BB-H20 - Droid Factory

All different types of droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. This droid aided the Resistanc on the salty, mineral world of Crait. Join BB-H20 onhis adventures throughout the galaxy.

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

Disney’s Droid Factory line introduced the BB unit in the 3.75” line as BB-8 in 2017. Years later, the same template hasn’t received any updates or upgrades but still gets used to produce more BB units for the Droid Factory line. Regardless, the original tooling offers a precise action figure that looked very much like the on-screen character. Disney continues to produce many other BB units for the other Sequel Trilogy Star Wars films and other Star Wars Entertainment. Now, as part of Disney’s annual “holiday” lineup, Disney chose the BB unit sculpting for 2020, and they’ve created a character called BB-H20. The card back explains that this droid supports the activities of the Resistance and hangs out of the salty and mineral-rich planet of Crait. So, it’s probably safe to assume this character is somewhere off-camera during The Last Jedi. Heaven, please help us all. But as with most holiday droids, BB-H20 is more at home somewhere within the Star Wars “Expanded Universe.” And this character may never be part of the official canon as far as Lucasfilm LTD. is concerned. BB-H20, the Christmas droid for 2020, has some holiday flare, but it’s another weak effort in this lineup.

We suppose Disney approached this character with deco to imitate a candy cane. It works, but it’s such a simple design that it becomes a dull action figure quickly. All of Disney’s BB units function like Weebles. They’ve added a weighted piece that keeps BB-H20 grounded no matter how much you have thrown the droid around. We give Disney credit for working that feature into the sculpt, but that’s all this figure offers. There are no interchangeable arms, no “thumbs up” lighter, and no useful articulation here aside from a swivel head. The droid also doesn’t come with any holiday props, which we find rather disappointing. However, BB-H20 received an excellent, albeit simple, paint job. The two outer halves function like an eggshell to the ball underneath. The “weighted” comes with an attractive pattern on it too. Still, BB-H20 disappoints overall. And that disappoints us greatly. We’ve loved all of the figures in this line so far, so it’s unfortunate that we’re disappointed with this one. BB-H20 breaks down into four separate pieces. They include a head attachment (with barely movable antennae), two body halves, and the weighted gravity ball (which fits into the two halves like a carefully constructed puzzle).

BB-H20 is unable to stand unassisted without the gold gravity ball inside of it. Besides, the two halves don’t snap together without it either. You’re dependent on the gravity ball to make this a functional action figure. The ball itself is beautifully designed and has a lot of detail etched into it. Disney also gave it some colorful paint application for lights and buttons. But why the same silver color for the weighted ball? Why not make it festive, like red, gold, or green? Whether this ball is based on some images from a technical “making of” book or some Sequel Trilogy “behind the scenes” materials is something we don’t know. The “insides” of this BB unit are believable and work well from that perspective. It’s just a shame that the gravity ball prevents the figure from doing anything else meaningful in your collection. You may have a completely different take on this figure than us too. Retailing for $12.99, it doesn’t feel like collectors get their money’s worth here at all. We love the concept of “holiday” figures very much, but we think Disney should probably reserve the line for standard astromech droids only. They are inordinately more interesting than BB units, and we believe collectors purchase them with more enthusiasm and excitement.