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[Banjo64]

The fact that Pokemon is $200b ahead of second place and no other franchise in this list of juggernauts has even exceeded $100b never fails to amaze me.

Pokemon was my primary school phenomenon and I love it to this day, it still doesn't sink in that it still completely obliterates any modern day equivalent like Minecraft or Fortnite.

 

[KimDongHwan]

I am surprised about Yu-Gi-Oh, didn't know it was still popular to that level

 

[AJUMP23]

Pixar having 2 on that list is impressive.

Japan makes a lot of money.

 

[jason10mm]

The fact that Pokemon is $200b ahead of second place and no other franchise in this list of juggernauts has even exceeded $100b never fails to amaze me.

Pokemon was my primary school phenomenon and I love it to this day, it still doesn't sink in that it still completely obliterates any modern day equivalent like Minecraft or Fortnite.

I'm still amazed at how relatively invisible pokemon is. I don't feel like it has nearly the presence of stuff like Star Wars or Star Trek. But I guess it is always there, insidious, no matter where you look.

 

[Banjo64]

I'm still amazed at how relatively invisible pokemon is. I don't feel like it has nearly the presence of stuff like Star Wars or Star Trek. But I guess it is always there, insidious, no matter where you look.

It's probably anecdotal but it's the complete opposite for me. Got young kids myself and Pokemon is still highly relevant on YouTube, Netflix, iPlayer, Prime etc and they've both already gotten in to the cards and video games. Star Wars is practically an antique in comparison and I say that as a fan. The cultural relevancy of things like Star Wars and Star Trek seems to be less than Lord of the Rings (deservedly so) and even to be honest things like Pirates of the Caribbean which will continue to age gracefully as long as Disney don't fuck it.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

Hello Kitty and Winnie the Pooh being #2 and #3 is surprising. They're both ubiquitous, but I guess I don't run into them much because their movie and game presence doesn't really cross my path. Gotta be the physical merch making up the bulk of their revenue.

Never even heard of Anpanman.

 

[DKehoe]

It's probably anecdotal but it's the complete opposite for me. Got young kids myself and Pokemon is still highly relevant on YouTube, Netflix, iPlayer, Prime etc and they've both already gotten in to the cards and video games. Star Wars is practically an antique in comparison and I say that as a fan. The cultural relevancy of things like Star Wars and Star Trek seems to be less than Lord of the Rings (deservedly so) and even to be honest things like Pirates of the Caribbean which will continue to age gracefully as long as Disney don't fuck it.

Yeh Pokemon is still surprisingly big. I know a few kids who got Pokemon cards, games, clothing etc. for Christmas. Its staying power is especially impressive since it's never really gone away, they're always churning out those games and cards. So it's not like there's been some big relaunch or reboot to make it more relevant to kids today.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I'm still amazed at how relatively invisible pokemon is. I don't feel like it has nearly the presence of stuff like Star Wars or Star Trek. But I guess it is always there, insidious, no matter where you look.

There's nothing invisible about it but I'm guessing you don't have kids...

 

[jason10mm]

There's nothing invisible about it but I'm guessing you don't have kids...

I do have kids, and a wife that obsessively hoar....err, I mean collects cards. But is pokemon FOUR TIMES as present as Star Wars? I just don't see it. I realize there are lots of games and probably lots of cartoons, but the cards seem to be either throw away birthday gifts or aggregated into the hands of a sweaty group of card collectors.

 

[Poppinfresh]

What exactly is being counted here, because I can't believe that Barbie would be that low if individual toy sales are being counted. I mean, the first Barbie came out in the late 1950s.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I do have kids, and a wife that obsessively hoar....err, I mean collects cards. But is pokemon FOUR TIMES as present as Star Wars? I just don't see it. I realize there are lots of games and probably lots of cartoons, but the cards seem to be either throw away birthday gifts or aggregated into the hands of a sweaty group of card collectors.

Oh alright, I see the issue. You are correlating lifetime profits with "presence" and I'm not sure that's a good way to think about it

The Pokemon TCG is a small fraction of Pokemon profits. Even the annual Nintendo video games are only like 25% of Pokemon profits. The mobile games are a nice and rapidly growing chunk, as are the TV shows and movies which have performed well for decades. But the lion's share of Pokemon profits is merchandising, like around 65-70%. And that's untouched by any other franchise on Earth. Think of every Pikachu plush, every T-shirt, every toy you can imagine. That's where Pokemon's real money is made



The Pokemon Company is basically everything that isn't the video games

 

[The_hunter]

Half of them are from Japan, dang.