star wars the force awakens

Have you guys heard about the Stars Wars? Have you also heard about Funko Pops? These are two things that seemingly came out of nowhere to dominate store shelves, social media, and websites over the past few days, and quite frankly we're alarmed. But because we don't want to look like we're behind the times, we've snapped up a bunch of these Star Wars: The Force Awakens Funko Pop figures to giveaway to the loyal readers of ComicsAlliance and ScreenCrush. The whole first wave of figures has been rather hard to find all in one place, but through the grace of the internet god's favor, we managed to procure all your favorite heroes and villains from the upcoming movie nobody has seen, such as Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma and Rey. We've even got some of the classic heroes who actually have proven their worth already in Chewbacca and C-3PO, but we know everyone is really after that cute little BB-8. For all we know, that guy is just a mini-Death Star, and the real villain. You can't prove us wrong. Deal with it.

Oh the next year in Hot Toys is going to be so expensive, you guys. We've already got the rest of the Avengers: Age of Ultron roster to get through, but we'll also have the first Civil War figures, Batman V Superman figures, and of course, Star Wars: The Force Awakens to somehow find a way to finance. I'd take out a new mortgage on my home, but I'm a renter. Besides, we all know home ownership is merely an illusion for a geek culture writer on the internet. That doesn't stop the production train at Hot Toys from running though, and there's going to be a lot of new Force Awakens characters vying for your dollar in the coming year. Especially if you're an army builder. Hot Toys has already shown off its standard First Order Stormtroopers, but now the company is turning its attention to the cold climate specialists, the Snowtroopers. We haven't seen them in any of the footage released so far, but they did make an appearance in that Vanity Fair photoshoot, and we do know that there will be some snowy climates dealt with in the film. Like the Stormtroopers, there will be two different Snowtroopers offered, with one being basic, and the other being a boss.

In the days leading up to Force Friday, all eyes were on the standard flag bearers of Star Wars collectibles like Hasbro and Lego. The anticipation for new figures and block-building sets was all anyone on collector channels could seemingly talk about. Then the timed-release of several advanced looks at Sphero's remote controlled BB-8 changed the conversation completely. Suddenly, all anyone could talk about for the next few days was the little rotating droid. Even I wasn't planning on getting one of the little buggers right off the bat, but after seeing those first few videos of BB-8 in action, I changed my tune. BB-8 had become the "must have" Star Wars toy of the season. Of course, with all that immediate hype comes the potential for extreme letdown. It's rare when a single toy met with such fervor in such a short time can be capable of shouldering the expectations of the purchasing public. Just because something is hot and new doesn't mean it's worth the investment, either from a money standpoint or from the time it takes to track one down. Fortunately, Sphero's BB-8 is one of the few ballyhooed collectibles of the past few years that measures up. That is, as long as your expectations can be tempered back to rational levels after the hype subsides.

Prior to the release of the remastered classic trilogy, the only place to get Star Wars toys was at a garage sale or flea market. That is, unless you wanted to pay a premium for classic figures from the '80s. When the new movies were announced twenty years ago, it allowed for an influx of Star Wars collectibles that had been sorely missed from the marketplace. In fact, the desire for Star Wars figures was so large that once Hasbro started putting out new figures in the '90s, it never stopped. Through various series and incarnations, Hasbro's Star Wars figures have been a steady sight on store shelves for two decades. With Star Wars: The Force Awakens due to arrive in theaters this winter, it presented companies like Hasbro with the chance to bring the first truly new characters to life in figure form. For months, Hasbro teased the lead-up to Force Friday, a global event that saw the simultaneous launch of every single manufacturer's first Force Awakens merchandise. While Hasbro has numerous versions of these characters available, the company's signature Black Series line is undeniably the cream of the crop. After a tumultuous Force Friday which saw sellouts and shortages nationwide, I managed to procure a set of the first wave. I wasn't disappointed with the results, but I had certainly hoped for more from the big reveal.

It's Monday, which means it's time for even more Star Wars: The Force Awakens merchandise leaks. Proving no single company is safe from the deluge of discoveries of just what's in the box in the storeroom at your local Walmart/Target/Toys 'R Us, Lego's upcoming slate of TFA pieces has been loosed upon the world. Seven different building kits will be available for the first time on Force Friday (Sept. 4), and unlike the Hasbro figure leaks we've seen, all of Lego's purported products are focused exclusively on the new film. While there are no prices or piece counts available on these preliminary images, we do still get more than a sense of what to expect from each build, and what all the new figures will look like. There are seven planned sets to kick off the line, including the familiar Millennium Falcon making a return appearance for the first time since the original trilogy version was retired by Lego. The new Falcon shares some similarities with the 7965 model previously released, but there are some design differences throughout that are immediately visible on the exterior. Unfortunately, there's no imagery of the interior, so we don't know what kind of changes are in store for the ship's quarters.

It wouldn't be a day of the week without another Star Wars leak of some kind. In the lead up to Force Friday, the Sept. 4 launch day for all Star Wars: The Force Awakens merchandise, more and more action figures and collectibles are finding their way into the wild. That's one of the disadvantages to releasing said merchandise to the retailers early so they can properly prepare their action plans for the big day in a few weeks. While the silence from Hasbro with regards to what to expect from Force Friday had been deafening, these past few days have proved very fruitful for Star Wars collectors salivating for a glimpse at what was coming down the pipe. Several eBay listings popped up today (captured by YakFace) offering potential buyers the very first opportunities to buy new Star Wars: The Force Awakens figures before they actually hit retail shelves on Sept. 4. More importantly, they also gave us our first look at the planned 3.75" figures coming from Hasbro in just a few weeks.

As cynical and bitter and disdainful that most right thinking people have become with respect to the subject of Star Wars movies over the last decade or so, it is difficult not to view the Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser with, at the very least, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. The tense 80-second teaser for JJ Abrams' sequel to Return of the Jedi stirred some of the psychic wall left erected in many viewers' thoughts after the abominable prequel trilogy seemed to have destroyed all remaining affection for the once beloved trilogy, and through the cracks has come the first sprays of that by which we can best judge cultural affection for a thing: fan art.

Welcome to the latest episode of ComicsAlliance Presents “Kate or Die,” a series of exclusive comic strips created by one of our favorite cartoonists, Kate Leth! In this episode, Kate takes on the hype surrounding the 88 seconds we've seen of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.