Mega Bloks Brute Chopper Raid

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: less than 1 hour ( including sorting and building)
Set Piece Count: 221
Minifigures: Brute Captain, Spartan Kat
Accessories: Buildable Bubble Shield, Bubble Shield generator, figure stand, pistol, Brute  Mauler
Special Features: Chopper wheel rolls, pivot chassis
Cost: $21-23 Depending on where you buy it from. I got mine from Amazon.com

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

A new Brute Chopper set, this marks the third Chopper Mega Bloks has produced and it’s the best of the three by far!

The front box art has a great action shot on it. While the back box art shows the set and figs nicely, as well as a few of the other new sets.

The contents of the box. (Sorry about the flash on the instruction manual)

The pieces sorted out. They consist of mostly the metallic tan camouflage color.

Okay, let’s get started with the build.

The Chopper

We start by building the housing for the wheels. First the top portion, then add the wheels, then the bottom portion. Finally adding the details to the front and sides. This is a beefier build than past Brute Choppers. For one, the wheels themselves have more detail to them.  It’s really in the wheel housing assembly though where the difference is between this version of the Chopper and Mega’s previous versions. Lots more angled bloks really give this an aggressive feeling whereas past Choppers were smaller, sleeker and slim. 

Wth the wheel complete, we move on to the chassis. It starts out simple enough. (Top), Then turns into a very cool looking sort-of speeder-like vehicle. Honestly, I could see just that in Halo, without the wheel, as a civilian speeder! LOL

TO put the two sections together, there is a pin that fits into a slot from each each section. 

It’s quite snug so the two halves do not just roll around the pivot point. However, there is enough give that you can rotate the chopper into a few different positions.

The Accessories

Included is a buildable bubble shield. I’m always happy to have more of these as it’s just a neat looking structure, even if it weren’t Halo related.

Below shows the Brute Mauler (a rarity in sets), a pistol, and standing is the bubble shield generator.

You get two figures stands. I’m very happy with this new stand. I use them more for landscape pieces than I do figure stands though.

Here are the parts I had left over. Not much to actually build anything with, so in the parts bin these will go.

The Figures

First up we have the all new super articulated Brute Captain! This is one of the first few sets that has the new Brute mold included.

There are two things about this that could have made it better. First is the height of the Brute. Depending on which game you play, Brutes are taller than Elites or just slightly smaller. Either way, they are a good 12 inches taller than Spartans. The Brute minifig is the same height as a Spartan. The other one and I think more important is the skinny waste. Brutes are thick, including the waist area. Not fat, but thick with muscle. So on those two points I’m slightly disappointed with the figure. However, the armor is fantastic and does help to add some bulk to the figure.

Detail shots of the armor

The Brute head is quite well sculpted. It’s tiny though. The pic below doesn’t quite show how small it is. A simple black-wash of paint would have been great here to bring out the details of the sculpt, as well as two red dots for the eyes. Still, considering you’re likely to keep the helmet on the fig, it’s not an issue. If I decide to add the wash and red eyes later, I’ll post that for comparison.

KAT!!!! Finally we get the last named character from Noble Team! You could get Carter and Jun in the Transport Elephant set. Emile with a Mongoose, Jorge with the Drone Outbreak set and Noble Six with a Gungoose set. The Chopper Raid set completes the team!

These detail short show the armor paint.

Take note that she does indeed have her robotic arm. The only thing is though, it doesn’t have elbow hinge articulation, just turns. It looks like Mega used the Terminator arm from that toy line they have, for use with Kat. Eh, that bugs me a little bit, but I’m still VERY happy to finally have Kat!

The completed set. Will the Brute run down Kat?

Nah, they’re buddies just on a training mission!

Summary: This is an easy build. Better than previous Chopper sets. Having two new articulated figures, with one of those being a named character really add much appeal to the set.

Overall Rating: I give this set 9 out for 10 medals.

Why did I give it a 9 out of 10?
• I took a half point off for the Brute’sskinny waist as well as a half point off for the elbow on Kat. That aside, the Chopper itself is a TEN from me!!

Value: The price of $21 is fair for this set. It fits it perfectly with the guideline of 10 cents per pieces and this set having 221 pieces.

Do I recommend it?  Yes! Most Definitely! By far the best of the 3 Choppers made!! Kat is an added VERY welcomed bonus!

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]

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the review. If you get this set yourself, please let me know your thoughts on it too!

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-Sal