As I’ve been promoting on the blog for a little more than a week, Fathead.com will be having a promotional 30% code for all of their Halo products through the use of a special code exclusive to this blog. In the meantime, they were gracious enough to send along four of their “Junior” sets as prizes. I got a large Master Chief set which I’ll show also.

First things first, the shipping package. These can come in a large triangular box with a corresponding tube as sen below. The box is about 4ft tall.

The Junior sets come in a square box about half the height that have a tube inside that holds the wall graphics.

Here are the four prize sets (held by my wife):

The Promethean Knight Junior set: The Elite Junior set:
Next the Crawler Junior set:and the last of the junior sets to be given away, Master Chief:

Finally, here’s the set I got for myself, the FULL sized Master Chief:

Sorry for the camera flash. But WOW, this is HUGE! Master Chief stands about 6’5″ tall in this wall graphic. Darn near actual size.

All of the graphics are “kiss cut.” This means that the graphic part is cut while the sheet they are attached to is not cut. This makes it easy for peeling off AND reapplying back to the sheet, if you so desire.

One thing I HIGHLY recommend with these is that you be certain to clean off the places on your walls that you want to stick these onto. You don’t want dirt/dust, etc. to affect the graphic’s application to the wall. Don’t forget these are removable and you can reposition. So it’s thankfully not a once placed, always stays kind of a thing.

The discount code will be revealed Saturday, April 13. It will be good to use starting Sunday, April 14 through Saturday, April 20.

-Sal

Here’s the fourth of my four part reviews of Jada Die-cast toys.

The Warthog. An Iconic, no, THE iconic vehicle of the Halo franchise.

As I’ve said before regarding packaging, Jada does a really good job of showcasing their product within. Front and center is the Master Chief, along with a UNSC Marine.With the outer box removed, you can see the set has a backdrop to it, upon which the machine gun turret sits. I’m going to take an educated guess here, that given the design of the toy, it’s likely Jada will rerelease this, but with a Gauss cannon turret or Rocket Launcher turret instead of the machine gun turret.As with previous sets, this one also comes with a base screwed into the bottom of the inner packaging through to the toy.
You’ll note in the pic above that again the underside of the vehicle is well detailed. Though again is made of plastic.

A close-up of the turret still on the backdrop of the inner packaging.


Apologies for the slightly fuzzy pic above. This is what you get in the set. The minifigs are well sculpted, however lack definition in the paint applications. Perhaps some weathering or shading would have helped to greatly accentuate them. I may just do that myself and revisit these articles at another time.

Finally, as seen above, the set with the turret attached and the minifigs in place.

The wheels move and the turret rotates. No other moving parts. I was a little disappointed with the position of the top mounted light (the black square along the windshield). I tried to reposition it, but it wouldn’t budge and I didn’t want to break it, so I let it be. Again, just a minor disappointment though.

The detailing on this set is fantastic. Mine is the “matte” version. I see by Jada’s website that there is a “glossy” version too. I’d rather have had that, but am not sure if that was an exclusive or just along side the other warthogs. Again, my wife got these for me though, so I’m happy to have them, regardless of what version I got. She’s a dear.

This set costs around $20 and I’m happy to say, it’s worth it. While I’ve expressed previously that you shouldn’t expect the minifigs to “make” the set and I agree with that here too, since this set includes Master Chief, it makes it all the better.

One thing to note from the above pic. The minifigs can’t actually hold onto the turret. I had to reposition this a few times to get it to stand properly for the shot. So in that respect, I have to say this is a display piece rather than a “play” piece (or toy).

-Sal

And now for the third of four toy reviews for Jada Toys Die-Cast Halo vehicles.

One thing I can say for Jada is they have a nice packaging display. The toys are clearly seen as evidenced by this shot of the front of the Banshee box.I mentioned before how I thought it was a little strange to have a mounted post within the packaging. I did come to the conclusion that it was to keep the toys intact and it certainly helps with the Banshee set. There are some innner plastic bubbles that help to keep it in place too, but given the weight of the toy, a mounted post was definitely needed.Unlike the post for the mongoose which can easily be hidden, the post for the Banshee doesn’t really serve any additional purpose once the toy is outside of the box.

Now on to the cockpit area.

In the above pic you can see that the hinge joint for opening/closing the cockpit is made of plastic. Due to the weight of the upper piece which seems to be made mostly of metal, this hinge is a bit weak. Mine started swiveling slightly from just the very first use of it to insert the Elite pilot.
Also, note that the inner cockpit is a dull plastic. Not what I expected in a Die-Cast metal toy.
I will say that the paint job on the Banshee is exquisite. Very glossy, great color. Unfortunately, there were several small nicks in the paint, mostly around the upper rear cockpit area that are visible. That detracts slightly from an otherwise fantastic paint application. So before just picking one off the shelf, inspect the toy through the large clear bubble to check for nicks.

One thing that really bothered me most though was that there was a bend in one of the tail fins. I’m going to guess that this was done due to the way it was packed. The tail fins are plastic, as they should be for safety. However, that also means you might get one with this defect.
Also note that while the underside is detailed, it too is made of plastic, not metal.
For a set that costs between $18-$20, I would expect a little more metal in a die-cast toy.
Another VERY disappointing thing is that the wings do not rotate what-so-ever. If they do, then mine are stuck in place and I dare not try to force it, less I break the toy.
Now to the minifigs.

Once again we have a Grunt and Elite. No difference with this Elite compared to the one with the Ghost. The only change to the grunt is the weapon. From a Plasma Pistol with the Ghost set to a Fuel Rod Gun in the Banshee set. Problem is…

As you can see in this shot, the Fuel Rod Gun is grossly underscaled. That weapon should be nearly as big as the whole grunt itself. I can only guess that Jada made it so small so that the figure would still be able to stand upright as it might tip over if made in scale.

Okay, so what are my final thoughts on this set? Well, if you are a fan who likes to keep stuff in the package, then I highly recommend getting this set. However, if you’re a fan like me who likes to open just about everything, well you need to consider what you’re going to do with it once it’s open.
Given the plastic underside you are limited in displaying this, unless you don’t mind the plastic side being shown. Personally, I think the glossy metal needs to be the showcase here. With mine, I’m also forced to display it as shown in the pic above with the bent tail fin away from view.
So use your own discretion, certainly look it over first before buying it then decide. Is it worth $20? I have to say no. While it’s big and does have weight to it, it’s lack of articulation as well as a higher use of plastic compared to the other sets makes this set feel a little cheap in comparison. This especially when you compare it to the smaller sets in the line.

-Sal

Here is the second of four toy reviews of Jada Toys Die Cast line. The Ghost.

The presentation of the set is nicely done. The minifigs are cleary visible and the ghost is on full display. Even the background image can be seen.Below you can see how the seat is extendable for larger sized minifigs.The minifigs as seen below are well sculpted for their size. However they are rather plain in paint application. The grunt is a matte finish and makes it look dull and not exciting.Here is an example of how each of the two figs can fit in the seat. It did take some finagling to get them into position. The Grunt easier for me than the Elite.In fact as you can see from the below pic, I couldn’t get the Elite to sit right and it hovered over the seat. I know the joints for the hips are supposed to bend to allow for the fig to sit right, but they were so tight on my fig that I didn’t want to push it further less I break the minifig. The elbow joints wouldn’t properly articulate either. Shame. Still, it’s nice to have some form of articulation in such small figures.One thing I can definitely applaud JADA for is it’s attention to detail on the WHOLE vehicle. To often toy manfacturers skimp on the underside of vehicles thinking that people won’t look there. Or the majority of the time it’s not going to be seen so why bother. I’m glad JADA took the time to make the underside. Yeah, it might not be seen much, but when I want to show this to someone else, they can turn it over and be blown away by the detail.This set retails for about $11. It’s slightly larger than the mongoose set as it should be. Is it worth it? Well, that’s slightly debatable. The figs are comparable with one being larger than the spartans of the mongoose set and the other being smaller. So that leaves the vehicle. With not as many moving parts (4 wheels on the mongoose, versus the sliding seat) the only thing I can look to is the metal used and the paint job. Metal is about the same. While the paint job is fantastic, overall coverage is comparable to the mongoose. So I would have to say this is slightly overpriced. It could have easily been packaged in the same sized container as the Mongoose. Still, I recommend getting the set.

-Sal

For Easter, my wife got me nearly the whole line of Jada Toys Halo line. Only one I didn’t get was the Hornet (and it’s variant).

Here are the four sets she got for me:
First, let me state that I hadn’t intended to buy this line. I didn’t want to start collecting yet another line. However having finally seen these in person, I was excited to open these up and see what the sets had to offer.

Below is my review of the Mongoose set.

There is also a variant of this set that has Blue Spartans instead of Red. Also, of not, on Jada’s website, it say that the red set is a “gloss” finish, while the blue set is a “matte” finish.

Turns out the base is screwed in. In order to remove it from the cardboard, without destroying the cardboard you have to unscrew it.

Okay then… I did find this step unnecessary. I understand this was likely done to keep the toy in place in the packaging. A good thing for those who collect stuff and keep it mint in package, but I’m not one of those folks, normally.

Now, I want to make note of several things here that will resonate among my forthcoming other Jada Toys reviews. Do NOT buy these for the minifigures. While their sculpt is decent for their size, and even the articulation is ok. The joints used are either flimsy or too tight. Not uniform at all.

Starting April 14, 2013 through April 20, 2013, you will be able to save a whopping 30% off all Fathead Halo products.

Fathead is known for making huge wall graphics that are removable. Most notably of sports figures and teams. However, did you know they also made Halo sets too? No?

Well then, let me tell you about them…Fatheads make these incredibly large removable wall graphics. Between now and April 20, I will be giving away select sets from their Halo line. These sets are their “junior” versions and are still quite large.

The following graphics are of their “Real Big” (large) sizes:

Not shown is a Halo Reach default Noble Six also available.

The ones I’ll be giving away are:
• Master Chief: Halo 4 (Jr.): SKU 15-16735
• Elite: Halo 4 (Jr.) SKU 15-16739
• Crawler: Halo 4 (Jr.) SKU 15-16737
• Knight: Halo 4 (Jr.) SKU 15-16738

Each a $40 value.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, for a limited time, you’ll be able to save a whopping 30% on all of their Halo products. Keep checking back between now and April 20 for the giveaways (these will come via a trivia contest). You must be registered with the blog to be eligible for prizes. (Click this link to register)

As well, on April 13, I’ll post the code for the 30% discount as well as a direct link for the HFFL promotion with Fathead.

If you’ve ever wanted these before and have been on the fence, THIS will be the time to get them!

-Sal