We have heard rumours, and even seen a mock-up at the recent Tokyo Model fair, no wit seems Bandai are full steam ahead with their development of the little spherical shaped Robot BB-8 from "The Force Awakens" in 1/2 scale - yes that's right HALF SCALE. We have some early promo pictures and info for you in our preview...
New from Bandai in injection moulded plastic – the 1/2 scale BB-8
BB-8 Droid
1/2 scale
¥ 15,120 / US $180
Manufacturer: BANDAI
Size : 1/2 scale (33.5cm)
We have already seen this image knocking around social media depicting the proposed Bandai 1/2th scale BB 8kit. Of note to a lot of people who were not there was the card which says 1/2nd scale...
Today Bandai released a feature set of the kit. We have already seen on Ebay and a few other places that it is being offered fro sale. The price tag from Bandai is ¥ 15,120 yen, and we have already seen it on Ebay as a pre-purchase item in a month for U.S. $180. We think we will wait for the Tokyo Model detective to get them before we make a thought about purchase...
Don't Know BB8? Been living under a rock - or maybe in Jakku?
BB-8, sometimes spelt Beebee-Ate, was a BB unit astromech droid who operated approximately thirty years after the Battle of Endor. It had a dome head, similar to that of R2 series astromech droids, with the bulk of its body made up of a ball on which the droid's head rolled. BB-8 was mostly white, with some silver and orange on its body, as well as a black photoreceptor. The droid belonged to Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, whom he accompanied during his flights on his T-70 X-wing fighter.
BB-8 became the companion of New Republic Commander and flight leader of Rapier Squadron, Poe Dameron. BB-8 followed Dameron when he left the New Republic fleet and joined the Resistance. This is where we first meet this astromech in the Star Wars film "the Force Awakens"
SO what is offered in the kit?
SO what is offered in the kit?
BB-8 Astromech droid from Bandai
1/2 scale injection moulded plastic kit - here is the product flyer - Using large curved parts of plastic to make the mould - this is apparently called "New Technology" the model "stands" at 33.5 cm high
The kit includes lighting for the interior, though you may be able to add more as we are sure that customizers will go to town with this kit. You can see a faint light in there - but no one seems to be home...
in the "gimmick" column is the interchangeable hands for BB-8 - the claw is first...
...then some voltage from his appendavge - tiny taser anybody?
Lastly if you need a thumbs up...all of these appear to be lit by LED's
And you can save your part of the map to the last jedi in his secret compartment...
OK, so this is all we know about this little 'droid in kit form so far. He has great potential - but also a large purchase price..
The kit is set to be released in April of this year - so start saving your pennies kids!
A good place to get your "Asian-centric" models like this that are hard to find is the "Tokyo Model Detective" who seems to have cheaper prices and good service to boot. Check his site out for a lot about models from Japan...
