Halo Megabloks Bravo Series Blind Bags Minifigures

I picked up 3 blind bags of the Halo Bravo Series Megabloks minifigs, even though I think I have all of these.

So I cracked them open.

First up, a double!

NMPD Trooper with assault rifle! A pretty sweet figure for sure.

Secondly, another double!

A very cool HazOp Spartan with energy sword.

But thirdly, something I've never had before. A very cool red translucent active camo Elite Guard

The added bonus is that he comes with a UNSC Marine with assault rifle

Very happy with that bad ass red Elite!! He looks so cool!

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Halo 4 Series 3 Jul 'Mdama McFarlane Toys

Jul 'Mdama is the last figure in this most recent wave of Halo figures from McFarlane toys. 'Mdama, as far as I can tell, is the most hard to find figure in this wave and I had to go to eBay to pick mine up. It was still a reasonable price though being only a pound more expensive than what I would have paid for it in store.

'Mdama comes with his energy sword as his only accessory and it's a nice solid piece. The blades are cast in translucent blue plastic with electrical effects added on top and the grip fits well in 'Mdama's hand.

Out of packaging and 'Mdama is a big chunky and imposing figure. His armour is a very dark purple which is sculpted brilliantly. It's very detailed and has some lighter colour in some of the line work to bring them out. His head dress is sculpted in that same translucent blue plastic and is attached to his helmet, which is removable.

The paint work on 'Mdama's arms and especially the hand motif on his chest and shoulders look excellent. Like the Spartans, 'Mdama's weapon has a peg and there's a hole on each hip that the sword can be held on.

And as mentioned, his helmet is removable showing off that pretty Sangheili face of his. Which is again, really well sculpted and detailed.

The articulation in Mdama's head is on a peg which is attached to his long neck - the neck itself, at least on my figure, has a limited range of motion. The shoulders are on a ball and hinge joint as are the elbows and wrists. There are even articulated fingers which is nice.

There's a torso swivel but no crunch forward or back.

The hips are just as poor on the Elite's as on the Spartan's which is still a bone of contention. The knees and ankles are on ball and hinge joints but because of the way the legs are sculpted, the legs can't really doo too much and you can't get him into super exciting poses - he's still great for posing though.

I'm glad to have 'Mdama on my shelf to have an Elite for my Spartans to go up against, but honestly, I'm just not too sure about picking up any more Covenant figures. I have a real love for the Spartan armour so I'd rather spend my money on beefing up the ranks of the UNSC rather than the Covenant.

If you're a fan of Halo and the Covenant though, then this is a top notch figure, really great looking and absolutely worth the money.

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Halo 4 Series 3 Spartan Soldier McFarlane Toys

The last Spartan in the most recent Halo wave from McFarlane is the female Spartan Soldier in red - which is an exclusive in the States but is available at retail here in the UK.

The soldier comes with a battle rifle which is painted nicely in dark and light metallic greys with a neat yellow detail.

I think this is my favourite Spartan in this wave, the colour really pops and the white highlights and decals that have been applied look brilliant.

The articulation is standard across the Spartan's in this line. The head is on a ball and hinge joint which supplies a good range of motion, the shoulders, elbows and wrists all have ball and hinge joints that rotate - the hinges are ratcheted which makes the joints nice and tight.

The ball joint on my figure is a little small so the torso keeps popping off of the legs. The torso rocks back and forth and rotates replacing a waist joint.

The hips are, as standard, poor or the Spartans. They allow the leg to kick forwards and back a little at a pretty obtuse angle. The knees swivel and end on a ratchet joint, the ankles are also on a ball and hinge and the toes have articulation.

Like I mentioned before, the white accents on the red armour really make this figure pop - especially the UNSC insignia and logo. The pouches on the soldiers legs and add to the overall feel of this figure, really making it seem like she's ready to go up against the Covenant.

I, again, absolutely recommend these figures if you're into Halo or just bad ass space soldiers. For the price, these guys look great.

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Halo 4 Series 3 Commander Palmer McFarlane Toys

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted - aiming to get back on track starting with a look at the new Commander Palmer figure from McFarlane.

I picked her up a couple of weeks ago (expect to see the remaining two figures get reviewed soon!) and I'm glad I did. I often feel hesitant when picking up the McFarlane Halo figures, and I think it's because of their size (they normally stand at around 5.5") but once I have them in my hand I'm instantly in love. These figures really are excellent and look amazing.

Palmer comes with 2 handguns as her accessories which are in a nice grey metallic paint and have some really nice sculpted details.

Out of the packaging and the first complaint I have is that she doesn't look particularly feminine. In fact it looks like a repaint of a male Spartan which is a real shame. Paint wise though, and Palmer's armour looks fantastic! It looks nicely weathered, the fine details in red look really good, and all of the sculpted detail is excellent. I especially like that Scout helmet - very cool looking with the blue visor.

The articulation is pretty excellent throughout this figure with one glaring omission: the hips.

The hips appear to be on a peg which gives a minimal range of motion there. The head turns and looks up and down, the shoulders are on a nice ratcheted ball and hinge joint, as are the elbow and wrists. There's a ball joint in the torso allowing nice movement back and forward and replaces a waist rotation.

The hips... Well, those are poor as I mentioned. The knees rotate and hinge, as do the ankles, and there is toe articulation.

As is standard in the McFarlane Halo figures, the guns connect to the armour via pegs and there are holes for her pistols on Palmer's upper legs and back.

Palmer holds her guns well but as she doesn't have a trigger figure sculpted in either hand, if you put the pistols in her hands you will bend the triggers. This hasn't bothered me as it's barely noticeable and Palmer does look very cool rocking bother her pistols.

If you're a fan of Halo I'd completely recommend this figure, the armour is great, I love the weathered grey and red, and as a Spartan, Palmer just looks completely bad ass. The wave (other than Jul 'Mdama) were all still available at my local Forbidden Planet and you should be able to pick them all up for less than £15 each, which I still think is a great price even though it has gone up.

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Halo MegaBloks Series 7 Blind Bag Minifigures

Out shopping today, I found a box of series 7 Halo Megabloks minifigs. I grabbed 5 bags.

In this wave, the character sheet tells us that we can get:

UNSC Spartan Mark VI (common)
Covenant Grunt (common)
Flood Combat Form (common)
Covenant Grunt (common)
Covenant Grunt Spec Ops (common)
UNSC Marine - 2 different styles, both common
Covenant Elite Zealot (common)
Covenant Elite Commando (common)
UNSC ODST (common)
UNSC Spartan CQB (rare)
UNSC Mark VI (rare)
UNSC Spartan Scout (rare)
Covenant Brute Jump Pack (rare)
UNSC Spartan EOD (rare)
UNSC Spartan Security (ultra rare)

So let's go ahead and start with the bad, which is this guy

I was delighted to pull the ultra rare UNSC Spartan Security figure. Except it came minus an arm. And when I tried to put the one arm on that I did get the joint was brittle and snapped (sadly not the first time this has happened with a Halo Megabloks figure for me).

So I was down to 4 figures instead of 5. Damn.

But on we go, and next up, I pulled 2 common figures

The covenant grunt and UNSC Marine. Both solid little figures and good for army building.

And the next 2 figures I pulled were both rare, so that was a nice surprise

The Covenant Brute Jump Pack in that nice red colour which I think is very cool, and the UNSC Spartan CQB in the dark and light grey - both great looking figures.

Disappointed in the Spartan Security fig, but happy with the other 4!

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McFarlane Toys Halo 4 Series 3 Spartan Thorne

The newest wave of the McFarlane Halo figures have dropped at my local Forbidden Planet and my first pick up from this newest set is Thorne.

The back of the packaging shows the other figures that are available in this latest wave.

It looks like I missed out on getting Jul 'Mdama sadly. I don't have any Covenant figures in this scale and it'd be nice to give my Spartans an enemy to fight.

Also available in this wave are Commander Palmer and a red Spartan Soldier. Sadly, Palmer is supposed to be a female character but having had one in my hand in store, it's a re-use of a male Spartan body in Palmer colours. A real shame as I'd have loved to have had her... I might still pick her up of course. The Spartan Soldier that comes in red seems to be pretty widely available here in the UK, but I believe it's a Walgreens exclusive in the US.

Right, let's get on with looking at Thorne himself.

Firstly the only accessory he comes with is an assault rifle. This is sculpted really nicely and painted in black with highlights in a metallic gun metal grey and a flat grey making the rifle look really good - especially when posed with Thorne.

Thorne himself is a really nice royal blue with silver highlights. There is also a very nice silver dry brushing over the figure giving his armour a battle worn and weathered look which I just love. The gold that has been used for the visor isn't very metallic but I think it works well for the figure - for me, it gives it a more realistic look. The paint on his hands is incredibly clean. His fingers have blue padded areas and there's a pad on the back of the hands which also has the silver dry brushing.

And as is standard with McFarlane Spartans - he has a peg hole in each leg that you can attach his rifle to.

The articulation is something I really like in these figures, mostly because they're ratchet joints and they feel good and secure. The head is on a ball and hinge joint meaning it can look up a little, down, left, right, and there's a nice neck pivot. the shoulders, elbows and wrists are all on a ball and hinge which gives for a good range of motion, but the elbows and shoulders are hindered by the armour. There's an ab crunch which let's you balance Thorne easier, but it doesn't give you a great range of motion.

The hips are a downer, kicking back and forth is about the best that Thorne can do. There's a ball and hinge at the knees and ankles, there's toe articulation and the toes also pivot.

I absolutely recommend this guy if you're a fan of Halo. I like the poses you can get him into, the colour of his armour and the paint apps, and he looks great with other Spartans.

There's been some anger against the price rise for the McFarlane figures, especially as these Halo figures come in a 5" scale, but I still think these figures give you good bang for your buck. And as these things never get re-released the secondary market prices are crazy, so yeah, grab them while you can!

Go Figure!