Star Wars fans will get an early look at the new merchandise for The Force Awakens in a first-of-its-kind global unboxing event, which is set to take place in the lead-up to Force Friday.
Unfolding on September 4, Force Friday represents the first major release of merchandise related to Star Wars: The Force Awakens . In the 18 hours prior to the midnight release of toys, ebooks, games, and other Star Wars paraphernalia, Lucasfilm has arranged a New Years Eve style celebration that will take place over 18 hours in 15 cities and 12 countries, unveiling highlights from the hotly anticipated field of products.
#StarWarsTheForceAwakens toy unboxing goes global ahead of #ForceFriday http://t.co/brCPaapI4v pic.twitter.com/G788d6KZOJ
— CNWNews (@CNWNews) August 26, 2015
The event will kick off on the morning of September 3 in Sydney, Australia, according to Star Wars.com . It will then unfold live on YouTube, featuring digital stars from the Maker Studios network, as Leslie Ferraro, President of Disney Consumer Products, points out.
“Over the course of 18 hours, some of Maker Studios’ biggest stars will each be unboxing a new toy from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens product line in a different city around the world and sharing the experience live on YouTube. We’ve seen tremendous excitement for these new products and can’t wait to see the global reaction from the Star Wars fan community.”
Huge Star Wars: The Force Awakens unboxing taking place on YouTube, new trailers coming too http://t.co/TLmBrRYQdm pic.twitter.com/RcA1ITaHpo
— Pocketlint (@Pocketlint) August 26, 2015
Last week, a Force Friday catalog from Hasbro emerged online ahead of the unboxing event. The 63-page-long document revealed much of the massive toy line meant to tie in with The Force Awakens , confirming some fan suspicions and even revealing several new characters.
A live stream of the event will be hosted on the official Star Wars YouTube channel. The global unboxing will conclude with a grand finale held at Lucasfilm in San Francisco at 8 a.m. PDT (11 a.m. EDT) on Thursday, September 3. Disney’s ABC broadcast network will also be a part of the festivities, as Good Morning America will carry the event on TV and online.
Incoming #ForceFriday ! Join us for the global unboxing of the coolest new merch in the galaxy: http://t.co/5a0rvDhijo pic.twitter.com/JnMJlRYzaV
— Star Wars UK (@StarWarsUK) August 26, 2015
Disney is expecting costumed fans to line up well in advance of the midnight release of the new The Force Awakens toys, part of the communal nature of Star Wars fandom. As Bloomberg Business points out, Star Wars related merchandise generated a staggering $2.2 billion in retail sales over 2013. With the imminent release of The Force Awakens , analysts say the amount of Star Wars related sales could exceed that figure by a substantial margin over the coming months.
[Photo by Wiki Erudito via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain]
