Crowds fill local stores to buy 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' toys at midnight

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is going to make Disney a lot of money.

Yeah, sure, I know this statement seems pretty obvious, but it really hit me as I left the Target parking lot in Mesquite at about 1:30 a.m. If Disney can get this many people to go to local stores at midnight to buy toys, most of which aren't actually very limited or even heavily discounted, then they should have no problem filling movie theater seats.

It says a lot about the love of Star Wars and the power of Disney's marketing that they've been able to create such huge demand for toys based on characters that haven't even been seen on film yet. What do we know about the new character Kylo Ren? Almost nothing. But that didn't stop anybody from snatching up action figures made in his likeness.

There was a little bit of everything being offered. USB chargers. Shirts. Soft lightsabers. Build-them-yourself lightsabers. Play-Doh. Lego. Action figures. Books. Board games. Bike helmets. Costumes. A Chewbacca Furby called a Furbacca. If you can imagine a toy or piece of merchandise, there's a good chance it now exists with a Star Wars twist.

Target employees told me that most of the stock they had received so far had been put out for customers to buy at midnight, and a significant chunk of that stock appeared to be sold within an hour. But they also said that more stock would be coming, so in most cases (with some possible exceptions like items that are exclusive to certain stores) this won't be the last time these products are available. Both the film's release and Christmas are still months away, so you might ask, what's the rush?

But for these fans, those months waiting for The Force Awakens to hit theaters are hard enough to sit through, and any little taste of the new characters and story can help pass the time between now and then. Sure, I'm guessing that at least a few midnight shoppers were grabbing toys in the hope that they can turn around and sell them at a premium later (at least one man walked through the aisles with a list in hand, searching for items he expected to be more limited), but most of the excitement I saw seemed genuine.

Of course, stores were sure to entice customers to come in early by offering swag and hosting giveaways. Target held a raffle for a large plush Wookie toy, which eventually went to a couple of very excited Star Wars fans, Audrey and Daniel. They were already excited just to be able to buy new stuff from a series they loved, but winning the toy was icing on the cake.

Later in the night, while posing with a couple people dressed as Stormtroopers, Audrey said more than once, "This is the best night of my life."

As the initial Target crowd thinned, several more people trickled in before the store was scheduled to close for the night, many of them coming directly from other stores like Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us, which also hosted midnight events for Force Friday.

You could look at all of this in a very cynical way: The marketing machine works. Millions of people have been trained to buy, buy, buy everything in sight as long as it has the right branding. We are all just slaves to franchises.

Or you could have a much brighter view of the entire thing: That millions of people across a variety of ages and backgrounds have fallen in love with a wonderful universe full of interesting characters, and that these people are currently having the time of their lives.

If you choose the latter view, then things are only going to get more exciting as we get closer and closer to The Force Awakens' theatrical release.