The publicity and merchandising blitz for the upcoming Star Wars reboot has begun, with a global rollout of some of the new toys coming out in celebration of the new movie.

Disney and Lucasfilms hosted a live 'unboxing' event where they got 14 YouTube vloggers to unbox and showcase a different toy each.

It is part of the 'Force Friday' event which takes place in America tomorrow, when all the merchandise goes on sale.

The biggest highlight is the remote controlled version of the BB-8 droid, a soccer ball-like machine that has been a key part of the marketing so far.

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The toy, created by Sphero, is controlled using your phone, and mostly appears to roll around. However, it can be used to record and send messages, just like R2D2 in the original Star Wars trilogy.

It is expected to cost around US$150 (NZ$234).

Other toys unveiled in the event include figurines, Lego spaceships and lightsabers, including a version of the controversial new cross guard version wielded by villain Kylo Ren in the first trailer.

Recent projections have suggested the film could make more than US$5 billion (NZ$7.8b) from merchandise over the next year.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens comes out December 17.

- nzherald.co.nz