Lego was actually number 2 for all of 2012 on sales and when you look at the net income they were number 1, beating Mattel by about $215 million.
It won't be a big surprise if they're at least number 2 again this year with Hasbro not really offering anything that would push them up the ladder. They had no Star Wars for 2/3 of the year, Transformers had no movie, the GI Joe line was a carry-over from last year and really only got 1 extra wave at retail, the Iron Man and Wolverine lines were reduced and there wasn't really any new Avengers stuff. I'd be surprised if games, girls toys (which have still been strong for them) and NERF can really make them competitive. Or Angry Birds...
Here's an indication of how much respect Lego has, IMO; my local Walmart has barely 15 feet of traditional action figure space left in their toy aisle while Lego has one side of an ENTIRE aisle...something like 40 - 50 feet.
Every year at Christmas time, my Target nearly sells out of all Lego, across the board. You'll be lucky to find a dozen leftover stets, total, by Christmas Eve.
E...