CB-23 - DD

All different types of droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. A rusty droid with insectile features, A maroon and turquoise BB astromech unit, CB-23 serves the Resistance as Poe Dameron's co-pilot.

Disney managed to squeeze in a new character from Star Wars Resistance into the 3.75” line. It’s a surprising move, especially since the series got canceled in the blink of an eye and didn’t go over well with long-established Star Wars fans. But since they have the tooling at their disposal, they designed Poe Dameron’s BB unit from Star Wars Resistance in the Droid Depot line. Hasbro developed an animated line of action figures to support the animated series, and it was also short-lived. Now we have the first realistically styled character from the series, although it fits in nicely with the rest of Hasbro’s animated characters. Disney broke no new ground here. It’s a retool and repaint of the original BB-8 figure Disney’s Droid Factory line released in 2017. Thsi time the head is all-new. With new hot pink and turquoise colors here, CB-23 is an exciting take on a BB unit and will likely interest fans of the Sequel Trilogy, even if they’re not into the Star Wars Resistance television series.

Disney continues to produce many other BB units for the other Sequel Trilogy Star Wars films and other Star Wars Entertainment. All of Disney’s BB units function like Weebles. They’ve added a weighted piece (a ball) that keeps CB-23 grounded no matter how much you have thrown the droid around. We give Disney credit for working that feature into the sculpt, but that’s all this figure offers. There are no interchangeable arms, no “thumbs up” lighter, and no helpful articulation here aside from a swivel head. The droid also doesn’t come with any other accessories, which we find rather disappointing. However, CB-23 received an excellent, albeit simple, paint job. The two outer halves function like an eggshell to the ball underneath, and the “weighted” ball comes with an attractive pattern on it. CB-23 breaks down into four separate pieces. These parts include a head attachment, two body halves, and the weighted gravity ball, which fits into the two halves like a carefully constructed puzzle.

CB-23 is unable to stand unassisted without the gold gravity ball inside of it. Besides, the two halves don’t snap together without it either. You’re dependent on the gravity ball to make this a functional action figure. The ball itself is beautifully designed and has a lot of detail etched into it. Disney also gave it some colorful paint applications for lights and buttons. Interestingly, the gravity ball is painted neon red. Whether this ball is based on some images from a technical “making of” book or some Sequel Trilogy “behind the scenes” materials is something we don’t know. The “insides” of this BB unit are believable and work well from that perspective. It’s just a shame that the gravity ball prevents the figure from doing anything else meaningful in your collection. You may have a completely different take on this figure than us too. Retailing for $12.99, it doesn’t feel like collectors get their money’s worth here at all. And that price may serve as the deterrent to purchase this action figure.