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 Fans, some dressed as Imperial Stormtroopers or Sand People,
thronged stores in Australia and Japan after an 18-hour marathon
global Walt Disney "unboxing" event online in which 13 of the
new products were unwrapped.
"We're the first ones actually in the world to get our hands on
it, so, what can be better than that? They're new 'Star Wars'
toys, they're the first ones on the world, you just can't beat
it," said Matthew Jones in Sydney, Australia as the products
went on sale at midnight at a Target store.
The roll-out is part of a huge merchandising effort by Disney,
and toy makers including Hasbro and Lego, ahead of the December
release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" - the first in a new
"Star Wars" trilogy - which brings back original 1977 cast
members Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.
Dubbed "Force Friday," thousands of toy stores worldwide
encouraged fans to dress up as their favorite "Star Wars"
characters as the new lightsabers, Lego models, action figures
and spaceships went on sale.
An orange and white cylindrical BB-8 droid that can move, talk
and can be controlled through a smartphone app was trending on
Twitter on Thursday, hours before stores opened in Europe or the
United States.
Vanity Fair magazine judged the toy, made by U.S. company Sphero,
so adorable that it recruited a handful of puppies to play with
the droid and featured the video on its website.
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A remote-controlled Millennium Falcon spacecraft, piloted in the
"Star Wars" universe by Han Solo and Chewbacca, also proved an early
favorite on social media.
U.S. furniture retailer Pottery Barn announced separately that it
was making a kid's bed styled after the spacecraft.
In New York's Times Square, Toys "R" Us chief global merchandising
officer Richard Barry said he expects kids and collectors alike to
buy the new toys.
"You're going to see products imagined in a different way, using new
technology and innovation, and allowing kids to live out the 'Star
Wars' saga in a way that has never been possible before," Barry told
Reuters.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant, Alicia Powell and Reuters Television;
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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