Pudgy Penguins x LINE FRIENDS Merch Hits Seoul's Myeongdong Flagship

The Pudgy Penguins x LINE FRIENDS collaboration has arrived on physical shelves in South Korea, with co-branded merchandise now available at the LINE FRIENDS SQUARE store in Seoul's Myeongdong district — the country's largest location for the character brand.

The product range includes plush toys, blind boxes and display figurines. The drop circulated on Oct. 1 after pudgypenguins amplified a post from community account 0xMeow0130 confirming the items were live in-store.

The Seoul activation is the latest step in a retail rollout that spans Asia. It follows the announcement of a Shanghai launch event at the LINE FRIENDS flagship in Xujiahui, set for Oct. 1, and a broader Korean push that included the Pengu Playground popup during Korea Blockchain Week in late September.

Why it matters

Pudgy Penguins, an 8,888-piece NFT collection on Ethereum acquired by Luca Netz in April 2022, has spent several years repositioning itself as a consumer brand rather than a purely speculative asset. Its toy line, distributed through Walmart and Target, has sold more than 1.5 million units, and the LINE FRIENDS tie-up extends that strategy into licensed character retail across Asia.

The project is also scheduled to host a four-day Huddle event series in Singapore from Oct. 6 to Oct. 9, timed to Token2049.

What to watch: whether the Myeongdong drop expands to additional LINE FRIENDS locations across the region and whether any of the merchandise carries on-chain or PENGU-linked components.