Force Friday, September 4th, is upon us.
At midnight, Star Wars fans around the world will get their hands on the first products from the highly-anticipated movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. These retailers will be opening their stores for the midnight release with fun events and exclusive giveaways.
• Amazon.com – Amazon.com will be offering customers a variety of new Star Wars products, as well as, deals on select Star Wars items. Amazon’s Star Wars Store will have a selection of new toys and games, exclusives, deals and much more.
Amazon will be giving away a Star Wars Legendary Jedi Master Yoda, Collector Box Edition on Facebook. Visit https://www.facebook.com/AmazonToysandGames for more details.
One exclusive Amazon will have is a Funko Pop! First Order Stormtrooper with Rifle figure. A pic was leaked in early August with all the other Funko Pop! figures and that one had the Amazon Exclusive sticker on the box.
• Disney Store – The following Disney Stores will be participating in the midnight Force Friday opening only: New York City in Times Square, Chicago on North Michigan Avenue and San Francisco on Stockton Street. In addition to having the opportunity to see and purchase items from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first 1,000 people will receive a free Star Wars: The Force Awakens D23 commemorative fan poster.
On Thursday, September 3rd, the Disney Store on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago will host one of the live unboxing events, starting at 8:30 am (CT) from inside the Store. HobbyKids TV, a family-friendly YouTube channel part of the Maker Studios network, will be broadcasting the live unveiling of new products from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
All Disney Stores in North America will open on Force Friday with Star Wars-themed opening ceremonies, events, activities and giveaways (excluding Disney Store Outlets):
• Free commemorative Star Wars: The Force Awakens pin for the first 100 guests who make a purchase on Force Friday.
• First 1000 fans in line will receive a free commemorative Force Friday movie poster.
• Events/activities include: R2-D2 craft activity, Ways of the Force, Star Wars Story Time and Art of Drawing: R2-D2.
• Free Topps vintage trading card giveaway upon completion of an in-store event, while supplies last.
Visit www.DisneyStore.com/ForceFriday for more details on Force Friday activities.
DisneyStore.com will also be included in the Force Friday celebration. Look for special Limited Edition products, as well as, free shipping on all Star Wars items from September 4-6.
• Disney Parks – The Disney Parks will not be left out of the Force Friday celebration. At midnight, fans will be able to get access to Star Wars: The Force Awakens merchandise at The World of Disney store in Disneyland’s Downtown Disney and Once Upon a Toy in Walt Disney World’s Downtown Disney Marketplace. These stores will have Park exclusive merchandise, including a Force Friday logo messenger bag.
• Target – About 207 Target stores will open on midnight for Force Friday with new Star Wars: The Force Awakens items. Supposedly, there is going to be a giveaway item of some sort, but it has not be revealed. Visit Target.com/starwars to locate the nearest store participating in the midnight opening.
Target should have an exclusive Funko Pop! Kylo Ren without Hood figure. A picture appeared online in early August with all the other Funko Pop! figures and that one had the Target Exclusive sticker on the box.
Also exclusive to Target is the Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars Rebels Sabine Wren figure.
Share the Force is an interactive experience, launched by Target, that allows fans around the world to share their Star Wars memories. Visit sharetheforce.target.com to share your memories.
If you can’t make it to Force Friday at Target, on Saturday, September 5th, select Target shops will be celebrating Share the Force Saturday. Look for photo ops, giveaways and much more.
• Toys”R”Us – All Toys”R”Us stores and ToysRUs.com will open at midnight on Force Friday, making it your Destination: Star Wars source, with new products for all things Star Wars. Shoppers will have a chance to receive a limited edition LEGO® Star Wars Commemorative Brick and an exclusive Star Wars poster, while supplies last.
The flagship store in New York City, Toys”R”Us Times Square, will host events that will encourage fans to come dressed as their favorite Star Wars characters. The activities kick into high gear throughout the day, beginning at 9 a.m., including:
• Book signing and meet and greet with Steve Sansweet, Chief Executive Officer and President of Rancho Obi-Wan, Inc., storied Star Wars author and former Head of Fan Relations and Director of Content Management at Lucasfilm Ltd.
• Art class and meet and greet with fan-favorite Star Wars and science fiction artist, Jeff Carlisle.
• Star Wars product demonstrations and activations throughout the store, including Star Wars-themed 3-D action figure creation with 3D Plus Me, video gaming on Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars kiosks and experiencing intergalactic sound on Star Wars-themed headphones powered by SMS Audio.
• LEGO Star Wars make and take for rebels looking to build their toy empire brick by brick.
• Lightsaber Academy with members of New York Jedi, a community of cosplayers, martial artists and teachers who share practical stage combat techniques oriented toward Lightsabers.
• Photo opportunities with costumed characters, including Furbacca, a character versioned after the Hasbro® toy that makes wookiee sounds like CHEWBACCA, Geoffrey the Giraffe and more.
• Ice cream flavors inspired by the Star Wars Saga from Scoops“R”Us™, the flagship store’s in-house ice cream shop located on the Lower Level.
• Star Wars-themed cookie decorating at a “Wookiee” Cookie Party on Level 1.
• Special giveaways for the first fans in line, including a Collector’s Edition LEGO Star Wars Commemorative Brick, an exclusive, limited edition Star Wars poster and a Star Wars Character Flashlight from JAKKS Pacific.
• Star Wars trivia, a costume contest and a galaxy of excitement and prizes, while supplies last, for those fanatics waiting in line.
• Panel discussion with Steve Sansweet and Jeff Carlisle for select lucky fans, which will also be livestreamed via Periscope @Toysrus on Twitter.
• The ultimate unveiling of the official Toys“R”Us Times Square Star Wars feature shop at 12:01am on Force Friday, September 4.
On display from Wednesday, August 26th through Monday, September 7th is “Destination: Star Wars – The Experience,” curated by Rancho Obi-Wan, Inc. This is a special exhibition featuring prototypes, originals and early editions of some of the best-known Star Wars toys in the world. Including the original first four mail-away action figures from 1978, a life-sized Chewbacca figure in never publicly-released The Empire Strikes Back packaging from Kenner Products and a rare 2003 LEGO Star Wars Cloud City building set.
For store locations visit, www.Toysrus.com/StoreLocator and more info at www.Toysrus.com.
• Walmart – Stores participating in the Force Friday midnight opening will have new products, exclusives and giveaways. Visit walmart.com/starwars for a nearby location.
Exclusive to Walmart is the Topps Galactic Connexions. This is a trading disc game featuring Star Wars characters. During the opening on Force Friday, shoppers will receive a free Galactic Connexion disc pack. Each pack includes 2 discs with the chance to find a rare blue star field disc. The only chance to get this disc is in the packs given away on Force Friday at Walmart.
Also exclusive to Walmart is the Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars Rebels Kanan Jarrus figure.
Available for preorder is the Star Wars Legendary Jedi Master Yoda. Learn to wield a Lightsaber in Warrior Mode, use the Power of the Force in Force Mode and get your questions answered in Wisdom Mode by Yoda. Stands 16″ tall, 360-degree movement and speaks 115 phrases. Includes lightsaber and cane. Preorders will receive a $5 credit to use of Vudu.
Walmart is also supposed to have two exclusive Funko Pop! sets: Sandtrooper and Dewback 2-pack and Jabba the Hutt, Slave Leia and Salacious Crumb 3-pack. These may be released on Force Friday.
Customers that preorder Star Wars Battlefront in Walmart stores will receive a $5 credit to use of Vudu.
Want to see all the products for Star Wars: The Force Awakens before Force Friday? Check out the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Global Unboxing event. There will be a live stream of over 18 hours in 15 cities and 12 countries, around the world that will be revealing the new toys before Force Friday. The Star Wars YouTube channel will host the worldwide Star Wars: The Force Awakens product unboxing live stream. The event starts in Sydney, Australia at 7:45 am local time on Thursday, September 3 (2:45 pm PT on Wednesday, September 2) and ending at Lucasfilm in San Francisco on Thursday, September 3 at 8 am (PT). View the unboxing event at https://www.youtube.com/user/starwars.
Other stores that will have exclusive Star Wars: The Force Awakens products starting on Friday:
• Hot Topic – Exclusive Funko Pop! Rey with Goggles figure.
• Gamestop – Exclusive Funko Pop! Stormtrooper Finn figure.
• Walgreens – Exclusive Funko Pop! Yoda (Spirit), Snowtrooper, Boba Fett (Prototype) and Imperial Guard figures. These are available in stores now.
• Hallmark – They should have some new Star Wars items in their stores. But there are two Star Wars: The Force Awakens 2015 Keepsake Ornaments that are slated to be released in October and November. Also, from what I saw on a product release sheet, there will be three Itty Bitty plush available around November for the new movie.
Now where will you be on Force Friday? There are so many choices to choose from, with so many different giveaways to get. I may just look and buy some of the stuff online and check out the stores over the weekend.
