The joy on the face of one woman in an electronic Chewbacca mask from Star Wars: The Force Awakens has managed to force an item that is nearly a year old into a sales spike. A spike so sharp, you’d be hard pressed to find it anywhere — that includes online.
The popularity of Candace Payne’s video sent consumers into a frenzy, almost enough to make you think the video was nothing more than a conveniently placed ad for Kohl’s and Disney. Just check out this statement from Kohl’s courtesy of Vocativ:
“We have received an overwhelming amount of interest in the Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens Chewbacca Electronic Mask by Hasbro since Candace posted her hilarious and lighthearted video,” a Kohl’s spokesperson said in a statement delivered to Vocativ. “The mask is currently sold out on Kohls.com, but shoppers wanting to take part in the fun can still purchase it at select Kohl’s stores across the country.”
But the truth shows that it isn’t just Kohl’s benefiting from this video. A long list of stores from Walmart to Toys R Us have also sold out of the mask since the video went viral. And then as Mashable points out, there’s an even heftier market online:
Originally retailing for between $20 and $30 at most stores, the mask is now listed by third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay for as much as $200.
I don’t see why people are all crazy about this mask. Sure it makes noises, but it’s far from movie quality. I mean it’s alright that it is not movie quality, but it’s hard to compete. The noises are then more of an art instead of just some cheap digital trick.
This is the worst thing since the talking Optimus Prime mask ruined my years of practicing the Autobots transforming sound.
