Where’s Rey? She’s at the bank, depositing another million dollar check.
Ever since Force Friday, which was to nerds as GOOD Fridays is to rap fans, Star Wars toys have been flying off the shelves, despite controversial omissions and spoilers. According to the NPD [National Purchase Diary] Group, more than $700 million was spent on Star Wars: The Force Awakens merch in 2015 alone. Disney is likely pleased with their $4 billion investment.
Sales of toys such as Kylo Ren light sabers, BB-8 droids, and models of the Millennium Falcon spacecraft totaled more than those related to movie franchises Jurassic World, Minions, and Avengers combined, NPD Group said on Wednesday.
Led by Star Wars merchandise, toy sales in the United States rose 6.7 percent to $19.4 billion in 2015, making it one of the strongest performances for toy sales in years, NPD Group said. (Via)
Of that $700 million, $63 million was spent repairing bent Wookies.
After the initial (and ridiculous) lack of Rey toys, sales of products featuring Daisy Ridley “grew three times faster than other Force Awakens characters,” proving that the executives who “raised concerns about the presence of female characters in the Star Wars products,” because “no boy wants to be given a product with a female character on it,” are slimy, double-crossing, no-good swindlers. They don’t deserve our hard-earned money, which we should donate to charity or… A WORKING BB-8 BALL DROID? I WANT IT.
(Via Reuters)
