Posted in: Collectibles, Current News, Disney, Movies, Preview, Recent Updates, Toys | Tagged: collectibles, daisy ridley, disney, episode viii, finn, force friday, Force Friday II, HRL, Jedi, Lucasfilms, nyc, poe, rey, sith, star wars, Star Wars: Episode VIII, star wars: the last jedi, The Disney Store, The Last Jedi, times square, toys

11 Pics/Videos From Force Friday II Proves The Force Is Strong In NYC

For centuries, true believers from around the world would make pilgrimages to their places of worship to lay tribute as proof of their faith and devotion; and to insure good tidings for the next seasonal cycle. Thankfully,  we've evolved as a society (umm…at least in some ways) over time: Metrocards took the place of walking for 25 miles and money replaced the need to sacrifice a first-born or a six-legged goat. But while some things (thankfully) change, one essential truth hasn't: we love the stuff we love, and we love sharing our love with others who love what we love.

OK, that might've been a bit of a stretch there — but that last part was on display Thursday night and Friday morning at The Disney Store in NYC's Times Square as Force Friday II descended upon The Big Apple.

Force Friday II was the weekend-long kickoff release of a ton of new products that tie in with Disney's Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the eighth film in the Star Wars series, which opens December 15th. The Disney Store locations in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco kicked off festivities at 12:01 a.m. (give or take a minute), giving Star Wars fans in those areas the first chance to get their hands on a wide range of items from a remote-controlled R2D2 to an $800 LEGO Millennium Falcon, and definitely a few lightsabers here and there in between.

You can actually get a great rundown of what's out there by checking out Bleeding Cool's coverage here and here.

So here are some of the sights and sounds from last night's Force Friday II event in Times Square — enjoy!

When I arrived at around 10:40 p.m., there were 18 people in line; not as many as I thought there would be at that point, but the line was well into triple digits by the time midnight hit:

Diminishing my faith in humanity just a wee bit, I was amazed by the number of people who thought that the huge, heavy standing display board and staff member in front of the escalator didn't apply to them and that of course they can just go right upstairs. Major props to the woman who was positioned there, because she handled it like a pro:

I was expecting…more?

I'm willing to wager that the guy in the video doing the high-fiving actually high-fived every person in the store. Side note? In a perfect example of guys being creepy and why we can't have nice things, a female staff member was outside high-fiving, too — until one too many guys tried to hold her hand, squeeze her hand, and a bunch of other crap that made her feel understandably uncomfortable, so she stopped.

Behind the scenes? Damn near killed myself getting off the escalator to keep the shot steady. It's the sacrifices we make for all of you, people…the sacrifices!

Watching little girls running around with lightsabers, grabbing anything with Rey (Daisy Ridley) on it and trying out the science demonstrations was the highlight of the night for me. More importantly, every film and television studio should watch these videos before the next time they try to use that lame "girls don't geek" cliche to justify crappy decision-making that disenfranchises the next generation of "geek" when we should be cultivating them:

Need it. Want it. Can't even lie:

Special thanks to Monica Fernandez from Disney for all of her assistance…much appreciated!

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