{nl}Pikachu and a slew of Pokemon characters launched onto the American toy scene a little more than a decade ago, but after three strong years, it fell off. Well, the Japanese characters are back, and Pokemon products top many holiday wish lists this year.{nl}

{nl}Reyne Rice, a toy trend specialist for Toy Industry Association, talked with Newsday staff writer Timothy Robertson about the resurgence of the popular Pokemon action figures, trading cards and video games.{nl}

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{nl} Pokemon products top holiday wish lists {nl}Newsday: Why have we seen a Pokemon comeback? {nl}The 10-year anniversary last year put Pokemon on the map again. In 1998 and 1999, when it was originally introduced to the American marketplace, the toy category went up by 10 percent. It was the last year of double-digit growth in the last 10 years. The resurgence is because the TV show is back on for younger kids to watch. There is a whole new crop of kids interested in the show. Kids now can look at the Ultimate Pokemon Pokedex that lists all the characters and their powers. It really helps the younger kids get into the strategy of the game. Younger kids collect and look at the cards, and teens trade them. Even the older generation is getting back into it. There are ties into the online gaming area because that type of character, product line is played by the new multimedia mass player that games are going after.{nl} {nl}Newsday: Who is behind the surge? Did the company change strategy, is it the parents or the kids? {nl}Retailers wanted it to happen because it helped their bottom line. Also, a part of phenomenon behind the product line is that the kids have control over something that their parents do not. Kids can talk this whole secret language with their friends, and the parents are like 'huh.' It is a fun phenomenon for kids to take part in. A lot of older kids are coming back to it, too. Many of these retro, nostalgic brands are transcending generations. It's unusual for a 17-year-old kid already to have something retro in their lifetime.{nl} {nl}Newsday: Why did the product line fall off the map in the first place? Will it stick around this time? {nl}Products from other companies came into the marketplace - and boys can be fickle and like to move to next, hottest product. Yu-Gi-Oh! and Digimon targeted older kids, and younger kids soon caught on. Pokemon started to wane when it transferred from 4Kids to Pokemon and people couldn't find the product on the shelf. But Pokemon made a major push last year and this year, so now it's back on top.{nl}

{nl}{nl}Source: http://www.newsday.com/