Wow, what an epic time last weekend was! We are still recovering from our #ForceFridayHangover. We understand that many people came away dissatisfied with their Midnight Madness experience due to the lack of supply at retailers and that can be frustrating for those looking to buy everything in one shot. We will agree that the pegs were less full in the action figure department than any of the four previous midnight releases but that didn’t deter our enjoyment the event because it was the local collecting community which made it a night to remember.

The following is how our own Jake Stevens spent the event:

“The evening began with a late dinner with the ol’ curmudgeon himself Tom Berges from IGrewUpStarWars.com and Criz Bee from JediBusiness.com. Upon leaving dinner we joined Paul Hermann from the Forcecast Podcast and our mutual friend Adam who was first in line at the local Toys ‘R’ Us at about 8:30.

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There Criz Bee handed out exclusive JediBusiness buttons and I provided fellow line standers our original Hasbro checklist.

JediBusiness.com's Exclusive Button Giveaway

JediBusiness.com’s Exclusive Button Giveaway

At 8:45, I popped over to Red Robin where our fellow collectors from the S.AR.L.A.C.C. and S.T.A.R.S. clubs were meeting to caffeinate for the evening’s festivities. At the stroke of 9:00 PM Pacific Time, most including Amy Soberg from Star Wars: Collecting Cosmos jumped on their phones in order to ensure getting a Sphero BB-8 before they sold out 5 minutes later.”

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“Great conversations took place and Chris Pirillo fresh from Lucasfilm’s Star Wars YouTube unboxing event shared his experience of revealing the new Episode VII Battle Action Millennium Falcon.”


“Not long after 10, I rejoined Criz Bee in line who at this point was overwhelmed with the amount of news that went live in conjunction with the event.  Hasbro’s Press Release on upcoming exclusives, online retailers reveals, reports from the East Coast about the new product, second waves being found and much more only helped to increase the anticipation.”

“The next two hours flew by as the community chatted in line. Our friends Gus Lopez from The Star Wars Collectors Archive discussed collecting with fellow super Star Wars food collector and Ewok Builder Tom Stewart. Fellow collector and YouTuber Star Geek (whose video below captures all the action) was on hand to get some footage of the event and customizer Chris Moorehead AKA DarthMac was out to take part in the madness.”

“Being confident, despite word online that stock was low, was mainly due to the fact that Criz Bee and I were 5th and 6th in line of about 150+ people by the time the doors opened. Once through the doors and collecting the three giveaways Toys ‘R’ Us provided, I headed directly to the 3 ¾” figures just in time to grab about 12 figures. Within 4 minutes every figure was spoken for and those in our collecting group who entered after never even saw a figure that night.”

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“But by us all having that collector mentality, we all quickly took what we could get and headed over to Target. By the time we arrived the action figure pegs were picked pretty clean but Target’s other selections were still available, Funko Pops, new character car Hot Wheels, 12” figures etc. At this point is was only 12:30 AM and after not winning the raffle for the large plush Chewie, I headed to the register to get my free The Force Awakens shopping tote and to try one more stop, Wal*Mart.”

“Now Wal*Mart was the least prepared of the three retailers by far as they hadn’t even stocked their product, it was still on the pallets on the floor. My friend and fellow host Jason Luttrull from Galaxy of Toys Podcast had left Target quickly and beaten me there in order to secure the entire 6” Black Series figures.”

“Despite no longer hitting any stores, the night didn’t end there as we all headed home to open our new found treasures. Although I got home at 2:30 AM I was still messaging back and forth with friends who had been out that night at 4 AM. By 5 AM I decided I needed some sleep and did so until 6 AM (yes just one hour) before heading to work.”

“After work I scooped up the fam and hit Target to take advantage of the $25 off $100 or more and their $10 off $50 or more offer on Star Wars items. The kids and myself came away with not only some great toys but some really fun pics with Chewie cutouts and piloting Poe’s X-Wings. My son and I returned to Target on Saturday for their #Sharetheforce event in the morning and really only walked away with a free Target Star Wars plastic lunch box as most of their features of the event were available on Friday as well.”

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“Overall Force Friday was what you made of it. If you set out on your own to score some toys well then most likely is was a bit of a bummer. If you went out to experience a now Star Wars tradition with a friend or 30 then most likely no matter if you didn’t come home with BB or Kylo you had a pretty good time.”

“A week later shelves are still bare and I couldn’t be happier. Star Wars toys are super-hot again and I continue to work in numerous toy runs throughout week (at the slight frustration of the Mrs.) looking for new waves. I was dedicated to the hunt enough to have completed all Wave 1 figures by the Sunday following the Madness but with so many new things popping up online, around the word and in other parts of the country, I see toys runs not ending any time soon.”

The Weekend's Haul

The Weekend’s Haul

We have updated our brand new The Force Awakens Page and will continue to do so as new discoveries and reveals are made.

Until the next wave of the figures comes to your town,

May the Figures be with you!