The Tauntaun sleeping bag has arrived!!

I finally have one! It's mine! All mine!! (and John's)...

In case you have not heard about the Tauntaun Sleeping Bag, here is the background:

1) What the heck is a Tauntaun?
For those of you not familiar with the world of Star Wars, a Tauntaun is a reptomammal and the thing that Han cut open and shoved Luke inside to keep him alive when they were on Hoth at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back. (more info here)
What?!?! You say you have never seen The Empire Strikes back?! Shame on you. Go rent it. You owe it to yourself. Here is a photo so you can get the idea:

2) Where did it come from?

A long time ago (April 1, 2009), on a web site far far away (ThinkGeek.com), a group of rebel scum (well, maybe not) came up with a idea that they thought people would find a funny April Fools joke - a sleeping bag that looks like a tauntaun. Little did they know that the thousands of Star Wars fans would swarm upon them actually wanting to order the Tauntaun Sleeping Bag. So, they made it happen (read the whole story here).

3) Why would you want a sleeping bag of this critter?

Because it is awesome! Ever since I saw it on April Fools I have wanted one. I signed up for updates on ThinkGeek (and many friends made sure I knew about it - thanks guys!) and when they announced they were making them, I got super excited. And when I got the email that they were actually ready to order, I ran and got my wallet (thank god they sent that email on payday!). The wait was painful, but tonight there was a knock on my door and less than 45 seconds after grabbing the box from the porch we had a Tauntaun on our floor. It's sweet. The original ads made it look rather small, but it is plenty large enough for me and even large enough for John, who is over 6 feet tall. It has a light saber zipper-pull, reminiscent of Han cutting the poor beast open. The head is a comfy pillow, and it even had a tail, leg and arm! The inside lining is printed with a intestine looking patters, only fitting of course. I am pretty excited to have one of the very first ones ever made for human enjoyment (retail wise). They are already out of stock and on back order!

I think I am going to have to get another one. John and I will be begging each other to use it from now on I think. Who needs a snuggie when you have a TAUNTAUN!!!! :D

Tauntaun image from Wired.net