It's no surprise that "Squid Game" is one of, if not the hottest show today. It's pretty good in its own right, sure, but you can't deny that toe growing Korean frenzy did help. With the incomparable popularity of K-Pop and the historic wins of the 2019 film, "Parasite," it was only a matter of time before a show like "Squid Game" will take over the world.
That's why I thought of getting the cast's autographs beforehand. My friend who works in Korea told me about "Squid Game" even before it was released. He relayed that his own acquaintances who worked on the series bragged about how awesome it will be, and how it will change the game with Korean dramas in general. I honestly couldn't have imagined that its success would be as massive as it was but I already knew that I had to get in on the action before everyone else.
And so I asked my buddy to ask his acquaintances if they could score a couple of autographed posters of the series. I particularly wanted Gong Yoo's autograph since he was already world-famous from his 2016 horror flick hit, "Train to Busan." Even if "Squid Game" didn't live up to the hype, I'm sure posters with his autograph on them would still sell. I'm not sure how close my buddy really was with the guys who were connected to the show but he did tell me that he was confident that he could get them.
To my surprise, right before "Squid Game" became the global hit that it is, I received my package of autographed posters with the autographs of Gong Yoo and Lee Jung-Jae. I didn't know who the latter was and only when I watched the show myself did I realize that he was one of the main leads. Though, in all honesty, I was a bit disappointed that these were the only cast members who signed the posters, I was still satisfied nonetheless.
That was, however, until I watched the series. I got so enamored by Park Hae-soo, who played Cho Sang-woo on the show, that I wanted his autograph. I asked my friend if he could get his acquaintances to ask Mr. Park to sign my posters and he said he'd see what he could do. And so, in the middle of the pandemic, I took the risk of sending my autographed "Squid Game" posters back to Korea, hoping to get one incredible actor to sign them. When I did, I wasn't even sure I'd ever get them back.
For a time, all hope seemed lost. I kept hounding my friend in Korea about the progress of my posters and even he told me that he hadn't gotten them back from his acquaintances yet. It went on for a couple of months until someone knocked on my door. It was a FedEx guy and he told me that my package was sent all the way from Korea. My eyes bulged, my jaw dropped, and my breathing stopped. Could it be that these were the posters that I was waiting for?
After I received the package, I cursed my friend till kingdom come, barraging him on why he didn't tell me about it. All he replied was that he wanted it to be a surprise. I sensed a rather smug tone with his response and it got me feeling optimistic that he achieved what I asked him to do. And when I opened the package and saw Park Hae-soo's autograph, I realized that he did do it! I was completely floored.
Honestly, it was the best moment of my life during the pandemic. They still didn't get many of the other cast members to sign the posters but I didn't care. These three autographs from some of Korea's finest actors were enough!
Please note: Our inventory is limited as we may have only received a few posters in total. Most of our items are obtained from film premieres, studios, and from autographed hounds such as the one in the story above.
