Barack Obama merchandise

Dan Sosa of Long Beach walks out of the Times building with a smile and his hands full. He waited almost an hour to purchase copies of the newspaper.  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

The line stretched a block at the L.A. Times building downtown on November 9, 2008. The sale of newspapers marking Obama’s historic victory drew throngs of people after the election. It all started when newstands across the Southland ran out of copies of the Nov. 5 edition.  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

Obama fans line up outside the Los Angeles Times building to buy newspapers and other commemorative items Nov. 9, 2008. Vendors were doing brisk business selling T-shirts and buttons on the corner of Second and Spring streets.  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

Vendor Maurice Mathews did well selling T-shirts and buttons over the weekend on the corner of Second and Spring streets.  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

Julie Wo looks at T-shirts of President-elect Barack Obama in the window of Butigroove clothing store Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008, in Honolulu.  (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

Shahiem Smith has a T-shirt stand selling Obama T-shirts outside of M and M Soul Food on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Los Angeles on Nov. 9, 2008. He, along with Lawrence Green, has been selling the T-shirts for four months and said that business has been very good since the election.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Keika Albarado holds and wears Barack Obama merchandise at Honolulu clothing store Butigroove, Tuesday, Nov 4, 2008. The clothing store, owned by B.J. Savate, sells locally designed pro-Obama shirts and memorabilia.  (Marco Garcia / Associated Press)

People walk past a vendor selling political pins featuring pictures of President-elect Barack Obama in Chicago on Nov. 5, 2008.  (Jewel Samad / AFP / Getty Images)

Talia Trapalis, 14, dressed up as Barack Obama, and Ashley King, 13, as John McCain, wait for the start of a Halloween parade in Roseburg, Ore., on Friday, Oct. 31, 2008.  (Robin Loznak / Associated Press)

Oscar, left, and Carla wear shirts touting Barack Obama in a shop for dogs in Paris, Monday, Nov. 10, 2008. A pet shop in Paris has been selling dog coats, collars and leashes bearing Obama’s name and image. The shop has already sold more than 100 dog coats with a picture of Obama in less than a month, mainly to foreigners, including Americans, Brits and Australians.  (Francois Mori / Associated Press)

An Obama Cabbage Patch Kids doll.  (Sheila Clevenger / Associated Press)

Obama bobbleheads were handed out in October outside the Cleveland home of the minor league hockey team the Lake Erie Monsters.  (Amy Sancetta / Associated Press)

Japanese sweet shop Kouyouan owner Koichi Inouye displays Obama Manju (sweet bean cake) bearing portraits of Barack Obama in Obama, Japan, before the presidential election. Because they share the same name, Obama the city is nuts about Obama the man.  (Itsuo Inouye / Associated Press)

Obama Manju, or buns with sweet bean paste, are displayed at Japanese sweet shop Kouyouan in Obama, Japan, Nov. 3, 2008. Obama the city is nuts about Obama the man.  (Itsuo Inouye / Associated Press)

A Kenyan vendor sells merchandise showing Barack Obama on October 31, 2008, in a street of Nairobi.  (Simon Maina / AFP / Getty Images)

A woman holds a ticket of the lottery of the Colombian department of Meta, with a portrait of Barack Obama, on October 23, 2008, in Colombia. The face of Obama now graces all the Meta lottery tickets in the country and has helped sell more tickets.  (Raul Arboleda / AFP / Getty Images)

Puppet designer Marcell Offermann shows his newly designed doll of Barack Obama in Neuss, Germany, Nov. 5, 2008.  (Frank Augstein / Associated Press)

A Russian wooden matryoshka doll with a picture of Barack Obama is displayed for sale in central Moscow on November 5, 2008.  (DMITRY KOSTYUKOV, AFP/Getty Images)