In the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back (often considered the best of the Star Wars films), Han Solo saves the life of an unconscious Luke Skywalker by slicing open a dead Tauntaun and spending the night on the deathly cold planet Hoth inside the smelly carcass.

Every year, Think Geek comes up with some goof products they unveil on April Fool’s Day. On April 1st, 2009, the coolest possible Star Wars product ever was a featured item, -the Tauntaun Sleeping Bag. Oh yeah, crawl inside a smelly animal just like Han and Luke and stay warm and alive for the night! Alas, it was an April Fool, but that didn’t stop everyone and their brother from wanting one.
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It wasn’t the first (or second) time that Think Geek had to produce an April Fool product after the fact because of popular demand. You’d think they would have learned their lesson from the Personal Soundtrack Shirt that started as an April Fool joke the year before which they had to go and invent to satisfy customers. This time, getting the product made was an even bigger challenge because they had to get licensing from Lucasfilm. A notice appeared on the item listing within a couple of days:

ATTN Tauntaun Fanatics! Due to an overwhelming tsunami of requests from YOU THE PEOPLE, we have decided to TRY and bring this to life. We have no clue if the suits at Lucasfilms will grant little ThinkGeek a license, nor do we know how much it would ultimately retail for. But if you are interested in ever owning one of these, click the link below and we’ll try!

Lucasfilm’s blessing came a couple of months ago, and serious production began. The first and second shipments have gone out, and you can get in line for yours when they become available. The bag looks like the animal, except for being comfortable and the right size for a human. You open it by pulling a little light saber zipper pull, just like Han sliced the Tauntaun open in the movie. Inside, you see the Tauntauin’s internal organs printed on the fabric! Climb inside and rest on the pillowy Tauntaun head. The bag is big enough for an adult, and machine washable (yes, it smells much better than a carcass). Get a look at some of the features in this unboxing video. Whether you’ll get yours in time for Christmas is iffy, but so far it looks like people are buying these for themselves, and not for their kids. $99 from Think Geek.