Merchandise Sales: The Top Five Brands Of 2022

It’s coming to the time of year when the air gets a little more magical. We’re getting into the festive spirit here at Merchoid HQ and are feeling nostalgic for the year that has passed. So we’ve compiled our round up of the top five brands that customers have been raving about throughout 2022. Can you guess which is top of the list?

5. Harry Potter

A cultural phenomenon for the past 20 years, Harry Potter’s popularity shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. In fact, despite Harry Potter merch actually being less popular this year than in 2021, the franchise has still outsold both Marvel and Disney throughout 2022 on merchoid.com!

With new generations discovering the story of The Boy Who Lived and eagerly awaiting their Hogwarts letter, fans are as eager for official merchandise as Hogwarts students are for chocolate frogs.

2023 is set to be a big year for Wizards and Muggles alike, with the arrival of the highly anticipated Hogwarts Legacy to multiple gaming consoles and the first ever Wizarding World Festival taking place in the USA!

4. Resident Evil

Benefitting from the current trend of classic games being remade, Resident Evil has seen multiple instalments in its franchise get the spruced up treatment.

Resident Evil 2 and 3 were highly anticipated by horror game fans and with Resident Evil 4 coming in 2023, there’s plenty of Resident Evil content for gamers to get their teeth into. This has no doubt helped the franchise to not only hold its ground and keep Harry Potter in 5th place, but to create a sales growth across 2022 that now sees it snapping at the heels of the number three spot.

Each release has been supported by a fantastic range of in-game replicas (These Resident Evil 3 Puzzle Keys being some of our favourite replicas we’ve seen this year) proving fans are keen to return to Raccoon City time and time again.

3. Warhammer 40,000

Warhammer 40,000 continues to grow in popularity year on year. With a passionate fanbase, including celebrity superfans such as Henry Cavill and WWE Superstar Shayna Baszler, players have been looking for other ways to show their fandoms than by building expansive armies.

As the market of available merchandise continues to grow, so does fans' appetite for something to enhance their gaming experience, with sales of Warhammer 40,000 merch up by 65% this year against 2021. (Can we interest anyone in a Nurgle scented candle?). Throw in the upcoming release of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, it’s no surprise that Warhammer 40,000 is still sitting in the top three fan-favourite franchises and celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.

2. Batman

The arrival of Matt Reeves The Batman not only helped bring the Caped Crusader back to the big screen, but brought a challenge to Marvel’s domination of the superhero box office. (Plus a huge 106% growth in sales from 2021! That should help fund some new gadgets for the Batcave).

With a new costume and new villains loose in Gotham, fans have jumped at the chance to get their hands on new Batman merchandise, including replicas of the new, revised Batman emblem. A second instalment for Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne is currently in the works and due to hit screens some time in 2025.

1. Stranger Things

If you haven’t been swept up by the phenomenon that was Stranger Things Season Four this year, we’d bet that you’ve been hiding in the Upside Down. As of October 2022, season four of the show was the most popular English-language show of all time on Netflix, counting over 1.3 billion hours viewed by users in its first 28 days on the platform!

Fans clamoured to get their hands on their own Hellfire Club shirt, and the sounds of our summer were taken over by Kate Bush and Metallica. Stranger Things merchandise has been in such high demand that merch sales have increased an incredible 13,126% on those reported in 2021! The final season is due to be released some time in 2024, so there’s plenty of time to level up our D&D characters before it airs.

Which Brands Will be Big in 2023?

Have you been surprised by the top brands of the year? One thing 2022 has shown us is that shoppers have jumped at the chance to dive into something new as well as revisiting past favourites. However, with the return of The Mandalorian (and in turn, Grogu) and the beginning of the MCU’s Phase Five delivering strong titles throughout the year, we’re anticipating our top five list to look quite different this time next year.