The SpongeBob Schwammkopf Magazin is a series of magazines published by Egmont Ehapa Media on the popular kids series SpongeBob SquarePants every two months weeks, which includes comics, gags, games and posters. The publication of the magazine began in 2003 and ceased in 2014, before being relaunched in May 2022.[1] Each issue contains a toy, while some contain collectible figures. From 2006 to 2010, the SpongeBob SquarePants Comic Special was also published every two months, a spin-off of the magazine that exclusively contained comics.
Contents[]
The SpongeBob magazine consists of several sections. They all deal with a specific topic and structure each issue, but not consistently. For example, older editions say Sponge Puzzles, not SpongeBob Puzzles. In the later editions prior to 2014, the main focus was riddles.
There are the following sections:
- Inside: Preview of the magazine.
- World: Characters are described and the world of Bikini Bottom is covered .
- Poster: A poster, often printed on both sides, consists only of several figures, a background and a lettering.
- Comic: There's a comic here. As of the first edition in 2011, there are no more comics, but "orders". There an episode is retold in writing and provided with pictures from this episode.
- Heroes: A double page gag with comics, similar to the SpongeBob world.
- Competition: A competition in which you have to answer a question about the comic in the booklet.
- Bobereien: A pure gag page.
- Fans: Fans can post pictures or questions they have made themselves.
- Current: Short-lived series showing various topics about bikini bottom.
- Knowledge: A rather short-lived series in which Mrs. Puff explains the nature of bikini bottom. Mostly with excerpts from episodes .
- Puzzles: Gag puzzles that are hardly solvable, illogical or too easy. All puzzles are stupidly commented by Patrick .
- Stories: A couple of stories where the reader has to guess whether they are true or made up. This topic no longer exists in the newer editions.
- Next: Preview of the next issue and solutions to the puzzles.
Reception[]
The price was initially 2.30 euros and had risen to 3.20 euros by October 2014. The circulation of the first edition was around 130,000 copies, the sold circulation in 2010 averaged 90,000 copies, while by 2014 the print run had dropped to around 40,000 copies. The target group is between four and nine years of age, with around 75% of the magazine's readership being boys. A total of 300,000 to 350,000 people read each issue.[citation needed]
The booklet has a format of 208 mm by 278 mm. A full-page advertisement costs 6,400 euros (as of October 2014).
Number of copies sold[]
Graph of the number of copies sold
| Quarter | Copies Sold | +/- in % | Title Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/2004 | 106.988 | - | ? |
| 3/2004 | 93.953 | - | ? |
| 4/2004 | 91.240 | - | ? |
| 1/2005 | 130.369 | - | ? |
| 2/2005 | 128.091 | +19,7
|
? |
| 3/2005 | 139.664 | +48,7
|
? |
| 4/2005 | 145.352 | +59,3
|
3 |
| 1/2006 | 132.297 | +1,5
|
? |
| 2/2006 | 129.118 | +0,8
|
? |
| 3/2006 | 122.462 | –12,3
|
? |
| 4/2006 | 118.727 | –18,3
|
5 |
| 1/2007 | 152.604 | +15,3
|
? |
| 2/2007 | 145.323 | +12,6
|
? |
| 3/2007 | 171.421 | +40,0
|
? |
| 4/2007 | 141.598 | +19,3
|
5 |
| 1/2008 | 144.569 | –5,3
|
4 |
| 2/2008 | 140.816 | –3,1
|
5 |
| 3/2008 | 152.191 | –11,2
|
3 |
| 4/2008 | 134.045 | –5,3
|
3 |
| 1/2009 | 98.767 | –31,7
|
5 |
| 2/2009 | 94.717 | –32,7
|
7 |
| 3/2009 | 111.130 | –27,0
|
6 |
| 4/2009 | 73.911 | –44,9
|
10 |
| 1/2010 | 88.537 | –10,4
|
7 |
| 2/2010 | 86.639 | –8,5
|
7 |
| 3/2010 | 75.936 | –31,7
|
12 |
| 4/2010 | 62.628 | –15,3
|
12 |
| 1/2011 | 64.467 | –27,2
|
14 |
| 2/2011 | 74.201 | –14,4
|
9 |
| 3/2011 | 75.625 | –0,4
|
10 |
| 4/2011 | 49.728 | –20,6
|
23 |
| 1/2012 | 54.218 | –15,9
|
21 |
| 2/2012 | 56.148 | –24,3
|
18 |
| 3/2012 | 43.798 | –42,1
|
29 |
| 4/2012 | 30.809 | –38,0
|
37 |
| 1/2013 | 35.103 | –35,3
|
37 |
| 2/2013 | 45.519 | –18,9
|
25 |
| 3/2013 | 46.149 | +5,4
|
25 |
| 4/2013 | 35.313 | +14,6
|
34 |
| 1/2014 | 38.661 | +10,1
|
32 |
| 2/2014 | 40.602 | –10,8
|
30 |
| 3/2014 | 31.566 | –31,6
|
44 |
| 4/2014 | 28.174 | –20,2
|
43 |
Trivia[]
- This magazine series was on the list of the best-selling magazines for children in Germany.