This is the way. Right into my wallet.
We might have to wait a little while until we see Baby Yoda merchandise that doesn’t look like some exasperated Disney executive went “oh god people love the baby put that shit on some mugs!”, but one unsung hero of The Mandalorian’s kickass third episode that is already getting merch love is Paz Vizla, also known as the Heavy Infantry Mandalorian. Voiced by Mandalorian producer Jon Favreau in the episode, we don’t really know anything about Paz other than that a) he’s a thicc boy with a thicc gatling gun, and b), he looks cool as hell.
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Which, y’know, makes him perfect for turning into an action figure. Arguably more perfect than a Baby. Sorry, Baby Yoda, you’ll get your turn. While last weekend we exclusively revealed that Paz was being inducted into Hasbro’s 6-inch-scaled line of Star Wars Black Series action figures, Hot Toys announced today that it too is getting on the Heavy Mando action, with Paz joining the previously unveiled Mandalorian and IG-11 figures in the company’s line of almost-obscenely-detailed 1:6-scale toys.
As a big boy, the Heavy Infantry Mandalorian actually comes slightly bigger at roughly 12.5″ inches, and comes with a host of accessories, like a slew of alternate hands, a knife, a themed base to pose him on the ground or flying through the air with his enviable jetpack (a hot Star Wars trend, now and forever), and even special effects pieces to had to his pack to simulate blasts of rocket fuel mid-flight.
Oh, and he comes with that bigass gun, of course. The gun’s ammo clip is detachable for easy posing, which is nice, because it’s impossibly large and unwieldy even without being attached to Paz’s backpack, so anything to help facilitate the process of putting your toy in very cool poses is a plus. Although it’s really not hard to make this guy look cool. He oozes cool just standing there, glowering out of his helmet (presumably, we have no idea what he looks like under there!).
Sadly, you’ll probably get your Baby Yoda merch well before this bad boy makes his way onto your shelf. Hell, you might even get those Hot Toys Mandalorian and IG-11 first—the company is currently projecting that its Heavy Infantry Mandalorian will start shipping anywhere from late 2020 to early 2021, with no price confirmed just yet.
It’ll be available to pre-order from Sideshow Collectibles sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday. If you really need your Paz Vizla right now, at least the Black Series figure is available at Best Buy right now.