Oxford, Sembo and More: Compatible Building Sets Spotted in South Korea

South Korea’s compatible building set selection in 2025 was more scattered than a collector might expect. During a two-week visit to Seoul and Busan, the widest range I found was at a Lotte mall in Busan; Daiso offered small, inexpensive sets, while Changsin Toy Alley had a handful of specialist finds. Oxford appeared in more than one location, but older sets proved elusive.

This is a snapshot from a trip focused mainly on sightseeing, with limited time spent checking shops. It can help set expectations for a collector browsing in person: look in several kinds of stores, expect the selection to vary, and treat the prices below as observations from the visit rather than a current catalogue.

Daiso: small sets and low prices

Daiso branches turned up in Seoul’s Hongdae and Myeongdong districts and in Seomyeon, Busan. The stores I visited carried broadly similar selections. Most of their building sets were small Loz-style products, with a smaller number of Oxford sets using standard-size bricks. The Oxford offerings leaned toward vehicles.

Prices ranged from 3,000 to 5,000 Korean won. The smaller cars were four studs wide and priced at 3,000 won; six-stud-wide vehicles cost 5,000 won. At the time of the trip, the author estimated that 1,000 won was about $1 Canadian. Most Daiso items across the store, not just building sets, were priced at about $5 Canadian or less.

Changsin Toy Alley: a few specialist stops

Changsin, also called Dongdaemun Toy Alley, is a street of toy shops. Most of the vendors I passed sold inexpensive toys, but one or two shops had building sets from LEGO and compatible brands. To find the street, the travel notes point visitors east from Dongdaemun metro station toward a street marker at the entrance.

One shop focused mainly on LEGO and also carried a selection of Oxford Blocks. A separate store had Sembo sets on display. I couldn’t find staff in that shop, and the prices weren’t marked, so the display offered a look at the range but no easy way to compare costs. The trip also turned up Crayon Shin-chan sets, which appeared again at the Busan stop.

Lotte Mall, Busan: the broadest selection

The Lotte mall stop in Busan’s Gwangbok district, a few stops south of Busan Station, offered the most varied selection seen on the trip. LEGO remained the dominant building brand in the toy area, but Oxford and several other makers filled out the shelves.

Oxford’s range included town life sets and themed sets, alongside products similar to those spotted in Changsin. Other finds included Keepplay mini block sets; I couldn’t tell whether Keepplay was a renamed version of Keppeley or a separate brand. Crayon Shin-chan sets also appeared here, matching the ones seen in Seoul.

Several medieval fortress sets were on display. One was marked JK36432, with 1,168 pieces and a price of 68,700 won, roughly $69 Canadian at the conversion used during the trip. The store also carried branded tie-in sets that hadn’t appeared in the Changsin shop. A locker room set was priced at 14,900 won, or about $15 Canadian, while a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop set cost 32,800 won, approximately $33 Canadian.

For collectors hoping to track down earlier Oxford releases, the trip was a reminder that a retailer’s current shelf stock may skew toward recent sets. I didn’t find the older Oxford boxes I had hoped to see in Changsin Toy Alley. The most useful route for a visitor is to check multiple shopping areas: Daiso for compact, low-cost builds; Changsin for a few independent toy shops and Sembo; and the Busan Lotte toy section for the broadest range spotted on this visit. Stock and prices may differ by branch and date, so the set number and shelf label are worth checking before buying.

More building set reviews are available at bricktoyreviews.blogspot.com.