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With The Mandalorian, series creator Jon Favreau has been paying tribute to ever possible corner of the Star Wars franchise. From Willrow Hood's ice cream maker in The Empire Strikes Back to referencing things from the Star Wars Holiday Special, no Easter Egg is off limits for the Disney+ series. Another notable deep cut from the galaxy far, far away has also made its way into the series and you may not have noticed it the first time around. In the penultimate episode of the series which debuted last week, a vehicle appears on screen for just a few seconds which seems to fit right into the Star Wars motif, but upon closer inspection it's actually a very clever gag by Favreau.

At exactly 32:36 in the episode, an Imperial Troop Transport vehicle pulls into frame and opens up, allowing Stormtroopers to enter the scene. What makes this vehicle's inclusion so special is its origin, this "Troop Transport" was among the first vehicle accessories released by Kenner Products to coincide with the release of the original Star Wars film; but to make it even more special, the Transport was the first Star Wars toy ever that didn't appear in a movie first. Check out a photo of it from The Mandalorian below along with the official commercial for the original toy!

(Photo: Lucasfilm)

Since its fabled debut in toy form, the Imperial Troop Transport has gone on to appear in a few other places in the canon of Star Wars, from a number of episodes of Star Wars Rebels to countless comic books. The Transport even appeared in the recently released Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, but its debut on The Mandalorian marks its first actual appearance in live-action (even if the booklet that came with the the toy attempted to say it appeared 'off screen" in the film).

The second season of The Mandalorian had already been confirmed by Favreau, with the showrunner revealing earlier today that the next batch of episodes will premiere in the fall of 2020. Favreau's announcement also came with the reveal of a new character that will seemingly appear in the new season who would perhaps be best described as buff-sexy gamorrean.e

We're going to have to wait just a little while to see what happens to Din Djarin, Cara Dune, Greef Karga, and Baby Yoda, but at least we know when we can expect to see them all again. In the meantime, Disney+ is releasing brand new episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars to keep the adventure going.

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