Covenant Revenant Attack: Set number 96982

Build Time: 5 minutes sorting, 30 minutes build. Total 35 minutes.

Set Piece count: 281
Minifigs: Elite Ultra, Elite Minor, Spartan Commando
Weapons and Accessories: Needler, Plasma Rifle, SMG, Long Ammo Crate, Bubble Shield generator
Special Features: Revenant’s front wings pivot, rear mounted cannon deploys

Dimensions: Revenant: approx. 6 in. long X 5 in. X 2 in. high; Bubble Shield: approx 5 1/2 in. diameter X 3 in. high.
Price/Value: $32.99 US

The set has 281 pieces. Most of these are dedicated to the Revenant, while the remaining are shared between the Covenant barriers and bubble shield. The directions are straight forward, with one exception. Step 12 calls for a small curved piece. Be certain you have the smallest size. I put on the one just bigger than that then realized my mistake at the next step.

All in all this is a great set. Cool new minifigs with excellent sculpting and paint application, and a repeat of the blue elite minor, which is a welcome army building enemy.

The Revenant’s color is amazing. It’s a shiny wine/burgundy color that really stands out. It’s VERY close to the in-game color. Hopefully this will mean an Elite Zealot minifig will soon come as those colors are very close.
The bubble shield is a great addition to the Halo Mega Bloks toy line. At first I was concerned how this was going to be created. Having experienced bubble shield from other toy lines (the Star Wars Droideka one comes to mind), I was immediately concerned about safety for small children. Not to worry, not only it the shield so large that there is no way it would not let air in, there are 4 holes created by each of the studs on each of the 5 pieces of the outer bubble shield. This was a WELL executed piece and I highly applaud Mega Bloks for the design and consideration to child safety.
The Covenant barriers are two welcome pieces of set dressing. I always appreciate the extras like these as they bring a subtle yet more filling role to the set and toy line overall.

When I first heard that the Revenant was going to be made I was ecstatic. I consider this the Covenant’s hot rod of Halo Reach. It has the speed of the ghost and half the firepower of the wraith. With it’s sleek curving lines and color it really stood out.

For the typical retail price of $32.99, this set is just slightly overpriced, however I have my theories as to why. I’ve talked with two other collectors about this as well and the theory summarized is that the new color as well as molding had to have it’s costs recouped somehow. Not to mention the amount of paint applications on the minifigs, especially the Ultra, and Spartan. I hold a general 10 cents per part rule when considering price. So at 281 pieces that amounts to just over $28. The set costs $5 more. However, in my opinion, given the great new color and the amazing bubble shield I consider it worth it. An extra minifig would have been great. Since there are extra arms and a helmet for the Spartan that makes up the difference for me.

I’m VERY pleased with this set with one exception. The front wings are one stud too wide. You’ll see in the pics later the comparison between the toy and the in-game model and it will become quite clear. As well Mega actually got the wings wrong as far as the position of where the wing pivots. It should have been further out and not right next to the body. Still it’s close, just not perfect. The only other minor annoyance was that I couldn’t get the Ultra into the set with the peg in the back and had to take that out and just have him holding onto one of the steering grips.

Overall Rating: With this review I am changing my medals to go from 1-10 instead of the usual 1-5. For this set I give it an 8.5 medals out of 10. The front wings were the main reason for it not being a 10.

Now on to the pics (click to see a larger version):

The front and back of the box:

What you get inside the box and what comes in the bigger bag:

The sticker sheet:

The pieces sorted into the “brickyard”.

Some new and interesting pieces in this set:

Step progression shots:

Alternate views of the finished Revenant (before stickers applied):

Toy/In-game comparison shots. Here is where you can plainly see the error of the front wings. You can see how the front wings are too wide and the pivot point should be out further. I believe this could have been accomplished. I did buy two sets of this, so I’m going to attempt to make a custom one with the corrected wings being more slender and the pivot points being further out. Look for that to come in the near future. Note how the toy is more an inverted “T” block shape whereas the in-game model is more trapezoidal and streamlined. I know the Covenant shapes are harder to create in Blok form, so some leeway is given there.

The amazing bubble shield. A note on this. It was first supposed to be yellow/gold as it was in Halo 3. The color wasn’t coming out right, so Mega opted to do it in blue, hence the health shield. They did however keep the generator in the set. While technically incorrect, I am happy they kept the generator in and look forward to a yellow/gold bubble shield in the future.

The Covenant barriers come together:

Here are the pieces left over (I was actually missing two parts from the build, thankfully those were hidden parts. I’ll be contacting Mega about getting the replacement parts for this):

I always enjoy making “minirigs” out of the left over parts and this is what I came up with.

Here are the minifigs that come with the set:

A close up of the Elite Ultra. Fantastic sculpt and paint apps.

The spartan in various views with both sets of extra armor on:

The completed set (sans stickers):

I hope you enjoyed reading this review as much as I enjoyed writing it. I also hope you found it informative.

All in all a great set. I recommend getting it!

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