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 

Top Five Best April Fools Jokes of 2016

April Fool's Day came and went Friday. I found myself not really pranked by anyone, making my record about 10 years now I think. However, I do love seeing all the fake products, announcements, and other pranks companies make during the day for the past few years. I've always told and suggested to companies to try to think of something fun for April Fool's Day to help get noticed in the Social Media world as Facebook and other social sites love to share the pranks during the day. Let me share with you my top 5 favorite pranks from this year, and one huge dud.

5.  Wolverine Records

The Canadian site called the Library and Archives of Canada launched a page featuring Marvel's Wolverine's military records for the Canadian government.

Is it proof that Mutants live among us, or Fools?

4. Star Trek White Noise Machine

Think Geek made a hilarious product up for April 1st. The Star Trek white Noise Machine makes sounds like any ship from past Star Trek shows. It claimed to sell for a hefty price of $150. If you clicked on the buy it now button of it though it would direct you to a page letting you know that it's an April Fool's Day prank. However, judging by the comment section of the fake product page, you'd think Think Geek might want to make it so!

3. Donald Trump's Huge Campaign Announcement

If only this were true. Jimmy Kimmel has done it again with this hilarious video of Trump announcing that his campaign run was all a huge, or yhuuuuge set up to an April's Fools Joke. Funny enough my wife overhearing me listening to the video for a second thought and hoped it was real. I did too.

2. Witcher 3: Roach Horse DLC

CD Projekt Red launched a video announcing fake Horse DLC for their Witcher 3 game that launched last year. Mocking the very bugs they took to correct since the launch they made up DLC and a story that the bugs were purposely left into the game. Mocking both themselves and the video game industry as a whole, the video is hilarious to watch. It left me wanting both a talking horse dlc drop and that Roach sticker though.

1. Quilted Northern: Rustic Weave 

Quilted Northern posted this hilarious commercial for their "new" product called Quilted Northern: Rustic Weave. A product no one wants I would hope at least. The video is perfect in the fact that it reminds me of the old SNL commercial skits that I loved and the dose of serious reality Quilted Northern gives to the product ad. I love the part were the lady sits down and there is perfect narration timed to her wince. Wonderful job Quilted Northern!

The Worst

Google Mail: Mic Drop

Google's prank was the worst this year. Besides Minions being stupid in my opinion. Someone at Google decided it would be funny this year for Google Mail, or Gmail, to have a "Mic Drop" button added it's mail service. The button when pressed would then send a "mic drop" gif to the receiver. It was meant to be a joke that some people might use, but never the way it ended up happening. Somehow Google messed up the prank and there was a bug in the system. The Mic Drop was being sent with messages when it was never clicked, and sometimes just the gif and not the message was being sent. This prompted some people to claim that the prank had either cost them their job or a job opportunity. Google quickly cancelled their prank and apologized. Hopefully next year they will have a better prank or just not do it at all. 

Well that was my list of top five pranks and one huge dud for this years April Fool's Day. What is your favorite or least favorite this year? Let me know in the comments below!

- Bordon 

Quick Update on Sphero BB-8

Quick Update on the Sphero BB-8. On the release of the movie or shortly after my iPhone got an update for the Sphero app. It added some new moves to Sphero such as figure eights and other cute little movements. The only other update I've seen is the sounds sound a lot closer to the film than they did before. In fact he sounds a lot more like his big hasbro brother.

It also has been brought to my attention the Sphero had nothing to do with the Stage BB-8 as once thought. It has now been confirmed to be made by Lucas Film after the film was created, for promotional purposes.

The Stage/Red Carpet BB-8 is also to be believed to be axle driven as opposed to hamster driven like the Sphero and Hasbro models. This information comes from the BB-8 builders club that I have joined on Facebook for the past two months.

I will update my blog when I get around to building BB-8 in the near future. It is one of my goals for this year.

Thanks for reading this short update!

-Bordon

Top 5 Reasons Batman is Awesome on Batman Day

  Today is Batman Day! A day to celebrate that dark knight, the world's greatest detective you love! Or at least you should love Batman, I hope so! First let me thank Bill Finger and Bob Kane for creating Batman, without you both we'd never have the cultural icon that means so much to all of us this past 76 years and counting!  

  Now to honor Batman on Batman day, I created a top five reasons why I think Batman is awesome. 

  Let's begin...  

1. He is 100% Human

  While most heroes are aliens, or humans who gain magical powers, get some sore of radiation sickness, or are born mutants, Batman is 100% human. He might have lots of money, know a ridiculous amount of hand to hand combat moves, and have lots of toys, but he is human. In most comic book stories when he comes face to face with aliens or even the big old boy in blue, he almost always is shown to be the human side of the conflict, and overcomes the threat and wins. Comics have always recognized that his humanity is almost his super strength. He represents all of us when he faces odds that would be against a normal human from over coming, and he over comes those odds every time!

2. He has the Greatest Villains

  I can't think of any other comic book hero that has the most well known villains than Batman does. While it is true that we are living in a Comic Book Golden Age with the movie industry having a comic book movie premiering every 3 months or so, Batman still has the most villains that could be named by the average person.  Why is that? He has had countless TV shows, Movies, and other media made about him. But I think one of the major reasons someone on the street could name at least three Batman villains if you asked them is because these villains speak to our culture. Joker that smiling clown of crime is probably one of the most well known of Batman's villains. Many of the rouge's gallery top villains such as Catwoman, Riddler, Two-Face, Joker, and Penguin have been with Batman since almost the beginning. Catwoman was created to be Batman's Irene Adler and as such has always been a romantic interest, with the elephant in the relationship of her being a thief. Batman's first arch nemesis is still well known to comic book individuals but not as mainstream as the rest of the rouge's is Hugo Strange. He is Batman's first villain to make the first re-appearance in the comics. It's interesting how all these villains started out. I could go on and on how each one had interesting origins within the mythos and I could probably write a whole post just about one of Batman's villains.

  The point being is that Batman's villains speak on a whole level of our cultural "mind". Joker represents the evil that a mere man can do, the unspeakable violence anyone could achieve. Catwoman represents thievery and selfish gains. Riddler represents a cultural ego and always wanting to be on top. Penguin represents greed and lust for power. Harley Quinn, a newer villain, represents the many people who just want to be loved and cherished and often suffers abuse for that love and affection. All the major villains represents something within our own culture that speaks to us on a deeper human level. They represent how maybe good intentions could lead to a darker path if left unchecked, and obsessed over.  Each one brings out something in Batman, and adds to his mythos and character. Without his many enemies Batman probably would not achieve the level of reception within our culture and popularity.

3. His Story is Tragic, and in Essence a Modern Shakespearean Story

  Since his Origin story was printed Batman has always been a story of tragedy. The mindset of Batman was born out of a young boy who lost his parents at too young of an age, and in the most horrific way possible. From there we see a young man obsessed with righting the one wrong he could never fix, by trying to prevent that from ever happening in his current day city. However, after his heroic journey starts and it seems he finally is able to take down the mobs and other criminals within his parent's city, he has to face the problematic effects of his actions. The insane individuals come out of the woodwork to challenge him. Joker might not have existed if it wasn't for Batman. The story evolves into a tragedy of a man who wanted to right wrongs, only to cause greater problems than the ones he fixed. Whether Batman or the reader faces this truth or not,  it still is in mythos. A small boy who grew up to be a man in a bat suit fighting evil that is still too great at times to bare.

4. His Allies are Awesome

 Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Ace the Bat-Hound, Huntress, Catwoman, and Gordon are just a few well known Batman allies. Each one is special to fans in different ways. Mostly because although Batman is some rich, white, strong guy, he isn't as relatable as say Robin. Robin often is the kid sidekick, someone a kid would want to be if Batman was rule. They often go through real life problems in the comics and you get to watch them grow into other super hero roles as the years go on. Batman is on his 4th Robin, the newest is his biological son. The other Robins have all grown into super hero roles that they forged on their own. Oracle who was Batgirl before the New 52 reboot was a paraplegic after being paralyzed by Joker, was very relatable. She took her weakness and made it a strength, but also faced real life issues of what it is like to lose the ability to walk and run, and how to face it. Every single ally of Batman's has something to admire and appreciate. I haven't kept track but I believe his might be the biggest "family" in the DC universe, and there is a reason for it. They are all very human and face very human issues.

5.The World's Greatest Detective in American Culture 

He's our American version of Sherlock Holmes. In the old 1966 TV show, The Animated Series, and even the comics themselves, Batman has often shown to be a detective at heart. He has to solve some criminal case, or some new caper that effected the city of Gotham. In fact Batman started out in a Detective Comics issue, as a showcased Superhero like detective. That's where his origins lie, and he would eventually take over the entire issue as his first starring comic. When I think of the Dark Knight series by Nolan I don't really regard it as a true Batman series, because it always missed this part of Batman. He didn't solve any cases or crimes, or did any detective work in those films. Honestly, Batman does do a lot of detective work when he has to solve crimes by new villains or link Joker Toxin to where Joker might be located as his hide out. Batman always will figure out who is behind the crime because he is the world's greatest detective. Even Ra's Al Ghul calls him that when they first meet in the comics.


  Well That's my Top 5 Reasons Batman is awesome for today. It was a quick post, and I feel like I can write more and more why Batman is awesome and about his rouges' gallery and allies. I think I will write more on them at a later date. Anyways, thank you very much for reading. Have a happy Batman day to you, and....

Happy Batman Day to Batman! 

-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