We got a sneak peak at probably the coolest 'Star Wars' toy ever made
This is BB-8, the new adorable ball droid who will star in December's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
Sphero, a Boulder, Colorado-based robotics startup, teamed up with Disney and Lucasfilm to help create a working life-size version of BB-8 which will be featured in "The Force Awakens."
When Disney CEO Bob Iger saw what Sphero could accomplish, he connected them with the folks at Disney Consumer Products and Lucasfilm to develop a smaller version of the ball droid to be released in conjunction with the film.
Tech Insider got an early look at the toy which will hit shelves Friday. The $150 miniature droid will come in a sleek "Star Wars" case. Let's take a look at it!
Here we see some info on the droid inside the box. He's durable (which is good since we'll be taking him on a tour across the floor), has a big personality, and you can interact with it through voice commands. We're also told BB-8 comes with his own little charging base. Cool.
The box assures us that this is the droid we've been waiting for.
The other side of the box previews a little more of what BB-8 can do. It can listen to commands, record video messages, and move just like the real droid in the new film. The bottom of the box tells us BB-8's attitude and actions will "evolve as you interact." "Our goal was to make it as life-like to what you just saw on the screen," Sphero chief creative officer Rob Maigret told Tech Insider.
Finally, here's the back of the box, which tells us a few more details about the droid waiting for us inside.
Look closely and you'll learn a new tidbit about "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." It turns out BB-8 belongs to Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) even though we've seen the ball droid with Rey (Daisy Ridley) in every teaser trailer for the film.
Okay, let's take the sheath off the box to unveil ... another box!
It's marked with an adorable minimalist sketch of BB-8 showing how the droid got its name — two ball shaped figures atop one another to make a figure eight.
Maigret says once you open up the initial box, fans are supposed to feel like they're inside the world of "Star Wars." "If I bought a droid, what would the box look like?" asked Maigret. "We [Sphero] designed it as best we could on how it may be like if you just bought one of these ... We hope people will keep the box, especially collectors."
Lift up the flap and there's the familiar "Star Wars" logo.
We got a sneak peak at probably the coolest 'Star Wars' toy ever made
The removable Sphero card lifts up to reveal a set of instructions for charging the droid along with where to get the app to control BB-8.
Finally, there's BB-8!
Beneath BB-8, you can see his charging station which is labeled with the "Star Wars" logo.
In addition to the charging base, BB-8 comes with a USB cord which plugs into the base.
Taking everything out, BB-8 comes as two separate pieces.
When turning on the app from a device, BB-8's head easily connects to his body as if the two were magnets.
Maigret tells us that's not the case, but wouldn't divulge how the ball droid magically stays together.
A lot of people have taken them apart and speculated," he says. "We know people are going to take it apart and figure it out so we don't necessarily want to give it away.
BB-8 is relatively small. The nearly four-inch tall droid easily fits into the size of my palm.
Maigret says they also considered 12-inch figures.
"This also happens to be the size of Sphero [the company's initial app-activated spheres], so we know it's a good design for a ball," he says.
Here's everything that comes with BB-8. Starting Friday, the toy will be available at 35 retailers in the US including Apple stores, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Target, and Disney.
It takes a full three hours to charge up BB-8 for an hour of play.
We'll take out BB-8 to play soon. Until then ...
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