Mega Bloks UNSC Kestrel Strike

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 10 minutes sorting, about 30 minutes building (your time may vary)
Set Piece Count: 289
Minifigures: Spartan War Master (Orange with white highlights); ODST Black/Grey; Alpha Crawler, 2X Crawler (regular), Watcher, Promethean Knight (original Halo 4 basic version)
Accessories: Buildable Forerunner Weapons stand; UNSC Weapons locker and weapons pod, both with baseplates. Light Shield with display stand/baseplate, buildable stand for Kestrel (to make it look like it’s hovering)
Special Features: Kestrel wings and tail pivot
Cost: $30 US; Mass Retail set

This was an unexpected set. I for one am VERY happy it was made, for a few reasons. For one, I wanted the Spartan from the game (Spartan Strike). I liked the Kestrel, so having it in the in-game green colors (as opposed to the previous ONI REAP-X silver color) was welcome. Lastly, getting more Prometheans is always a plus, much more so when it’s the original Knight! That one was ONLY available in the Cauldron Clash set. So again, I’m very happy to have the one back at retail.

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

The box design has a cool action shot, with a window to show some of the figures through.

You get several bags of parts, an instruction manual and the tray of figures. 

Here are all the pieces sorted out as well as the figures put together. (You have to assembly one more of the Crawlers and the Knight) 

Now, I went out of order when building this. Instead of building the Kestrel first, I wanted to build the weapons stands.

Here is the Forerunner weapons rack. It’s pretty basic. I do like the translucent orange pieces! You actually do not need the baseplates for the weapons rack to stand on as it stands on it’s on just fine. The Light Shield however, needs to be placed on a stand for it to stay upright.

The UNSC Weapons locker and pod. Again, the baseplates aren’t needed here either. Though I’m happy to have them. Anytime I can get some extra baseplates, I’m all for it! The visor on the printed piece below does not have lines on it to show the accurate in-game visor. Not a big deal at all though. It still looks great!

Okay, let’s get into the Kestrel build.

First up you build the body of the craft. That I recall, this is the same exact build as the ONI REAP-X version. So if you have that set, this build should be familiar to you.

The wings and tail sections get put together. Always prefer having printed pieces, vs/ stickers, so kudos to Mega Bloks for those.

Below is the stand you build for the Kestrel. You actually flip this upside down so that the flat tile is on the bottom. The clear brick them connects to the bottom of the Kestrel.

The body on the stand, then the wings/tail added on. All pieces that have added color are printed, NO stickers! Hurray!!

Like I mentioned before, you do not really need the baseplates for the Forerunner weapons rack to stand on it’s own.

Same with the UNSC parts.

These are the pieces I had leftover. Into the parts bin!

Now let’s look at the figures.

The ODST is a standard color. Great for those that might want to army build them!

You get an Alpha Crawler and 2 regular Crawlers. This in the original Silver w/orange highlights color! (I only showed one of the regular crawlers below)

The Orange War Master Spartan is the highlight for me, with regards to this set! I made a custom of this figure, but it’s always great to have the manufacturer’s official version.

The watcher.

And YES!!!! Once again, the original Promethean Knight!! I am SOO happy this is back!

You can store the Watcher in the back of the Knight as it does in the game as well. 

And finally the whole set of figures themselves. Lots of army building goodness here!

Summary: This is an easy build. If you had the previous ONI REAP-X version of the ship, it’s pretty much the same build. Though now it’s in in-game colors and this new set comes with a LOT more figures!

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

Why did I give it a 10 out of 10?
• I really can’t find anything wrong with this set. It has a cool vehicle, now in in-game colors, lost of army builders and specifically the original Promethean Knight which was hard to find after the release of the Cauldron Clash set went away from retail. I should say, you couldn’t find it in any other set. While you can find the figure itself on eBay, people are often asking $15 or more for just the one figure! Do yourselves a favor and just buy this set, if you want that Knight. You get SO much more for your money. If you don’t want the other figures, I’m certain there are people (ahem) out there who would make a deal with you for them.

Value: The price of $30 is outstanding. Yes, it’s just slightly higher than the 10 cents per peice guideline. However, given that we finally get the Promethean Knight at retail again, plus 2 full minifigures, 3 crawlers, a Watcher AND the Kestrel… for $30? Heck yeah, this set is totally worth it!

I break down the value of the set like this:
Watcher $1
Crawler $2 each ($6 total)
Spartan $3.50
ODSY $3.50
Knight $7
Kestrel $9

Though really, the Kestrel could be worth about $11 and the Knight maybe another dollar more.

Add to this you also get the Forerunner Weapons stand and weapons, the UNSC weapons, pod, and Spartan Strike stand…

You can see now more clearly why this set is worth the price. Even if it were $35, it would still most definitely be worth it!

Do I recommend it?  Yes! Absolutely! This is an army builders dream if you want Prometheans. Not to mention you get a very cool looking Spartan and a good base color ODST!

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