend that is not only iconic, but deeply relatable and joyful. And of course, the perfect finishing touch is how our signature Imaginary Ones’ “bubbles” connect so naturally with PlayMade’s bubble tea!

By merging all these elements with the storytelling worlds of both Imaginary Ones and Peppa Pig, we created an experience that speaks fluently to both web2 and web3 audiences. For our Web3 community, it’s a continuation of our narrative of world-building, character evolution, and co-creation. For mainstream consumers, it’s an accessible and delightful entry point into our universe through physical collectibles, bubbly flavours, and a beloved global children’s brand.

In many ways, this collaboration demonstrates what makes Imaginary Ones unique: the creativity and community of web3, combined with the mass appeal, cultural relevance, and emotional warmth of mainstream entertainment.

OpenSea: What was the creative process like for designing the plushie collection, especially in translating digital imagination into physical form?

Greg: Turning our bubble-based digital characters into physical products has always been one of our most exciting challenges and one we’ve been exploring for a long time. Our characters were originally conceived as digital beings made entirely of bubbles, which posed unique challenges when adapting them into plushies, figurines, and even 3D game characters.

While developing our debut mobile game Bubble Rangers, we worked tirelessly within our team to refine a simplified yet iconic silhouette. One that retained our signature two-dot eyes, playful smiles, whimsical hoodies, and expressive “bubble limbs.”

This became our foundational blueprint for all future physical products.

For the Peppa Pig collaboration, preserving the authenticity of Peppa Pig’s beloved characters was essential. Rather than transforming Peppa into a bubble body, we made a conscious creative choice, which is for our IO characters wearing Peppa Pig–inspired hoodies. This approach protects the recognisability of Peppa while seamlessly blending into the Imaginary Ones universe.

Even in its physical form, every detail was intentionally crafted to ensure our products were truly irresistible and primed to fly off the shelves! We spent months refining the sizing of our keychain plushies, making them the perfect balance between being delightfully squishable and still practical as everyday bag charms.

We also paid close attention to the materials, testing multiple fabrics and stuffing densities to achieve that “just right” squish factor that people naturally want to squeeze again and again. And when it came to the character designs, we carefully walked the line between playful and sophisticated, where it’s cute enough to captivate kids, yet polished and stylish enough to appeal to young adults and even collectors.

Every curve, every texture, every expression was deliberate. The result is a collection that feels premium, collectible, instantly iconic and unmistakably Imaginary Ones while looking great and bringing joy across ages.

OpenSea: You have previously worked with brands like HUGO BOSS and Samsung. What felt unique about collaborating with a beloved children’s brand like Peppa Pig?

Greg: Our partnerships with HUGO BOSS and Samsung were groundbreaking for us! They allowed us to merge fashion, technology, gaming, and Web3 in ways that pushed creative boundaries. With HUGO BOSS, we launched a 1001-piece NFT collection centred around mental health awareness, aligned with a cause extremely close to our hearts. The campaign became their most successful collaboration of 2022, selling out within minutes and breaking their Black Friday records.

Our work later extended into wearable tech through NFC-enabled HUGO BLUE denim jackets that unlocked special in-game skins in Bubble Rangers, demonstrating how digital and physical can enrich each other.

Similarly, with Samsung, we brought the brand into our gaming ecosystem, creating exclusive in-game skins and map segments for their global community of device users. This also included limited-edition Samsung x IO plushies as leaderboard prizes.

For our collaboration with Peppa Pig, it taps into a different emotional space altogether. Peppa Pig is a global symbol of childhood joy, imagination, and family bonding. This partnership gives us the opportunity to create something that parents and children can enjoy together! A heartwarming experience that aligns with our mission of spreading joy through creativity.

It’s a reminder that Imaginary Ones isn’t just building digital culture but also building family culture.

OpenSea: How do collaborations like this help bridge the gap between digital fandoms and real-world experiences?

Greg: At Imaginary Ones, mass adoption is at the core of everything we do. We strongly believe that a modern IP must transcend platforms. It needs to live across content, retail, gaming, experiences, and more. That’s how fandom becomes culture, leading to mass adoption. 

By building bridges between digital expression and physical touchpoints, whether through plushies, games, collectibles, or in-store activations, we invite fans from all over to experience our world in ways that are tactile, joyful, and memorable.

What makes this even more powerful is our amazing legendary Imaginary Ones’ team. In under three years, our small but mighty team has launched:
• A children’s channel
• An upcoming animated series
• Our Bubble Rangers mobile game
• Multiple merch sell outs
• Multiple physical plush collections
• Web3 experiences and global brand collaborations

These touchpoints allow fans to discover Imaginary Ones from multiple entry points, through web2 or web3, online or offline. Every interaction strengthens the emotional connection to the brand.

OpenSea: What role does community feedback or fan interaction play in shaping Imaginary Ones’ creative direction?

Greg: Our community is everything. While our team has a strong creative vision, community sentiment is the heartbeat that guides where our IP grows next.

We actively listen to fans across all platforms, and their feedback has directly influenced major areas of development from game experience in Bubble Rangers, to character designs in our animated series, to personality traits, story arcs, and even collectibles.

When fans feel genuinely involved, they don’t just support the brand, they become part of its DNA. That kind of passion cannot be bought with marketing budgets. It comes from true co-creation, respect, and meaningful engagement. And that’s the level of brand affinity with the community that any IP would love to have.

One of our strongest beliefs is, “When the community builds with you, the community stays with you.”

OpenSea: Looking ahead, how does Imaginary Ones envision the next phase of its growth as a web3 IP studio that connects art, play, and storytelling?

Greg: Our vision remains unwavering, which is to grow Imaginary Ones into one of the world’s most beloved entertainment IPs. One that lives across content, gaming, merchandise, interactive experiences, and eventually even theme parks! 

We believe in the marriage of web2 and web3. Web2 keeps us grounded in mass audiences, market sentiment, and cultural trends, while Web3 keeps us future-forward, adaptive, and innovative as technology evolves.

By uniting both worlds, we’re building an IP that is resilient, modern, and deeply connected to how people consume entertainment today.

The next phase of Imaginary Ones is about expanding our universe even more boldly! Where we’ll potentially be introducing new stories, new characters, new experiential partnerships, and new technologies that bring art, play, and storytelling to life in magical, meaningful ways.

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