‘Revenge of the Sith’ toys will be in stores this weekend

The movie doesn’t hit theaters until mid-May, but this weekend Target and Wal-Mart begin selling exclusive toys and collectibles tied to “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.”

Today, Target begins selling, among other things, Hasbro’s Darth Vader action figure and a Darth Vader gift card which will include a sound-chip featuring movie character’s heavy breathing and glowing light saber.

Wal-Mart also will debut its wares, which include the Hasbro Chewbacca action figure.

“We expect lines in the toy section for the most popular items,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Karen Burk said.

Hasbro isn’t shy about sharing the hype. Toys “R” Us also plans to unveil various Star Wars merchandise touted as not appearing elsewhere. And Star Wars-themed dark chocolate M&Ms also make their nationwide debut.

By pitching their Star Wars toys six weeks before the movie opens, Target and Wal-Mart are in a better position to avoid a downside of movie-merchandise selling: The goods don’t sell well if the movie isn’t a hit.

In 1999, “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” came up short at the box office and that trickled down to some retailers, leaving them with hard-to-move movie-themed merchandise.

This time, the final Star Wars movie will offer a more foreboding tale (the conversion of Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader) that could result in its getting a PG-13 instead of G rating.

“Anytime you talk about a movie being dark, that could be very fascinating or disappointing,” said John Taylor, a toy industry analyst at Oregon-based Arcadia Investment Inc.

For their part, Target and Wal-Mart are banking on strong Star War sales.

Some pre-ordered items already have sold out, Wal-Mart said. Target said that “because of high demand,” it will limit customers to one Darth Vader action figure.