Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker toys revealed ahead of Force Friday – CNET

Toys from upcoming movie Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Disney Plus series The Mandalorian and new video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order were revealed Thursday, just over a week ahead of their release on Oct. 4, Star Wars Triple Force Friday. 

If you don’t want to wait another week and a half to see which products will be Force Choking your wallet at this year’s annual toy blowout, CNET reporters attended previews in San Francisco and New York and share what they saw in the gallery below. 

For people who loved the Sphero BB-8, Hasbro has a new killer toy for The Rise of Skywalker — D-O. This adorable droid is controlled with an app and connects to your iOS or Android device via Bluetooth. In addition to moving him around, you can change his expressions (choosing between dizzy, happy and sad) and play one of three games.

If you’re looking for a more passive experience, he also has a hangout mode in which he’ll wander around and react to sounds in his environment. He’s exclusive to Target and will set you back $150 (about £122, AU$222). 

Those who want to take a trip to the dark side are in for a treat too with Supreme Leader Kylo Ren’s Force FX Elite lightsaber. It’s pricey at $300 (about £244, AU$444) but each of the three blades are removable and it comes with a Kyber crystal insert.

In a particularly sweet touch, the blades will ignite differently depending on the angle the lightsaber is held. When the saber’s upright, the blades all activate together. If you hold the toy at a downward angle, the main blade will turn on before the side ones — just like they did in the first trailer for The Force Awakens.

Of course, you’ve got the usual array of Black Series figures too. These $25 (£20, AU$37) collectibles have gotten a whole lot more impressive since Hasbro started using the Photo Real technique to re-create the actors’ faces, and next Friday you’ll see a wave that includes the new Sith Trooper from the Rise of Skywalker, the Mandalorian himself and Kal Cestis from Jedi: Fallen Order.

The initial run of these figures will come in white first-edition packaging (as opposed to the standard black). The figures themselves will be same as those in the black boxes, so these are designed for collectors who like to keep their figures in the package.

Hasbro is also releasing a Carbonized Collection of Black Series figures — basically four characters with a shiny metallic finish. They’ll still cost $25, but each is exclusive to a different retailer. The Mandalorian will only be at Target, the Second Sister will be sold at GameStop, the Sith Trooper at Amazon and the First Order Jet Trooper will be at Walmart.

These are just a small sampling of the Star Wars toys that’ll go on sale Oct. 4.

Force Friday is an annual marketing event that started in 2015 before The Force Awakens opened. Since then, every year except for 2018, Lucasfilm has revealed its lineup of new collectibles and toys for upcoming Star Wars movies, TV shows and video games. 

Every Force Friday event is a chance for fans to try and decipher clues about upcoming plots and characters based on the newly released toys. In 2017, for example, the campaign brought all sorts of clues about Star Wars: The Last Jedi. One of the new Lego sets, for example, revealed that characters Rose Tico (played by Kelly Marie Tran) and Finn (John Boyega) escape to safety in Resistance Transport.    

The Mandalorian streams on Disney Plus on Nov. 12. The Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order video game will be released on Nov. 15 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters on Dec. 20.

As with past Force Friday celebrations, stores around the world will join the Force Friday festivities on Oct. 4 with in-store events and midnight openings.  

Originally published Sept. 24.
Update, Sept. 26, 12:10 p.m. PT: Adds gallery of toys revealed at events in San Francisco and New York. 
Update, Sept. 26, 3:17 p.m. PT: Adds more details on toys revealed.