As more products became available in March stores reported positive sales trends to ICv2, a mood that was echoed at the DC Retailer confab (see 'Upbeat Mood At DC RRP' ). Every category we cover had its success story. Let's take a look.
DVDs took five of the ten spots including the first two, which were occupied by high ticket boxed and collector's set editions. Note that the videos in the top ten were all new releases from very popular series, Gundam Wing, Dragonball Z, and Martian Successor Nadesico.
Hardcovers and trades return to prominence again and DC dominates the list. As was the case in Anime this month, The Batman Archive, Vol. 5 demonstrates the dominating effect of high ticket items on lists like this which are based on total dollars sold. DC's periodical comics also did extremely well with two Elseworlds titles in the top ten (Superboys Legion #2 and Batman: Gotham Noir). Kevin Smith's Green Arrow, though only in the #3 slot in our survey, continues to be the consensus 'hot' comic in the marketplace right now. Dark Horse secured a solid slot in the top ten at number five, thanks to the second volume in its English language edition of Akira (see 'Dark Horse Retro Manga Boffo'). With the release of the collector's edition of the remastered Akira anime on July 24th (see 'Akira Deluxe DVD Packaged in Collector's Tin'), the Dark Horse Akira series (Volume #3 is due out in June) is perfectly timed.
The Dragonball Z CCG tops the list thanks to the release of the Trunks Saga Booster Packs (see 'DBZ CCG: The Trunks Saga Sells Out' ). Dragonball Z continues to top the Toonami Block ratings (see 'Toonami Ratings Soar' ), and the Lycos Top 50 List of internet searches. With lots of new episodes slated for this year, look for DBZ to stay hot -- and the DBZ CCG designed by TSR veteran Jim Ward is still picking up steam. Overall collectible card games continue to dominate the list, with the exception of Mage Knight (a collectible miniatures game CMG, see 'Mage Knight Expansion Packs Set For May' ), which was a solid number four.
Two lunchboxes are at the top of the list this month. Lunchboxes continue to work as collectibles when the property is right. The longevity of the Simpsons is simply phenomenal, but amply demonstrated in recent times both by these lunchboxes and the very successful recent series of toys from Playmates and trading cards from Inkworks. Certainly the ubiquity of The Simpsons on TV both as a continuing series and as hugely popular reruns, has something to do with the property's staying power in this market, but Bongo Comics, The Simpsons' publishing arm also has a lot to do with it by providing a superb comic book incarnation of the series that generates plenty of collectors on its own. Absolutely Fabulous might strike some as a bizarre number three choice in this male-dominated industry, but this hilarious series is just the latest in a long line of British comedies that have long found favor in this market. Don't neglect the prime movers of the genre such as Monty Python, a cult classic with real staying power. For the second straight month Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Portrait of the Ang Lee Film (see 'Crouching Tiger, The Book') made the list. The DVD release of CTHD will be one of the biggest of the year, both in the mass market and in specialty stores.
