Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 2 Premiere Has Nod to Infamous, Rare Toy

One of the joys of watching The Mandalorian for devout Star Wars fans is that it has drawn inspiration from all corners of the galaxy far, far away, thanks to series creator Jon Favreau and many of the series’ directors being such passionate consumers of all things Star Wars. The first season saw references to even the most obscure arenas of the franchise, whether that be The Star Wars Holiday Special, the made-for-TV Ewok movies, or props that were briefly seen in the films but have become fan-favorite references over the decades. In the Season Two premiere of The Mandalorian, we see a nod to one of the most rare items in the world of Star Wars collecting.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Season Two of The Mandalorian

The toy in question was a Boba Fett figure from the late ’70s whose jetpack fired a projectile, though Kenner claims it was never officially released. The figure was developed after audiences first met Fett in the Holiday Special and was being released ahead of the debut of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, where audiences would first see the character in a live-action adventure. The figure was acquired by first purchasing four Star Wars figures and then sending in the UPC codes from those figures by mail to receive Fett, an already involved arduous task, but with Kenner apprehensive about children potentially injuring themselves with the projectile or possibly swallowing it, the firing mechanism was removed.

Despite Kenner claiming none of these toys that fired a rocket were released, they do appear at various auctions and often sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

What makes the toy interesting is that, despite firing a rocket from its jetpack, this was something audiences never saw Boba Fett do, as he instead used the pack for transport. That is, it’s something we’ve never seen the armor do until the Season Two premiere of The Mandalorian.

The episode sees Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) sporting Boba Fett’s armor after having obtained it from Jawas. At multiple points in the episode, Cobb leans forward to allow a rocket to shoot from his pack exactly as it shot from the back of the toy, clearly a direct nod to the rare figure. Throughout the history of Star Wars, we’ve seen Mandalorians demonstrate all manner of tech, so while it might not immediately stand out as a nod to the figure, Favreau’s love for all corners of the galaxy far, far away means this was surely done as a reference to the toy.

New episodes of The Mandalorian hit Disney+ on Fridays. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

Did you catch this reference? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

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