Halo Megabloks Series 6 Blind Bag

I've never picked up a series 6 Halo Megabloks blind bag before, so when I found this in a box with series 7, I had to buy it.

This series offered up:

UNSC Spartan Mk V (common)
UNSC Cobalt Marine (common)
UNSC Spartan EOD (common)
UNSC Spartan EVA (common)
Covenant Jackal (common)
Copper Covenant Grunt (common)
Cyan Covenant Combat Elite (rare)
UNSC Spartan Grenadier (ultra rare)

As I've never had one of these before, I would have been happy with any figure - I mostly just wanted to avoid the jackal and grunt.

And I did, which was nice!

I managed to get the cyan Covenant Combat Elite which is a really neat looking figure in that nice cool blue colour. He has some nice red on him as well for added definition but if there had maybe been a wash applied over him I think that really would have made all those smaller sculpted details pop.

Go Figure!

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.

Go Figure!

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.

Go Figure!

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.

Go Figure!

Halo Megabloks UNSC Fireteam Venom

I'd been thinking about picking up a Fireteam set from Megabloks for a while but I'd never seen one in a store so I'd just never got round to it. Then yesterday I found Crimson, Venom and Eagle. I could only afford one, so went for Venom, next time I'd like to grab Eagle, but I doubt I'll ever pick up Crimson - not too sure on the dark red colour.

As you can see from the back of the packaging this set comes with 5 Spartans, a small terrain piece, and a small armoury of weapons.

Let's look at the terrain first.

I quite like this for what it is. I especially like the purple alien plant life and the sand bag pieces piled up as a piece of cover.

You also get a weapons pod with this set:

This is quite a plain, kind of dark olive green piece that is smooth and rounded as though it was shot from above as a reinforcement pod. It also opens up and can store a gun, the grenades etc

The weapons in this pack are many and in total (including grenades) you get 13 weapons! Let's look at these:

The weapons included in this set are:

5 x Frag Grenades
Assault Rifle
M6C Socom Pistol
Tactical Shotgun
LMG
SMG
Railgun
Battle Rifle
Rocket Launcher

Obviously these Spartans are out to inflict some serious damage!

Talking of which...

From left to right we've got the Aviator, Scout, Gungnir, Oceanic, and Enforcer. These minifigs are all the new style of Megabloks Spartans that include the interchangeable armour and the improved articulation. I love the armour on these guys too, that poisonous (or even... Venomous!!) green is a killer look on a Fireteam like this.

The set also gives you a clear flight stand so you can have a Spartan jumping through the air into battle in this set.

I liked this set a lot more than I was expecting. I really like the terrain piece even though it's small, because once you get the Spartans set up on it, it looks great.

If you see this set in store for the recommended retail price I recommend it. It bolsters your ranks of Spartan and UNSC forces and gives you 5 of the new super poseable minifigures. I've seen this go for silly money on eBay and even Amazon here in the UK, and it's not worth double the price.

Go Figure!

Halo Megabloks Metallic Series ODST Drop Pod and Minifigure

I had no idea that Megabloks were releasing more of the drop pods, but this time with the new super poseable minifigures. I have the metallic blue ODST from the last series so I went for the gold instead. Also available are 2 metallic Elites - one in purple and one in blue - I'm hoping I'll be able to grab those soon.

On opening up the dirty gold drop pod, which itself is nicely detailed, you get the display stand, backpack, SMG weapon and , of course, the figure itself.

My only issue with these toys are the price. Considering it's just one minifig that you get I feel as though you're really just paying for the pod itself.

Anyway, let's have a look at this guy:

I like the colour of him even though he's not exactly gold, he's more of a burnt copper, it is a cool look though. And I really do love these new super poseable figures.

From the back he looks good too, I especially like the backpack.

Overall, I'm happy to have this guy added to my metallic ODST team (I've called my team "Raptor Squad" on account of the teeth painted on their helmets) and depending on how I feel, I might just go ahead and pick up the blue ODST too. I'll be sure to post those Elites if I manage to get my paws on them!

Go Figure!

Halo Mega Bloks Series 4 Blind Bag

I thought I'd go look on eBay and have a little look for blind bag Halo Mega Blok packs to bolster my collection. I'd never picked up any of the earlier series of these blind bags so when I saw I could get 3 bags for £10, I thought that was quite a good deal. And this series had some nice figures including:

Cortana
Purple UNSC EVA Spartan
Yellow UNSC ODST
Arctic UNSC Pilot
Blue Covenant Elite
Copper Covenant Brute
Green UNSC Marine
Crimson Elite Pilot

Any 3 of these would be great to add to my tiny army. Firstly out the bag

The green UNSC marine. Good start, a cool looking character. Second up

Oh. OK, bit of a pain. But onto number 3!

Goddammit.

I guess I'm in the army building game now... Go Figure!