BB-8/2BB-2/BB-4/BB-9E - Droid Factory

All different types of Astromech droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their [sic] own unique personality and colors. These four BB units are featured in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

May the Force be with you... and your Droids!

When the Disney Parks’ BB-8 figure was released, it was the first figure by time in a long time that just felt shortchanged. It’s not that is wasn’t done well, it just didn’t come with extra appendages and features that we felt it should have had. When you see what they did with C1-10P “CHOPPER” it just feels like they could have done a heck of a lot more with BB-8. That said, BB-8 wasn’t the worst figure that Disney Parks had produced. BB-8 had been approached like a Weeble, and as you know, they don’t fall down. They’ve added a weighted ball piece that kept BB-8 grounded no matter how much you threw him around. We give credit to Disney for working that feature into the sculpt, but that’s all this figure offered as far as features. There are no interchangeable arms, no “thumbs up” lighter, and no useful articulation here aside from a swivel head. BB-8 disappoints. And that disappoints us. Now four more of these supposed appear in the Last Jedi, so now we have three more similar figures with the same limitations.

The BB-8/2BB-2/BB-4/BB-9E set is this year’s new Disney Star Wars Entertainment four-pack. It features four different types of BB droids that are set to appear in Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Some are supposedly older models of others, but they follow in similar footprints of astromech droids as they all have unique colorings and revised heads to set them apart from each other. The deco is phenomenal, and the smallest of details, including little symbols and text, have been expertly and cleanly applied. The paint operations are fantastic, and the new tooling on these figures is exquisite. We’re impressed with how well they were produced. We wish that they came with additional features like we mentioned above because we feel that those types of extra features would carry these figures to the next level. Although they’re all BB units, the four figures in this set, BB-8, 2BB-2, BB-4, and BB-9E look different from each other and are certain to populate your collection beautifully by offering diversity and flexibility in your collection.

All of the BB units break down into four separate pieces. These parts include the head attachment (some have some parts here that barely move), two body halves, and the weighted gravity ball (which fits into the two halves like a carefully constructed puzzle by the way). All of the BB units are unable to stand unassisted without the gravity ball inside of them. Besides, the two halves of each droid don’t even snap together without it either. You’re dependent on the gravity ball to make these functional action figures. Each ball is very cool, and they all have a great amount of detail etched into them. There is no doubt that a nice amount of thought went into creating these little droids, but Disney could have gone further with them. Ultimately, the Disney BB-8/2BB-2/BB-4/BB-9E droids aren’t any better than what Hasbro has given us (ping pong ball or golf ball styles). That’s not a good thing when you consider it. Some of the Hasbro BB-8 figures might be better thanks to the excellent paint operations. These figures aren’t terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but Disney didn’t go above and beyond like they did with C1-10P “CHOPPER”. They should have, however.