Nakashima, Ryan (August 15, 2015). "Disney's support for start-ups led to one new company winning a dream Star Wars contract". The National. Abu Dhabi . Retrieved September 5, 2015.

Taylor, Chris (July 3, 2017). "Watch Rey and BB-8's first thrilling adventure in Star Wars: Forces of Destiny". Mashable . Retrieved July 5, 2017.

Watercutter, Angela (February 12, 2016). "This New Animated Lego Star Wars Short Looks Legit". Wired . Retrieved April 25, 2016. Otero, Jose (April 16, 2015). " Star Wars Celebration: Why Star Wars 7 uses practical effects". IGN . Retrieved April 21, 2015. a b c Brooks, Dan (August 26, 2015). "Droid Dreams: How Neal Scanlan and the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Team Brought BB-8 to Life". StarWars.com . Retrieved December 18, 2015.

Zacharek, Stephanie (December 15, 2015). "Review: The Force Awakens Is Everything You Could Hope for in a Star Wars Movie—and Less". Time . Retrieved December 16, 2015. Lewis, Andy (December 1, 2014). "Trailer Report: Star Wars Teaser Beats Age of Ultron In Debut". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved December 2, 2014.a b Breznican, Anthony (August 12, 2015). " Star Wars: The Force Awakens: J.J. Abrams explains what's in a name". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved December 6, 2015. Bond, Paul (December 9, 2015). "How Star Wars Will Change Hollywood (Again)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved December 29, 2015.

McWeeny, Drew (December 15, 2015). "Wait a minute... who played the voice of BB-8 in Star Wars: The Force Awakens?". HitFix . Retrieved December 16, 2015. Rothman, Lily (December 3, 2015). "See Every Star Wars Cover in Time Magazine History". Time . Retrieved December 16, 2015. Visual Effects Society Announces Nominees for the 14th Annual VES Awards". Visual Effects Society. January 12, 2016. Archived from the original on June 7, 2017 . Retrieved January 15, 2016. a b c d e f Breznican, Anthony (November 13, 2015). "BB-8: Creating the roly-poly droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved December 4, 2015. LEGO pieces are ill-suited to building spheres so BB-8 presents a considerable challenge given that the droid consists entirely of a large sphere which forms the body and a hemispherical head. However, the designer has made clever use of a Lowell Sphere to form the curved shape and I think it looks brilliant, particularly when viewed from a distance as the inevitable jagged edges become less apparent.Taylor, Chris (August 22, 2013). " Star Wars Episode VII to Use Film, Be More Like Original Trilogy". Mashable . Retrieved September 7, 2013. Couto, Anthony (December 13, 2014). "Mark Hamill Says Star Wars: The Force Awakens' BB-8 Is a Prop, Not CGI". IGN . Retrieved April 21, 2015. a b Szostak, Phil (2015). The Art of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' . Abrams Books. p.110. ISBN 978-1-4197-1780-2.

The first mechanism is activated by turning one of the tool bay discs which causes the head to rotate. This works brilliantly and the motion is quite realistic as there is also some transverse movement so the head appears to bob up and down, as if held in place by several magnetic casters. In fact, it is simply connected to the body using a Technic axle but this is very well hidden beneath the centre of the head. Miller, Ross (September 3, 2015). "You can now buy Star Wars adorable BB-8 droid and let it patrol your home". The Verge . Retrieved December 6, 2015. Another tool hatch is hidden underneath the model. It does not house any functions but looks great and offers surprising stability as the tiles cover a reasonably wide surface area. BB-8 is therefore very unlikely to tip over accidentally and I would be confident in displaying the droid without its stand, although it looks marvellous in either configuration. Cochran, Jay (February 11, 2016). " Star Wars The Force Awakens 3.75" Takodana Encounter Set with Maz Kanata Figure". JediInsider.com . Retrieved July 27, 2016. Foster, Alan Dean (2015). "Chapter I". The Force Awakens ( e-book). Random House Worlds. ISBN 9781101965504.

Overall

The horizontal motion is facilitated by a rubber band found within the body so the head will always return to the centre as long as the model is displayed on a flat surface. If BB-8 is placed at an angle then the head will dip in the direction of travel, just as it does when BB-8 moves at speed in the films! This function is a lot of fun and gives the droid a great deal of personality based simply on the range of possible poses. a b c Miskell, Kyle (December 3, 2015). " Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Everybody's Favorite Droids Grace the Cover of Time Magazine". Collider . Retrieved December 16, 2015.