Why You Can Trust CNET Exclusive first look from SDCC: 'Baby Yoda' now a Hot Wheels car
This is the way to turn The Child into a car.
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An artist's sketch of The Child Hot Wheels Character Car. The foundling can be in your care next year.
If you need more "Baby Yoda" merch in your life, you're in luck. The mysterious Mandalorian character known formally in the Star Wars universe as The Child is now a die-cast Hot Wheels car with head-peeking-out action.
Mattel revealed the new collectable toy for its Comic-Con@Home Hot Wheels panel Friday, giving fans an early taste of the design before it arrives in the spring of 2021. No large bounty for this small package: It's priced at $3.99 (about £3 or AU$5).
Glassy black eyes become windshields. Pointy green ears resemble intake pipes. Tiny magic hands are headlights. But like The Child from the show, it holds some surprise tricks: Drive it along, and the "roof" will bob up and down, making it look like the head is peeking out of its pram.
"The Child seems curious, yet somewhat timid in the show, and to represent that in the character car we decided to have its head tucked into the body, but peeking out just a little bit to show its curiosity," said Charlie Angulo, designer of The Child car.
The cooing green critter that stole our hearts last year already has a sweet ride in its Disney Plus show: a hovering pram. So of course the protective pod is part of the toy car's body, worked in such a way to hide the wheels.
"The way it walks, you never see its feet. So having the wheels inward and covered mimics the way we see the character on the show," Angulo explained.
And there's another detail sure to intimidate any bounty hunter opponent on the orange track: Angulo says there's a frog stuck in the grille.
The Hot Wheels Character Cars line began in 2010, with race cars resembling Toy Story 3 characters. Since then, there have been hundreds of Character Cars -- and pretty much every hero, villain and droid in the Star Wars universe got the Hot Wheels treatment.
Even the Mandalorian himself has his own character car, released last year, along with a vehicle inspired by the Heavy Infantry Mandalorian.
The Hot Wheels Comic-Con@Home presentation revealed several new character cars for other franchises, including a " Wonder Woman 1984 " movie-inspired car, decked out in Wonder Woman's golden eagle armor. You can watch the full presentation here.
As for the Star Wars car universe, Angulo says new characters are also arriving next year, to be released the same time as The Child. But you don't have to wait that long for your next "Baby Yoda" fix. Season two of The Mandalorian lands in October.
