Did you feel it? Thousands of fans just cried out at once because the release date for Star Wars: The Force Awakens products has been announced. Get out your calendar and mark September 4, 2015, with every color highlighter you own. The Force will awaken in toy aisles around the globe at 12:01am on that day. And of course this momentous occasion has a name: it’s Force Friday!

Mass retailers, Disney Store shops, and DisneyStore.com will be fully operational and ready to sell items from the sequel trilogy for the very first time. There will obviously be toys (my heart races when I think about all the new action figures–Rey had better be one of them!) [Editor’s Note: We’ll lead the verbal riot if she’s not] and collectibles, but Force Friday includes more. Fans will also be able to purchase books and comics, ebooks and apps, apparel, and lifestyle accessories. In other words, go ahead and save a paycheck or two for the occasion now.

Another bundle of joy came with the toy release announcement, too. Take a gander at the packaging for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens products:

It’s all about the villain Kylo Ren (so yes, he actually is a villain if you were still doubting) and his red lightsaber. It’s very reminiscent of Revenge of the Sith toy packaging.

Some of you are no doubt wondering why a toy release is such a big deal. It’s certainly not the kind of thing I usually put on my calendar, but this is new Star Wars. This is the first new live-action Star Wars film in a decade. It’s the continuation of a saga that began a long time ago. This is special to Star Wars fans, and though it certainly benefits Lucasfilm and Disney to market the toy release because the money will flow, it’s also cool of them to add another community building event for the fans. We were going to drop the dollars regardless, so why not make it a party?

Will you be participating in Force Friday? What are your thoughts about making such a big deal out of a merchandise release? Let me know in the comments.

HT: StarWars.com