FORCE TAKES FLIGHT
Company shows off Star Wars drones ahead of Friday’s merchandise spectacular,
NEW YORK— Two squadrons of little Star Wars drones fly through the air in a Brooklyn, N.Y., event space, blasting each other with lasers within the net-lined battle zone.
The scoreboard keeps a tally as propilots whip their X-Wings and TIE Fighters around, tagging each other between barrel rolls.
Propel, the company behind the toys, was showing off its flying ma- chines in the run-up to Force Friday, the seemingly annual shopping spectacle for Walt Disney Co.’s prized scifi franchise on Sept. 1.
The merchandising machine will be in full gear, unveiling new toys and collectibles to begin hyping its products for the holiday rush and the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in December.
Disney has planned events with dozens of retailers clamouring to capitalize on the franchise’s might, from Walmart and Amazon.com to Toys R Us and Target. Smaller retailers, such as Build-A-Bear Workshop, Hot Topic and even Pottery Barn Kids got a piece of the action, too.
Star Wars helped U.S. toy sales increase 5 per cent, to $20.4 billion (U.S.), in 2016, according to data from NPD Group. It’s the largest franchise in the industry, hauling in almost $760 million last year, the research firm estimates.
The toys, meanwhile, are getting more complex and tech-infused.
This year, an app-enabled R2-D2 droid can drive around, react and wobble. An augmented reality game lets users play Holo-chess and have lightsaber battles. Force Link syncs wearable tech with toys to emit sound effects with action figures and vehicles.
Then, of course, there are the drones. Thus far, there are three types: X-Wing, TIE Advanced and Speeder Bike. They can fly up to 48 kilometres per hour, can do pushbutton stunts and have the battery life to zoom around for about eight minutes. A flight simulator app that mimics real-life controls and physics contains various training modes that teach new pilots the basics without having to crash an actual drone dozens of times.
“This is a tech product to the highest degree,” said Darren Matloff, chief executive officer of Propel. “It just looks like a toy.” For Propel, scoring the Star Wars contract last year changed its busi- ness. Matloff said the drone maker expects to see $100 million in revenue from Star Wars drones alone in their first full year on the global market. The Star Wars drones are more multiplayer game than solo plaything — the drones can sync up to battle each other, with statistics uploaded to a gamer profile. Propel wants to turn the battle drones into an e-sports-like competitive game, with local clubs and tournaments.
And most importantly, he hopes to expand his relationship with Disney. “We have several products in development that are Star Wars products that we hope to get approval on soon,” he said.