LOS ANGELES – Fans of Star Wars and the new Disney+ series "The Mandalorian" have another reason to celebrate this holiday season, thanks to toymaker Hasbro and its much-anticipated line of "baby Yoda" merchandise.
The toy company — which has an exclusive license from Disney to make Star Wars, Marvel, "Frozen", and Disney Princesses-related toys and apparel — announced it will be releasing a line of baby Yoda toys and products in an exclusive CNBC report .
The baby Yoda character, referred to as "the Child" on the series, made its surprise debut at the end of episode one of "Mandalorian" earlier this month. Director Jon Favreau recently told Collider his team convinced Disney and Lucasfilm not to make or release the baby Yoda toys prior to the series' launch, the better to keep a lid on the character's reveal.
Fans of the Disney+ series have been gushing about the adorable alien on social media since laying eyes on his little green face, with his enormous eyes, button nose and baby fuzz atop his head.
Baby Yoda merchandise could be available for purchase as soon as Friday at Macy's, Target, Kohl's, Zazzle, Hot Topic, Box Lunch and Amazon, according to CNBC, which said it verified the information through an anonymous source familiar with the situation. Hasbro did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment from CNN Business.
The launch comes at a crucial time for Hasbro and the toy industry as a whole. Earlier today, CNN Business reported sluggish early sales figures for toy makers, which would be the second straight underwhelming holiday season for the segment. Last year, toymakers also struggled in the absence of a Star Wars movie in theaters and the first US holiday season without Toys 'R' Us, which closed more than 700 stores last year.
Additional Baby Yoda products will be available at the Disney Store, ShopDisney and at Disney Parks some time before the holidays, the network reported. Pre-sale purchases of Baby Yoda plushies and other toys will also be available in the next few weeks, though it remains unclear when the products will be shipped.