This is not a model kit related entry nor I believe it will be the last. With every day getting us closer to Star Wars the Force Awakens, it is hard to resist to the latest droid addition to the Star Wars universe. I’m talking about the sought after BB-8 droid and this is remote controlled. As you can see from the picture of the box, this little fella is Target Exclusive offering here in the United States. It does operates with 4 AA -LR-6- batteries and 2 AAA on the remote control unit.
After installing the fourth battery on the receiver unit, BB-8 came to life with its FX sounds. There’s no ON/OFF switch so I’m assuming that after some time of inactivity, the droid will enter a rest mode. The main body has an arrow on each half to enclose the motor unit and will remain locked once this 2 halves are turned clockwise. Â That’s when my disappointment began: First, the FX sound will be opaqued by the main body shell. There are openings for the FX sound, but this openings will be rotating as the droid moves around. Â Add to that the expected sound from the motor moving the droid around, and the FX sounds will hardly be audible.
The head of the BB-8 droid is held in place by 2 magnets
-see picture below.- There are no LED lights on the upper head. I thought of this before hand and even considered adding an blue LED with a standalone LED powered with a button battery. It can be done very quick and easy and I have the parts needed handy in my studio to achieve this.
My deception continued after seeing the droid working. It moves a little slower than I thought. The movement while I wouldn’t say is erratic, I’d confidently say that it is simply not fluid. I did notice a little bit of that even on the real prop shown at Celebration. But with this toy is more notable.
I don’t want to trash the toy completely. I know that this is still technology in development. Kudos for trying this in a toy. But for my hard earned cash, *I* do feel that the retail price for the R/C BB-8 is a bit steep for why I got in the box. In my very subjective opinion and in the words of old Ben Kenobi, this is not the droid I’m looking for.
$79.99 is simply too much.
