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Disney Plus subscribers are getting first dibs at new Marvel and Star Wars merchandise

Disney Plus subscribers are getting first dibs at new Marvel and Star Wars merchandise

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Disney is bringing its entertainment and merchandising businesses closer together for a weeklong merch experiment

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A photo of a man wearing a Doctor Strange cloak next to Captain Carter’s shield.
Image: Disney

Having a Disney Plus subscription isn’t just about entertainment anymore: customers will now get first dibs on Disney merchandise before it’s made available to the general public. Today, the company announced “a limited test” in the United States that will grant Disney Plus subscribers exclusive access to a curated mix of holiday merch from Star WarsBlack PantherFrozen, and more.

The window of exclusivity begins today and will last for seven days. After that, anyone will be able to purchase the merchandise — though a few Frozen and Lightyear items will remain available only to Disney Plus subscribers even after the test ends.

You’ll be able to access the collection directly from the web, and Disney is also adding QR codes to a “shop” tab right on the streaming service for the relevant shows and movies. Anyone can view the item pages, but making a purchase will require you to authenticate with your Disney Plus credentials to successfully check out. The shop tab will only appear on Disney Plus accounts with a verified age of 18 or older.

Disney Plus customers will have the first shot at products ranging from clothing to pricier items, including Lightsabers and a $400 replica of Captain Carter’s shield. The full curated selection is as follows:

An image of the Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi Battle of the Heroes Legacy Lightsaber Set.
Want these $375 lightsabers? You’d better have Disney Plus.
Image: Disney

Disney executives have not been shy about their plans to intertwine the streaming service with other aspects of the company’s business, such as merchandise and even theme park personalization. “If you’re on Disney Plus, we should be aware of what happened, what you experienced, what you liked, the last time you visited a park, and vice versa,” CEO Bob Chapek recently said in an interview. “When you’re in a park, we should know what your viewing habits are on Disney Plus.”

Tying exclusive apparel and accessories to the Disney Plus service creates another reason for people to keep their subscriptions going indefinitely. It’s also bringing the company’s entertainment and retail merchandising arms closer together — at least for the duration of this “test experience.”

Disney is rumored to be exploring the possibility of a subscription not unlike Amazon Prime that would bundle offerings across its massive scope of products and services, and this might represent the company testing the waters before expanding to something more ambitious (and more expensive than a Disney Plus subscription).