The big players seemed to dominate this month, with multiple products associated with the strongest properties taking many of the top slots.  Whether in anime, where Akira took three of the top four slots, in games, where DBZ held three of the top six, or in movie/TV merchandise, where Farscape took three of the top ten, the winners won big in July.

Anime

The new release of Akira blew away the competition in July, taking three of the top four anime spots.  We don't know whether that makes it the top anime release of all time (Pokemon did big numbers), but the 100,000 copies sold of the limited edition (see 'Akira Tin Sold Out at Wholesale') definitely make that the best-selling anime collectors' DVD ever.  Gundam Wing took the other two of the top five slots.  Ranks six through ten were held by a disparate group, including Robotech, Gatchaman, and Dirty Pair.  See 'Top 10 Cool Anime.'

Comics

There were a couple of linked trends in comics in July.  One was the surprising strength of the periodical format -- nine of the products on our Top 10 Cool list were comics as opposed to books, vs. just six last month.  And reflecting its greater strength in the periodical format, Marvel took six of the top ten slots, vs. four last month.  The number one product -- Just Imagine Stan Lee with Joe Kubert Creating Batman -- was an interesting hybrid from a brand perspective as the person most associated with Marvel comics did a DC comic.  See 'Top 10 Cool Comics.'

Games

There were only five properties represented in the Top 10 this month, with three of those holding multiple slots.  Score's DBZ CCG was hot, with three of the top six ranks.  Magic had three of the top ten, Legend of the Five Rings two.  Mage Knight and Pokemon rounded out the Top 10.  See 'Top 10 Cool Games.'

Toys

The usual suspects -- DC, Moore, Diamond Select, and Bowen dominated the list again this month.  Two movie products did make the list this month.  The Little Enid doll based on the Ghost World movie made a strong showing at number three.  And a Transformers Bust came in at number four.  See 'Top 10 Cool Toys.'

Movie/TV Merchandise