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#ForceFriday: Disney wants you to use the... credit card to buy their new merch
BB-8 on display at Toys"R"Us for Force Friday on Sept. 4, 2015 in New York City.
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South Koreans dressed as Darth Vader and Stormtroopers during the "Star Wars - Force Friday" in Myeongdong shopping district on Sept. 4, 2015 in Seoul, South Korea, surprising a shopper.
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A giant Furbacca with author Steve Sansweet at Toys"R"Us Force Friday on Sept. 4, 2015 in New York City.
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A young fan with an R2-D2 at a Star Wars event.
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Disney
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Fans at an unboxing event with the new versions of toy lightsabers.
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South Koreans dressed as Stormtroopers and Jedis during the "Star Wars - Force Friday" in Myeongdong shopping district on Sept. 4, 2015 in Seoul, South Korea.
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Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
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A new Yoda figure at Toys"R"Us on Force Friday, Sept. 4, 2015, in New York City.
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Fans take a selfie with an Ewok at a Force Friday event.
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A fan with LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon and Star Wars BB-8 from Sphero at a live unboxing event on "Good Morning America" TV show in New York City on Sept. 3, 2015.
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Adam Wilson, creator of the Star Wars BB-8, the new app-enabled Droid toy inspired by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, takes a selfie with a smiling fan on Force Friday at Disney Store Stockton Street in San Francisco on Friday, Sept. 4, 2015.
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George Nikitin/AP
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Stuffed bears at Toys"R"Us for Force Friday on Sept. 4, 2015 in New York City.
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Guess what? Today is the day you can buy things. New things. Star Wars things.
Disney is promoting this Friday the fourth as #ForceFriday in a promotional blitz, with new merchandise for the Big Mouse's new film, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," hitting shelves.
Star Wars fans are very, very excited about buying things. (Need proof? Watch this guy yelling at you from an Eagle Rock Target in the middle of the night).
"The Force Awakens" will be the first Star Wars film released since Lucasfilm was bought by Disney. George Lucas is no stranger to heavy-handed marketing, but combine his history with with Disney's expertise and a new generation of excited toy collectors awakened by the upcoming film, and you've got a consumer frenzy in hyperdrive.
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Not that the products aren't at least a little appealing — I want to cuddle with this Darth Vader Build-A-Bear so bad. (Awww, he even has a little lightsaber! Perfect for stabbing me while I sleep.)
Speaking of adorable, a lot of the merch is built around the new droid character BB-8. They've managed to create a new cuddly character that doesn't suffer the drawback of infuriating everyone over 6 (ahem, Jar Jar Binks).
That BB-8 comes in a remote-control toy form, and it can even slip into automated mode, exploring and learning the layout of your home like a slightly more personable Roomba.
It's $150, which isn't all to bad for a thing that you can control with an app, features at least some learning capabilities and can project force hologram videos (on your screen in an augment reality view). Wired recently published an explainer of how the physics behind the thing work.
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Various kinds of vehicles are another staple of the new toy line, like a remote-controlled AT-AT walker, or a Millennium Falcon drone:
You can also spend basically any amount of money you want to acquire those precious, precious items. Send your kids to bed inside of a big Millennium Falcon. Though this one will run you a cool $4,000, so maybe invest that in your kid's college fund?
Or maybe just serve your guests at the dinner parties you can have since you can afford that kind of bed on a Millennium Falcon tray:
There are also plenty of figures available in a wide range of sizes. We're guessing that these disco-style clone trooper and Boba Fett aren't canonical to the Star Wars universe, but hey, the new movie isn't out yet, so who knows.
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Star Wars fans were largely ahead of the game when it came to cosplay, but if you're not into sewing a homemade costume this Halloween, they've got you covered there too. Disney even produced a series of unboxing videos to seize on that fad:
Star Wars kids costumes unboxing
But hey, it's not just Star Wars fans drooling over the new merch — the movie's stars are too. Check out a couple of the new young stars — John Boyega and Daisy Ridley — geeking out for their own gear:
There's so much new Star Wars merchandising that talking about all of it would take longer that "Episode I" felt, so a few other items you can keep your eyes out for:
- Lightsaber chopsticks
- a Jedi Holocron 20 questions game
- a Yoda figure that spins around and furiously wields his lightsaber at you
- a Chewbacca Furby (excuse me, "Furbacca")
- Chewbacca-branded soup (wait, is it made out of Chewbacca?!)
- and a Chewbacca sleeping bag where you're sleeping inside his body (Gross).
Enjoy the buying, everyone! (Anything I missed? Post it in the comments below!)
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