Halo Toy Review: Mattel Elite Zealot

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Elite Zealot

Technical Specifications:
Articulation:
• Ball Joint Head
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• Hinged Elbows
• Ball Joint Wrists
• Swivel Torso
• Partial Ball Joint hips
• Hinge Knees
• Slight Ball Joint Ankles
Accessories: Energy Sword
Additional Contents:
• Instruction sheet showing how to put the armor on
• 2 small pins to attach weapons to figure
Cost: $15-18 (US) depending on where you buy it at retail
Availability: Mass Retail (I got mine from Toys R Us, on sale for $12!)

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

As with the other Mattel Halo figure boxes, the figure is prominently shown through the front window. mt-elite-zealot-box

This the plastic tray with the fig and parts, once it’s out of the box. You get the 2 back legs of the Build-A-Figure Crawler with the Elite Zealot.mt-elite-zealot-tray

The energy sword is pretty nice.mt-elite-zealot-energy-sword

There are two pins included with the figure. Strangely, since there is no unlit hilt of the sword, you can’t really store the lit sword anywhere on the Elite. So the pins are basiclaly extras. Nice to have though, in case you might lose one from another Mattel halo figure.mt-elite-zealot-pins

Here are the two rear legs of the Crawler. Good detail! I’ll have a seperate review for the crawler, once I’ve completed all the reviews of the first series of Matttel Halo figures.mt-elite-zealot-baf-crawler-legs-rear

Okay, let’s look at the armor placement. Here we see the shoulder. Note the scales. The armor fits in easily via a hole/peg system.mt-elite-zealot-armor-arm

The back armor might seem a little tricky as you could think it might need ot go into either a top hole on the back or two holes. That isn’t the case, instead, you use the hole/peg on the butt of the Elite.Surprisingly, it actually works and the figure doesn’t look strange when turned at the torso.mt-elite-zealot-armor-back

The cod piece is rather small. Again a hole/peg system. As it is small, you might want to consider glueing into place. (I personally do not swap Elite armor, so I’ll be glueing at least this piece on.mt-elite-zealot-armor-cod-piece

The helmet was a little tricky for me to fit on properly. I think the peg might have been a little bent wihtin my helmet. I tried to straighten it out. Eventually, I just went with what looked good enough. Though I’ll try again at some point to get the right connection.mt-elite-zealot-armor-helmet

I’ve posted a few shots of the instructions here, in case you lose yours and you need to reference them
mt-elite-zealot-sheet-1mt-elite-zealot-sheet-2mt-elite-zealot-sheet-3

Now let’s take a lookn at some of the finer detail of the figure and armor.

The helmet itself is quite nicely down, with regards to detail. The yellow paint at top front is clean and crisp.mt-elite-zealot-detail-helmet

Once again the shoulder. Also, take note of the slight ridge on the shoulder. mt-elite-zealot-detail-shoulder

The back armor has some good detail. Mine had a little bit of overspray of the yellow as you can see. So just be on the lookout for that when you decide to pick this up. Choose the one that has the best paint for you.mt-elite-zealot-detail-back

The back of the hand alos has a scale pattern painted on to it. Of note, the wrist armor easily flips around to cover the hand. So it you want to keep that in proper place, you might want to consider glueing it.mt-elite-zealot-detail-wrist

The thigh armor has good detailing. The one thing I didn’t like though is that it doesn’t wrap around the thigh fully. Since the other Mattel figures follow this pattern, I guess that’s something we’re going to have to get used to. But man, I’d really like for Mattel to fix that. It’s the one lingering issue I have with their Halo figs.
mt-elite-zealot-detail-thigh

Unlike the Spartan figures from Mattel, the Elite Zealot already has it’s calf armor attached. Oh and the ridge on the black part of the calf is well sculpted!mt-elite-zealot-detail-calf

Foot armor is also already on the figure. Good detail here too. Just a hint of over spray, but then, this is at close-up. You don’t really notice it at normal viewing distance.mt-elite-zealot-detail-foot

One thing I was disappointed with is that the Elite can not hold the sword upright. It droops a bit. Not sure how to fix this, but when I do, I’lll let you know.mt-elite-zealot-holding-sword

Thankfully, it can hold the sword up with no droop. Now, I want to make a small comment with regards to the hand. As the Elite has 4 fingers, I expected them to be two on each side of the hilt. Instead, Mattel elected to have two on one side, one on the other, with the fourth finger over top the one fingered side of the sword. It takes just a little care to get the sword onto the hand correctly.mt-elite-zealot-holding-sword-2

Now let’s look at the articulation.

The Elite Sealot has nearly all the same articulation that the Spartans do. However, the ball joints on the ankles don’t move as much. I think that’s mostly due to the armor. As I have not removed the armor to test that theory, you’ll have to find that out for yourself. mt-elite-zealot-articulation

The Elite looks menacing, even without it’s energy sword!mt-elite-zealot-pose-1

And finally, here’s a comparison of the Mattel Master Chief and the Elite Zealot. It’s defintely taller. This is about as tall as I could make it. Where you might have expected the hock on the elite to have articulation, there was none. And honestly, I don’t think it needs it.mt-elite-zealot-pose-2-comp

Evaluation
Sculpt: Well done. I was very happy with the sculpt of this figure. The only issue was the thigh armor not fully wrapping aropund the leg as it shouldl. 9 of 10 medals
Articulation: When compared to the Spartan figures, the articualtion of the ELite is just slightly less. 9 of 10 medals.
Paint Application: The shoulders and hands have a good paint application on them to show scales. Slight overspray on the back armor is the only thing keeping this section from being a 10.  10 of 10 medals.
Accessories: I was a little disappointed that the figure didn’t come with 2 weapon, as the other figures do. Bigger figure or not, Mattel set precedent with the other figures, so it’s kind of expected that each figure have 2 weapons. The energy sword is very nice though. 8 out of 10 medals
Playability: There is a lot of playability with this figure. Even more so, if you pair it or match it against one of the Spartan figures!  10 of 10 medals.
Overall: 46 medals out of a total 50 medals

Do I recommend this product? YES! While a smidge less in articualtion compared to the Spartans, the figure make sup for it in size. It’s the first Elite of Mattel’s Halo line, so I definitely recommend picking it up. Especially if you plan on building that crawler!

At the $12 I paid for this, it’s absolutely worth it! At retail prices ranging from $15-18, I still think it’s worth it. So if you’re looking to start a Halo action figure collection, I firmly feel you can’t go wrong with Mattel’s Halo action figure line.

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

If this review gives you an informed decision on whether to purchase the toy or not, please consider a small donation (50 cents) to the blog.You can donate via PayPal to [email protected]. Or just click the paypal link at the right on the main page of the site.  It’s much appreciated and helps ensure that HFFL stays registered/active on the internet. Thank You.

-Sal

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About Sal

I’ve got tons of experience with Halo gaming and collecting. I feel I have something to offer to the greater Halo fan community. Posts along the way will be about tips and tricks in the games as well as collecting and many more Halo related things. I’ll also repost interesting articles from the official site, Halowaypoint.com, or from fellow Halo fan sites. As I continue this blog, I hope to help gamers who want advice on the games, as well as any collectors with regards to where to find collectibles as well as deals, coupons and so on. You can also follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/HaloFanForLife or Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/halofanforlife11. Welcome to my blog and I hope you’ll come back again and again. -Sal