Empire City Garrison/Ray Eng(NEW YORK) — Friday is “Force Friday II,” the second unveiling of Star Wars toys, this one related to December’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
In New York City, as in other areas, members of the Star Wars costume charity group the 501st Legion helped bring a little of that “galaxy far, far, away” to local stores to help celebrate.
For toy expert Jim Silver, the CEO and editor-in-chief of the review site TTPM.com, it’s a special time of year.
“What I love about Force Fridays…is…you have 5-year-olds running to get into the store, as they’re running down the aisles,” Silver says. “You’ll see people, 55 years old, beating them to a figure. There’s no other property or movie that you will see anything like this!”
He adds, “The other great thing about it [there’s] the same amount of males than females. I mean, there’s a huge female following for Star Wars, so this property appeals to every demographic.”
Apart from a nearly “life-sized” BB-8 droid — that follows you remotely and otherwise acts like the cute rolling robot — Silver says one hot toy from this year’s unveiling is as educational as it is fun.
“One of the great things I think the kids are gonna love…is [the] … Droid Inventor Kit. It’s from Little Bits. You can make your own droid, you can then you code it…You do a BB-8, you can do R2-D2, but you can make anything you want. We’ve made some fun versions in the office using garbage cans,” Silver laughs. “This is open-ended play that you can create anything you want.”
Silver joked that he often feels like Tom Hanks’ character in Big, because his TTPM site — an acronym for Toys, Tots, Pets, and More — has him personally testing and video reviewing ten thousand toys a year.
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