Josh Hendrickson
For once, the whole world agrees on something: we love Baby Yoda (or The Child). Initially, official toys for the popular Mandalorian character weren’t available, and enterprising people stepped up to meet the demand. Unfortunately, if you want a plush from Etsy, that time is coming to an end. The good news is that you have a new official source for your Baby Yoda snuggles—Build-A-Bear.
A Brave Choice Led to Opportunity
When The Mandalorian premiered on the new Disney+ streaming service, Disney had already made a brave choice. It didn’t have toys on the market for Baby Yoda, as that would have spoiled the surprise. That’s refreshing—a few weeks before Captain America: Civil War released I happened upon a LEGO set featuring the airport fight, complete with Giant-Man. I wasn’t pleased about the spoiler.
But, Baby Yoda graced our screens, and the world fell in love immediately. Enormous demand for toys appeared, and there were no official outlets to be found. Enter Etsy, the purveyor of homemade crafts from many different sellers.
Disney, however, put a lot of time and money into creating The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda (the puppet alone apparently costs $5 million), so if anyone is going to profit from the fruit of those efforts, it’s the House of Mouse. So reports are already coming in that Etsy is taking down listings that mention Baby Yoda, Star Wars, or any other terms that tread too closely to Disney’s property.
I experienced that first hand—my wife crocheted the Baby Yoda pictured above. She bought the pattern from Etsy, and the day after she downloaded it, the company took the listing down. If all that leaves you sad, and wishing you could have the feel of a handmade Baby Yoda in your home, there’s good news: you have an official choice now.
Build-A-Bear to the Rescue
When’s the last time in your adult life that you wanted to go into a Build-a-Bear? Yeah, I can’t remember either. But that’s about to change—Baby Yoda’s coming to the bear workshop. According to New York Post, Build-A-Bear will start selling official Baby Yoda plushes you get to make on March 1st, and they’ll go for $25. Compared to some of Build-A-Bear’s other options, like the $61 Pikachu set, that’s downright reasonable.
If you don’t feel the need to build your own Baby Yoda, you can order the official Baby Yoda plush direct from Disney for the same price—but that has a ship date of April.
Either way, you’ll get a Baby Yoda approved by Disney, and no one can take that from you. This is the way.
Sources: The Verge, New York Post
