Beep beep! Today I have a review of the buildable BB-8 figure! This is set 75187, with 1106 pieces and a price tag of £84.99 (UK), $99.99 (U.S.), $159.99 (Aus), and $179.99 (NZ). Is the lovable droid translatable into LEGO form?

While obviously not the star of the set, I do want to mention that there is a BB-8 figure included. He’s unchanged from his previous appearances in sets and looks just as good as ever. He’s a nice inclusion but not necessary. Of course, the real star of the set is… BB-8 again?! Yep! That’s a nice big BB-8 buildable model! The set is built around a Technic frame so is very sturdy. This is the first time LEGO has used the building technique known as the Lowell sphere in an official set. I must say, however, that BB-8 was quite a bit smaller than I expected. The official images make him look pretty large but in real life he’s not that big. There are round panels on each side of BB-8. Rotating this one will make BB-8’s head bob back and forth in a very natural way. I like how this looks and it really brings the model to life. Rotating another panel will cause a third panel to open and… give the thumbs up! The thumbs-up torch is built on a Technic gear rack but the flame itself is a translucent light blue.

Yep, remember that iconic thumbs-up scene? This is it! I think it looks pretty nice, but the Technic elements around the flame look a bit messy. Rotating the original panel backwards will retract the flame, but you’ll need to close the panel manually. BB-8 also comes with a black Technic stand. There is a large stickered plaque – the only sticker in this set – and also has a place for the minifig-scaled BB-8 in front of the big one. It looks a little crude and is different from other UCS stands as those generally have Technic elements. However, it works well, and BB-8 fits in securely. Do note he also can stand up by himself.

So… quite a cool set! I think the features all work pretty well and the model looks quite nice! Unfortunately, I think the price is a bit high and somewhere around £74.99 (UK), $79.99 (U.S.), $129.99 (Aus), and $149.99 (NZ) would’ve been more reasonable in relation to BB-8’s size. Yes, more than 1,100 pieces are included, but many of those are small parts.

Builds: 4.5/5

Minifigures: 4/5

Playability: 4/5

Price: 3/5

Personal Rating: 4/5

TOTAL: 3.9/5

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in a comment below 🙂

VaderFan2187 out!