The major toy companies have big plans for New York Toy Fair 2020 this weekend, and already have released marketing information for one of the biggest toy licenses, despite the Skywalker saga ending with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker this past December.  But the Disney+ series has had no problem taking up any slack, thanks to The Mandalorian, universally seen as the most acclaimed and fan-reviewed sci-fi/fantasy series yet–a major rarity in a modern era of snark, trolls, and haters.  Finally, last year’s bizarrely planned drought of available toys featuring The Child, more popularly known by fans as Baby Yoda, will at last be met with a saturation of varieties of the character.  The character will only get more popular and the toys available featuring it are sure to be the major win this year for Disney and Lucasfilm, if not the entire toy industry.  Look for the return of Star Wars: The Clone Wars with a final season on Disney+ to be met with a return of figures and playsets from the animated series.

Getting a jumpstart on the weekend toy show, several of the new toy lines are already available for pre-order focused on The Mandalorian.  We selected what we see as the best of the bunch from the Star Wars previews.  The entirety of the Star Wars licensed products revealed at the show will be even bigger.  Check out images below and links to pre-order at Amazon where available.  As with every annual Toy Fair, just because the toys are announced doesn’t mean you won’t have to wait until next Christmas season to see them in stores.  Ugh!  But some you’ll find are available right now.

So let’s start with The Child.  The big toy will be Hasbro’s The Child Animatronic Edition (shown above), a battery-powered toy with 25+ sounds and movements, including “Force nap,” giggles, sleeping sounds, coos, “Force activation,” and a removable necklace, and fabric robe.  It’s available for pre-order now here for $59.99.  Projected release date is December 15, 2020.  The gamble is getting your order in now versus the possibility of short supplies in December.

Small, cute versions of The Child can be found in The Bounty Collection from Hasbro.  Three two-packs are available, with each available at about $15.99.  Check them out here.  One plush version of The Child is available here now.  Look for a bigger, soft version of The Child you can make, coming this year from Build-a-Bear:

Plus a soft version coming from Mattel:

Previously announced, the Black Series six-inch figure of The Mandalorian is available here (shipping in May) and an IG-11 figure is available in the same line (available here).  Keep an eye out here for the same scale version of The Child.

In the classic Kenner 3 3/4 scale, check out the great Cara Dune figure from The Mandalorian (available for pre-order here now, ships in May).  From The Rise of Skywalker, check out a new Rey here, a new Poe here, his pal Zorii Bliss here, his X-Wing here.

Probably the best of all of the toys for fans of Star Wars nostalgia will be the Kenner troop transport (shown second at the top of this article), an update from the 1970s version, available for pre-order here, shipping next month.

More affordable are card options, like a deck of basic playing cards from Aquarius, features images from The Mandalorian (available now here at Amazon) for less than $10, and Topps will have a set of 32 trading cards with images from the series available at Target and Wal-Mart, probably in the $20 range (coming in April).

And the strangest may very well be a new variant of classic Operation from Hasbro Gaming, featuring The Child.  Don’t operate on The Child!  Whose idea was this anyway?  Okay, it’s just The Child and things he’d reach for.  Phew.

Keep an eye out at Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart over the next few months as these and more arrive on shelves.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
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