Skipping the exact amount of money in the sibling thread, Jim Davis allowed truly massive merchandising -- I didn't follow it, so I have to make it up rather th

Skipping the exact amount of money in the sibling thread, Jim Davis allowed truly massive merchandising -- I didn't follow it, so I have to make it up rather than give exact examples, but something along the lines of Garfield toys, Garfield pajamas, Garfield kids slippers, inflatable Garfield etc. etc. And that's why it was so much money, not from the strip itself. I'm pretty sure no one has ever made that kind of money just from a comic strip and reprints in books. But it was pretty well known that Watterson was pressured to do similar merchandising and he steadfastly refused. He had a strong distaste for such things. Just to be more precise about what Watterson was turning his back on. It's very sad for us as his audience that he ended his strip, but I can see his point about the merchandising.