Star Wars: The Force Awakens Toys Offer Chance to See Characters, Vehicles

Next Friday, September 4, has been christened “Force Friday” by the Walt Disney Company. That’s the day that more than 1,000 retail partners around the world will be opening their stores at midnight to unveil toys and products associated with the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Disney has also initiated a video component to promote the toys. Beginning in Australia on September 3 and continuing over the next 18 hours in 12 countries, their network of online video creators will open up the new toys. This will be streamed live on the Star Wars YouTube channel, as well as mobile and web platforms operated by ABC news.

These videos are known as “unboxing,” which is exactly what it sounds like—people opening up new Star Wars: The Force Awakens toys. Yet as with all things Star Wars, these videos have generated a huge amount of viewers, and unboxing videos represent 18 of the top 100 most viewed YouTube Channels worldwide, accounting for 8.1 billion views in the first four months of 2015. YouTube/unboxing stars like 8-year old EvanTubeHD (he's got more than 730 million views for his videos on YouTube) will be part of the unboxing team.

Featured image: Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Film Frame. ©Lucasfilm 2015

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The Credits is an online magazine that tells the story behind the story to celebrate our large and diverse creative community. Focusing on profiles of below-the-line filmmakers, The Credits celebrates the often uncelebrated individuals who are indispensable to the films and TV shows we love.