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Lego BionicleHero FactoryLego TechnicSalomonLego CreationsTroyLegosOliverMarioForwardThis was actually done by meA previous version of this story included images of unreleased products that have since been removed. The first Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser included an astromech droid that looked like a rolling orange soccer ball with the head of R2-D2 on top of it. Initially, it seemed like it could be just like Kylo Ren’s cross-guard lightsaber: maybe a step too far away from traditional Star Wars design. A still from the teaser was used as a faux Star Wars trading card from Entertainment Weekly and we learned what we’d been calling “the ball droid” had a designation: BB-8. Then, during Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, all the CGI-wary BB-8 haters had their mouths shut right up as a wireless, full-sized, actually working BB-8 rolled onto the stage and got into a beeping fight with R2-D2. It was a magical Star Wars moment to learn that BB-8 was actually brought to life thanks to technology from the robot-toy company Sphero (who quickly added a Star Wars page to their website where you could sign up for the Sphero mailing list).
Very quickly, the geeks and DIYers of the internet started modifying Sphero’s existing product, specifically the app-controlled remote-driven ball (also called Sphero), which a crafty, crafty person made into a working BB-8 the same week that the droid debuted on stage. An existing company that made toys contributed technology to the magic of filmmaking and produced a working BB-8? That must mean that we lowly Star Wars fans would eventually be able to BB-8 around as we saw fit, right? This Friday September 4 is a banner day in Star Wars fandom, the so called “Force Friday” where Disney and Lucasfilm allow the Star Wars canonical story to expand beyond Return of the Jedi and stretch forward in fictional time towards The Force Awakens. We’ll be getting our first look at some characters from December’s movie, as well as tie-in products that fill in the narrative gaps between Episodes VI and VII. Since the toy world is a difficult world to hold embargoes against, most plot leaks from major franchises include a toy element these days, and have since the mid 1990s (the first look at the Roland Emmerich redesigned Godzilla, for instance, was a leaked toy).
That’s why it is kind of surprising that, while we know exactly what Lego sets and Black Series Hasbro action figures will be on shelves this Friday, it’s still unclear if you’ll be able to buy your own working BB-8. We’re perilously close to midnight events for many Force Friday locations (and this weekend was the last time you could order your Star Wars: Aftermath novel and get it by Friday!) and there still hasn’t been an official word on the BB-8 remote control toys. I must have a BB-8. The Disney Store is planning to have locations opening at 12:01AM Friday morning as are Disney theme parks and a select number of Walmart and Target locations. Target says it will have 207 locations open at midnight as well as an instant update to their online store. You can check if there’s a Target open at midnight near you at their website, and I suggest you do, because there’s probably going to be an affordable BB-8 toy there come this Friday. Online leaks put the Hasbro version of BB-8 at the $79.99 price point.
You’ll need six AA batteries to run BB-8 and the radio-signal controller. Your basic RC BB-8 also looks like it has a Target Exclusive sticker on it, so that’s why you’re going to want to slam your local Target instead of the nearby Toys R Us: Here is the cheaper, $80 Target-only #BB8 toy. — Da7e Gonzales (@Da7e) September 1, 2015 On the plus side, this toy being leakable means it will most likely be available on Friday. On the minus side, since this is an RC model, not the Sphero model, BB-8 looks a little drunk when it tries to stop rolling: I reached out to Hasbro’s PR agency with the photo from the above tweet and they passed on that they don’t comment on leaks (smart!) so I can’t promise that this $80 BB-8 will be in Target on Friday. It just seems very likely. The real question though is where the ritzy Sphero model is. The company Sphero is going to be making the full-size BB-8s that will eventually be rolling around Dinseyland parks and on the set of future Star Wars movies (assuming BB-8 survives The Force Awakens and doesn’t get Darth-Mauled).
The BB-8 Sphero mailing list mysteriously went down sometime in the past week as we approach Force Friday and was instead replaced with a message to check back at 12:01 AM on 9/4. This Force Friday embargo is like a JJ Abrams Mystery Box times 10! Other details are still under embargo, so we’ll have to guess as to where the droid will show up and how much she’ll cost. The official Sphero twitter account has pinned a Force Friday countdown tweet to the front of their page. Presumably this all points to a Force Friday release. At the moment, it’s unclear where these fancy BB-8s will be making their debut. Sphero products aren’t in every toy store. Sphero has 35 USA retail partners and of those partners only Toys R Us is holding Force Friday midnight events. Otherwise, online robot obsessives suggest Best Buy and Bed Bath & Beyond have already decided to carry BB-8. Sphero also has an online store that will likely carry BB-8, which might end up being the safer choice as smooth-rolling ball droid of one’s own is possibly the coolest Star Wars robot toy ever to come out.