Everyone’s favourite 50-year-old baby is out here breaking records like it’s nobody’s business. The character of the Child from the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, who is most often referred to as Baby Yoda, recently joined the ranks of all the most beloved fictional characters and celebrities in history by becoming a Funko Pop figure. In a since-deleted post on the Funko Twitter account, art director Reis O’Brien announced that the figure for Baby Yoda had actually broken the record for most pre-order sales in the company’s history.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
“It’s bananas,” said O’Brien. Disney and Funk announced the launch of the Baby Yoda figure back in December. O’Brien didn’t reveal how many units the figure had sold so far, but as of right now it’s on track to match the Baby Dancing Groot Funko Pop from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Breaking news: the people love babies.
O’Brien also revealed that the company was given design specs for the figure before any of The Mandalorian episodes had even aired. However, nobody on the Funko team got the chance to watch the show early. “They’ve got to guard spoilers. They’ve got to keep secrets,” he noted. “As far as story points go, we get nothing.” This obligation to keep details about the show under wraps in order to avoid leaking any spoilers to fans ultimately lead to a major loss in potential revenue from Baby Yoda merch for Disney. After Baby Yoda became an Internet sensation when The Mandalorian first aired in November (and everyday since), the demand for plushies and figures of the adorable little creature got increasingly higher. However, Disney was not able to capitalize on this popularity by launching official Baby Yoda merch in time for the holidays because of how tight-lipped they’d been about the show. It looks like they’re going to make up for their lack of preparation for the meme-craze of Baby Yoda that lead to major merch mania with this Funko figure, though, as Baby Yoda continues his quest toward world domination.
