Sigh…okay, before I begin this review, let me say it is RARE that I give a negative review as I consider most design interpretations by Mega to be great for their Halo toy line. This unfortunately, is not one of those times… Read on to find out why.
Mega Construx Warzone Wasp Strike
Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 45 minutes to sort, roughly 1 1/2 hours to build. Your time will vary as I take pictures along the way for the review.
Set Piece Count: 632
Minifigures: Spartan Athlon (Red); Elder Hunter (Silver)
Weapons: Assault Rifle (BoomCo deco), Magnum (BoomCo deco)
Accessories: x2 figure stands
Special Features: Cockpit opens/closes, VTOL fans pivot, side hatches open/close, rear engines pivot, missile firing feature
Cost: $50 US (Mass Retail)
And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)
The box art shows the Wasp in a great flight and firing mode. Why though the Hunter is off to the side like that? I get that it’s on a cliff.
You get several bags of parts, 2 instruction manuals and an addendum sheet (to switch out included parts. Think day 1 patch, in video game terms, LOL).
The addendum sheet is for the firing buttons for the missiles.
Here are all the parts sorted out. There are a few new parts to the Halo line. Of note, to the right, the 1/4 round tiles with walls (for the VTOL), the large black serrated fan and just above that the semi circular black plates, used in the wing assembly.
Okay, let’s get into the build!
We start off first with the VTOL engines. Built into this is the ability for the engines to pivot up and down (though not side to side as the ship does in the game).
Next comes the wing assembly. The first pic below is a good start. Yellow stabilizing bloks are used so you can easily assemble it on a flat surface.
This second pic of the wing though trouble me. Why? Well, this is what is considered the finished wing. Um, no… This is SO far off from the in-game ship. The large squarish gaps really detract from this. The VTOL itself is far too exposed, whereas in game it’s generally confined to a circular hole.
Here are two in-game screenshots for you to compare to the above. See what I mean? Not only are the VTOLs far more covered in the game version, they are also higher in position, whereas the Mega model has them lower. This is bad design here on Mega’s part. Unfortunately, this alone made me put off by the set. But let’s carry on, shall we?
The addendum as stated is for the firing buttons. Why they go from silver to black? Meh. Doesn’t really matter here. They could have kept them silver.
What does bug me is that the missile housing is mostly green as evidenced by the in-game model, not silver. SO the main part should have been colored green while the small 1×2 tile remain silver.
Again, here is the finished wing assembly. Let me point out something else that bothered me. Those 3 grey circles towards the front. They are supposed to be for guns to show through. It’s a much longer explanation as to how, but Mega could have built this into the model with parts they already have. At the very least, they shouldn’t have just bene plain grey circles.
This is what it looks like, in-game. Big difference, huh?
Whew, okay, moving on from the mess that is the model’s wing design.
Next we start building the Wasp’s tail assembly. Most of this is okay. However, those yellow pieces stand out way too much and aren’t anywhere near as pronounced in the game model. Also, instead of fins for the tail, Mega does have a part that looks like a gold bar. They could have used than (in green of course), instead, for a more accurate look.
Compare above with below. The tail is thicker in the game model and again, the yellow tiles in Mega’s model do not reflect what the game model has.
Moving further along with the body, we start into the middle section of the fuselage. Not bad, but it’s too long! They need to trim off about 4 studs from the length here. (I’ll illustrate this more clearly towards the end of the review.
One positive thing is the printed display in the cockpit. It doesn’t match the in-game one, but in this case is better than that, IMO.
We move to the top hatch and cockpit windshield. Personally, I think there was too much attention paid to the top hatch (that’s the assembly with the “UNSC” printing on it. It’s a play feature yes, but doesn’t do much other than open up. Rather this be a solid build or no hatch at least. The cockpit windshield….oh boy…here we go. This is the other BIG disappointment with this model from Mega. Three major things about this. It’s far too angular and it’s way too long. The third being it pivots up and down to open/close. It’s supposed to slide back, similar to how the Hornet from halo 3 did. This is a major design error that must be fixed if Mega makes the Wasp again. (And I must say, it definitely needs to be redone.)
So we have the wings and body ready to put together. They go together by a series of pins. 
The underbelly of the Wasp is pretty bad. Way too much exposed. Not to mention, not nearly enough silver as there should be. The center portion looks nothing like the in-game model which is more rectangular and does not have the rounded end as see below.
As for how the model is displayed on an flat surface, you get a few translucent pieces. I can’t help but think though that those small tubes will snap off if slightly mishandled. Bloks would have been better here, even if there are more intrusive to viewing. Stability is more key in this instance, IMO.
As always, Mega gives us extra parts. Pins pins and more pins! Always happy to have those!
Here are the stabilizing pieces. Into the extra part bins these will go.
Here’s a look at the finished model in orthogonal views.
Compare that with the in-game model and you can see it’s way off. Especially form the side view. 
A 3/4 top view. See how it looks way to flat, even from this perspective?
As for playability, there are plenty of moving parts to this model. THat’s at least a plus. Those can still be integrated with a new design. Though the cockpit MUSt go from pivoting to sliding.
Okay, let’s move on to something positive about the set, the figures!!
Spartan Athlon This is the first set to include an Athlon. It’s a great armor set, IMO. I’m VERY happy Mega decided to make it. It is at least one of the draws for this set.
Elder Hunter The Hunter gets a MAJOR upgrade here. Gone are the clunky parts from the first generation of Hunter, to be replaced by more sleek and better articulate parts. The gun arm is fully buildable. Take care when inserting the translucent blue parts though.
Here’s a look at the Hunter without it’s armor. Kinda creepy, huh? LOL
Now let’s compare the Hunter to other figures!
First up the Athlon that comes with the set. As you can see, the hunter TOWERS over the Spartan! 
Next, Hunter VS Hunter. The old version just doesn’t stack up now. Much more detail, sleeker parts, better articulation. This is the Penultimate hunter design for Mega!
Even the Didact himself better watch his back. This hunter is very near in height.
And a couple shots of the completed set.
Now I feel it’s important to take a look at the in-game model and toy model to show the vast difference in scale. I use a warthog in both instances as the in-game and toy model are very close to scale, for reference.
First a view from the front.
I split the view in half from an in-game screenshot as the perspective seemed to warp when showing the whole image.
Okay. Now see the difference in the next two shots. Clearly the width of the toy Wasp is too wide.
I overlaid an image of the toy warthog in the exact same position as the wasp to show it’s size comparison. You can easily see that the toy Wasp is FAR too big.
This 4 section in-game merge shows the scale very well. Clearly, a Warthog is not that much smaller than a wasp. Only the tail is longer and a portion of the wing wider.
This top down view really shows the huge difference. While the width needs to be trimmed by only 4 pegs, the length is much too long. The toy warthog is only about half as long. The toy Wasp should only have the tail wing section showing. Instead, much of the wing and body as well as the tail as showing. 
Apologies that the orientation of the in-game shot and model shot are opposite. However, you can clearly see from these merged side views that not only is the Wasp toy model significantly longer, it’s also too tall. The cockpit when close does not even meet the height of the Warthog’s top height. Yet, in the pic below, it’s taller than that.
I want to toss this page from the Kestrel set in for a reason. The body. Now, I’m not sure if this could be reused in a new Wasp design, but I’m thinking so. At the very least though, this illustrates how small the cockpit SHOULD be. Not the overly long version that currently is built into the toy Wasp.
This all said and done, I do hope Mega goes back to the drawing board and gives us a better design next time. I want not only a proper green version, but the Hannibal and ONI versions as seen below!
Summary: A rare poor design by Mega. As a toy, it’s okay and has lots of play features. But as an interpretation of the in-game model, it fails on many levels. The figures are a draw for this as we get the new style Hunter and the new Athlon armor.
Overall Rating: I give this set 6 out for 10 medals.
Why did I give it a 6 out of 10?
Let’s start with what I’ve mentioned above.
• The wing assembly. Too flat. The VTOL engines should be higher up than the front of the wing, not aligned with it.
• The model as a whole is too long. Yes, normally more is better for your money, but in this case, it makes the Wasp grossly too big.
• The cockpit area is an eyesore and far too big.
• The cockpit window should slide back, not pivot up. This is something Mega CAN do as evidenced by the Hornet from Halo 3. You can see this in both the UNSC Hornet Vs Covenant Vampire and Police Air Support Hornet (NMPD Hornet) reviews I did, right here on the blog.
Here’s my opinion on the break down of the value of this set. (In US dollars)
• The Spartan with one weapon and figure stand equates to $3.50.
• The Hunter with figure stand is $10 (yes, it’s THAT GOOD).
• The Wasp. Sadly, this model, imo is unfinished. As such, I place the value at not more than $25. Too many inaccuracies killed what otherwise could have been a fantastic ship!
TOTAL: $38.50 (before tax and in U.S. dollars)
Given that the set costs $50 US before tax, this is a good value for the piece count. However, for the accuracy of the Mega model to the in-game model, it’s not a good value. (Yes, I said that…)
Do I recommend it? NO…Gawd, I had so much hope for this model too. It’s my favorite ship in Halo 5 and it was done so wrong in Mega form. I can only hope Mega redesigns this with more accuracy. I’m going to see if I can salvage this model and redesign it with existing parts. But I think it’s going to take more than what’s there. Not to mention, the cockpit is going to still be too big.
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].
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