“Today is the first day that we can talk to you all about this product and we are working very hard to get these to you as quickly as possible,” the company said in a communique to its hobby distributors and retailers.
The Force Awakens Core Set is a two-player game of Star Wars dogfights, which offers a second entry point (in addition to the original core set) for the Star Wars: X-Wing product line. It includes one T-70 X-Wing and two TIE/fo fighters for $39.95 MSRP. The Force Awakens Core Set can be used with existing expansions and rules for squad-building.
Initial shipments of the product are being sold by mass-market retailers as part of the Force Friday retail event. "Very select mass-market retailers, partnering directly with Disney, have begun selling all The Force Awakens products associated with the Force Friday promotion, including the X-Wing: The Force Awakens Core Set," the company said.
Fantasy Flight is positioning the Force Friday release of the product in mass retailers as an opportunity to expand the market for the hobby channel. "The fact that X-Wing was selected for inclusion in this event is a fantastic opportunity to extend the game’s reach to new audiences," it said in its announcement. "It is our hope that many of these Star Wars fans who see the game for the first time will then become X-Wing gamers and fans of the hobby industry as a whole."