Target is planning seven exclusive, fandom-driven product drops for Black Friday, including Baby Three plush, Topps NBA and Pokémon trading cards, a Nintendo racing jacket and the Wicked collector’s book.
The move is part of a continued push by Target to bring back shoppers amid declining foot traffic and sales. Efforts include transforming its stores into Alpine Villages for the holiday season, a raft of in-store activations, lowering prices on 3,000 essential items and the debut of a suite of AI-powered gifting tools.
“When we’re at our best, people don’t just come to Target to shop, they turn to us for joy and to celebrate the moments that matter most to them,” said Cassandra Jones, SVP of Merchandising at Target in a statement. “That’s why our team is obsessed with shaping style and leaning into culture — curating cool and delivering the collectibles and stories fans can’t wait to get their hands on, and that’s just what we’ve done for this holiday season.”
Among the items dropping exclusively at Target this Black Friday weekend are:
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- NBA set from Topps with exclusive parallels and autographs, and a chance at a Cooper Flagg card;
- Two U.S.-exclusive Pokémon box bundles, featuring Black Kyurem ex, Melmetal ex, Archaludon ex and Reshiram ex;
- Special edition Baby Three plush blind boxes;
- An exclusive Wicked collector’s book and limited-edition soundtrack vinyl, featuring new songs from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
- A limited-edition Mario Kart racing jacket, co-created in partnership with Nintendo;
- The latest Blogilates collection; and
- New items from Champion Pro featuring an expanded selection of NFL and NCAA gear.
Target isn’t alone in zeroing in on collectors and super fans as a cohort worth catering to; Walmart, Ebay and Fanatics also have been building exclusive activations and experiences dedicated to these passionate communities (who also tend to be big spenders.) Target framed its Black Friday approach as a “fandom-driven approach” that “goes beyond just chasing trends. It’s built on Target’s long history of shaping style and culture and doing what we do best: curating products we know shoppers will love, only available at Target.”
