My Force Friday Experience

[JeffSaylor]

Sharing the Force at Target...

I live in the quaint historic city of Fredericksburg, Virginia, about an hour outside of D.C. It's not a huge bustling metropolis, nor is it a one stoplight kinda town. That's part of the reason I wanted to attend Force Friday, the global midnight debut of the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens toys and collectibles. I was really curious to see just how many other Star Wars fans would come out and play. The other reason I braved staying up way past my bedtime was to get my hands on the new 6-inch Black Series. Kylo Ren and a First Order Stormtrooper, to be precise. BB-8, in some form or fashion, was the only other item on my list.

Target, Walmart and Toys"R"Us are the three major Force Friday players and I opted for my local Super Target simply because I like the store the best of the bunch. When I arrived at 11:30PM, I was surprised by how many fellow geeks actually turned up, including a handful a bona fide kids (who were certainly up way past their bedtime - but I'll forgive 'em, it's a once in lifetime event). Raffle tickets were handed out for the chance to win a ginormous stuffed Chewbacca (I didn't win), and instructions - walk, don't run - were issued to the eager crowd. The store attendees also uttered some very dismal news: the store only had ten - T - E - N - 6-inch Star Wars Black Figures in stock. That's 10 individual figures. I was flabbergasted, but not totally surprised. I had heard rumblings from friends online that their stores were being short-changed on 6" Black figures too. Someone in Hasbro production certainly dropped the ball, and on a day as hyped as Force Friday... there really is no excuse. Fortunately, upon hearing this news I did a quick search on Amazon to find that all five Black figures were in stock and listed at the same store price of $19.99 each. Free shipping with Prime. Ordered. While in line at midnight for Force Friday. Unbelievable.

But all was not doom and gloom. I mentioned that BB-8 was on my shopping list, and Target did not disappoint. At the crack of midnight, fans flooded Target's Force Friday aisles. I quickly snatched up a Funko Pop! BB-8 and I found myself a really nice baseball tee with the droid on it. In fact, of all the product offered, the apparel was the most appealing. Aside from Force Awakens clothing, there was a tempting selection of classic Saga shirts and hoodies. Toys, for the most part, were aimed at kids. JAKKS towering giant figs impressed.

Funko's Pop! were cute and diverse in character selection (while they lasted). There was some LEGO and a bunch of these deco lamps in the shape of character helmets. It was cool to see Micro Machines again. Some kid-friendly role play lightsabers and a trully stunning Force FX Kylo Ren saber ($199.99 - only two in stock). Oh, and 3 3/4" Black Series figures? Those also disappeared faster than the Millennium Falcon jumping into lightspeed. I never saw an X-Wing Fighter or a TIE Fighter (except for the paper displays hanging from the ceiling).

Overall Force Friday was fun. I'm glad I came out and got to participate and share the moment with so many Star Wars-loving strangers. While Fredericksburg isn't crowded New York or LA, there's still plenty of us here that love our Star Wars.

- Jeff Saylor

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To buy action figures, take a look at BigBadToyStore.com, TheToySource.com, Toynk.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, MonkeyDepot.com, and EntertainmentEarth.com.

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[genefactor]

I loved this post! I was lucky when it came to the Black figures. My local Target had quite a number of them. What's better I seemed to be the only person interested in them. Score!