Christmas is just under three weeks away, and Disney is now scrambling to get Baby Yoda merchandise from The Mandalorian on store shelves or in online shopping carts. Originally, they had a deal in place with Jon Favreau to leave Baby Yoda a secret until The Mandalorian debuted, and yet the character was clearly going to be a massive toy-seller.
Now, we have our first look at an official, non-bootleg, non-Etsy Baby Yoda plush toy that is coming straight from Disney via Walmart, and you can now pre-order it for….delivery in June 2020. (Update: The link keeps redirecting to the general page as something is up with the site, it took a few tries but I got it eventually. If you search for it, it’s there)
Welp.
While this will not be available for Christmas delivery, given the way toy production works, and this was clearly a delayed release to preserve the secrecy of the character, you can now get one all the same. Eventually.
The Baby Yoda plush toy isn’t really “plush” as it has a head made out of vinyl, which does not sound particularly cuddly, though its robes are soft and the toy is filled with “beans” for extra snuggling capacity, supposedly. It stands 11 inches tall, and while I don’t know exactly how tall Baby Yoda is supposed to be in “real life,” from watching the show, 11 inches does feel like it might be about right. Maybe a touch smaller, but I’m not sure.
Baby Yoda Plush Toy
11 inches tall, you too can now care for Baby Yoda
Baby Yoda comes with its own variant of the “floating crib” seen on the show, and the product description notes that while everyone calls it “Baby Yoda,” the character is actually just listed as “The Child,” which is how it’s referred to on the show. The confusion arises from the fact that this is not in fact, a young version of the Yoda we know from the original Star Wars movies, but instead just a youngling from his species, which does not have a name. Hence, Baby Yoda, which is more catchy than “The Child,” official names aside.
Expect to see more Disney merchandise pour out for Baby Yoda as we head into the holiday, but it’s anyone’s guess which of these offerings will actually be available to purchase and be delivered by Christmas itself. Probably not all that much of it, and you’re going to want to jump on whatever merch you see before it sells out or before you ship date becomes 2021 or something like that.
This first attempt at a Baby Yoda toy strikes me as…mildly creepy, and not as cute as a show version, but I suppose in six months maybe I can hold one for myself and judge it then. For now, pre-order as fast as you can. I already have.
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