Force Friday Midnight Madness Wrap-up

There is a ton of news to get to today but first up we wanted to post about the midnight openings last night and what we found, but mostly what we didn’t.

Toys-R-Us

We stopped at the Toys-R-Us store in Big Flats, NY around 10:30. There were only 10 people in line so we caught up on Twitter for an hour before queuing up.  We could see from the window that the Lego sets were being stocked and there was a nice assortment of Disney Infinity 3.0 stuff just inside the front door.  They opened right at midnight and told us that most of the toys were in the back aisle where the Star Wars toys are normally housed.

There were approximately two dozen people in line when the store opened and everyone was handed a Lego brick and a Kylo Ren poster as they entered.  We made our way back to the toy aisle and as we got there the Toys-R-Us employees actually apologized to us and told us that there was not a lot of stock available but everything they were sent was on the shelf.

The store only had about two or three cases of the basic 3.75″ figures and they went pretty quickly to the first couple of people through the door.  We saw maybe two cases worth of the Armor figures and there were no Mission Series 2-packs at all.  Hero Mashers were on the pegs and some of the vehicles were available, including the Snowspeeder, TIE Fighter and Poe’s X-Wing. If there were other vehicles we missed them or they were picked up before we got to the aisle.

The big draw were the 6″ Black Series and the pegs were cleared in minutes, there couldn’t have been more than 2 cases worth available.  The 12″ figures were available along with role play lightsabers and masks.  The Micro Machines were stocked but we didn’t see any of the blind bags.  Black Series Titaniums were on the shelf as were the Hot Wheels ship 2-packs but we didn’t see any of the single ships or character cars but after being disappointed in the action figure offerings, didn’t look around the store to see if they were stocked in the Hot Wheels aisle and not with the action figures.

There were some plush toys, including a BB-8 that “talks,” and some miscellaneous other items that we didn’t pay much attention to.  We don’t recall seeing the Battle Action Millennium Falcon but they did have the new walking AT-AT.

Because there wasn’t much stock on the pegs, and most of what we were interested in wasn’t available, other than the free items, the only thing we picked up was the Lego Rey’s Speeder (#75099).

Walmart

After Toys-R-Us, we stopped at two Walmart stores. The first was also in Big Flats and they had their “train” of pallet displays set up along with a table of cupcakes, Topps Connexions packs and buttons which were all free.  The selection was mostly the same as Toys-R-Us on the Hasbro front with the 3.75″ figures, Armor and 6″ Black Series all present. The Titanium Black Series vehicles were stocked as were the small 3-packs of Micro Machines. They had a display of single Hot Wheels ships with some re-packs mixed in with the new The Force Awakens Millennium Falcon and TIE Fighter.

There were plenty of role play lightsabers but they were the $10 variety.  Some of the new Lego sets were on the display as well, including Rey’s Speeder and the new buildable figures which included Jango Fett, Commander Cody and a couple of others. We later spotted the new TIE Fighter #75101 and Poe’s X-Wing #75102 sets in the main Lego aisle. They were next to the First Order Transporter #75103 but we didn’t see the new Millennium Falcon or Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle #75104.

The main toy aisle for action figures was still being set at this store but they did have Rey’s Speeder w/ Rey and the Y-Wing with Kanan vehicle sets by Hasbro.  There were a few more 3.75″ figures on the pegs and some Micro Machines but the set was still in progress.

Since the prices were cheaper at Walmart, we picked up Hasbro’s version of Rey’s speeder along with single carded Kylo Ren and Rey figures plus a Micro Machines set that had the Republic Gunship in it.

Finally, we stopped at our local Walmart, mostly because we had to drive past it to get home. They had their aisle train set but it was the same as we’d seen at the previous store, minus the free swag.  It didn’t look like they’d had much of a turnout as there appeared to be at least a full set of the basic 3.75″ figures left on the display. There was at least one of each Black Series 6″ figure as well. The Hot Wheels ships were untouched and while it looked as though someone had gone through the Black Series Titanium ships, there were still multiples of each.

Best Buy

Our best pickup of the day will probably be the new Sphero BB-8 remote control droid. While we didn’t see him in person at the stores last night, he was available to order for store pickup this morning. He’s currently waiting for us to hit our lunch break. We’ll be sure to have some pics and video of him later.

Wrap-up

We went to the midnight Force Friday events mostly for the experience but were interested in some of the Hasbro 2-packs and Hot Wheels character cars. Apparently none of which were released last night.  It was very disappointing to see how little stock Toys-R-Us had that they weren’t even able to meet the needs of about 30 people. The TRU staff was very friendly, however, and the fans that attended all seemed happy to be out even if they didn’t find everything they were interested in.

The trip to the first Walmart was just as fun because who doesn’t like free cupcakes at 1:00am?  We didn’t go running around either store looking for clothing or water bottles and that type of thing, there will be plenty of time for that later.  Later this morning we’ll be at Target and Best Buy, both trip should be quieter.

We’re glad we participated in Force Friday but on the collecting front it feels as if it fell behind previous events. There are a lot of toys and collectibles still on the way and that should keep us buzzing until The Force Awakens opens in December.