We’re less than two weeks away from the Midnight Madness release of merchandise for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” on Force Friday, September 4, 2015. Less than two weeks until, in theory, I’ll be able to add the heroes and villains of a new Star Wars film to my collection of action figures. It’s an odd time.
Despite official press releases by the parent companies, my local stores won’t even confirm or deny that they will be open on midnight for the event, so there is still a good chance that they’ll lose out on my money as I drive an hour and fifteen minutes to the Toys ‘R Us in Des Moines. Even weirder to me is that there has been no official word on what exactly is coming that day. Thank the internet for leaks and breaking embargoes -- at least thanks to those things, we’ve got a pretty good idea of what we’ll be getting. It’s allowed me to come up with a game plan that I think is still within my budget and which I’m happy with.
Being so close, it’s made me nostalgic for previous Midnight Madnesses. I was eighteen-years-old, a senior in high school, when the first Midnight Madness happened for “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.” Back then, I had a part time job at a local hardware store and a lot of disposable income, so the release was a pretty big deal for me. I arrived at the Toys ‘R Us in Moline, IL about 10:00 PM and was given a number by staff -- I was 58th in line. I don’t remember talking to people too much while waiting. But I do recall that the line stretched outside the building and that at midnight, the doors were unlocked and a deluge of people swept into the store. That first night, I managed to pick up two of each of the following figures (one to open, one to keep on the card): Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Padme Naberrie, Queen Amidala, Jar Jard Binks, Darth Maul, and the dirty/clean/shot/sliced Battle Droids. Following my success at TRU, I headed to the mall across the street where Walden Books had opened at midnight as well to sell the new books based on “The Phantom Menace.” I picked up the novelization and script, then went home and stayed up all night reading the screenplay.
Following work the next day, I swung back by Toys ‘R Us to see what was left. Surprisingly, they had a lot of everything. I remember picking up a Senator Palpatine and C-3PO at that time, and may have bought some others, but I honestly can only remember those two for sure. Of course, over the summer I purchased the whole line and have them sitting out in my Star Wars room as we speak.
When it came time for Midnight Madness for “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones,” I was in a much different position. I was living out on my own for the first time and struggling as an independent filmmaker in a town not known for independent film. I was working in a TV station, making squat for money and hadn’t been collecting since the Fall of 2001 simply because I couldn’t afford it. Still, I couldn’t resist the urge to check out the new film’s toy line, so at midnight, a buddy and I swung by Walmart. I marveled at all the toys I couldn’t buy, and we both wondered about all the new characters that were in the film.
As for “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith,” I won’t recap it as I’ve previously written about my experience here: http://itsmystarwarslife.tumblr.com/post/115292828765/10-year-anniversary-of-the-revenge-of-the-sith
I guess there was a Midnight Madness for “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” but that was one I didn’t attend. Even though I’d been picking up random characters I liked since about the time “Revenge of the Sith” came out, I was in between jobs when the “Clone Wars” stuff was going down (a period that lasted only three weeks) and didn’t consider it important enough to check out since it wasn’t a live-action movie. I did manage to hit up Toys ‘R Us the day after and see a wall of new product but at that point, I wasn’t convinced. It wasn’t until part way through the first season before I decided to pick up Ahsoka Tano and Asajj Ventress.
Man, how times have changed. Now I’m married with a house, working part time while back in school full time (for something other than filmmaking), with more “fun money” than I had during “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith” but less than during “The Phantom Menace” (when I had no bills and all of my money was “fun money”). It’s the first time since that first prequel that I’m actually planning on buying action figures on their release date, and if all goes as planned, I’m looking to score Poe Dameron’s X-Wing, Rey, Finn, the BB-8 Mission Series pack, Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma, and a couple of First Order Stormtroopers. I’ll pick up the rest over the months leading up to the film’s release, but in the meantime, I’m just excited to be in a position where I can be a collector again. It feels good to be back.
