Many of the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” toys that were launched on Force Friday landed on eBay almost immediately. Fans of the franchise who didn’t want to stand in long queues at toy stores bought the toys online by paying a premium. The new toys were particularly significant this time around because they teased new characters and vehicles from the forthcoming movie.

In an interview with International Business Times, Australia Hal Lawton, Senior Vice President of North American at eBay, shared his insights about the impact of the movie on toy sales. Lawton explained that as new generations of fans get introduced to the world created by George Lucas the “Star Wars” toys generally have stable demand, but with the new movie getting released this December there is definitely a spike in sales.

“When the Star Wars Episode VII movie trailer was released, we saw a spike in Star Wars-related items sold on eBay, and that metric has been trending upward since Oct. 26,” Lawton said.

It has been 20 years since eBay was formed and Lawton reveals that the company now has 25 million sellers from around the world with around 800 million items on the site. With the holiday season just around the corner, the company has plans to capitalise on the expected surge in demand.

“ Having recognized the popularity of ‘Star Wars’ items early on, we launched an ‘in-demand’ item pilot, and offered sellers who list select ‘Star Wars’ items, as well as other popular gifts, credits on listing fees. This helps ensure that eBay has the inventory that shoppers are looking for, and helps sellers realise significant value,” Lawton said.

Some of the toys that are trending at eBay, according to Lawton, are “top items” from LEGO and Hasbro. Some of the other toys from the franchise that are selling well include BB-8 Sphero Droid, Black Series Kylo Ren Force FX Deluxe Lightsaber and high resolution posters of the movie.

Toys expert and president of Man of Action Figures Randy Garcia said that new villains in “Star Wars” franchise “always become a fan favourite,” irrespective of their screen time. Some of the popular villains in the movie include Darth Vader, Darth Maul and Boba Fett.

Talking about Kylo Ren, Garcia said that the character is popular at the moment “just based on his looks.” “ Without seeing the movie it’s difficult to say what Kylo Ren’s long term impact will be,” Garcia said.

Many fans also tend to collect toys from the franchise. Garcia pointed out that the prices of the toys in the market at the moment allowed serious collectors to buy the toys and build a collection.

Garcia doesn’t believe that the market is saturated with the release of new “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” toys. He said that many of the stores were ransacked by the fans on Force Friday and very few products were left in the shelves just after a few hours of opening.

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