FOX Business’ Kristina Partsinevelos discusses Disney finally selling its officially licensed Baby Yoda toy.
Disney is cashing in on the tiny, green wide-eyed character that captured Star Wars fans’ hearts in “The Mandalorian.”
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Baby Yoda, officially known as The Child, is available for pre-order after the entertainment giant reportedly held off on debuting the 11–inch plush toy until the first live-action Star Wars television series premiered on Disney+.
“The cutest thing in the galaxy can now be yours. Pre-order the Child plush now!” ShopDisney wrote in a Facebook post, which has already garnered scores of likes, comments and reshares since being posted.
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The character is the same species as the well-known character in the “Star Wars” universe, Jedi Master Yoda.
Since the show debuted on the streaming service in November, products inspired by “The Mandalorian” have emerged, including iPhone cases, Nerf guns, t-shirts, hats and sweatshirts. And despite the hype over the new character, the “soft, cuddly plush toy featuring faux suede coat and fuzzy trims” was not available — until now.
“It was important to us that the reveal of the new character, the Child, be a special moment for fans, and we could not be more thrilled with the response,” Paul Southern, senior vice president of licensing and franchise of Lucasfilm, said in a statement earlier this month. “We’re excited to release new products for pre-order on shopDisney.com, and are continuing to work closely with our licensees and retailers to roll out additional items including toys, collectibles, plush, games, apparel and more, allowing fans to celebrate the newest addition to Star Wars.”
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Fans can now pre-order the Child Plush – Star Wars: The Mandalorian for $24.99. However, the item is not expected to be available until early March 2020, according to ShopDisney.com.
Holding out on debuting the toy until after the holidays may have been a costly move for Disney.
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The company stands to lose out on $2.7 million from sales spanning November to January without the Baby Yoda merchandise, according to e-commerce service company JungleScout.
In November, searches for “Baby Yoda” surged throughout the month by more than 7,000 percent, according to the e-commerce service company.
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In early December, the toy was so popular, it was out-trending some of the 2020 presidential candidates, according to Forbes.
With roughly 2.28 million interactions, it was coming up on the heels of Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden with 8 million interactions, Bernie Sanders who had 2.9 million and Elizabeth Warren with 2.53 million, the outlet reported.
