LEGO Star Wars BB-8 75187

It's hard not to love this from the moment you take a look at the box and see BB-8 staring back at you. As someone who always wished they'd bought the R2-D2 set when it came out it was a no-brainer to build this little droid. The build was enjoyable, involved, occasionally tricky and a couple of times felt a little repetitive; but the 2 and a bit hours when pretty quickly and to see him take shape bag by bag was great. The external appearance hides the level of complexity and mechanics going on inside brilliantly, and the movement the mechanics create are very nicely done. The easy option would have been to have the head rotate only, however the additional effort the design team have gone to to create the authentic BB-8 head movement is well worth it and it's the first thing people comment on when they see it in action. The scale of the model is perfect for display, and the stand, info sticker and mini BB-8 make it a great shelf display piece for any collector (dusting it in the coming weeks and months won't be so much fun). In terms of playability, this isn't one the kids will be spending hours with, but then that isn't really the point with this one. It's on a slightly higher than normal shelf keeping it out of the reach of little fingers, although mini BB-8 seems to have gone missing, perhaps to a galaxy far far away! If you buy it and build it, you'll love it ..... and I challenge you to walk past it without giving the head a little wobble!

Ok, so first the build is a bit repetitive, but it's a sphere, so that should be no surprise. The interior mechanism for the moving parts was very impressive and satisfying. The play features are right on point. I really appreciated the layering technique used to achieve the spherical shape. I was very happy with the final result.