What Lego compatible sets are available in South Korea in 2025?

 

Hey brick fans!

I just returned from a 2 week sightseeing vacation in South Korea visiting the lovely cities of Seoul and Busan.  While Lego is pretty much sold in every major mall and department store, it was a lot harder to find alternative brick brands.  I was hoping to see a lot more of the domestic branded Oxford blocks, but I only found them sporadically and the selection wasn't as much as I had hoped for.

There were predominately three places that I found Lego compatible sets in Korea.  They were:

• Daiso discount shops
• Lotte malls
• Random shop in Changsin Toy Alley

Note that I spent only a bit of time looking for building block sets because my main focus was visiting Korea for the first time.  Anyways, here's my report for what it's worth.   

Daiso, Seoul

The Daiso discount shops can be found in many locations around Seoul and Busan.  The Daiso brand originates from Japan and they started out as a 100 yen shop selling household items, stationary, and other miscellaneous items but now due to inflation, most of their products have gone up in price.  The ones I visited were in the shopping districts of  Hongdae and Myeongdong in Seoul and in Seomyeon, Busan and most of the items came in at about $5 CDN and under.

Daiso locations in Seoul.

Daiso locations in Busan.

Each Daiso had pretty much the same selection, and was mainly focused on smaller Loz sized brick sets for which I had little interest.  There were some Oxford branded  Lego sized brick sets but mostly focused on vehicles. Pricing was in the 3000 to 5000 korean won range.  At the time of this blog post, 1000 korean won is about $1 Cdn.

4 stud wide cars priced at 3000 won.

6 stud wide vehicles priced at 5000 won.

Some store displays.

A smattering of other small Oxford and generic sets.

Changsin Toy Alley, Seoul

The Changsin or Dongdaemun Toy Alley is a street full of toy vendors.  Most of the toy stores sold cheap Chinese toys that one would find in your typical dollar store back home, however I did find one or two shops selling Lego and Lego compatible building block sets.

Once you exit the Dongdaemun metro station, head east along the main street and you will find a Rubick's street marker at the entrance to the toy street.

This store sold mostly Lego and an assortment of Oxford Blocks.

This one and only store in the Toy Alley sold Sembo sets.  However, there was no staff in the store that I could find and the prices weren't marked.

Here's a look at some of the Sembo sets that were on display at the shop.

Lotte Mall, Busan

This next store is a few stops south of the Busan Station in Gwangbok district.

Lego is still the number one building block set in Korea.

As I entered the toy area, I was hoping to find more than just Lego.

The Oxford Blocks section in this store reminded me of the sets I saw in the Changsin Toy Alley.

Mostly the town life sets and police sets.

Some military sets.

Some Keepplay mini block sets. Not sure if this is a rename of the Keppeley sets or a different brand altogether.

The same Crayon Shin-chan sets I saw in Changsin Toy Alley.

There were three or four medieval fortress sets.  This one is JK36432 being on sale for 68,700 won or about $69 CDN.  It says it has 1168 pieces.

Some branded tie-in sets I didin't see in Seoul Toy Alley.  A locker room set for 14900 won or $15CDN.

And this baskin robbins ice cream shop selling for 32800 won or $33 CDN. 

I was really hoping to find some of the older Oxford blocks sets especially in the Changsin Toy Alley, but they were just selling the latest sets.  If you happen to know where to find some cool Lego compatible in South Korea, please let me know!

Thanks for looking bye!