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Disney cashes in on baby Yoda with crude online merch
These aren't the 'Mandalorian' gifts you're looking for.
It's not surprising that Disney went without merch for The Child (aka baby Yoda) when The Mandalorian premiered, since it would have spoiled one of the streaming show's most adorable surprises. However, the first offerings are... rushed, to put it mildly. The media megacorp has listed its first products themed around the sweet green toddler, and they look like they were produced at a make-your-own-shirt website -- you might have whipped up some yourself with a few minutes in Photoshop.
They're not cheap, either, with prices ranging from $15 for a tumbler to $45 for a baby-Yoda-badged iPhone XS case from Speck. Yes, Disney isn't even offering cases for this year's iPhones at the moment.
Mercifully, this isn't the sum total of Disney's The Mandalorian cash-in. CNBC has learned that other, hopefully higher-quality goods are in the pipeline before the holidays, and there will be pre-orders for the inevitable plushies and toys (c'mon, you knew these were coming) in the weeks ahead. Disney's tentpole online show should have gift-worthy merch in the long run, but you may need to hand that special someone an IOU if you'd rather not receive a look of crushing disappointment.
