May was the month in which the Spider-Man film debuted and its influence, already apparent in our April lists, continued to be felt strongly with four of the top ten comic titles as well as a top ten finish for both the Topps Spider-Man trading cards in the Movie/TV category and an equally strong performance from the Spider-Man mini-bust in the Toys category.  Meanwhile, for the first time collectible miniatures games dominated the Top 10 Cool game products, powered by the performance of the superhero-themed Marvel HeroClix game.  The Top Ten Cool lists document what actually sold through at stores that participate in ICv2's monthly survey.  For a look at all the lists, click here.

But another trend was also apparent in several categories this month.  Retro anime titles Battle of the Planets and Transformers dominated that category, while the Transformer comic continued its strong performance and the stylish, but ancient Peter Gunn TV series made it into the top ten in the Movie/TV category.

Anime

The Transformers first season collector's box from Rhino performed strongly  (so well in fact that temporary shortages led some retailers to think that the title might be permanently out of stock, but that was not the case, see 'Transformers Season One DVD Box Not Sold Out'), but the Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy Box was close behind.  Battle of the Planets demonstrated its power on DVD, while two new Tokyopop titles Saint Tail and GTO demonstrated considerable potential as did the Lupin III release from Funimation.  For the Top Ten anime titles, click here.

Comics 

Marvel thoroughly dominated the Comics category with 8 of the top ten including four Spidey titles.  Dreamwave Productions' Transformers series continued to do strong business, while DC's Just Imagine series with Stan Lee managed to make the top ten, giving Stan-the-Man a hand in the creation of five of this month's top ten titles.  For the Top Ten comics, click here.

Games

For the first time WizKids, the inventors of the collectible miniatures game, managed to take the top two spots with its Marvel HeroClix game that was fortuitously timed to coincide with the debut of the Spider-Man movie.  Given the logistical hurdles created by manufacturing the Far East, the folks at Wiz Kids deserve kudos for making all their deadlines and providing retailers with the perfect product at the perfect time.  Note that Magic, the ur-product in the CCG category, remained strong, managing to grab four spots out of the Top Ten.  Yu-Gi-Oh! would have been a top contender, but only the Starter Decks were available for much of the month which definitely held sales back in May.  For the Top Ten games click here.

Movie/TV

Topps took the top spot in May with its Star Wars: Episode II cards, while the Topps Spider-Man cards, which led the category last month also finished in the top ten.  The Complete Babylon 5 Trading Cards from Rittenhouse Archives also performed very well finishing in the number 3 spot in a strong month for Movie/TV titles.  The rest of the spots on the list were dominated by box sets of DVDs from Star Trek: TNG, X-Files, Lexx, The Saint, and Peter Gunn.  For the Top Ten Movie/TV products click here.

Toys