Star Wars: Etsy Designer Beats Disney to the Punch with Unofficial Baby Yoda Plush

Baby Yoda has managed to do something that seemed impossible, bring together much of the Star Wars fandom all at the mercy of its 50-year-old cuteness. It was confirmed earlier today that official toys and the like for the new fan-favorite character from The Mandalorian will not be available in time for the holiday season in 2019 and will make their first debut in 2020 sometime (some merch does exist for the character, but leaves a lot to be desired). That in mind, some clever fans with a knack for creating their own plushes have taken it upon themselves to do the world a favor and deliver tiny Baby Yodas.

Etsy seller “MelvonANDReine,” a self-described creator of handmade toys, revealed a one of a kind Baby Yoda plush for sale (which as of this writing has already sold out, with no signs of further orders being taken). Like Disney though, the seller says that this plush won’t be available for Christmas this year and will arrive to its forever home in February of March of next year after the 13 to 16 week creation process is complete. Sitting at 22cm tall (just over 8.5 inches), the figure is made from polymer clay and artificial fur. You can see photos of the creature by clicking here and check out their various other custom plushes available including Porgs from Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Gizmo from Gremlins, and Niflers from Fantastic Beasts.

The reason behind the lack of “Baby Yoda” merch is simple, albeit surprising from a corporation like The Walt Disney Company, they wanted to preserve the secrecy of the character’s inclusion in the story by making sure it didn’t leak in the worst possible way.

“I have to thank Disney and Lucasfilm, because the way the cat usually gets out of the bag with that stuff is merchandising and toy catalogs and things like that,” series creator Jon Favreau recently explained. “So they really back us up. We really wanted to have it be that you had to watch it yourself, so that every time you watch the show, there are new twists and secrets that come out. That requires a lot of restraint from the people who are footing the bill, saying they’re gonna hold back on certain things so that the public doesn’t know ahead of time. Part of that was holding back on some of the merchandise and holding back on some of the characters.”

The Mandalorian‘s first season will debut new episodes weekly on the Disney+ platform, with new episodes typically arriving every Friday on the service, except for episode 6 which will be released on Wednesday, December 18 (ahead of the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker). The season one finale for The Mandalorian will debut on Friday, December 27, with season two already officially in the works at Lucasfilm and Disney+.

The Mandalorian‘s first season features episodes directed by Deborah Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Taika Waititi. The series stars Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Werner Herzog, Nick Nolte, Emily Swallow, Taika Waititi, Omid Abtahi, and Giancarlo Esposito.

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(H/T Nerdist)