March 1998 – “Top Selling Traditional Toys Licensed Properties”

The March 1998 issue of Playthings magazine included a chart that was totally entertaining and should prove eye-opening for many of us. A listing of the top ten licensed brands in the toys category for the time, the chart is one I’d love to see re-created today . . . because I am betting Barbie would be way down and Transformers way up in the rankings.

1. Barbie (6.9%)
   
2. Star Wars (3.2%)
   
3. Winnie the Pooh (2.7%)
   
4. Hot Wheels (2.6%)
   
5. Lego (2.2%)
   
6. Sesame Street (2.1%)
   
7. NASCAR (1.8%)
   
8. Power Rangers (1.3%)
   
9. Micro Machines (1.0%)
   
10. Transformers/Beast Wars (1.0%)

No Batman. No Marvel. What a strange world we lived in back in the nineties!

NOTE: The percentages listed are percent of overall sales in the toy industry for that time.