4Kids Entertainment, the company that packages Pokemon , Yu-Gi-Oh , and Cubix, outbid both DIC Entertainment ( Sailor Moon ) and Nickelodeon for the four-hour Saturday morning block.

Nelvana, the Canadian-based distributor of children's programming and products, has acquired the rights to the latest Japanese toy craze, Beyblades , as well as to the anime series the toy tops have inspired.

In the midst of a recession and in the wake of the economic turmoil created by the 9-11 attacks, the pop culture retailers surveyed by ICv2 reported strong sales in December. Let's take a look at some of the categories...

Upper Deck has announced that it has acquired the license to produce and market the English language version of the Yu Gi Oh CCG , the game that took off when Pokemon declined in Japan.

Wizards of the Coast has announced that it has acquired an exclusive, multi-year, worldwide license for trading card games based on the entire Star Wars saga.

Here are ICv2's Top Five Anime Stories of 2001. These rankings are based on the business impact of these events on pop culture retailers. 1.Anime spreads out. A nime is reaching more deeply into America pop culture in a variety of ways, and seems stronger than ever.

New products dominated the Top 10 Cool lists this month, as strong new releases timed for the holidays pushed aside older ones.

The year-end report for The Lycos 50, which totals the number of searches for particular topics through the Lycos search engine, finds Dragonball firmly ensconced in first place with more than twice as many searches as second place finisher Britney Spears.

This is a sidebar article to our coverage of how Wizards of the Coast handles release dates for its two main product categories and various distribution channels.

Fox recently dropped its daytime cartoon block, and today Variety reports that the network is considering a number of scenarios for Saturday morning, most of which will spell the end for the four-hour, anime-laden Fox Kids Saturday lineup.