Toys, and particularly tech toys, can have very short half lives. AppleInsider has been playing with three of Sphero's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" app-controlled droids by a dad who was there in 1977, and by a pair of children who long to be a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

In case you missed it the first time around, the app-controlled BB-8 was a big hit around the release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," even with relatively rudimentary software. Since then, BB-8 has seen several software and firmware updates, and has been joined by evil twin BB-9E. Also joining the fracas is long-time droid hero R2-D2 and his evil twin R2-Q5 who was shown briefly in "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi."