People have been waiting for weeks for Black Friday to arrive, but Walmart customers have gotten a head start on everyone today as the retail giant released a number of deals online.

The big Walmart Black Friday 2011 ad, which displayed several special sale items on electronics, such as the 51-inch Samsung PN51D430 Plasma HDTV for only $498, already has several products on the list available online.

I4U News is reporting that other HDTVs and Blue-Ray players have also gone up, and may be gone even before Walmart opens its doors at midnight Thursday.

However, some doorbuster deals, such as the 32-inch and the 40 inch Emerson TVs for $188 and $248, respectively, will be reserved exclusively for customers who line up at the stores on Thanksgiving night, as the company wants to make sure they don’t give everything away too early.

The decision to release a host of items well ahead of schedule is certain to garner opposing viewpoints from people. Those lucky enough to be made aware of the online sale will get a good part of their holiday shopping in and won’t face such a hectic day on Friday (or Thursday night.)

However, those who had planned out specifically which products they wanted might be disappointed to find out they have already sold out because of the extra early online sales.

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From a business standpoint, it makes sense that Walmart would make such a move, as it is basically extending its Black Friday sales period beyond the day and night of the event itself. The retailer will rest assured that it will still attract huge amounts of crowds at its store locations, but will be able to make a lot of extra sales early online.

Yesterday, the company also revealed on its website detailed store maps that show the exact location of each item on sale.