Star Wars: The Force Awakens is almost here, and with that brings a whole slew of new merchandise into the mix. We've already profiled a handful of stories about the most anticipated toy line ever, from the crazy hype surrounding the new BB-8 droid, to possible hidden spoilers contained in the Force Awakens Trading Card Game and Kylo Ren action figure.
It's clear that these bits of plastic and paper are just as a big a deal as the film itself, so who do we have to thank for all of these crazy toys? Thanks to fastcodesign, we now know who.
The website recently sat down with Hasbro's Steve Evans, the design director behind all the sweet Star Wars merchandise that will be hitting shelves this holiday season.
Evans says he was always a fan of the franchise, telling fastco:
I grew up playing with Star Wars toys, ever since I saw it when it first came out. I actually vacationed out in Los Angeles when it was released back in the late '70s, and was lucky enough to go and see it at the Mann's Chinese Theater. I just remember being awestruck by the spectacle of it; the sounds, the ships, the characters. It was like "Wow, I've never seen anything like this before." I asked my grandmother for AT-ATs and Falcons for Christmas. I had all the figures."
As for the possible spoilers contained in each toy, Evans and his team are making sure to stagger the releases to ensure that no key information is leaked before the film's big release on December 18.
"Star Wars is such a great movie, that the director and Lucasfilm, quite rightly so, want to keep the surprises for the fans controlled," says Evans. "It's like any great marketing campaign. You release when it's right for the story. And in the case of Star Wars that story is not just the movie-that story is the whole brand and the whole way it's portrayed and played out to the audiences as well.
