First it was the electronic game, then came the cartoon series and the toys and now the film. Pokemon, the quirky Japanese cartoon characters that have swept Japan, the US and Australia with global sales of $5 billion (€4.4 billion) are the hottest Christmas toy.
The Pokemon phenomenon started life as a Nintendo Gameboy game two years ago. It has 150 characters, including Pikachu and Squirtel, who must be captured by trainers who become masters if they "catch 'em all", as the advertising jingle goes. The spin-off merchandise includes everything from soft cuddly toys, balls and playing cards.
Pokemon is the latest in the line of Christmas crazes that includes Beanie Babies soft toys, Teletubbies, and Tamagotchi electronic pets. Once a toy becomes "hot", its pulling power is nearly impossible for children to resist, something toy manufacturers use to full advantage in the run-up to Christmas.
Simon Gardner, European general manager of Hasbro, which makes Pokemon, and which has a large manufacturing operation in Waterford, says toy manufacturers have some control over what parents will buy each Christmas, but the decision is not all down to them.
"We can do great marketing for a toy, and team up with the big guys [such as Lucasfilm, creator of Star Wars, for merchandising rights] but at the end of the day, a toy has to be a hit with kids," Mr Gardner says.
"If it is a hit, they become the salesmen. They play with it in the playground and it generates a wave of excitement," he says.
Playground fads are not always expensive or high-tech, he says, pointing to this year's surprising return of the yo-yo. What makes a fad explode is partly luck, but Hasbro - whose portfolio includes Furby, Action Man, Barney the Dinosaur and Star Wars toys - believes some factors are essential.
According to Mr Gardner, a good toy must generate energy or excitement and needs a fantasy or magical dimension that will stimulate a child's imagination. It must also be easy to use. Spin-off toys from popular TV series or Disney films guarantee a certain demand - characters such as Tweenies, Mopatops, Bob the Builder and Jellikins are on the most popular list at Toys `R' Us. A substantial element of the toy and games market is now related to licensing. "But the rest is magic," Mr Gardner says.
Pokemon may be the hottest toy of the season, but the more traditional toys such as bicycles, train sets, Lego, Action Man and Barbie, and games such as Monopoly and Scrabble are perennial big-sellers, says John Salisbury, publisher of UK Toy News.
But scarcity does add to a toy's cachet and while consumers may feel toymakers create shortages to whip up demand, Toys `R' Us and Hasbro deny this.
However, one toy company has turned manipulating supply into an overt strategy. The success of Beanie Babies, the bean-bag animals, is partly due to a lack of availability. Illinois-based Ty Inc, a private company, controls supply by "retiring" certain Beanies from the market, releasing different Beanies in different countries, and rationing stock. Special Beanie lines with names like Millennium and Britannia are especially coveted.
The unsatisfied demand for Beanies has given rise to an active secondary market on which they are bought and sold for hundreds or thousands of pounds, mostly by teenagers and adults. There are Beanie fairs, a Beanie website and a Beanie magazine giving prices of all Beanies produced - and all this without advertising, film or a TV series.
As each toy succeeds, toymakers become more skilled at creating technologically advanced toys that walk, talk, have microchips and are interactive. Adults may take advantage of technology by shopping for toys on the Net, (www.etoys.co.uk, www.toyzone.co.uk) but they need not be overwhelmed by the latest technological creations.
"Technology isn't everything - kids still love to kick a ball, play with plastic ducks in the bath, colouring books, and play traditional board games.
"Many small children still ignore costly toys because they are enchanted with the packaging," says Mr Salisbury. "If the toy industry goes too far, it will turn kids off, and once a concept is dead, it's dead."
But you might want to stock up on batteries, just to be safe.
