--- description: Sphero has introduced its rolling toy version of BB-8, a popular new droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. title: This Will Be the Star Wars Toy Every Kid Wants This Holiday image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd970790e8213fd10/6988621d8e060167d8462304/bb8-witb-photo3_legal_1200_1140.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Will Be the _Star Wars_ Toy Every Kid Wants This Holiday  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 3, 2015 12:59 PM CUT  BB-8 BB-8Sphero/Disney  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 3, 2015 12:59 PM CUT “Merchandising, merchandising. Where the real money from the movie is made!,” quipped the Yoda-esque character in Mel Brooks’ 1987 _Star Wars_ spoof _Spaceballs._ And he was right, especially when it comes to A Galaxy Far, Far Away. By 1997, sales of _Star Wars_ toys hit an estimated $9 billion, making over $3 billion more than the movies themselves. In that time-honored tradition of turning imaginary Jedi knights, Sith warriors, aliens and droids into real money, toy companies from Mattel to Hasbro to LEGO are primed and ready to release a smorgasbord of toys tied to the upcoming _The Force Awakens,_ the first new _Star Wars_ film in a decade. But there’s a newcomer among their ranks, too: Sphero, a [Boulder, Colorado-based startup](http://time.com/3828913/star-wars-force-awakens-bb8-toy/ "undefined") that makes smartphone-controlled spherical robots. On Thursday, Sphero rolled out its toy version of BB-8, the new film’s spinning droid who looks to be a spiritual successor to the perennially popular R2-D2. Sphero’s BB-8 is controllable with a _Star Wars-_themed smartphone app and the help of a Wi-Fi signal. It responds to simple directional inputs as well as pre-set commands like “patrol,” which sends it automatically zipping here and there around a room. The company took care to breathe life into the toy, having it emit the chirps and squeaks that make _Star Wars_‘ droids feel somehow alive. It comes with a recharging dock and gets about an hour of play time on a three hour charge. BB-8’s software is updatable via the app, meaning the company can add new features over time. The idea behind the BB-8 toy, Sphero Chief Creative Officer Rob Maigret told TIME, is that it’s “the closest we get to an actual droid.” Everything about the toy, from the Apple-style packaging on down, is designed with that goal in mind. “We’ve proven we can give personality to a ball,” said Maigret.  BB-8 Sphero/Disney But the most impressive thing about Sphero’s BB-8, which is just slightly bigger than a baseball, is the droid’s head. As in the movie, BB-8’s cranium sits generally near the top of the toy regardless of the robot’s orientation or speed, like a geostationary satellite locked in position over Earth. When the movie BB-8 was first seen in a _Force Awakens_ trailer, many fans thought the seeming impossibility of how the head worked meant the rolling robot was created via computer graphics. Not so. It’s a physical effect brought to the film after Disney CEO Bob Iger personally enlisted Sphero’s help. Now, Sphero has gone and brought basically the same functionality to a toy that will retail for $149.99\. Maigret wouldn’t tell TIME how the head worked, but allowed that some curious consumers will almost certainly rip BB-8 apart and post their findings online. One downside here: BB-8’s head isn’t permanently attached, and a high-speed collision into a wall can temporarily decapitate it. Sphero may not have the size, money, or brand recognition of a Mattel or Hasbro. But Disney, which owns the _Star Wars_ franchise after a $4 billion deal in 2012, has given the company a real chance to break out this holiday season. As a movie character, BB-8 feels destined to become a fan favorite. Some _Star Wars_ fans have already tattooed likenesses of the droid on various parts of their body, and the movie isn’t even out until December. Fans’ interest in a movie character can easily translate into big money for toymakers — just ask LEGO, which saw about an 11% sales boost in the months after its well-received _Lego Movie_ hit theaters. Still, there will be challenges. _Star Wars_ toymakers in the 1970s and 80s didn’t have to compete with computers and iPads for kids’ hearts and minds and, therefore, mom and dad’s dollars. The asking price, too, is steep. But Sphero’s timing is great, with both _The Force Awakens_ and the holiday season quickly approaching (other new _Star Wars_ toys are being announced this week as well; the release schedule was surely planned out like a general plans an invasion of a foreign land). And Sphero will have the marketing power of the Mouse House behind it. If the five-year-old company can successfully tap into what’s already becoming a fresh bout of _Star Wars_ mania, it could use BB-8 as a launching pad to blast into homes across the country. ### You'll Want These New Star Wars Toys Immediately  Star Wars Black Series; Kylo Ren Hasbro  Star Wars Black Series; Rey Hasbro  Star Wars Black Series; Finn Hasbro  Star Wars Black Series; First Order Stormtrooper Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens Armor Up; Chewbacca Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens Armor Up; Poe Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens Armor Up; Finn Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens; 12" Stormtrooper Hasro  Star Wars The Force Awakens; 12" Finn Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens Build a Weapon; Tie Fighter Pilot Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens Build a Weapon; Rebellion Pilot Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens Build a Weapon; Rey Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens Build a Weapon; Kylo Ren Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens Build a Weapon; Capt. Phasma Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens; Darth Vader and Ahsoka Tano Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens; Dessert Mission Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens; Han Solo and Princess Leia Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens; Stormtrooper Commander and Obi Wan Kenobi Hasbro  Star Wars The Force Awakens; Speeder Bike Hasbro  Hot WheelsStar Wars The Force AwakensEdition; First Order Stormtrooper Vehicle, Kylo Ren Character Car and BB-8 Car Mattel ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4021163/bb-8-sphero-toy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4021163/bb-8-sphero-toy/"},"headline":"This Will Be the Star Wars Toy Every Kid Wants This Holiday","datePublished":"2015-09-03T12:59:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:44:27.982Z","description":"Sphero's BB-8 is a smartphone-controlled rolling robot","url":"https://time.com/4021163/bb-8-sphero-toy/","keywords":["Tech","Gadgets","Star Wars topic","Toys","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd970790e8213fd10/6988621d8e060167d8462304/bb8-witb-photo3_legal_1200_1140.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Fitzpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd970790e8213fd10/6988621d8e060167d8462304/bb8-witb-photo3_legal_1200_1140.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BB-8","caption":"BB-8","creditText":"Sphero/Disney","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4021163/bb-8-sphero-toy/","name":"This Will Be the Star Wars Toy Every Kid Wants This Holiday"}}]}] ```