Anpanman is a much-loved Japanese super hero. His target audience is children under the age of five. In Japan, one can find all sorts of consumer goods featuring his image. Due to the number of goods, I'd bet that Anpanman products are the number one-selling licensed childrens' merchandise in Japan. (Anpanman is up there with Doraemon and Hello Kitty.)
Our son Kenny has: Anpanman clothes, dishes, cutlery, cups, stuffed toys, rubber toys, DVDs, a calendar (actually mine), and books. -He had an Anpanman ball, but Kenny bit its' nose off and choked on it. Scary.
The baby really seems to like Anpanman. Whenever Kenny sees him, he points and tries to say, "Anpanman." (However it comes out as something like: "Amba...ba...aba...") It is awfully cute.