If you've always wanted to ride R2-D2 then your moment has arrived, with the introduction of the R2-D2 ride-in toy from Kids@Play. The company previously offered a Dalek from Doctor Who, but has now shifted focus to Star Wars.

The R2-D2 ride-in has already had a little showing, with the representative on the Kids@Play stand at the Toy Fair at London Olympia telling us that they sold out at Tesco over the Christmas period.

The inflatable R2-D2 is based on the same foundation as the ride-in Dalek launched in 2011, with a 6V batter-powered motor and 360-degree steering, so your little droid will be happy to meander all over your house. 

It's equipped with a range of sound effects too, with renditions of the classic lines from Star Wars, such as beeeeep-beep-be-beep ("We can't, the hyperdrive isn't deactivated"). Seriously, it looks and sounds good.

R2-D2 looks pensively across the London Toy Fair

The body of R2 is constructed from a mixture of ballistic nylon and polyvinyl, with a reinforced skirt around the base to protect the cart, and your walls, from knocks and scrapes. It's designed for kids aged 3-6 years, with a maximum weight of 30kg.

An interesting detail is that R2-D2's legs are attached with Velcro, so can be removed to fit through narrow doors/escape from dianoga-infested garbage compactors. 

While discussing the new inflatable ride-in R2-D2, we were told that the previous Doctor Who Dalek hadn't sold as well as expected, but R2-D2 was already living up to expectations.

Yours for £172, and we're told it's available at Tesco and Amazon.