Collectibles, Toys & Cards — Global Peer Comparison
The collectibles/toys/cards complex sorts cleanly on one axis: who owns the IP and who merely licenses or distributes it. Ownership is what drives the >40% operating margins and triple-digit ROIC at the top of the table; licensees and distributors capture thin slices of the same demand. The structural read: Bandai Namco is the cheapest quality name in the global set, priced on its cyclical game half while its highest-margin, owned-IP collectibles engine (Gundam, Digimon, plus its TCG platform) keeps compounding.
Peer comp table
| Company | Ticker | Mkt cap | P/E | P/B | Op margin | ROIC | ROE | Rev growth | IP model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games Workshop | GAW.L | ~£6.5B | 31.6x | high | ~42% | 104% | 68% | ~10–13% | Owns + makes |
| Pop Mart | 9992.HK | ~$26B | 14.8x | 8.5x | 45.9% | 157% | 78% | +185% FY25 | Acquired-artist IP |
| Konami | 9766.T | large | 33.7x | — | high | 29.2% | 17.0% | mid | Owns (Yu-Gi-Oh) |
| Bandai Namco | 7832.T | ¥2.36T (~$15B) | 17.8x | mid | 14% grp 18.8% T&H | 15–29%* | 17.0% | +8.6% | Mixed (owns Gundam) |
| Bushiroad | 7803.T | ~¥34–40B | ~14–15x† | 1.2–1.6x | ~10% | n/a | ~20% | +8.2% H1 | Owns TCG IP |
| SAMG Ent. | 419530 | ~$230M | ~12x | mid | low (+) | n/a | turning+ | +22% | Owns IP (Teenieping) |
| Happinet | 7552.T | ~¥76B | mid | low | ~4% | n/a | mid | +19.9% 9M | Distributor (BN ~27%) |
| Tay Two | 7610.T | ¥9.0B (~$58M) | ~13x | low | low | n/a | rising | +9.5%/2y | Resale (古本市場 + トレカパーク) |
| Kaitori Okoku | 3181.T | ~¥2.4B | 7.9x | 0.82x | 5.8% | n/a | modest | +12.8% | Resale (used toys/cards) |
ROIC > cost of capital, clear excess returns thin / low returns not pulled
* Bandai ROIC is method-dependent: ~29% (stockanalysis.com), ~15% (TipRanks, broader capital base), ROCE ~23% (Simply Wall St). Read as directional.
† Bushiroad P/E: reported forward P/E (~6x) is distorted by a one-time gain from a consolidated-subsidiary disposal (May 27 2026 disclosure); the normalized operating multiple is ~14–15x. Note Bushiroad's fiscal year ends June (FY2026.6), so periods do not align with the March-end names.
Quality tiering
Tier 1 Own-IP compounders — margin + moat
Games Workshop is the ceiling: ~42% op margin, 104% ROIC, owns the entire stack, priced for it (31.6x). Pop Mart screens even higher on returns (157% ROIC, 45.9% op margin — asset-light artist-IP economics) and has de-rated to ~15x after a ~40% drawdown; Labubu concentration (~40% of revenue) is the underwrite. Konami and Bandai own their flagship TCGs (Yu-Gi-Oh / Gundam). Konami re-rated to ~34x on the MGS/Silent Hill revival; Bandai is the cheap one at 17.8x despite owning the #1 IP and carrying ¥421B net cash.
Tier 2 Smaller own-IP names
Bushiroad (7803) is the standout find — it owns Weiss Schwarz and Cardfight!! Vanguard (TCG ~47% of revenue, paper-margin economics), ~20% ROE, H1 operating profit +68.5% on TCG + live-event strength, ~14–15x clean. Caveats: TSE Growth-listed, illiquid, and management guides full-year down despite the strong half — the market doubts the momentum holds. SAMG (419530) owns Teenieping and is vertically integrating content→toys→retail (the Pop Mart/GW playbook), but it is a ~$230M micro-cap that only just turned profitable — a call option on "Korea's Disney," not a proven compounder.
Tier 3 Picks-and-shovels — ride volume, no IP
Happinet (7552), ~27%-owned by Bandai Namco (equity-method affiliate), is the group distributor: +19.9% revenue / +36.7% OP (9M FY2026.3) confirms the Japanese toy/card boom at the channel, but on a thin ~4% margin — and a slice of its profit already flows into Bandai's reported earnings. A volume proxy, not an IP proxy.
Tier 4 Resale-cycle trades — Japan-only edge
Tay Two (7610) runs a dedicated TCG store chain (トレカパーク) alongside 古本市場; OP +51% last year, ~13x — levered to the secondary card market (singles, graded slabs). Kaitori Okoku (3181) is the cheapest screen in the set (7.9x P/E, 0.82x P/B), a reuse chain with a card/hobby tilt. Both are momentum trades on booster sell-through and PSA grading, not compounders; both are micro-cap and illiquid.
What the table says
- Bandai is the cheapest quality name. 17.8x vs GW 31.6x / Konami 33.7x, owns the #1 IP (Gundam), ¥421B net cash, ROIC comfortably above its ~5% WACC. The multiple gap to the own-IP peers is the core mispricing — it is being priced on its cyclical game half.
- Bushiroad is the genuine new candidate. Own-TCG IP, ~20% ROE, paper margins, exploding H1 profit, ~14–15x clean — but the conservative full-year guide and Growth-board illiquidity are why it is cheap. The work: is the down-guide sandbagging, or is the TCG cycle peaking?
- The resale layer is uncorrelated optionality. Tay Two and Kaitori Okoku rise on the secondary market even if no single publisher wins; cheapest on P/B, but micro-cap risk.
- Don't make the distributor a primary bet. Happinet's strong print is best used as confirmation of Japanese toy/card demand (supporting the Bandai Toys & Hobby growth assumption), not as the trade itself.
Data caveats
ROIC sourced from a single provider (stockanalysis.com) for cross-comparability; provider methodologies differ materially (see Bandai note), so ROIC is a directional ranking, not a precise figure. Small-cap Japanese/Korean rows (Bushiroad, Happinet, Tay Two, Kaitori Okoku, SAMG) carry scattered reporting dates (Apr–May 2026) and thinner coverage — treat caps/multiples as approximate. Bandai Namco net cash confirmed at ¥421B (¥656/share); its stake in Happinet is ~27% (equity-method affiliate); Tay Two market cap ¥9.0B on 68.7M shares (FY ends February).
No redactions applied.
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