[Guide] Shopping for Progaming Merchandise.

As a perpetual progaming merchandise hoarder I decided to use the time taken off from running around Proleague today to make an extensive guide to help those of you wishing to purchase merchandise from the Korean side of StarCraft. I hope this is a useful resource to anyone who wants to buy something from their favourite team in the future.



There are two routes you can take when trying to purchase Korean progaming merchandise:

~ Physically come to Seoul (or any part of South Korea.) and purchase items via the methods described below. You will need the following:

+ Access to a Korean bank account.
+ In some cases a Korean social security number.
+ A Korean address for shipping to.
+ Ability or access to Korean language (for purchasing forms and signing up to the official team sites.)

The Korean official sites do not accept the following:

+ Foreign credit/debit or any other kind of card.
+ Paypal.
+ Foreign money orders or wire transfers.
+ Foreign shipping addresses.
+ Registration without a Korean social security number (with the exception of eSTRO/the two English language sites discussed below and Hwaseung's free-board section.)

(This also applies when asking someone currently living in South Korea to purchase for you. Please check below for a list of teams currently shipping outside of Korea/using non-Korean bank account methods of payment. This list is subject to change.)

~ Check Teamliquid.net for sales run by Lilsusie via direct team contact. You will need the following:

+ A method of payment acceptable to the seller (usually paypal etc.)
+ An address for shipping.
+ A Teamliquid.net account.



When purchasing Korean progaming merchandise you need to be aware of the following constraints:

~ Most teams do not have a constant online shop open (with the exception of KT MagicNs, and SKT1.) They run seasonal sales which last around a month and are only open to Korean purchasers with the above requirements fulfilled.

~ The best way to keep track of these sales is to check on www.fomos.kr - which usually advertises all merchandise sales and to also check the official sites listed below.

List of the Status of Sales for the 12 Korean Proteams:

An example of the current range of merchandise available for a proteam from their official online site:
+ Show Spoiler +

~ CJ Entus: http://www.cjentus.com/ or http://www.cjentus.com/english/index.html
(English shop is preparing to open/Korean official site/runs seasonal sales.)

~ eSTRO: http://www.e-stro.com/
(No current sales.)

~ KT MagicNs: http://www.ktfmagicns.com/
(Online shop is only open to Korean members of their site.)

~ MBC Heroes: http://www.mbcgame.co.kr/hero/
(Online shop is open to Korean purchases/runs seasonal sales.)

~ Samsung Khan: http://www.samsungkhan.co.kr/
(No current sales.)

~ SKTelecom T1: http://www.sksports.net/
(Online shop is open to Korean purchases/runs seasonal sales.)

~ STX Soul: https://www.bestsoul.com:447/service/
(No current sales.)

~ AirForce ACE: http://www2.airforce.mil.kr:7778/ace/main.do
(No current sales.)

~ Woongjin Stars: http://www.wjstars.com/
(No current sales.)

~ We Made Fox: http://fox.wemade.com/main/main.asp or http://fox.wemade.net/main/main.asp (turn down your speakers!)
(Runs seasonal sales. Plans for an English online shop are being prepared.)

~ Hite Sparkyz: http://www.ognsparkyz.com/main.asp
(No current sales.)

~ Hwaseung OZ: http://www.hsoz.co.kr/
(Runs seasonal sales.)



+ Balloons - these are given out free at every proleague match. They are dictated by which teams are playing (so if you go to see T1 vs STX only balloons for those two teams will be available.) Just pick them up from the Kespa desk outside the main doors of each studio. (It is okay to take multiple balloons, but over 5 would be pushing it.)



Balloons for the Proleague matches.

+ Specific event items: Specific event items are rare and unique. T1 has been doing a lot of themed days recently during their weekend Proleague outings including; 'Bisu Day.' 'Bunkie Day.' etc. These items often include free giveaways via competitions held on site or just handed out to fans sitting on the T1 side of the studios.

Items have included t-shirts, signs, keychains and discount vouchers for restaurants sponsoring the team. Hite Sparkyz, KT MagicNs and Woongjin Stars also follow this practice regularly (although upon a smaller scale where players give out gifts after winning. Their gifts have included roses, mugs and t-shirts.)

Specific items can also be picked up at finals and other events like playoffs for Proleague. OSL and MSL finals as well as Proleague come with a range of fanclub-produced and official specific items. There are no merchandise tents or stalls at finals because all merchandise is free.

Specific Event Items Photos:

+ Show Spoiler +

There are no other offline shops which sell progaming merchandise at this time. There are currently no online English language shops selling progaming merchandise (but CJ Entus and We Made Fox are both preparing their stores for opening on their official English language sites.)

Currently just like the events themselves for which you do not need tickets all on-site merchandise handed out to fans is free.

Online shop merchandise is not free and neither is that sold at the MBC Heroes Shop. However, all of it is reasonably priced and of a decent quality.

If you have any further questions then please comment here and I'll be happy to answer them.