Towelite Toy Chest – Star Wars Force Friday or Farce Friday?

I have been a Star Wars fan for as long as I can remember. Growing up in the 80’s, I didn’t have the pleasure of seeing any of the original films in the theater, but I had my fill on VHS. My earliest memories of the toys was going to department stores with my parents. I remember seeing things like the original Rancor and getting several figures as gifts on birthdays and whatnot. My friends had a ton of the toys but it wasn’t something that I was fully able to enjoy because by the time the final wave of figures hit, I was collecting He-Man and into other things and didn’t quite have that collector mentality. Not to mention I was probably just hitting 5 years old when these figures disappeared for the next decade. In the mid-90’s I was a teenager in early high school when the new wave of Star Wars toys hit. I instantly had Star Wars fever again and I bought them all up, collecting as many as I could for a couple of years. Through the re-release of the Special Editions, Shadows of the Empire, right up to the onslaught of the Prequel Movies. No matter what, Star Wars collecting has a special place in my heart and it always will. Recently I have started to build my Vintage collection and I am really enjoying that aspect of the hunt. So as you can tell by this first paragraph, I have always been a Star Wars fan and will always be one. Now The Force Awakens is nearing its release and Star Wars is on the tips of everyone’s tongues and draining everyone’s wallets. Today I want to share a little bit about my experience with Star Wars Force Friday and what has happened in the week or so that followed, as I went on the ultimate hunt to find all of the new Star Wars collectibles out there.

At first I didn’t want to partake in the event known as “Force Friday”. I work a ton of hours for my job and have little time to myself. So I was content on tracking things down at my own pace or online. Then as the day approached I found myself becoming more and more excited about the prospect of going at Midnight and getting my hands on all of the new goodies. It’s the same way with the movie, I don’t care how busy work is that day, I’m going. The release date is also my birthday, so yeah. My wife picked me up after work that Friday and we headed to a near by Target that would be hosting the event. To my pleasant surprise when I arrived there was only one person in line, to say the least I was ecstatic. So happy to be guaranteed a shot at getting my hands on the swag I wanted, I happily and anxiously waited in line. Now the line did grow a bit eventually, but no more than 20 people MAYBE by the time Midnight rolled around. The store crew came out, said some stuff to get us excited and promised us that there would be plenty for everyone. Midnight hit, we went in, and we realized that they couldn’t have been more wrong. Me being the social media person I am, had been tracking peoples’ experiences from around the world at various stores and I had read reports that the supply was not meeting the demand, especially in places where there were tons of people lined up. To my utter dismay, let me remind you I was second in that line, I walked out with a Chewbacca 6″ Black series, some vehicles I had wanted, and that’s about it. NO 4 inch figures to speak of, the first guy in line took most of the Black Series figures that were in stock, he wasn’t being greedy, there was MAYBE a case put out for the “event”. With my time wasted, I walked the aisles one last time in hope of finding something. I decided to pick up another vehicle or two that I had wanted but didn’t originally intend on getting that night, but I had that $25 coupon and I was going to use it. I have ultimately decided that I will probably not participate in one of these events ever again, but no promises. But I was perplexed at the lack of supply that this store had. Mind you only some 200 hundred Targets in the nation was hosting the event, you would think that they would have been better prepared. My disappointment has been quelled somewhat since then, but just over a week later a lot of these figures are very hard to find. It takes a lot of hunting to track some of these figures down, but if you have the patience to do so, it can be worth it. So what happened?

Being the good journalist I like to think myself as, I have been doing some research over the past week. Ranging from calling various stores to inquire about their stock and if they are receiving new product, to some of my own laborious hunting. This past Monday I took to the streets, making my way through two states, four counties, and over 20 stores. While I did have some luck and ended up almost completing my initial collection, the story is pretty much the same wherever you go. Empty shelves that look like a bomb went off! WARZONES! But who’s to blame here? I feel that everyone from the top (Disney), the producer Hasbro, all the way to the retailer is responsible. What did you think would happen? Have you not learned from the past? The same thing basically happened with merchandising for The Phantom Menace. Remember Darth Maul? The demand at first is ALWAYS huge, and it eventually dies off and toys will warm the pegs. But why wasn’t there enough product out there for everyone this time around? One of my thoughts is that they wanted to test the market and create this craze. Releasing the figures four months before the film is a good indicator of what you should have ready to go by the holiday season. It also gives Hasbro plenty of time to see what sells and what they need to supplement. I think that the chaos that happened over the past week has left a bad taste in many a fans’ mouths but at the same time we have to believe that Disney being the ULTRA marketing monster it is, will properly remedy the situation. Get the people excited and wanting the product, it may not have been a mistake this whole time but rather done on purpose. As an uber-fan who can’t get enough of the new canon from the new books, comics and more, I was easily caught up in it all and can’t wait to see what they have coming out next. On the positive side of things, I saw new product that wasn’t around the first week of the release so there is a light at the end of the tunnel I believe. Also for those of you who missed out on certain figures, Hasbro will be repacking a bunch of them into cases so have no fear, you’ll get your collective hands on what you are looking for soon enough. Then there’s the scalpers. But that’s a conversation for another day.

The anticipation for the new movie is only growing day by day, especially with all of the new merchandise out there. The closer we get to the film, the crazier it’s going to get. We have only begun our ‘Journey to The Force Awakens’ and I can’t wait to see what happens next. If you want to hear more about our Star Wars Force Friday reactions and experiences, then check out our next episode of our Toy Hunting Podcast “The Pursuit of Plastic“, coming this Sunday! May the Force be with you!