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
HFFL: Now while I can appreciate wanting to entice people to buy Windows 8 devices with Halo, I still STRONGLY disagree with it not coming to XBOX Live Arcade. I hope we get it on the XBOX 360 by the end of the year. I’d gladly pay $15 for it!!!
Technical Specifications: Build Time: 3 minutes Set Piece Count: 72 Minifigs: Spartan C.I.O., Active Camo Grunt (Halo 4 style) Weapons: Assault Rifle, Active Camo Needler Accessories: Forerunner Structure Price: $12.99 (Price may vary by store) Special Features: N/A
And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER) (Video Review at end of article)
The box for the Siege Bike is tight! Love the white package design and the box size is not oversized for what you get inside. The back of the box shows all the details of the set nicely. Here are the contents of the box. Once again, MEGA has included an orthogonal view card. I really appreciate that extra detail. It’s not a building part, but something else that is neat to collect and sets it apart from the Main Halo line of MEGA Bloks. A better look at the card. All the pieces sorted out. I like that the main body pieces are two halves. This makes the set MUCH more stable than if it were built out of several plates instead. Here is the chassis going together. Pins on the halves as well as others you insert match up with holes on the other half. Note the REAP-X logo (bottom right) in the picture. The halves are put together and the seat snaps on top of those. Get design choice there! Here we see the bike sans side gun, the gun itself, and finally with it attached. From this view, you can also see the kickstand. Now THAT is attention to detail folks! And it really works! More views of the finished Siege Bike. This really is a cool little vehicle. I hope it comes to the Halo games and/or the TV show. Love to see this in action or use it in a Halo game! The Bike with the C.I.O. Spartan riding it. The Spartan fits nicely onto the bike. It attaches at the handlebars. Also the feet line up with the kickstand on the one side and a bar on the other side. Here is the small Forerunner structure included in the set. I love having these small set pieces. When making a diorama, they really help to flesh out your scenes more, without taking up much room at all. The Active Camo Needler and Assault Rifle. What’s that? You can’t see the Needler? It’s active camo!!! Oh okay, you drive a hard bargain, here it is. Sorry for the blurry pic. The C.I.O. Spartan is Great. Excellent sculpt. It’s a dark blue color. With that it looks like dark blue is the color of choice for Spartan figures in the REA-X sub-line. The Mark VI that came with the VTOL set is the same color. (as reviewed here) Here is the active camo Grunt. What? Too soon? LOL Ah, here it is. LOVE this minifig! Of course you know I would, as I really dig translucent toys! Here’s the full set. Finally the leftover pieces.I made a small stand with them. It actually balances quite nicely on the peg as you can see in the middle of the above pic.
Summary: The set is a quick build. The only difficulty I see for small kids would be the tread itself as it take a little “oomph” to slip it over the wheels. The value is great. Two minifigs with weapons. That’s $7 of the $13 right there. So for $6 more you get the Siege Bike and Forerunner structure. I can’t say enough how I really like the look of the Bike. My only complaint is that the tread is too tight on the wheels, so it doesn’t allow for it to roll across surfaces. Given that mine will be on display however, that’s a mute point with me.
Overall Rating:I give this set 9 out for 10 medals. In the vid below I say 10 out of 10. I forgot to take into account the tread not moving on the bike, so I took off a little here in the written review.
And finally, my second ever video toy review! I’ll be making these short vid reviews from now on. Excuse the slight shakyness. Also, the background noise is my fishtank, so apologies if you hear that. (I’ll get better with this, the more I make the vid reviews.)
If the rest of the REAP-X sets are as good as this one, it’s going to be a successful line for MEGA Bloks!
Last night, Rukari Austin, formerly of Microsoft, then 343, now again with Microsoft (different office) threw a HUGE Bar-B-Que, having 74 Halo fans over at his place. Below is the signature board from the event!
As far as Halo 4 Global Tournament news goes, nuketaco42 from GrifballHub and my friend POD Dust Storm from Podtacular have made it through to the next round in the Invitational brackets.
As I get more info on who’s made it through to the next rounds, I’ll post it. -Sal
It’s Friday and that means it’s Halo Fan Friday League. Come join me for Halo 4 matchmaking and customs between 8-10 pm EST tonight!
I’ve updated the Ricochet map I created and need play testors. I may even have the second Ricochet map done in time to test tonight.
Matchmaking playlists are always determined by the amount or people we currently have in the party.
Also, if you are interested in joining the HFFL Gaming Group, this is a perfect opportunity to get games in with me so I can get a feel if you’d be a good fit. On that note, that does NOT mean you have to be a stellar skilled player. That doesn’t hurt of course. What I’m really looking for though are those people who are TEAM players. They’ll do what it takes to win and not for instance camp sniper with active camo during an objective game just to get easy kills.
If you are interested in either/both gaming and/or joining the gaming group, send me a message over XBOX Live to my gamertag: HaloFanForLife1.
Posted by Virgin Gaming here’s as banner that greets you at PAX:
Another view of the Finals set up:
If you got to be a combatant, you got this badge. Thanks to “Start A Riot” for tweeting her badge!:
NakedEli tweets this pic of the Elimination flyer for Friday’s gameplay of the Halo 4 GC. Whew, sounds complicated…
I’ll post more as I find it all over the net. Stay Tuned to HaloFanForLife.com for continuing news of the Halo 4 Global Championship all weekend! And look out for the second “Spirit of Fire” Podcast on Monday where we will be discussing the whole tournament and the finals in particular!
Before you go back to school or back to your campaign, get stocked up on all the latest Halo gear from the Halo Waypoint Store. In celebration of PAX Prime, the Halo Waypoint Store is having a huge sale! From Friday through Monday!
Folks, this stuff goes in and out of stock all the time. So grab them while you can for a discount!
The Halo 4 Global Championship Finals are almost upon us, and we’re breaking down all the important times and events in case you’re going to be watching the finals from the comfort of your pajamas and couch online and on Xbox LIVE, or if you’re going to be in Seattle and attending in person. Either way, we’ve got you covered!
Saturday:
• Attendee registration: 9:30am PDT – 11:00am PDT
• The Global Championship Semi-Finals in lobby: 11:00am PDT – 2:00pm PDT
• The Global Championship Semi-Finals in Auditorium: 11:00am PDT – 2:00pm PDT
• Champions Bundle Free Play in lobby: 11:00am PDT – 2:00pm PDT
Sunday:
• Champions Bundle Free Play in lobby: 11:00am PDT – 1:30pm PDT
• Halo VIPs and Guest registration: 2:00pm PDT – 4:00pm PDT
• PAX Prime badge holder registration: 3:00pm PDT – 4:00pm PDT
• General public (with wristbands only) registration: 3:30pm PDT – 4:00pm PDT
• THE HALO 4 GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS: 4:00pm PDT – 6:00pm PDT
Technical Specifications: Build Time: 1 minute Set Piece Count: 35 Minifigs: Spartan EOD, Spartan Scout, Flood Elite Combat Form, Flood Carrier Form, 6X Flood Infection Forms Weapons: Shotgun, Flamethrower, Missile Pod Accessories: N/A Price: $14.99 (Price may vary by store) Special Features: The Flood Carrier Form has a slot on top that can be opened up more to fit the Infection Forms inside or to retrieve them.
And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER) (Video Review at end of article)
The box art/window do an excellent job of showcasing the figures inside. I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed with how MEGA does their packaging. The back shows off nicely the set. Curiously, the Stealth Falcon set shown, I’ve never seen at stores. Would REALLY love to own that set. Love that color. As well, a chance to own more Carrier and Infection Forms! Here is what you get inside. Only the Missile Pod needs slight assembly. Speaking of which here it is with the other weapons in the set. The Elite doesn’t get a weapon here, unless you swap out the Spartan’s shotgun and give it to the Elite Flood Form. Popcorn Shrimp! Er…Flood Infection forms. So VERY glad MEGA gave us a whopping SIX of these in this set. That makes is SO easy to army build those little suckers! So here we have MEGA’s version of the Carrier form and the in-game version. MEGA’s is close and I suspect the more rounded shape was to accommodate the infection forms better. Curious though why it’s so chocolate in color as opposed to the game’s pale color. Hopefully we’ll get this fig again and in the paler color. I’m not disappointed by this mind you. Here’s the slot on top showing all the Infection forms inside. LOOK OUT! One is trying to escape! The ever well done Spartan EOD. I just LOVE this armor set. It really makes this Spartan look TOUGH! Paint detail is great and of course I swoon over the Stealth color. Probably only second to the Master Chief Green color for my favorite color choice. The Spartan Scout’s color is just as good if not better! I may be mistaken here, but this looks like the same Elite Flood Combat form that came in the Single packs not too long ago. Maybe a slightly different armor color. No matter, ALWAYS glad to add to the Flood army ranks! It’s a Flood attack! Will our Spartans survive and save the day? (Of course they will!)
Summary: There is virtually no building with this set other than the missile pod, so it’s a ready to go, right out of the package set for play or display. The Stealth color for the Spartans is one of my favorites and makes this a must buy for me. Having 6 Infection Forms included where they’ve been scarce otherwise really adds to the value of this set for me. For $15 (price varies by store), I find this an EXCELLENT value. Each minifig itself would be $3.50. That brings the total to $14. So for just $1 more you get the 6 Infection Forms. (That breaks down to 17 cents each rounding up-a GREAT deal!)
Overall Rating:I give this set 9.5 out for 10 medals. Other than not having a weapon for the Elite Flood Combat Form, and arm articulation for the Carrier Form, this would have been a 10.
And finally, my first ever video toy review! I’ll be making these short vid reviews from now on. Excuse the slight shakyness. Also, the background noise is my fishtank, so apologies if you hear that. (I’ll get better with this, the more I make the vid reviews.)
So who’s moving on to Day 2’s rounds of the finals?
