Big Hero 6 Deluxe Flying Baymax Review

With Big Hero 6 ready to bring its blend of comedy and adventure into theaters later this month, Disney and its licensing partners are ready with a bunch of products to satisfy fan demand for more of Hiro Hamada, Baymax and friends. One of those partners is Bandai, which has cooked up a number of different toys to capture the fun that looks to be on the way on November 7.

One of the biggest, both literally and figuratively, is the Deluxe Flying Baymax, a huge figure (11 inches tall and 18 inches across with its wings extended) that has lights and sounds from the film. It also comes with a 4.5-inch Hiro figure that can ride on Baymax’s back thanks to the power of magnets, unlocking a different set of sounds.

Baymax is articulated at the shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles, though ankles are kind of relative the way he’s designed. He can also turn his head and tilt it back to reveal a neck you never knew he had. It’s a really solid, impressive-feeling figure altogether, though there are flexible armor plates on his shoulders and upper legs that could be detached if someone pulled them hard enough.

The only loose piece that could be lost is also one of Baymax’s cooler features, which is his launching rocket first. It fires off with the press of a small button on his left wrist, and while it doesn’t shoot with too much force, you still don’t want to be pointing it at someone’s face. Alas, it doesn’t make that cool visual effect you see in the image below:

On the back of the toy is a button just below the neck that extends Baymax’s wings, as well as  two tiny holes that contain the magnets that hold Hiro on. If you line them both up correctly, Hiro sits on his back with no problem, though not getting them quite right could lead to him sliding around and falling off. A power switch for the light and sound effects is on the back of his waist.

Speaking of the lights and sounds, you can activate them when turned on with a purple button that doubles as the top part of the band that protects Baymax’s midsection. Along with a light in his head, he makes a number of robot sounds that are authentic but not terribly interesting when Hiro isn’t riding on him. It’s more fun when Hiro is in position, as you actually get a few voice clips from the film and different sound effects depending on whether Baymax is flying up or down. Hiro, by the way, is in his own armor and is articulated at the neck, shoulders and hips.

My personal tester was my six-year old son, who certainly seemed to get a kick out of Deluxe Flying Baymax and incorporated it into play sessions with his other action figures — perhaps out of necessity since he doesn’t have many other toys that are on this scale. It’s not cheap at a suggested retail price of $39.99, but you get a lot of toy for that price, and my guess is that my son will happily return to give it even more attention after he sees the movie.

Disclosure: Bam Smack Pow was provided with a review unit of this product for the purposes of this review.