Star Wars: The Force Awakens Target Exclusive 3 Droid Pack

Today as I was returning my Target Force Awakens copy that I was disappointed with, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there was a new BB-8 toy release!

Hasbro and Target partnered to release exclusive figures BB-8, C-3PO, and RO-4LO. The figure set costs around $30, at a price point of $29.99.  So far this pack is only in stores, and isn't even in the online storefront yet for Target!

Side-Note: Currently however, Target has a deal that you can text a number and get a coupon for Star Wars merchandise.

It's a great deal if I say so and you can pick this up and the movie and get some money off! It only lasts until April 9th, 2016 though so hurry to your local target to get some Star Wars merchandise. I am in no way paid to tell you this, I just wanted people to know of a great deal!

Back of the Box, Close Ups are below!

Back to the review! I'm going to review each figure separately for this review.

C-3PO

C-3PO figure doesn't really have great articulation. The arms only articulate around the shoulders, and appear to be a ball joint. Legs move in the hips only slightly to arrange the feet in a standing position. His head doesn't move at all. Basically this figure was designed to sit on a shelf and that is it. It's very pretty to look at, but there isn't much else to him sadly.

RO-4LO

RO is a new type of droid that is used by the Resistance. The box claims that they are upgraded R2 units. This one was seen in the scenes where the Resistance was getting their starfighters ready to, or when they landed at the Resistance base. There was another R0 unit seen in the film that Poe uses when he doesn't have BB-8. That one is Orange and Grey coloration. It's interesting that this droid didn't get much notice during the launch of the movie as it is a new astromech type droid. One of it's glaring features is a lack of holoprojecter. If you want to read more on this droid there is an excellent article here on the theories of this droid.

Front of RO-4LO

Back of RO-4LO

Unfortunately only his legs move so you can tilt his body. He doesn't have a third "leg" that can clip on, so that is missing. He also doesn't have a moveable head. Sits well on a shelf though!

BB-8

BB-8's figure is the most complex. He has two "arms" that can pop on the circles where they should pop out from in the movie. This figure is interesting as it reminds me of this figure that was announced last winter for release, however, there are noticeable differences.

Hasbro BB-8 Preview, this might be a different release coming up, but looks similar.

Some details are different such as the lack of shock stick or rotating blade, the Target BB-8 looks different. Also, a lot "dirtier" looking detail as if he just got off the sands of Jakku.

Going to leave him like this on my shelf! 

Back Side of BB-8

BB-8's head does move around, it's a lot like other BB-8 toys that Hasbro and Disney has made where the head is attached to a stick and wobbles around the top of the toy through a hole. So he doesn't roll, they should in my opinion have used a magnet and let him roll around, but I guess this saves on cost. He also has a flattened part of his sphere that is meant for the base, so he can sit on a shelf well. He does sit pretty well on a shelf!

Conclusion

In conclusion I believe the main draw of the 3-pack is BB-8. I don't regret buying the figure set as I got a deal and I love this BB-8's detail. I think they all could be great toys for kids, but don't expect much articulation in any of the figures besides BB-8.

Well that's it for this short review.

May the Force Be With You!

-Bordon


P.S. Look out for more incoming Star Wars toy reviews. Now that the movie is out on Blu-Ray, I think it's time that I can share more toys that I got in the past 6 months, some contained spoilers. I also will be publishing my own theories on The Force Awakens and the new movie coming out this December Rouge One. Look out for them coming soon on this blog near you!

I also will be comparing all my BB-8 Toys, and blogging about building BB-8 in the very near future, very much in concept stages still, but I'm ready to share many of my findings, especially now that the movie is out for everyone to view! No excuses for trying to avoid spoilers now in my blog!

Also, feel free to check out my other BB-8 reviews. 

Star Wars The Force Awakens Blu-Ray Release

On April 5th the Star Wars Force Awakens Blu-Ray released. I wasn't able to get a copy however during that day. Why? Well Target had given pre-orders from their online/web store that came with a $5 gift card if you ordered it the month prior. It sounded great, it'd have extra behind the scenes content of making the movie and such and "special packaging". I was excited! I pre-ordered it thinking Target's pre-order delivery guarantee would have the copy at my front door delivered to me. However, that was not the case.

On April 6th I went to Facebook to complain on Target's social media. Why? Because my copy was sent on the 5th by UPS to be delivered to the Post Office instead of my house that day, and there it sat for 2 days (release and the next day) and didn't move. I found out many had the same issues, and that the packaging was card board and some even had broken Blu-Rays! Not even that, the "exclusive content" was download content, from the web. You didn't have it on disk. So I decided to look up what other stores had for exclusives. Walmart had a sleeve that featured BB-8, but it was cardboard and sleeves don't always look the best. So I went with Best Buy's Steelbook feature. I figured I was ordering the original and prequel trilogy in Japanese recently and got the steelbooks for them, so I thought I'd get the Star Wars Episode VII steelbook to go with them. A better deal and it was a physical item.


When I went into Best Buy to get the Steel Book Force Awakens Blu-Ray I was greeted with a huge BB-8 holding the movies. It was a neat thing to have in the store I thought.

I love it, but I don't want it as nearly as much as Target's animatronic one! 

Two days later, I got the Target one in the mail. Three Days after release! No gift card was ever delivered. I took pictures for you to review. After that, I returned it to Target, and while there I found a pleasant surprise. A BB-8 figure bundle pack released along with a coupon deal!

Front Cover of, Target left, Best Buy Right 

Back side of Blu Ray cases, Target left, Best Buy Right

Inside of Best Buy's Steelbook Case. Pretty clean and neat!

Just thought I'd share my experience with you and how different the movies are. If you want to see the insides of the Target version of the Blu-Ray, Tyler has an excellent video showing you the guts. Check it out here.

May the Force Be With You!

-Bordon 

Disney's Interactive BB-8 a Review

  On Force Friday September 4th I had gotten the two BB-8's that launched in the United States that day. There was one from the U.K. that was sold through their version of the Disney store that was not sold to the U.S. I had contacted the U.K. and U.S. stores to inquire about their BB-8 because it was the cheapest BB-8 out there that could light up or beep. At the time I was not able to purchase the Disney Store BB-8. That is why it was not in my original review. 

  That all changed on September 11, 2015. That is when BB-8 went on sale on the US Disney Store online. I went the next day to try to purchase it, but the two they had in-stock had already been sold out. So I ordered from them in-store to their online website through the cashier and got free shipping! BB-8 arrived four days later on Wednesday, September 16th at my front door. 

Here is my Unboxing Video I made on September 16th.

  It's a toy recommended for ages 3 and up. However it has two small antennas that you attach after opening, and they easily come off if pulled, so if you have a kid that sticks things in their mouths this toy is NOT recommended.

Check out BB-8 in Action

      

Here is some great things about this BB-8:

• The head lights up and *boops* & *beeps*.

• It expresses emotions.

• It's head does not fall off!

• It moves around easily on most rugs, as long as they don't curl up. 

• It can take a beating.

• It has nice details.

• It is the cheapest BB-8 on the market. About $35.

• It is huge! And looks great next to my Hasbro Interactive R2-D2 from 2002. 

They are pretty close to scale if compared to the movie versions. 

Here is the Bad:

• It does not move like in the movie, it has a wheel built in that goes forward and back.

• It can't be controlled, no remote controls.

• It moves where it wants too and sometimes keeps backing up into things, although it has a button sensor in the front oddly enough. 

• It is very noisy when moving around or moving it's head.

Still a great looking toy and fun too! 

How does it rate compared to the other BB-8s?

The BB-8 Brothers! 

  Against Sphero, Disney's wins as a toy to get your child. It is significantly cheaper and comes with batteries in it, while Sphero's is expensive and like I have said before Sphero's feels like an adult collector toy, not a toy for a child.


  Against Hasbro, Disney's BB-8 loses. Although it is still significantly cheaper and comes with it's own batteries, Hasbro's still feels like the best toy on the market, and has nicer paint job than Disney's in my opinion. Also, it is nice that Hasbro's is controllable and moves like he does in the movie.


  I wish Disney's BB-8 and Hasbro's where combined. I love that Disney's lights up and that Hasbro's moves like the movie version. I wish honestly that we would get a full-sized replica of BB-8 from the movie at some time. Maybe by the 2nd or 3rd film with BB-8 in it we will? Until then I do not regret buying any of my BB-8s! I do however still love Hasbro's a little more then the rest.

  Thanks for reading. May the BB-8 be with you!

-Bordon 

  If you'd like to purchase the Disney Store BB-8 it can be found here: http://bit.ly/1iFdIq1

  If you haven't read my comparative review of the Hasbro and Sphero BB-8 you can read it by clicking here: http://bit.ly/1UHrST4



Minor UPDATE (9/28/2015):

Andrea in the comments asked where the battery compartments are, I've included a picture of my thumb and finger touching their locations. They should be easy to spot once you know what you are looking for.

A Serious Star Wars Cereal Review

  You might have noticed this new Limited Edition Star Wars Cereal by General Mills at your local grocery store. You may have come across it on a trip to your local Walmart or Target as well. I know a lot of people are often weary on if the cereal is worth getting when it is merchandised towards a movie property or TV show. I can tell you though that this cereal was worth the $2.50 I bought it for.

  The marshmallows in the Star Wars cereal have fun shapes. You can get marshmallows shaped like Yoda, R2-D2, a Jedi Starfighter, a Stormtrooper's helmet, and a red or blue lightsaber. They sure look delicious. They might not be healthy though. How do they look inside the box though?

  They look pretty much like this. Sometimes the Stormtrooper's visor is off a bit and looks more like a mustache. Some Yodas have no ears. The Jedi Starfighter is often too chubby to be recognizable. Somehow though the lightsabers always manage to look like the above image. How do they taste you might be saying right about now? Think Lucky Charms! Yes, they taste exactly like a Lucky Charms marshmallow. Very delicious and sugary! 

  This is how the corn flakes often look. They do not taste like the Lucky Charms flakes, however, they do taste however surprisingly like Fruit Loops. To me that's a very surprisingly tasty combo. Notice the top two flakes? They are the most common, although the "X-wing" flake on the left often looks like the bottom flake. The Tie Fighter flake is the most common in my cereal box, which is movie accurate if you think about it!

  The Back of the cereal box has two games a child or an adult can play with someone else. One game is the basic checkers game with the suggestion you use the Tie Fighter and Rebel Flakes as pieces for each side. The other game is where you use a corn flake and flick it across the board and if it lands on one of the red circles you get the recommended points. I'd recommend cutting this off the box after finishing the cereal. Maybe then buy a new box of Star Wars Cereal and use the pieces from that to play with it, or use actual checker pieces the play the games. It was a nice idea of General Mills to make up these neat games to play. 

Is it worth getting?

  Yes! It very much is worth getting. I bought mine for $2.50 and I thought it was worth every penny.  The box is small and you get about 3/4ths of the boxes height in cereal. Enough for about 6-8 normal sized bowls I'd say. I loved it. I thought it was worth it that I got another box full at the same price. To sum up the taste again think Lucky Charms Marshmallows got together with Fruit Loops. It's a yummy and sugary saturday morning cereal! A great choice for the kids, and adults! 

  If you have time and want to see the cereal box in more detail along with some other thoughts I have check out my video review! (I show off my BB-8 mug in it too!) 

Thanks for reading!

May the Sugar be With You!

-Bordon