Lightsaber toys are, by nature, plastic swords — which, to our knowledge, kids have been playing with since…well…the dawn of time. It seems likely that even small medieval children played “knight” with sticks, likely without great incident.
Watchdog World Against Toys Causing Harm releases an annual list of big-ticket holiday toys that to warn parents about so their little ones don’t spend the festivities choking on small parts or, in an alternate timeline, firing Boba Fett’s rocket backpack into each other’s eyeballs. 2020’s list of the 10 “worst” toys of the year however, via IGN, sees a Star Wars item take crowning place: the coveted Darksaber of Mandalore.
The Darksaber featured heavily in Season 2 of The Mandalorian — particularly in the season finale when Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) engaged in an epic beskar spear vs. Darksaber battle sequence with Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito).
The toy version, made of plastic, is presumably not as hazardous as Tarre Vizsla’s Darksaber of lore, unless you listen to Watchdog World, who asserts:
Another toy, Star Wars Mandalorian Darksaber, encourages children “SWING FOR BATTLE….!” and is made of rigid plastic, with the potential for facial and other impact injuries. Warnings and instructions are necessary and important, but this does not mean manufacturers can absolve themselves of responsibility by simply adding a label to a toy. A toy’s marketing and design may encourage contradictory uses. Some of these toys are being marketed without appropriate cautions or protective gear.
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Credit: Hasbro
