It’s a question that’s been on my mind ever since I saw Star Wars: the Force Awakens. Not who Rey’s parents were, or why the Death Star is the size of a planet now. I still wonder: when BB-8 flicks his little flame in response to Finn’s thumbs-up, is he giving a thumbs-up back? Or is he giving a slightly ruder gesture? We may never know. What we can figure out is which response a LEGO version of the droid will elicit. 75452 BB-8 Astromech Droid marks the second LEGO iteration of this roundest of droids, and is considerably smaller than the 2017 model with a part count of 569. Pre-orders can be made now for US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £79.99, with a general release date of January 1. Other sellers across the galaxy may have it too, such as Amazon or eBay. Let’s get the ball rolling on this review!
LEGO Star Wars 75452 BB-8 Astromech Droid | 569 Pieces | Available January 1, 2026; pre-orders open now | US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £79.99
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
The box and build
The front and back of the box depict BB-8 on Jakku and the Millenium Falcon, respectively. The 500-odd parts are spread between four bags.
The core is built up from diverse colours, including an unusual one for the mechanical claw part. It’s not been seen very often in blue, and there are 8 in total in this set.
Their purpose soon becomes clear. Rather than using the Lowell sphere method to create a ball shape, this model employs clip-and-bar connections to put panels and plates at 45° to each other.
We’re building studs-up, but it’s not clear if we’re building the top or the bottom. We know where the front is though! Not just because of some helpful colour-coding inside; the end of bag 1 includes what must surely be the lighter mechanism.
A LEGO Star Wars set is the last place I expected to find a new Technic wheel mould, but here we are. It’s the same diameter as this rim, with similar details (I pinched one from my collection for comparison’s sake here). It is slightly thinner though, and accordingly comes with a new tyre to match.
So what’s a droid doing with a wheel? Good question. This mechanism will hopefully help us answer that question. The big wheel spins some little ones thanks to some rubber bands (and Technic half-bushes in pink, unusually)…
That connects to a transfer case, to which our lighter is also attached…
And finally, a yellow Technic liftarm links the two together.
This is what the mechanism does from the outside. What isn’t quite visible is the little gear turning within the transfer case – but remember that, it’ll become important later.
At last, then, we can orient our main model. This mechanism slots nicely into our half-sphere, and as a bonus, we’ve inverted the studs in the process.
And that means we can connect another half-sphere. It’s a case of same-same, but different. The last part to go in is a Technic axle, which connects to the aforementioned transfer gear.
The next order of business is closing up some of the gaps. BB-8’s orange paneling is depicted almost entirely with printing; two designs across four 8×8 dishes. They’re mounted on turntables, presumably to give the effect that BB-8 ‘rolls’.
Printed details are also present around his dome-shaped head. 3×6 half-domes are the base part for these. Two are used on top:
And three around the outside. I like the method used for the photoreceptor: another stud inversion, enabling a so-called boat tile to form a black beady eye.
And let’s not forget the stand-alone display stand, complete with BB-8 minifigure. Somehow this is my first one!
The finished model
Say what you like about the sequel trilogy, but I think BB-8 is one of the best things to come out of it. It’s such a cute design! And despite being essentially an orb, he has loads of personality. That does mostly come across in brick-built form.
It’s certainly a lot smoother than the last model. However, that does mean the detail relies very heavily on printed parts. I generally tend to favour brick-built solutions where possible, but at this scale there would certainly be some detail lost.
He’s not very big; the body is slightly bigger than a baseball. Apparently, though, that does mean he scales with the previously-released C-3PO and R2-D2 models. That’s a nice touch!
How does it fare in terms of play features? Well, here’s that well-concealed wheel underneath.
It sticks out juuust enough to allow BB-8 to be driven about. And as he does, he swivels his head from side to side, as if looking for Poe after their X-wing crash. It’s a smooth enough mechanism. Once I figured out what it did, I immediately wondered if one might remove the head-shaking part to motorise it.
One of the best features about the previous version of this set was the burner arm mechanism; turning one of the plates on the side would extend and retract the arm. On this model, that process has to be done entirely manually.
I found it to be slightly problematic. It’s fiddly to get out, and you have to be careful how you put it back in so that you can close up the hatch. Speaking of which – doing so also exposes a lot of flat surfaces, so it looks a bit odd. It’s not movie-accurate either, but trying to recreate that tiny panel opening would likely be more trouble than it’s worth, so I can forgive that one.
Conclusions and recommendation
So what to make of this diminutive droid? As much as I like the in-universe design, I’m not completely taken by this one. The body just feels a bit square (although the head does look great). Now I know making spheres is tricky in LEGO form, especially smooth ones – and the construction used here is clever. But I can’t help but look at the Lowell-spherical 75187 and think it looks better. The same goes for the rolling mechanism: it’s nice, and I can’t wait to see if the community motorises it. But given the choice, I’d rather have the semi-automated burner arm, personally.
Oh, and then there’s the price. I hate having to beat this drum every time we review a Star Wars set, but it’s too expensive. 90 bucks for 569 pieces is already a pretty bum deal, but it feels so small for that price. I can’t deny the appeal of having it scale with Artoo and Threepio, so a modest discount may suffice for completionists. Otherwise, there are several other sets in the buildable droid collection that are better value for your money.
LEGO Star Wars 75452 BB-8 Astromech Droid | 569 Pieces | Available January 1, 2026; pre-orders open now | US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £79.99
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
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