The Mandalorian
Courtesy of Disney+Star Wars fans clamoring for Baby Yoda merchandise got a bit of good news on Tuesday, which was followed at light speed with not-so-great news.
Disney announced that a number of The Child items were officially available for pre-order, including a bobblehead, a Mattel plush and a Funko! pop, which is welcome news for fans who have been smitten with the cute little tyke since The Mandalorian launched last month on Disney+. There is an issue, however: The toys will not be available in time for Christmas. In fact, as it stands right now, some won’t be available until spring, according to the website.
Hasbro previously confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that its toys would not be available until next year.
Series creator Jon Favreau has explained the lack of items was done on purpose to avoid spoilers, as it is common for details from spoiler-phobic movies like the Avengers or Star Wars franchises to come out via toy catalogs months ahead of time.
So keeping Baby Yoda toys back worked to avoid that reveal coming to light. The downside, however, would seem to be that bootleggers are running wild on such sites as eBay and Etsy.
The Mandalorian director Bryce Dallas Howard on Monday told THR that she, too, has been bombarded with Baby Yoda toy requests, but she is glad there was restraint with the character.
“Everyone is super pissed that there’s no merch,” Howard said with a laugh. “Everyone is like, ‘I want a Baby Yoda stuffed toy!’ But, I think they made a good choice in not focusing there and just focusing on the storytelling.”
A number of officially licensed items — mostly clothes with a print of the character — are available at stores such as Hot Topic and on Amazon, but the variety is minimal.
The child character continues to be massively popular among fans, and it seems there are new memes spreading across social media each week with every new episode.
