This afternoon D23 – The Official Disney Fan Club premiered a new video detailing a behind-the-scenes look at how the exclusive in-universe merchandise was created for the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge themed areas at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World. During the presentation, the team even unveiled a few new items coming to Black Spire Outpost!
In the bullet-point list below, I’ve enumerated some of the more interesting tidbits and factoids to come out of this discussion of the merchandise found at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Watch Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – Storytelling through Merchandise:
- They showed a recap video of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and its merchandise featuring Brad Schoenberg, Director of Merchandise Strategy for Disney Parks.
- Walt Disney World performer Mark Daniel introduces the presentation and gives us a breakdown of Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu.
- We’re going to take a look at how Disney took inspiration from the Star Wars universe to create the merchandise in Galaxy’s Edge.
- Schoenberg takes us back to the beginning of developing the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge project in 2013. He had to put together a packet of what the merchandise might look like for the land.
- He talks about getting to reveal the merch at Star Wars Celebration 2019 in Chicago. “We took full advantage of the opportunity.” They switched out displays each day during the event. “We just couldn’t wait for guests to bring the land to life.”
- Brad talks about the extensive research he and his team did to develop the product line. They visited the set of Rogue One and viewed the marketplace on the planet Jedha. “Markets such as this are found in places scattered throughout the globe. It has that same eclectic flavor, but with a twist that says Star Wars.”
- Tracie Alt talked about the apparel available in Galaxy’s Edge and shops like Black Spire Outfitters. She likes that you can mix and match parts of the different outfits.
- John Cody Hampton talked about the Toydarian Toymaker and the inspiration for a lot of the toys available in that shop like the Dejarik game that we first saw in holographic form in the original Star Wars film. He revealed a new Boba Fett wooden doll inspired by the Jyn Erso stormtrooper doll.
- Then Brad took us through the Creature Stall, “the wildest pet shop in the galaxy.” There you can get a Porg, Tauntaun, a Wort, and many other Star Wars creatures in plush and plastic forms. A new dianoga toy will be coming to that shop soon.
- Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities emphasizes the multi-generational impact of the Star Wars saga. Some highlights of artifacts available include Emperor Palpatine’s robe, Princess Leia’s costume, and a variety of jewelry.
- Cody talked about the Legacy Lightsabers available in Dok-Ondar’s, including the recently released Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano sabers. The vote for the new Legacy Lightsaber resulted in Cal Kestis’ hilt from Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order coming in 2021. Other examples are also coming soon and first-edition sabers will be retired.
- D23 Gold members will be among the first to purchase some of the Legacy Lightsabers on shopDisney.
- Cody also discussed the process of making the Jedi and Sith holocrons. They didn’t have any live-action reference for these items, so they had to consult how they looked in the Star Wars animated series. Each Kyber crystal unlocks new content for fans to discover.
- Savi’s Workshop was an idea the team had from the very beginning for Galaxy’s Edge. They talked about the technology used in the buildable lightsabers and development of the four different Jedi paths.
- A new product line will utilize the different symbols of the Jedi paths from Savi’s workshop, including apparel and pin & patch sets.
- They talked about Droid Depot. “We’ve had so much fun inviting guests to build their own Astromech unit.” They’re very proud to have won the Toy of the Year Award in 2019.
- A new CB-23 remote-control BB unit with exclusive personality chip will be available beginning tomorrow at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
- They showed the Droid Factory 5-pack of action figures that will be available on both coasts.
- Select merchandise from Droid Depot will be coming to shopDisney this January.
For more from D23 Fantastic Worlds Celebration, be sure to visit the fan club’s official website.
