The property saw 285% boost in sales throughout the year, says new NPD data.
The Pokémon Company International has revealed record breaking sales figures at retail for the brand in 2016 – for both toys from master licensee TOMY and the Trading Card Game.
According to figures recorded by the NPD Group Toys retail tracking service, the Pokémon property recorded a 285% increase in sales throughout 2016 against market growth of 6% in the whole UK toy market.
In the last three months, October to December, Pokémon increased sales by 512% versus the 7.7% market growth.
Also, in the Christmas week, Pokémon TCG smashed through the one million pounds sterling barrier, achieving retail sales of £1.29m in a seven-day period, a 733.7% increase on the previous year.
Mathieu Galante, senior market development manager for The Pokémon Company International, said: “Thanks to the activities celebrating Pokémon’s 20th year, plus the huge impact of our video game releases, interest in the brand has escalated, ensuring figures for TCG and toy sales have been incredible.
“We fully expect that demand for the product will remain high throughout 2017 as new expansions are introduced to tie in with our new Nintendo 3DS games Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon.”
Steve Buckmaster, md of Esdevium Games – the UK distributor of the Pokémon TCG, added: “We are delighted to announce these sensational figures just ahead of Toy Fair and look forward to talking to our retail partners at the show about ways that we can keep the phenomenal demand going.
“We are very excited about our first Pokémon TCG: Sun & Moon expansion, which will be released in February.”
TOMY is also showcasing two new Pokémon product lines at Toy Fair this week at London’s Olympia.
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