Mega Bloks Hierarch’s Shadow Convoy Set #97521

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 25 minutes sorting, 2 hours building
Set Piece Count: 485
Minifigs: 2x Halo 2 UNSC Marines, 3x Honor Guard Elites, 2 Halo 2 Jackals (w/purplish mohawks), Prophet of Truth, Arbiter (new dark grey/blue), Sgt Johnson
Weapons: 3x Honor Guard Staffs, Shotgun, Assault Rifle, Magnum, 2x Beam Rifles, 2x Plasma Rifles, Plasma Pistol, Energy Sword, 2x Plasma Grenades
Accessories: 2x UNSC backpacks, Prophet of Truth Dias (Hover Chair)
Special Features: Cockpit opens, turret pivots, removable lower middle troop section allows for Ghost to be attached to Shadow belly
Cost: $55

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

This is another of the several gifts my wife got for me for my birthday.

The front box art is excellent. Great action scene. It seems like Mega has really taken things up a notch with the box front art.

The back of the box details the figures included, removable armor, detachable lower troop section and other sets. 
The contents of the box. The figure tray is secured into the box quite well. Note that most of the bags have numbers on them. These are not numbered to follow the steps. If I’m correct, they are for those who are placing the contents in the box to make sure each bag is present.
All the pieces sorted out. I made this easy on myself by having the purple pieces on one side and the treys on the other. Note, the pink post it note. That is where I write down which steps I’m going to take pics for the review.

The Prophet of Truth’s dias (hover chair). It’s a very quick and easy build.

Now we move into the Shadow build itself.
Above shows the steps of the front section of the Shadow. The way that the side slope pieces are attached is GENIUS! As for the space left, that is easily covered up by the grey tile in front and behind the slope pieces.
And here is the back section. There was one missing 1X2 blok for the back section. Thankfully the set had many extra 1×1 grey plates so I was able to use those in place of the missing piece. The piece is unseen, so there isn’t anything to detract from the finished model.
The bridge/central section.
Here we see the top mounted turret. It’s a little wonky, but I really like the green glowing tubes. As well, the cockpit hatch is has been added.

This is the belly or troop section. The bottom left shows where this section is attached to. The left circle shows where the section rests, while the right circle shows where the section is attached to the Shadow.
Here we see the troop section removed and how a Ghost can be attached. Mega had a great bit of foresight with the Ghost build from earlier this year. The back hatch is removed, revealing the clip that attaches to the Shadow. The front guns rest on the front section.

The pic above is a close up to show exactly how it attaches.
The set includes a decent variety of weapons.

Here are the leftover pieces in the set.

I’m calling this the Prophet’s luggage, LOL.

Now we move on to the figure orthogonal views.
The Jackals in this set are the same, so I am only showing one. I do like the new paint job on these. Finally we have some Jackals with purple mohawks! YEA!!!
A front views of Johnson and the Marines. The only difference between the two marines is that one’s face is slightly darker than the other.
Here’s Johnson. Mega did a great job on the sculpt of Johnson’s face.
The set includes 3 of these Elite Honor Guards. This figure has been available in this color before as well as in White and Blue.
Now here we have the first ever Prophet. It does have the new articulation in the arms. Though it has limited articulation in the legs.
The Arbiter now has a new paint job. It’s much more accurate to the game. The blue paint on it has a great sheen to it. Click on the pic above to see it in better detail.
Here’s the dias. It’s a good little set piece.
Be sure to click the pic above as it’s large. I was actually a little surprised by the length of the Shadow thinking it would be longer. And finally, here is the set with all the figures in place. Looks like Johnson and his Marines are out manned and out gunned. Somehow though, I think Johnson is going to survive this conflict…

Summary: This set can easily be built in one seating. Many of the pieces are actually accounted for within the figures themselves. This new purple color that Mega is using is fantastic! With new figures like the Prophet of Truth and Sgt. Johnson, not to mention the nicely repainted Arbiter and Jackals, this set really shines. It’s also an army builder’s delight having marines, jackals and honor guards in the set.

Overall Rating: I give this set 9.5 out for 10 medals. This set would have been a 10 but for one little thing. And this is subjective to your own tastes, so you may disagree with me. Instead of 3 Honor Guards and 2 Jackals, I would have preferred 3 Jackals and 2 Honor Guards. Jackals are much more plentiful in the Halo universe, so I like to have my Halo Mega Bloks mini figure armies reflect those types of amounts of characters. This really isn’t that big of a deal and certainly not a deal breaker.

Do I recommend it? ABSOLUTELY! I never thought Mega would m,ale the Shadow as it’s an obscure vehicle that only ever saw light in Halo 2. Making it for Halo 2’s 10 year anniversary was definitely the RIGHT time to make this set!

The price of the set is $55. To break this down a little, there are TEN mini figures. Each at $3, that accounts for $30 of the price. That leaves $25 for the Shadow and Prophet’s Dias. The Shadow is easily worth the $25. So even though this doesn’t fall into my normal 10 cents per piece formula, what you get in the set definitely makes up for the piece count differential.

If you have any questions about this set that I didn’t cover in the review, please do not hesitate to ask me. Either reply below or e-mail me at [email protected]

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Thank You.
-Sal