Seoul Metro Corporation Expands Sales of Subway Character 'Ttota' Merchandise

Expanding Product Range with Dolls and USBs Following Existing DIY Design Items

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul Metro announced on the 18th that it will take a more active approach to selling character merchandise by signing an additional sales license agreement for products such as dolls and USB drives featuring the corporation’s character ‘Ttota’.

The corporation signed a license agreement last October with ‘Rail Planet,’ a company specializing in railway-related products, and began selling Ttota dolls in January this year, followed by various products such as USB drives and badges starting in February. Additional product lines, including figures, will continue to be added.

In particular, Ttota dolls had previously been produced in small quantities only for internal commemorative purposes, but in April, a surprise on-site sale was held at Gwanghwamun Station under the theme of overcoming financial difficulties. The event was met with a long line of buyers, resulting in all 600 dolls being sold out within two hours, marking a great success. Since then, citizens have continuously requested that the dolls be sold regularly.

Products can be ordered through the Rail Planet website marketplace, with prices mainly ranging from 7,000 KRW to just over 10,000 KRW. Visitors can also see Ttota products directly at the exhibition stand inside the Seoul Subway Era Hall installed at Gwanghwamun Station on Line 5, and can easily purchase them via QR codes.

The existing custom-order online sales platform ‘Manggle’ is also being revamped. Previously, customers could create products using Ttota images, but with the recent site overhaul, sample designs are now provided to make ordering products easier. Additionally, customers can add desired text or design products according to their preferences.

To commemorate the expansion of product sales, promotional events aimed at attracting buyers will be held in collaboration with sales outlets. Manggle will hold an event at the end of February where purchasers will be entered into a draw to win prizes such as ‘Ttota dolls’ and ‘coffee coupons’ to celebrate the platform’s revamp. Rail Planet will also run an event at the end of February offering an additional ‘Ttota memo pad’ for purchases over a certain amount.

Through these efforts, the corporation expects character merchandise sales to reach 20 million KRW this year. This amount is nearly four times higher than last year’s monthly sales when the first product sales began.

Kim Jeong-hwan, head of public relations at Seoul Metro, said, “Thanks to the great support for the Ttota character representing the Seoul subway, we have expanded product sales this time. Selling subway character merchandise is a small step toward overcoming financial difficulties as well as an effort by the corporation to communicate with citizens. We hope that people will continue to share their desired products with us.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.