As Force Friday begins, our wallets empty

Just go ahead and take all our money, Lucasfilm.

Force Friday has begun–the official launch of literally hundreds of toys and collectibles from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which does not open until December 18, 2015. But if you know the Star Wars brand, you know it is probably what Star Wars will be known for decades from now: a powerhouse of making money off its films and characters.

If you were asleep at midnight this morning, you can still get everything you missed online now. You’ll find your best deals for more than 200 new toys available at Entertainment Earth starting today at this link.

Want to find more great deals on anything and everything from Episode VII? Check out this link here to all the Star Wars: The Force Awakens products at Amazon.com.

Target kicked off Force Friday with midnight openings in 207 stores nationwide and will continue into Saturday, September 5 with photo ops, giveaways and toy demos.

The coolest offering? Probably the remote control BB-8 sphere droid by Sphero available for about $149 now for pre-order at Entertainment Earth here–that little roly-poly fella sneaking around in the theatrical previews that was based on an idea from George Lucas’s original sketches for the first movie. Check out the YouTube video of it in action below. It’s in the $150 range. Don’t confuse this with the version from Hasbro that is a target exclusive for half the price–still a fun toy but without all the bells and whistles.

And we just love this new full-sized, wearable First Order Stormtrooper helmet from Anovos. We’ve handled several of Anovos‘s costumes and their high-end models are second to none. This helmet is based on the original and available for pre-order at only $200. Check out their website here.

And Her Universe has several new Episode VII fashion items available at their website here.

Here is the video of the remote-controlled BB-8 in action: