As I’m sure every “Trekker” out there already knows, Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be hitting theaters this December and with it comes a new toy that will blow everyone’s old-school action figures out of the water – the new BB-8 droid. And it’s not just humans that are enjoying the droid, check out the video below that Vanity Fair posted of our four-legged friends warming up to the new toy.
BB-8, which is basically a rolling robot, was first seen in the Force Awakens trailer. To be clear, the BB-8 available for sale starting Friday, September 4 isn’t as be as big as the one depicted on-screen, and it probably won’t be quite as smart or independent, but it’s still a droid that Star Wars fans can control and that’s pretty darn cool.
The toy, which is roughly the size of a baseball, can be controlled via smartphone app and uses gyroscopes and motors to propel itself forward, backward and side-to-side at up to 5 miles per hour. The app offers real-time, visual feedback on exactly what BB-8 is doing. With a tap on the screen, you can have BB-8 act out sadness, irritation, happiness, or just move around in circles.
Fans can drive it around, record, watch Star Wars-style holographic messages in the app, and put it on patrol which is its autonomous mode that will allow the toy to roam around on its own. One of the best things about BB-8 is that as the movie is released and more information becomes available it can evolve.
Philadelphian’s can purchase their BB-8’s starting this Friday, September 4 at the locations listed below:
Amazon
AT&T
Apple Store
Barnes & Noble
Bed Bath & Beyond
Best Buy
Brookstone
Disney Store
Discovery Channel
Nordstrom
RadioShack
Urban Outfitters
Sprint
Target
Toys R Us
Verizon
