New Stuff in New Zealand

[Buzz Bumble]

Yet more new stuff in this week's junk mail catalogues.

Spotlight (a fabric and craft store) has got some Star Wars window roller blinds from NZ$129 depending on the size and curtains NZ$39.99. The curtains are just a repeating-patterned fabric, but the roller blinds look nice - pull the blind down and you've got a poster hanging over the window.

Kmart has got a few bits:

• Star Wars Mystery Eggs (NZ$3 each) - not sure what's random-packed in them, but the picture shows a Darth Vader figurine keyring
• Star Wars kids' bag and drink bottle set (NZ$14)
• Star Wars Sipper Cup (NZ$6)

I think I might have also discovered why the Star Wars Character Cookies were so hard to find - in some branches it seems the shelf-stackers have put them on the confectionery shelves rather than the biscuits shelves.

 

[darthskellington]

Cool. We've got tons of holiday product at numerous chains. Trying to focus on food packaging and fast food stuff right now. I currently have most of the figures I want. Can't afford the rest.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

The latest junk mail brochure from the JB Hi-Fi electronics store chain is advertising three different DVD / Blu-ray sets:

• two Trilogy DVD packs (NZ$29.98 each) - Yoda on the cover of the Prequel Trilogy and Vader on the cover of the Original Trilogy
• 9-disc Complete Saga Blu-ray set (NZ$99) - Vader on the cover
• Limited Edition Steelbook Blu-rays of each individual movie (NZ$28.99 each) - Vader on Episode IV, Stormtrooper on Episode V, Emperor on Episode VI, Darth Maul on Episode I, Yoda on Episode II, and Grievous on Episode III.

Plus ...

• Battlefront (NZ$89 on Xbox One or PlayStation 4, NZ$84 on PC)
• Playstation 4 1TV Star Wars Bundle - PS$ console with Vader graphic, Dusl Shock 4 controller, Battlefront, and Tritton Kama headset (NZ$679)
• Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars Starter Packs (NZ$88)
• BB-8 remote control droid (NZ$259)

They're also running a couple of Star Wars competitions (only open to New Zealand residents though) - one on Facebook to win Battlefront and another quiz-based one on their Stack magazine website to win a $100 gift card.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

My mother got me a two of the Mystery Eggs from Kmart today. They are made by TPF Toys and the plastic eggs contain small random-packed keychain figurines made from rubberised-plastic - there are six to collect: Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Han Solo, Stormtrooper, Boba Fett, and Yoda. Unfortunately both my eggs had a Yoda inside. The Yoda figurine is about 1in tall and the images on the checklist look like the other figurines are about 2in tall.

The eggs containers are similar to the Mighty Beanz ones, but smaller. The hole in the top and bottom are a bit bigger too, so it might almost be possible to tell which figurine is inside (i.e. you'd see white for the Stormtrooper, black for Vader).

Apparently some scumbag had opened up some of the eggs (and stolen some figurines) at the branch my mother bought them.

 

[darthskellington]

Cool info Buzz.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

Two and a half new finds today.

The Countdown supermarkets are advertising boxes of Kellogg's Star Wars Chocolate Shapes Breakfast Cereal (370g) priced at NZ$5 each.The boxes have "Only at Woolworths" across the top (the Australian Woolworths supermarket company owns the NZ Countdown supermarkets). I won't be buying them though - they're a bit expensive and I can't eat chocolate.

There are three different boxes to collect - the junk mail brochure shows a Yoda box and the Kellogg's website shows the R2-D2 box below. The picture also shows that the "shapes" aren't Star Wars ones, but just crescent moons, stars, etc.

The guy who runs the Star Wars New Zealand website / forum is planning to release a book later this year about The History of Star Wars Collecting in New Zealand (being a short-run, limited-appeal book, the price will no doubt be expensive) ...

'Star Wars New Zealand' book coming soon
As many may know, the SWNZ website contains a comprehensive archive of Star Wars collectibles in New Zealand that was one of the earliest and main features when everything was set up in its current format in 2003. About a year ago I started a project to turn that material in to a physical book, and it's coming together to the point where I can mention it publicly to advertise it and gauge interest

'The History of Star Wars Collecting in New Zealand' will be a chronological journey through the history of New Zealand-specific Star Wars collectibles and related milestones. It is on track for a Q2 2016 release, with pricing and preordering information available in Q1. It is the product of 13 years of research, and nearly four decades of collecting. Every photo is new.

The "half" find is from a newspaper article. There is a woman about half-way down the country who has a hobby knitting small dolls of various characters (Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Pokemon, etc.) and gives them to a small gift shop near her to sell. Apparently they sell out fast, especially the BB-8 one at the moment.

 

[Jedi Daniel]

I've seen these cereal boxes in Australia, 6 designs too.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

Reportedly there is are new Kinder Surprise Eggs showing up at branches of The Warehouse, with nine different random-packed Star Wars toys to collect.

I also saw some sort of Star Wars ligthsaber lollipop in yesterday's junk mail from The Warehouse.

My mother picked up another weird bit of Star Wars merchandise today too - a Park Avenue Fan with Mini Jelly Beans. I don't know how much it costs, but it's a battery-driven foam-bladed fan with a Stormtrooper helmet at the top (there's also apparently a Darth Vader version) and a small box at the base with about a dozen jelly beans.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

My mother gave me one of the Kinder Surprise 3-packs. The packaging has Episode VII's Kylo Ren on it, but the nine different toys are all from the Original and Prequel Trilogies. They are small vehicles with over-sized character heads on top, sort of like the characters from the cancelled LucasLearning Super Bombad Racing kart game:

• Luke Skywalker X-wing
• Princess Leia Tantive IV
• Han Solo Millennium Falcon
• Chewbacca Clone Gunship (yellow)
• Yoda Clone Gunship (white)
• C-3PO Tantive IV
• R2-D2 Jedi Starfighter
• Darth Vader TIE Advanced
• Stormtrooper Star Destroyer

 

[Buzz Bumble]

The Titanium Mini Helmets have arrive at branches of The Warehouse priced at NZ$35 (although currently in a 20% off sale). I haven't seen them to know the size and detail, but that sounds over-priced even at the discounted price.

The Warehouse also has a six-pack of UK Kinnerton Star Wars Chocolate Bars (small bars) priced at NZ$3 each. These are individually wrapped inside the pack with a different random-packed character on each bar's wrapper. The pack also has a random-packed "Activity Card" inside (four different ones to collect - the one I've seen is a Darth Vader bookmark to cut out).

 

[Buzz Bumble]

Another type of mystery egg has turned up here. This time it's a Star Wars Candy Collection Egg from Australian company Park Avenue. The small red plastic eggs contain a small bag of tiny candies, plus a random-packed sticker (12 different ones) and collectible (8 dog tags and 5 pencil topper heads). They also come in a Candy Character Collection version, which replaces the plastic egg with a plastic helmet (Darth Vader and Stormtropper I think are the only two).

There's also a small variety of Star Wars Easter products, mainly from Park Avenue. Including a Chocolate Star Wars Character and a Carry Tin (an R2-D2 themed metal box containing six small chocolate eggs).

 

[Buzz Bumble]

Not really a New Zealand find, but the GM Holden car maker has a small range of Holden Star Wars merchandise on their Australian webstore: a model race car, pictorial car license plates (not for use on an actual car), T-shirts, caps, and hoodies.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

A junk mail brochure in the letterbox yeasterday from Paper Plus book / stationery stores is advertising the Haynes Imperial Death Star and Haynes Millennium Falcon Owner's Workshop Manuals as "bargain books", priced at NZ$19.99 each (US$13.67).

 

[Buzz Bumble]

I picked up a copy of the Haynes Death Star book today, and found the 3D Darth Vader Construction Log book in the same sale (NZ$14.99). No sign of the Haynes Millennium Falcon book yet.

I did also stumble across some new Titanium Vehciles - numbers 26, 27, and 28. I'm not sure if I didn't notice some or if shops here didn't get them (after over-bloating themseleves with the first few!), but numbers 18-25 seem to have been skipped over. I'll have to check more branches of The Warehouse.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

The Episode VII DVD and Blu-ray discs were released here yesterday. The main two stores (after pric-matching drops) are charging NZ$28 for DVD and NZ$34 for Blu-ray. With each purchase:

• The Warehouse is giving away a free "limited edition numbered" poster ("while stocks last") and an entry into a competition to win a home theatre system.
• JB Hi-Fi is giving an entry into a competition to win an upright arcade machine decorated in a Star Wars theme and containing 60 classic games.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

At Whitcoulls book / stationery store today I saw a box which contains six decks of playing cards (one for each of the Original and Prequel Trilogy movies) plus a "bonus" deck of playing cards for Episode VII, and some dice ... for the over-bloated price of NZ$60.

Farmers has some Star Wars foldable headphones and wireless mini-speakers (Stormtrooper and Darth Vader versions), but I didn't get the price of those.

The latest brochure from Electronics Boutique computer games stores are also advertising:

• Xbox One wired Star Wars controllers for NZ$77 each (six different designs: BB-8, X-wing, Stormtrooper, Boba Fett, Dartth Vader, and Kylo Ren.
• Star Wars Battlefront: PS4 or Xbox One = NZ$67, or PC = NZ$57.
• Two for NZ$30 list: Disney Infinity Star Wars characters, Angry Birds Star Wars game (does say which platform), R2-D2 Lunch Bag.
• Two for NZ$50 list: Star Wars Episode VII Wacky Wobblers.
• Two for NZ$100 list: Star Wars BB-8 Plush Backpack.
• Lego The Force Awakens pre-orders have a bonus exclusive Lego Mini Star Destroyer.
  PS4 or Xbox One = NZ$109.99, Wii U or PS3 or Xbox 360 = NZ$99.99, PSV or 3DS or PC = NZ$59.99
• Lego The Force Awakens exclusive Deluxe Edition has bonus Finn MiniFig
  PS4 or Xbox One = NZ$139.99

 

[Buzz Bumble]

The Countdown supermarket chain (owned by the Australian Woolworths company) is selling a large Star Wars R2-D2 children's birthday cake (800g). Priced at NZ$29 (on sale this week for NZ$25) the cake has to be ordered "at least one week in advance". Unfortuantely the webstore page doesn't tell you any more information about it.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

This week's junk mail brochure from the New World supermarket chain is advertising boxes of Star Wars Kleenex Facial Tissues (140 sheet / 160 sheet) priced at NZ$2.79 each. The picture shows two different box designs - one with a mix of character images from the Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy, and another with character images from Episode VII.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

With school holidays happening here at the monet there are lots of toy sales, but almost nothing new or interesting (thankfully since I don't have any money at the momnent to buy stuff - although I did find a Black Series vehicles version of Kylo Ren's Shuttle in black!).

The Star Wars Mystery Eggs (with keyring figurines inside) have dropped NZ$1 to NZ$2 each. There's also some new Star Wars Light-up Lightsabre Keyrings, but they' come in silly blind bags and cost an overpriced NZ$7 each.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

The Countdown supermarket chain (owned by the Australian Woolworths company) has started a new Star Wars-themed promotional giveaway ...

​

For decades, Star Wars has mesmerised audiences around the world and now your favourite characters are coming to Countdown... Star Wars Cosmic Shells arrive on Thursday, 4 August, 2016!

You’ll get one Star Wars Cosmic Shell for every $20* spent at Countdown until Sunday, 18 September, 2016. There are 36 Cosmic Shells to collect featuring your favourite Star Wars characters like Kylo Ren and Darth Vader from the Dark Side, Rey and Finn from the Light Side, plus worlds and vehicles including the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo’s legendary craft.

Fans of all ages will love the Collector’s Album (just $8) with a booklet retelling the story of each Star Wars movie, a Star Wars poster and the chance to create their own Dark Side versus Light Side battle on the specially designed game board for Cosmic Shells.

But that’s just the start. Eight Cosmic Shells hold a holographic secret. To reveal their mysteries, get the Movie Box (only $3) and download the 'Countdown Cosmic Shells App' to view a short holographic clip.

To grow your collection, look out for participating products to pick up a BONUS Cosmic Shell, starting from Monday.

Happy collecting!​

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See www.countdown.co.nz/starwars for more details!​

* Countdown gift cards, tobacco products and smoking accessories, lottery ticket sales and trade sales will not be eligible for the promotion.

The New Zealand Herald newspaper also had an article today about the launch of this promotional giveaway (online version). Some of the local 501st Legion members were hired to be part of the launch.