Year-on-year sales continue to be substantially above the market average for Pokémon.
The Pokémon Company International has announced that Pokémon sales figures soared at retail in the UK and Germany throughout 2019 for both the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) and toys from Wicked Cool Toys, as reported by the NPD Group. Year-on-year sales continue to be substantially above the market average for Pokémon, a regular achievement for the brand in recent years.
According to figures recorded by the NPD Group toys retail tracking service, total UK toy sales for Pokémon in 2019 were up 24.1% against an overall market downturn of 7.1%, while Germany recorded a remarkable 100.6% increase in sales against market growth of just 3.3%. The Wicked Cool Toys range is distributed in the UK and Ireland by Character Options and by BOTI in Germany.
In Strategic Card Games (SCG), Pokémon continues to be the category market leader with the number one slot in both the UK and Germany. UK sales were up 30.8%, and in Germany the increase was 98.8%, which helped the market to achieve total growth of 71.7%. Pokémon generates over 50% of the total revenue of the top 14 best-performing SCG brands in the UK, and more than triple that of the 14 next best-selling brands combined in Germany. The Pokémon TCG is distributed by Asmodee in the UK and by Amigo in Germany.
“In another fantastic year for Pokémon, we are delighted to see an ever-growing appetite for our product,” says Mathieu Galante, licensing director (EMEA) for The Pokémon Company International. “Wicked Cool Toys’ innovative and extended toy range is really connecting with fans, coupled with huge demand for tie-in products from the hugely popular Pokémon Detective Pikachu film. We also enjoyed great success from yet another first this year with our new video games Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, when the first partner Pokémon plush were available to buy from selected retailers on the same release date as the VG for the first time ever. With an even bigger toy line to showcase at this year’s key top toy shows, which we expect to do just as well, we are very excited for 2020.”
Simon Benton, vice president of Pokémon TCG sales for Europe, added: “With the first Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield expansion launching at retail on 7th February, supported by major retail promotions and media campaigns, 2020 will see TCG sales achieve new records. We’re looking forward to a successful year with our distribution and retail partners and thank them for their ongoing support.”
