Things We Learned About STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI From Toys

Force Friday II was a major success. Pushing Star Wars: The Last Jedi toys out before the film gave fans an exclusive look at what’s to come. In addition to small details like character noises, it also looks like we learned massive scenes from the film. Maybe even scenes that warrant a massive spoiler warning. So those not wanting to learn anything – run!

Need a refresher? Force Friday II is a marketing push from Lucasfilm to sell toys, games, you name it. This is the third time they’ve had the sale and early releases since Disney’s buyout of the company. (The Rogue One promotion was called Rogue Friday). This year it extends for three days (1st – 3rd) of deals on Star Wars merchandise. Major companies such as Target, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble and more participated in the event. While other Star Wars merchandise was on sale, the most notable was The Last Jedi selection.

From the selection we got, there were mostly small hints at the film. But at least one toy seemed to spell a major scene (possibly an ending scene) in the film. So what exactly did we learn about the film?

New Character Noises

One of the most anticipated (or least anticipated depending on who you are) characters of the film is the porgs. The adorable little inhabitants of Ahch-To have been a massive hit since their announcement to the community. So of course we wanted to know what they sounded like. Lucky for fans, we had two porg toys released this Force Friday that make noises. One of them is a wiggling toy with a hard stomach that makes all kinds of noises. The other is a plush “life size” toy with two noises. The first one can be seen and heard in the video below.

In addition, the official Star Wars YouTube released an animated short containing the porgs and their various noises which you can watch here.

Another new character who is causing a bit of excitement is a new BB-unit. BB-9E is a First Order BB Unit important enough to get his own toys. So we can only assume the droid will have a larger role in the film. According to director Rian Johnson, his set name was BB-H8, which is a hilarious tidbit. For Force Friday they released a corduroy pillow of BB-9E, a Funko Pop! figure, a Sphero toy and more. The Sphero shows off a lot of his deep, angry droid noises. You can see them on display in this promotion video (including a new R2-D2 app-enabled droid!)

If that wasn’t enough, you can see BB-8 have fun with his new counter-part in another animated short.

Character Movements

Lego is unfortunately known as a spoiler playground, releasing plot details in their playsets released before the film. So what gifts did Lego give us this year? Well, not a whole lot but we do have some interesting things worth noting.

For a small start, we have Finn, Rose and BB-8 in a Resistance Transport Pod. Nothing too major there, we just know that BB-8 will be joining Finn on his adventures for a time instead of sticking with his owner/buddy, Poe Dameron. We also get a first look at a Lego-ized version of the pod ship.

Another set worth noting is the Resistance Bomber. This massive ship that we’ve seen glimpses of in the trailer will house a few characters. One we all know and love, Poe Dameron. But two new characters are aboard and ready for action. One is Rose Tico’s sister Paige. Which makes sense as she’s been described as a bomber pilot. The second is Vice Admiral Holdo, Laura Dern‘s character. Not only does she seem to be ready for action by being on a bomber in the first place, we also see her character wielding a blaster. It just shows us that this political figure in the Resistance is truly more than meets the eye. She’ll be one to watch out for.

A third and final one we’ll be pointing out is quite spoilery. In the First Order Heavy Assault Walker set, we learn of a large battle. One that will either be towards the end of the film or the end of the film itself. We learn that the battle on Crait will be much bigger than we’ve been given preview of in the trailers. Not only will it be a battle between the underdog Resistance and the heavily militarized First Order, we also have a Jedi in the mix. That’s right. Rey will be in the battle. Donning her new costume, the set shows Rey chopping at the leg of the walker. Another Hasbro toy also proves her appearance on Crait with a “Rey on Crait” doll. Rey is getting off Ahch-To, whether it’s with Luke or not, and she will join the fight to save the galaxy. And I can’t wait to see it.

Now, the following item is a bit of a mystery. While in Target, I saw a BB-8 Force Link playset that depicted a rather large scene. One that I was shocked was being shown. However, I cannot find the image online as all the box art online just depicts the figure. So, let me break it down. There’s a toy set with Snoke in his throne room called ‘Star Wars Force Link BB 8 2-in-1’. The set comes with Snoke and a Praetorian Guard. Apparently, that’s it for the playset. You can see the image below.

Check out Snoke in his golden robes! But that’s not the important part. In a picture I was just taking for reference, the box art shows so much more. Finn, Rose, BB-8 and even Rey are on or in whatever this set piece is. They have either infiltrated Snoke’s ship or his palace. I’m assuming ship since we see Poe Dameron’s X-Wing flying outside. We can see Snoke sitting in his throne guarded by the Praetorians while the heroes make their way up to him. That’s…that’s pretty big! This could be the end of the movie! Why would they release this on a toy?! Now, to be fair, it does say “Fantasy Scene” on the box. But with rumors heard from Making Star Wars, I think this could definitely be a part of the film.

Weapons

An odd one, but bare with me. While we’ve seen a lot of new ships that can also be considered weapons, there’s a couple toys that show off some hand to hand weaponry. I’ve mentioned them a lot but we got to see a lot of the Praetorian Guards weapons. One figure included three different weapons including a double sided blade, and two long bladed staffs.

We also see that Rose will be rocking a large blaster rifle as her weapon. Shown in a few different figures, we see that the girl has some large fire power.

Also, we see that the Executioners weapons aren’t a giant extendable claw grabber tools. It appears that some sort of electricity or energy beam will connect to the pieces. I would imagine one’s head would go through one of those and then be headless.

And one final thing we’ll dive into is this really awesome ship. It’s a Canto Bight Police Speeder. We saw them very briefly in the EW breakdown. but not enough to know anything. In this toy we see the incredible pilot seat design. We also get a look at the officers outfits.

And there is just some of what we learned about The Last Jedi. There were so many toys and so many exclusives, it’s hard to keep up. What did you learn about the new film in the toys? How many did you end up getting? Let us know! Be sure to come back to Geek Girl Authority for more Star Wars! The Last Jedi is in theaters December 15th.