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.
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!)
On the Left is Sphero on the Right is Hasbro. Who will win?!
Today I will be reviewing the two remote controlled Star Wars BB-8 toys that where released on Force Friday, September 4th. Both were bought by me on Force Friday. For this blog post only one shall be the winner for the best BB-8 Toy for kids on Christmas. So keep in mind when I review these toys I am thinking which one would be best for a child to play with. It was a tough choice with a lot of factors for me. I had 5 factors that I considered while comparing them: Cost, Box Presentation, Ease of Putting it together, Size and Look, and Usability. Each characteristic was judged with clear winners, which in the end helped me determine the final verdict. So let's begin shall we?
1. Cost
Sphero:
What you pay for is the box presentation and all that technology inside.
Sphero costs about $150 before taxes. I think my total with state tax was around $159. It's very pricey, and that doesn't include the Smartphone required to move BB-8. That's right, this little guy has no remote that comes with it.
Hasbro:
A good representation of all you need to make this guy run. It's definitely a toy box.
Hasbro's which is a Target Exclusive in the US costs around $80 before taxes. However, unlike Sphero who has a built in rechargeable battery this BB-8 does not have one. It requires 4 AA Batteries in the robot itself and 2 AAA Batteries for the remote that comes included with the toy. So factoring that all in you are spending about $94 for the two packs of batteries.
Winner: It's pretty clear in this case who won. Hasbro did. Although they require batteries for their BB-8, they do include a remote and don't require the extra cost of a smart device. For a toy for a child I'd rather have them use a remote than a smart phone to move a robot around. It also helps that you are saving $60 when getting the Hasbro BB-8.
2. Box Presentation
Right away you can tell Sphero has the slickest box.
Sphero:
The box was slick, and it's packed like an iPhone.
Here's my unboxing video if you are curious!
Sphero's box as you can see form the unboxing is really well designed. When you open it up it pretty much is all in one piece. In fact it reminds me of unboxing a brand new iPhone. The fact that requires a smart device makes it all the more apparent that this is a really sophisticated robot.
Hasbro:
It's a typical Hasbro boxed item. Lots of cardboard inside.
Here's my unboxing video for Hasbro as well:
I took an after shot of opening the box. As you can see from the un-boxing video and the picture Hasbro expects you to treat this like any other toy they have sold in the past. I think the only time a Star Wars toy had really fancy packaging in my youth from Hasbro was when I got my Interactive R2-D2, but even that was close to bare bones and not as fancy as Sphero's box.
Winner: Sphero. They really cared about presentation. Remember you are paying $150 for the toy, instead of $80 though.
3. Ease of Putting Toy Together
Sphero:
Sphero made it pretty easy. You get BB-8 all put together, all you have to do is put on it's head and put it in the charging station and wait for it to charge before booting up your smartphone BB-8 app and starting up your new robot toy. Oh you do have to hold the smartphone next to it really close for it to lock on to the robot. That was a bit annoying, and expect an update to download to the robot at launch. It's nice though that BB-8 is pretty much in one piece.
Hasbro:
You have to put BB-8 together for the hasbro one. It's neat to look at the guts, and the instructions included with it is pretty easy to get the hang of. Don't forget to put the batteries into the black part that moves the whole droid around! Also, have to use a screwdriver to put in the batteries into the remote as well. This step pretty much takes a parent to do.
Winner: Sphero. It was close though, the app for Sphero was annoying to wait for, but as far as putting together the droid, Sphero already did it for you.
4. Size and Look
Winner: Hasbro. This picture pretty much sums it up. Sphero is the smaller of the two. Sphero's look is smooth and shiny. However, it looks painted on and flat. Hasbro's has more details, even a bit of dirt here and there in it's paint job. It looks like a prop from the movie. It has character. Size matters not, but as far as character, Hasbro's BB-8 has it and Sphero's doesn't.
5. Usability:
Sphero:
Here's a video on how Sphero's BB-8 is controlled.
Sphero's usability feels limited. It needs pretty flat carpeting so it got stuck in parts of my apartment that has thicker carpet. You need to re-align the blue light constantly while it moves to where you are to make it move right. The control stick on the app is weird and wanky. You only get one control stick that controls movement. He does have great little head bobs that you can input in, and he can explore on his own if you wish. The one feature it does have is a gimmicky hologram that shows up in your smartphone's screen.
Here's one annoying thing: You need the app for him to make sounds, it all comes from your smart phone, and some of the sounds are very annoying. Such as the lightsaber sound that it makes every time you have to point the blue light back at you to re-calibrate where you are in relation to BB-8. Something just feels off about Sphero's BB-8 right now. I know that the head of Sphero announced pretty quickly that we will be getting updates, patches, and more in the coming months and after the release of the new Star Wars film. He can free roam while Hasbro's can't. However, he didn't free roam well on any of my carpets, where Hasbro's got around mostly fine. So for me free roam hasn't worked real well and should probably be done on a flat service such as hardwood floors. The AR message system that the app can do to make BB-8 have his own "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi" message mode. The Hologram message mode is neat, but feels gimmicky. It's not something you'd use a lot while playing with him. Sphero BB-8 feels like a toy meant for an adult collector, not a kid. Nothing wrong with that, but for my review I am thinking of what you'd want to get for your child.
That dang cat hair gets everywhere.
The head has wheels that collects dust. Mine having only been used a few times had already started to collect stuff in the wheels.
Side-Note: My cat loves chasing this one!
Hasbro:
Here's a Video on how Hasbro's BB-8 is Controlled.
Hasbro's controls are pretty easy to figure out. Turning him on is easy too, just shake him awake, or turn him upside down. You get 2 pads to control BB-8 with. One for head movement to point him in the direction you want him to go, and the other for forward and backward motion. You can also make him move pretty well for angles and such by pressing both controls down at the same time. You have to remain closer to BB-8 than the Sphero one but it wasn't too bad. Even though he can't explore on his on like Sphero, mine moved at times on it's own free will. He emits all the beeps and boops from himself, not from the remote like Sphero. He also has a cute personality that I assume his "voice" sounds closer to the film version of BB-8 than Sphero's chipmunked R2 chirps.
Although it sometimes falls off, there is no way cat hair can get in it!
Also, the head has no wheels so no dust collection! The magnets control it's movement at all times and stays on pretty well.
Side-Note: My cat was curious about this one but ran away because it was too big and scary.
Winner: Hasbro. It just seems like a toy meant for a kid.
SO WHO WINS THE SHOWDOWN?
Don't feel too bad for Sphero BB-8, he's still a great toy.
The Winner is: Hasbro.
Although Sphero is a pretty great toy and is fun to play with, at launch it has many faults. It feels like it's not fully released yet, because it hasn't really. We will see when the movie launches how BB-8 Sphero is then and I'll probably make a new post on the updates then. For now Sphero's feels like an adult collector toy. While Hasbro's is clearly meant for a child.
Hasbro's also feels like it just popped out of the movie. It has character. It is easier to control. It's priced way more reasonable. It doesn't require a smart phone. It is just simple to use and control. A beautiful and simple child's toy that has pretty much everything Sphero does great right now, but in it's own unique way that feels more real. Hat's off to you Hasbro you made BB-8 proud!
Don't let my review choose for you though, both these toys are excellent! I just felt that if you were to buy one of these toys for a child, Hasbro's is the most sensible and suitable choice. If you do want to purchase either Hasbro's or Sphero's BB-8 I have included information below.
Hasbro's BB-8 again is a Target Exclusive and can be bought online here. You can also find it at your local store while supplies last.
Sphero can be found in many stores in the US. I got mine at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. You can also find it on Amazon, Gamestop, and Disney Store. Although a lot of stores are trying to get it in stock, so check your favorite store for availability!
I hope this review helped you make a future purchase of your BB-8 for yourself or a loved one.
Until next time, May the Force Be With You.
-Bordon
Update: On September 11th the US Disney Store has started selling an Interactive BB-8 that lights up and beeps. Since it has way different features to the BB-8s in this review I have made a review for it on its own that can be found here: http://bit.ly/1F8C7y4
First, let me say, Welcome to my new Blog! This is my first post, and I apologize for any errors, and how long this post might be. I'm just very glad to finally start blogging and having built the blog the way I want it that I figured I'd tell a story right now that might rant a bit. I'll try to keep it short. Tomorrow I will have a review of the two toys I got on Force Friday but please, read the two short stories, on how chance and luck lead me to getting them!
Today as every Star Wars nerd knows was Force Friday. What is Force Friday? Well unless you were living in a galaxy far, far away or something you would know that there is a new movie called The Force Awakens coming out this Holiday season. The new movie of course is set in the Star Wars saga. So Force Friday, September 4th, is the day when all of the new Star Wars toys from the upcoming movie come out. Of course grown men like myself were super excited for this day. Almost like a Star Wars Christmas for many collector's so to speak. There was only one type of toy I wanted during this day, and I ended up with both versions of it.
Here they are boxed up! My two BB-8's.
The one on the left is by Hasbro and is a Target exclusive. The one on the right is by Sphero and I obtained mine from Bed Bath and Beyond.
How I got the Hasbro BB-8 from Target
I learned about Force Friday earlier this week. I wasn't super stoked for it, just a bit excited to see all the toys to see if they gave away any indication to the plot of the movie. Also, hoping there would be a BB-8 toy coming out by either Hasbro, or the rumored BB-8 from Sphero. Sure enough Sphero announced their BB-8 yesterday, just 12 hours before release, but I did not see an ad by Hasbro at all until earlier this morning. I read many blogs last night but I could not find where I could buy the Sphero model in-store. Most stores where just advertising that they where getting Star Wars toys but not much more than that. Target, Toys R Us, and the Disney Store where the only one's I knew from last night to be selling new Star Wars merchandise on Force Friday. Both Target and Toys R Us near me where opening at midnight to sell the new toys and the Disney Store was opening early Friday morning for their event. I debated going to the midnight Target opening but decided that I'd check it out during my lunch hour since I work at home on Fridays and leave it up to chance.
On Friday morning just before setting off right at noon, I looked up on the Target store for any BB-8's, at the time I didn't know Hasbro had made a BB-8 so when I saw it on their website I was ecstatic! It was cheaper than the Sphero, which at 11:00 am Central was sold out on Amazon and about to sell out on Gamestop's site. Even though it didn't have the awesome technology that Sphero did it was very similar in that they are both remote controlled, and Hasbro's has a built controller where Sphero's has you use your smart phone. Hasbro's was exclusive to Target only and E-bay it looked like it was selling already double the price! Looking up on Target's site for locations that might have them in-stock, there were already a few stores sold out, but the closet Target near me claimed to have a limited stock. So, figuring it was worth a shot since the Target was only 8 minutes away from my apartment I set off.
It was 12:15 when I reached Target. As I walked inside I was greeted by the "Braw-aaaaahhh!" roar of a Chewbacca standee. It had a sign next to it that asked people to take picture's with it and tweet it out. Although, I would usually love to pose next to Chewbacca and take a picture I didn't. I was a man on a mission and I need to get to the toy department straight away!
Having been to this Target several times I went straight to the toy section, in a quick walk. I figured I may as well find out if BB-8 was here or not. When I got to the Star Wars section I was greeted by a life sized BB-8, who was activated by my movement and turned it's head towards me and says hello in it's little chirpy language. *BEEP-OOP-EE!!* Beautiful. Honestly, I would be jealous of the store employee who gets to take BB-8 home with them after the display is over with! (If any of you readers know anyone who works at a store that doesn't have any Star Wars fans as employee's please hook me up with one!)
Anyways, the Star Wars aisle still had several awesome figures. Some of the aisle did look like it had been picked barren the night before. The only thing I could tell was missing were figures of the new characters Rey and Kylo Ren. There was only Darth Vader masks as the Captain Phasma's Mask and Kylo Ren's Mask where no where to be seen sadly, so much for hearing first hand any lines from the movie then. There was one Finn figure left and mainly original trilogy toys. There was one Kylo Ren hasbro lightsaber left and a Nerf Chewbacca bowcaster that was tempting me to purchase as well. Honestly most of the toys where still at this target besides 3 figures. Those weren't what I was after though. I wanted a BB-8 to go with my old R2-D2 toy I had as a kid. I walked down the aisle and low and behold the "limited" supply of BB-8's where there, all 8 of them. Honestly it looks like only one was missing.
I picked one that looked like a good box and briskly walked to the front desk. Learned about the new Micro-chipped credit card I have and how it works at the new registers (it's a really neat innovation that I should blog about later). The cashier also teased me a bit and scoffed at the new Star Wars movie and toy lines. Some people are purists and only like the original trilogy. I laughed it off and continued my purchase after being pushed at getting a Target credit card. (I didn't get one.) Oh, I also picked up batteries which I am returning as I found out later that I have plenty at home. This BB-8 takes batteries while Sphero has a built in chargeable one.
I was so happy to have my BB-8. Having had probably the worst week in a while, it was just a small uplifting thing for me. I completely left it to chance and I got exactly what I wanted. It wasn't the Sphero BB-8, but It was a BB-8. Now you are asking, well you got a Sphero BB-8 too, didn't you? Why, yes, yes I did.
How I got the Sphero BB-8
As you already know I got my BB-8 from Target during my lunch break. Well Sphero's BB-8 purchase was mainly because I got lucky. The Sphero BB-8 has been blogged all over the internet world as this years best and most wanted Christmas Toy. It was also rumored that Sphero was behind the design of the real BB-8, which turns out today is not true. Either way, in my mind, Sphero BB-8 would be the hardest toy to find on #ForceFriday and of course it was. It was no where to be found in Target, but I figured that's why they had the exclusive Hasbro version there anyways. Amazon it was already sold out around 9:00 AM when I checked, not that I would have bought it there anyways, as I wanted to see the display in person and see how big it was.
Well today was also the release date for the Batman Arkham Knight: Arkham Knight figure and my pre-ordered Sony PS4 Anniversary Edition Headset at Gamestop. So I had stopped there too during my lunch break on the way home. It wasn't really out of the way as it was basically on the pathway home from Target. I've worked at this Gamestop in the past so I know the employee's well and waited for them to find my headset in the back room while I looked at their new stock of Star Wars merchandise. So far only online can you get the Sphero BB-8 from Gamestop. I wasn't shocked. Although, on Black Friday they will more than likely have a few in stock across the stores in the U.S. as Gamestop this year has been trying to push more Gaming and Nerd merchandise and apparel at their stores and it seems to be the hottest item this fall so far. Anyways, they couldn't find my figure but did find the headset so I would have to come back after work to see if they found it or if it was still being shipped, as that sometimes happens with pre-ordered figures at Gamestop.
When I went into Gamestop the second time they still didn't have my figure in stock. I wasn't upset as I often like to just get out of the house during my telecommuting day's breaks so I enjoyed the drive out I even stopped at Barnes and Noble to see if any new Star Wars books came out. None did that I could see. I checked my phone to see the news on Star Wars toys and started reading an article. Not to my surprise that I found out that a lot of people had trouble even at the midnight releases to find the toys they wanted. Many adult collectors where upset. I also read that Sphero BB-8's where almost sold out across the country, and as I was reading the article I noticed that Bed Bath and Beyond was selling them!
I couldn't believe a place like that was selling Star Wars toys! My main guess is that I assume mom's shop there so it'd fit within a target market who might be shopping for their kids. I remembered visiting the Bed Bath and Beyond when I first moved here after getting married. My wife and I checked it out once so I knew that the BB&B was just down the road from Gamestop. So I got in my Batmobile and drove down to the Bed Bath and Beyond. It's not the greatest looking store from outside, it sure shows it age compared to the new Super Walmart next door. I was glad that it was small enough of a store though, that I'd be able to find the Star Wars section, and get out of there fast after finding out they were sold out. I already had my doubts of finding one!
So as I go on into the store and I see this lady huffing it past me. I think she saw me get out of my car and figured what I was there for. I wasn't in a rush like I was at Target, because I already had a BB-8 and I was literally giving this up to chance. I already decided to blog a review about the Target BB-8, but I thought I'd get the Sphero one too, so I could compare the two, and because I wanted to see which one would tease my cats the most! *Evil Joker Laugh*
Anyways, the Star Wars display was NOT hard to find. It literally was right in front of the main entrance, pretty close to blocking itto be honest. There too was a display of BB-8 Sphero that was in it's charging station moving it's cute head around. It was so tiny. I looked around the display and there was a Darth Vader Toaster and a few Star Wars themed cups and mugs. Not much more, and no sign of any Sphero BB-8s for sale. I sighed. I knew they would be sold out. The mom that had huffed in before me was seemingly looking frantically around the display for a BB-8. Took a picture of the displayed one, and was texting what I assumed was either her husband or her kid. She didn't look upset though. She eventually just walked away and started shopping at the store. I started to take a photo of the BB-8 for my blog, and was about to video it when I heard one of the store employee's complain to their fellow employee about the Star Wars music that was constantly playing from the display. I most definitely would find it annoying too when you are only working 3 feet away, and the sound quality wasn't the greatest for the music. Anything repetitive can get annoying fast too. Having worked at Gamestop though I knew they'd eventually tone it out and not even realize it was playing. Anyways, while thinking back to Gamestop and smirking because the employee was saying something I would say today if I worked there I started to think back to working during last year's Black Friday at Gamestop as I watched the BB-8 in the display
*Cough* "Hello, can I help you sir? Are you trying to find something?"
I must have looked lost as I was thinking and watching the BB-8 because I didn't realize at first she was talking to me. I turned around and it was the employee who complained about the music. She looked at me as if I didn't belong here, which I didn't. I walked up to the desk and said. "I was wondering if you had any more.."
"BB-8's left?" She finished for me. She knew that's what a guy in a Batman baseball shirt without his wife with him would be looking for in a place like this. "You're lucky, there is only one left. Do you want it?"
I looked around, thought maybe the mother should get it but she was long gone. I quickly justified that since she didn't even ask if any where in store, and I just did that chance just gave me another lucky curveball today. So my internal battle was quickly lifted inside my head and I smiled and said. "Yes, I would thanks!"
"Alright, let me go in back and get it for you." She smiled at me and took off to the back room. I think she was more excited to sell the last one than maybe anyone who bought a BB-8 today. The wait didn't take long and she sent me over to another cashier to finish my purchase.
"Dude, there were so many people lined up this morning for this thing, what is it?" The cashier asked me holding it up as he scanned the box. I told him how it's basically a remote controlled robot and the news dubbed it the new Tickle Me Elmo and that Target has a cheaper version if anyone he knows is looking for one still. He didn't seem to care as he finished my purchase and I marched out of the store like a champ. And that is how I got the Sphero BB-8.
Thanks For Reading!
Hopefully you found my two short stories on how I got my BB-8s interesting. I will be making a blog tomorrow on how both compare to each other. I already shot unboxing videos and tested them out a little. However, I want to make a post with better videos to give an in-depth review and help out anyone debating on which one to get for their kids or themselves. I know some other adults are looking for these toys for themselves! Don't be ashamed, I definitely am not!
I will probably make a new post comparing the two and showing them off in videos when there is better lighting tomorrow morning. You can see how dark it is in my apartment from the current photos on this blogpost! I built this blog today too, so I apologize dear reader for not having any videos or review up already tonight because the rest of my daylight hours where eaten up by making this blog. I do want to show them off though and can't wait to share which one I think is the better purchase! I'll update this post with a link and maybe even update this post itself with videos tomorrow as well, so be sure to check back in!
Thank you again for reading my first ever blog post!
Take care until next time!
-Bordon
Bordon's Note: I included links to any outside sources that influenced the story, as well as product information of the toys I found cool and of the toys I bought myself.
