Let’s Visit Toys R Us 토이저러스 in Korea! (Image heavy!)

I love toys~ and I think most of you guys that read my blog on a regular basis are aware of that fact! If not, I have a whole related category that I plan to fill up with all sorts of features and eye candy ^^

Today I want to share a place with you that many of us know quite well though~ Toys R US!!

Why is this interesting? Because we are checking out a Toys R Us IN KOREA! CUTE KOREAN TOYS!

For the longest time, Koreans would often buy toys at places like 문방구which tend to carry mainly cheap toys, but a few good ones for gifts even if they are little hole in the wall places. Dongdaemuntoy market is another toy hot spot in Korea which is still a bit of a chaotic jumble of plastic and color, but what about the fancy air conditioned shops we are familiar with?

Yes, nowadays in growing numbers you can find toys western-style as dedicated aisles in large department stores like E-mart or Lotte-Mart (sort of like the Walmart in Korea) and even out beloved Toys R Us has finally arrived in South Korea which has the largest selection of them all!

Toys R Us opened its very first South Korea location in 2007, boasting that it was now Korea’s largest toy store under one roof! Currently Korea has around 26 Toys R Us locations, these are all (to my knowledge) built in sections of larger Lotte-Marts . Usually the store will have a whole floor dedicated to the Toys R Us so even though it is not a 100% stand-alone location it is still a large and legit Korean toy store filled with goodies!

The presentation at Korean Toys R Us stores is top-notch. Lots of places to test things out or fun displays.

In some ways it feels very much the same as a store back home, but in other ways it is very different! You can really tell you are in Asia by the types of toys they sell…. yes, lots of sparkle-tastic kawaii girls toys and giant robot boys toys. A fair amount of what you see in Korean toy stores like this are Korean characters or re-branded Japanese toys, so for a foreigner a lot of it is new and interesting!

You would be surprised how many original characters Korea has for children~ you really realize it when stepping in one of these stores though. Forget Dora the Explorer~ they have Kong-Suni. Forget Mickey Mouse, they have Pororo Penguin!

Korea does have its fair share of imported products too like Marvel, DC, Barbie, I even saw Monster High recently~ but they are a bit more expensive and not as plentiful as the Asian lines/characters.

Nara is not impressed with “I’m Asian” Barbie or “I’m Totally Australian” Barbie.

Currently the boys department seems to be dominated by Japanese shows like Bakugan, Power Rangers, and Gundam. That little boy looks totally overwhelmed lol!

Lots of cellphone toys! I guess so they do not ask to play with yours? lol

Gundams are very much a thing here in Korea, so naturally they have a HUGE section dedicated to it in the Korean Toys R Us stores! Mostly kits and all that fun stuff

Nara has been fighting off the urge to buy a Gundam since we visited the Gundam Base Shop in Seoullol

I would have totally lived in that tent house as a kid.

aw everything you could every need for your baby doll in one GIANT box

I found a few interesting Korea-specific motherhood roll-playing items for girls, like this Pororo포대기 (podaegi) which is a type of traditional cloth carrier mothers use in Korea to carry their babies! You still see these frequently used today by young mothers and especially by grandmothers tending to the babies (which is very common)

I want a pink iron and bunny washing machine…..

Naturally Hello Kitty makes an appearance here!

This needs to be in adult size.

Geoffrey Giraffe is so flipping creepy in this store…..

Pororo lego blocks

Ice cream shop!

Or how about an ice cream stacking game? Haha we own this one!! Blogged about it HERE XD

What little girl would want Barbie, when they could get 쥬쥬 Juu Juu instead!

미미 VS 쥬쥬

Korea has two main “Barbie” type dolls, 쥬쥬 Juu-Juu who is a little more sparkle-tastic with a sharper face and 미미 Mimi who is a little like a cheaper Licca-chan from Japan. I really want to feature these dolls in a dedicated post someday~ hard to find any exhibits or proper collectors of them though!

쥬쥬 Juu-Juu has lots of related crafts and accessory kits that are just over the top adorable.

Piano,Vanity, Microphone, AND Jewelery case! I am a princess who does it all!

Almost bought this one like 20 times~ looks like something from Sailor Moon!

Can’t pick between a Juu Juu bag or doll?  Here is a doll that lives in a “bag house” perfect!

Now on to the Mimi aisle! Bit more girly cute over here

Pretty fashion Mimi

Special Hanbok Mimi dolls!

Another line in the Mimi Doll collection is 리틀 미미 Little Mimi! She is like a little sister dolls, but has her own house, car, play sets etc~ they are all really adorable, I actually find them cuter than the regular Mimi doll stuff.

Another large girls brand character is Kong-Suni 콩순이 ~ does the name sound familiar?

Kong-Suni is that pooping + farting doll I featured a while back that seemed to go mini viral and made its way around the internet lol thanks for the traffic Miss fart doll! Too bad several places forgot to credit me as the source for this valuable information

Anyway, Kong-Suni has her own little line of additional (non farting) kids toys~ mainly roll-playing stuff like cooking, doctor, etc.

The most adorable cash register EVER

Kong-suni “laptop” for studying + a Karaoke feature lol why not?

AHH! Sylvanian Families!!! Korean Toys R US has a huge section dedicated to them!

They even have a corner for a photo op with a few GIANT versions of the toys! ADORABLE NARA!

I wanted these fluffy baby kittens so bad, I never could find them though T_T only on display!

Sylvanian Families / Maple Town / Calico Critters ~I used to lLOVE these little flocked animal town toys growing up! I had Maple Town which is long gone now, however the Japanese line Sylvanian Families is alive and well here in the Korean shops!

You can find “Calico Critters” sometimes in the USA at stores, but seriously the detail of the Sylvanian Families stuff is way cuter nowadays. Look at all those little ice creams *_*

Tiny picnic!

If you want to buy cute craft kits, this is the place! They have SO many~ I am way too old, but gah! I WANT TO TRY EVERYTHING! The largest line is “Angel’s” with cute kits, but they have a bunch of others. Some are originally Japanese, and others are Korean-made lines.

One thing I love (aside from the cuteness) is the fact they usually display the kits showing what you can make.

Stamp kit and pencil toppers! These look like fun :3

Clay sparkle accessory kit!

Children’s baking kit to make edible 붕어빵 (red bean hot bread in the shape of a fish, a popular Korean street food) plus corn dogs… because, why not? Wonder how it tastes…

Another adorable kit to make edible shaped rice treats for your 도시락 Dosirak lunchbox!

They also had plenty of inedible food kits for making dough dumplings or steak~ complete with a little fake gas grill like the ones you frequently come across here in restaurants.

This visit to Toys R Us in Korea we found a great selection of Korea’s own Ddung 뚱 dolls PLUS other dolls from Sol Toys like Celli Cat and Blings 블링즈 which I have featured here on the blog in previous articles!

They had lots of really cute Hanbok Ddung 뚱 dolls in the larger and mini size!

Wedding set!!

They even make some play sets for your mini Ddung~ adorable!

I love Blings 블링즈 so much, the faces are extra cute! Had to buy one for my collection…

I’m an adult! WEEEEE~

If you are in need of party supplies, but can not seem to locate a local party shop you can buy lots of what you need here as well! Invitations, wrapping paper, balloons, etc. Some are cheap and some do have licensed characters on them.

Hanbok sticker dolls!

In the front they have a few final places to blow money on Arcade games or capsule toys (most of these are Japanese for things like Power Rangers, Jewel Pets, Doraemon, etc)

WHAT DID YOU BUY TODAY ELLE?

Where to visit Toys R Us 토이저러스 in Korea

Hours vary depending on the location , most open around 10am and close from 9pm-midnight

Seoul (according to the official listing) has 5 locations currently, while Korea overall has around 26~ so even if you are not in Seoul you may have a location in your area. It is important to note that Toys R Us in Korea is always connected to a Lotte Mart in some way, usually it has its own floor or obvious “section” with cash registers.

Toys R Us is not at EVERY Lotte mart, only select locations!

서울 송파구 올림픽로 240 롯데마트 잠실점
2F Lotte World Shopping Mall | Jamsil-dong 40-1 | Songpa-gu | Seoul 138-220

The most popular location is in Jamsil, connected to the HUGE mall where Lotte World and Lotte Hotel is, so if you are visiting Korea this would be an ideal location to visit because it is nested among a ton of other things to do! This whole area is like a huge mall, but just look for signs and it should be on the 2nd floor in the Lotte Mart area

서울특별시 구로구 구로동 636-89번지

A location a bit closer to where I live that I visit normally is at the Lotte-mart in-between Guil and Guro station on the Blue line #1, just off the Green line #2 around Sindorim. It is open till midnight usually which is good, but it is kinda far from the station so I always have to take a cab to and from this spot :/

Check the links below to see which location is closest (or easiest) to get to in your area!

♥Toys R Us Korea listing + info/hours (in Korean)♥

♥International Toys R Us listing (English)♥

What would you like to buy if you could visit Toys R Us in Korea? Have you been to a toy store overseas before? What do you like about it?  Do you have a favorite Korean toy? Comment and share below!