Pudgy Penguins' LINE FRIENDS Collection Debuts in Seoul
Pudgy Penguins' collaboration with LINE FRIENDS reached a confirmed retail debut Oct. 1 at a Seoul flagship store, eight days after a tease pointed toward South Korea.
Pudgy Penguins' collaboration with LINE FRIENDS reached a confirmed retail debut Oct. 1 at LINE FRIENDS' Myeongdong store in Seoul. The project's Chinese-market X account separately invited fans to a "Huddle" celebration at LINE FRIENDS' store in Shanghai's Xujiahui district, writing that the Pudgy Penguins x LINE FRIENDS series was officially debuting there. LINE FRIENDS is a South Korean character brand that grew out of sticker art for Naver's LINE messaging app in 2011 and has since expanded into merchandise, cafes and theme parks across Asia.
Pudgy Penguins first flagged the partnership Sept. 21 with a cryptic post reading only "Something is coming," tagging LINE FRIENDS with no further details, dates or terms. Two days later, on Sept. 23, the project followed up with "Time to takeover Korean retail stores," pointing toward South Korea without naming a store or date.
Crypto-news outlet The Bored Ape Gazette had already reported an Oct. 1 launch at LINE FRIENDS' Myeongdong flagship store in Seoul — the South Korean retail move the Sept. 23 post appeared to signal. On Oct. 1, Pudgy Penguins' main account amplified a post from a community account reporting the co-branded merchandise already on shelves inside the Myeongdong store: plush toys, blind boxes and display figurines. That amplification is short of Pudgy Penguins or LINE FRIENDS announcing the Seoul launch in their own words — it is the brand elevating a community member's in-store report, not a first-party statement — but it carries more weight than a single outlet's report. Pudgy Penguins separately posted a direct storefront link for the full LINE FRIENDS collection the same day.
The collection spans pens, plushies, figurines and a keyring blind bag with six designs of Pudgy Penguins' mascots Pax and Polly, according to Bored Ape Gazette's preview of the Oct. 1 launch. According to the LINE FRIENDS SQUARE store directory, the Myeongdong, Seoul address is listed under Korea and the Xujiahui, Shanghai address under Global.