‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ introduces new, evil droid toy, BB-9E
The new "Star Wars" BB-9E robotic character is being billed as "the First Order's rolling menace." Credit: Sphero/Disney / Bryan Rowe
There’s a new droid in town, an evil counterpart to Star Wars’ adorable rolling BB-8.
Lucasfilm on Thursday announced a slew of merchandise for its upcoming film, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” including three iterations — toy, plush doll and pet toy — of the new BB-9E, a robotic character the studio calls “the First Order’s rolling menace.”
Black with silver detailing, a bucket-like head and an ominous red eye, the toy version of BB-9E is one of three app-enabled droids by the Colorado-based Sphero. The new robotic character, along with newly issued BB-8 and R2-D2 toy droids, can record and view holograms and “roam iconic ship interiors and memorable locations from the Star Wars saga” remotely via smartphone or tablet, the company says.
In the Star Wars canon, R2-D2, BB-8 and BB-9E are “astromech droids” that autonomously maintain machinery.
Among many other products, Lucasfilm also announced a BB-9E addition to Hallmark’s Itty Bitty line of plush dolls, along with General Leia, Finn, Rey, Kylo Ren and others; and Petco pet toys including BB-9E.
The products are set to go on sale Friday in the multi-retailer promotion Force Friday II, following 2015’s Force Friday.
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” written and directed by Rian Johnson, reaches theaters Dec. 15.
