I was able to score a Target display BB-8 on ebay for a reasonable price. Although not completely accurate in size and detail, it is still very cool! I plan on building a very nice 1:1 scale rolling BB-8 but with a few projects ahead of that, in the meantime this BB-8 will look great next to my R2 and B9.
A few things to note about the Target BB-8 display... It is 18.25" in diameter which makes it about 90% scale. The outside aesthetics are really pretty nice. It has raised detail (not just painted on) and for a semi mass produced item, the weathering is pretty good. The sounds are good, but the head motor is very noisy and the motion is a bit lame.
One of the "features" that was practical for a store display but is really impractical as a home display is that the on/off switch and volume control are located on the inside of the panel that comes off with screws. I'll definitely be adding some type of switch to the outside. The tinkerer in me wants to upgrade and modify all types of things, but I also realize keeping it pretty original will probably keep its value. So I will try only to make modifications that can be undone easily.
My BB-8 had a few minor issues when I got it, but most have been repaired already. One issue I still need to address is the antenna was broken off as it seems many were. For those that have one of these Target displays, with antenna intact, what is the exact length of the antenna from the top of the black base? ...and what is the length of the black tip (which I assume is painted on)?
As most know, this was motion activated and the sensor is in the front of the base. However there is another sensor in the back of the base. I am assuming this is a photo sensor (lights off in store, display is off), but I have not verified this yet. Does anyone know for sure?