Reposted from HaloWaypoint.
Okay while the skateboard looks nice, I’m TOTALLY into those shoes. I want a pair of them. Porblem is I can’t find it anywhere on the Globe’s (the manufacturer) website. I’ve sent an e-mail looking into it. If any of you find a link, PLEASE forward it on to me.
UPDATE! Jen Taylor (Cortana herself) has helped me find a link to the shoes!
-Sal
Thanks to Todd McFarlane via a Twitter post and “Viking Spawn” on the halo2552.com forums for the links and pics.
As most of you know, I’m a prolific collector of all things Halo with a concentration on Halo toys by McFarlane and Mega Bloks.
Here are the latest offerings by McFarlane.
Cortana:
Ah, the most lovely AI gets a new figures this time with articulation and a new color scheme to reflect her look in Halo 4.
The toy comes with a new base for her to stand on. No word on if this one lights up like the previous McFarlane one did. It does however come with a nifty new Master Chief Micro ops figure as well as an alternate hand attached to a display screen.
Say what you will about the articulation. I’m happy to get another figure of her. The added hand with attached display is a nice complement to the figure, as is the micro ops Master Chief.
Crawler:
The “Didact Dog” as I have dubbed it gets the action figure treatment.
I’m really glad this was made and hope that McFarlane makes the other variants of this cyborg creature, specifically the Alpha Crawler.
As you can see this figure is loaded with articulation. I can just imagine the custom figures that will come from this toy.
Spartan:
This is the Blue Soldier version of a Halo 4 Spartan. I love the design of the helmet and am glad McFarlane made it. It comes with a DMR.
The detail of the sculpt and weathering of the armor with paint apps really helps to make this figure excel. Once again, I’m drawn to that helmet. It just looks BAD ASS. 343 did a great job designing it and McFarlane did a fantastic job sculpting it for it’s action figure!
Watcher:
The crafty little protector of the Promethean Knights gets it’s own figure.
Okay, while I have to say the sculpt looks great, I am a little disappointed. In the pics from McFarlane, it does not show the Watcher’s rear circular “wings” deployed. It IS shown like this on the back packaging of the halo 4 series 1 figures. I hope that they do indeed unfold. If not, that’s one of my disappointments with this figure.
The other I’m sure you can guess…Yep, that gawd aweful display stand. Um, hello, why not a simple sturdy pin in a base, such as the one that came with the Guilty Spark/Sentinel figures?
Okay, so some would say the pin is intrusive. Okay, but what about that big ass clear “cup” that the Watcher has? I think that’s a LOT more intrusive. Make a clear pin thick enough to hold the weight of the Watcher and a display stand to mount is on. Yeah, this leaves a small hole on the underside of the figure. However, that could EASILY be resolved by including a small “plug” to fill it with, should you decide to display it in flight hanging from a ceiling for instance, without the aid of a display stand. Honestly…would it have been that hard, instead of that horrible stand that comes with the figure at present?
I’m looking forward to getting this entire wave. I’ll just have to modify the Crawler to my own liking.
-Sal
Here’s the cover for the mag that you MUST OWN! It’s packed with 96 pages of Halo goodness.
Just check out the table of contents for some insight into the issue:
Hoop Dreams is a short article talks about the Halo rings, where the inspiration came from and their purpose.
Inspired is another short article that showcases a piece of artwork of Requiem.
Halo 4 is the first article with some real “meat” in it. Here you’ll read about where Chief left off at the end of Halo 3 and what happens at the beginning of Halo 4. This is broken down into a few smaller articles. The Re-Mastered portion of the article highlights changes made to Chief’s armor for Halo 4 with a two-page spread. Multiplayer is discussed as well as changes to other aspects of Halo, with a nod to Grunts. A discussion about Cortana’s growing rampancy is an important part of the article that shouldn’t be missed. Lastly in the section is a brief portion about Neil Davidge the new composer for Halo 4.
Halo Series Timeline is great look at some key events starting with Precursors and Forerunners all the way up to the beginning of Halo 4.
The Cortana article is a short writeup about everyone’s favorite blue AI. Ditto for the Master Chief article. The Covenant article is a four page spread of some of the key Covenant races as well as the Flood and Forerunners.
The Guns of Halo is a list article detailed the mag’s 25 greatest ways to slay in Halo. I’m not fond of these types of articles as I always disagree with the order of the list and invariably something is always left off the list that I would have chosen instead. Still, it’s a nice read.
Best Maps is just that an article of what the mag’s writers feel are the best maps. Another list type article. I had to disagree with a lot of the article. Not to mention they also list 5 maps that are the worst. Three on that list I happen to like. So really, it’s up to your own personal tastes as to what’s the best and worse in Halo maps.
Origins of Halo is a short history of the behind the scenes of the game and how it came about with Bungie. Some good concept images are shown and compared with the final in-game result.
Frank O’Conner speaks is a Q&A article with Frank talking about his feelings towards the Halo franchise and his history with it, Bungie, and now 343 Industries.
Size Matters, much like the size chart that I posted a week or so ago, is a series of charts showing scale between beings/weapons, small and large ships and huge ships, Halo and the Ark. Unfortunately these are all in Black and White, so no detailing (unlike my chart…)
One of the more fun articles is Easter Eggs. This article goes down the list of Easter Eggs found in each of the games. It’s a nice condensed way to find all of them if you haven’t seen them before and in a way a stroll down memory lane for those of us who have.
Rare Merchandise is almost a list-like article. While not ranking them, the article talks about some Halo merchandise. Yes, there are some rare items, however some others listed are hardly rare and can be found for cheap. Still, I highly recommend reading this article to give you a brief look at some cool collectibles.
The Halo Effect talks about the impact the Halo franchise has had on gaming, development, and even human culture in general. Great article.
Finally the Best Cameos article gives you a glimpse at some Halo references, be they in-game or not.
That’s a WHOLE LOT of Halo goodness packed in 96 pages and all for $10. This mag is SURE to be a collectible. Even if you’re not into buying magazines (which I’m not), this is one time I highly suggest making an exception.
-Sal (HFFL)
UNSC Desert Combat Unit: Set number 97027
Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 1 minute sorting, 1 minutes build. Total 2 minutes.
Set Piece count: 53
Minifigs: EVA Spartan, Marine (blue eye plate), Marine (full gold goggles); extra CBQ helmet, torso; Scout helmet, arms.
Weapons: Sniper rifle, SMG, Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle
Accessories: 2 Marine backpacks
Special Features: N/A
Price/Value: $12 US
This is a good set to complement previous desert themed sets like the Wal*Mart exclusive Covenant Strike Playset. Or the recently released UNSC Armory Pack (set 97023). Knowing that this set was coming out, I bought two extra of the Armory set to make the other Spartans from this Desert Combat Unit set (you’ll see in the pics below). The detailing on these figures is fantastic. It’s a good army building set if you’re building a desert theme. I happen to have something special planned for my UNSC Desert forces. You’ll see that in a few weeks.
Here are the pics.
Click on images to see a larger version.
And now for the variant Spartans. As you can see I left the original EVA Spartan intact and made the variants from the Armory base spartan.
Summary: These coupled with the Mk IV Spartan and the EOD Spartan from the Armory set make for a formidable squad of Desert Spartans. It’s a good set to get, especially if you want more marines. I really like that MEGA added backpacks to the set and love the 2×2 UNSC tile. That’s going to be used elsewhere.
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 medals!
-HFFL
Covenant Silver Combat Unit: Set number 97002
Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 1 minute sorting, 1 minutes build. Total 2 minutes.
Set Piece count: 42
Minifigs: Silver Combat Elite, 2 Silver Grunt Minors, extra Head and Arms of Silver Ascetic Elite.
Weapons: Plasma Rifle, Needler, Plasma Pistol, Focus Rifle, 2 Translucent blue sticky grenades.
Accessories: N/A
Special Features: N/A
Price/Value: $12 US
This is a good set for army building, though there really weren’t any silver grunts. Still, they look sharp! A nice assortment of weapons, though they are all purple with no extra detailing. The Ascetic Elite pieces are very well painted and have nice detailing.
Here are the pics.
Click on images to see a larger version.
Summary: I liked this set for a few reasons. Multiple Grunts, Ascetic Elite (my favorite Elite armor from Halo 3), and the Combat Elite can be used as Shipmaster R’tas Vadum. I bought two of this set so I could have both versions of the Elite and extra grunts.
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 medals!
-HFFL
Covenant Crimson Combat Unit: Set number 97028
Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 1 minute sorting, 1 minutes build. Total 2 minutes.
Set Piece count: 47
Minifigs: Crimson Combat Elite, Crimson Grunt Minor, Crimson Grunt Major (Reach style), extra Crimson Flight Elite head; Crimson Honor Guard Arms, legs, head.
Weapons: Plasma Pistol, Needle Rifle, Energy Sword, 2 Sticky grenades (translucent blue), Honor Guard Pike
Accessories: N/A
Special Features: N/A
Price/Value: $12 US
This is one set where I think you most definitely get what you pay for. TWO grunts in the larger size and different styles. And the best absolutely is the Honor Guard pieces. I can’t see how anyone would display the Flight Elite or Combat Elite variants of this set when you have the awesome Honor Guard right there at your hands. Detailing is amazing. Weapons are plain in color, but the addition of trans-blue sticky nades is a welcome touch.
Here are the pics.
Click on images to see a larger version.
A good looking set about with a nice rich color. My favorite set of the recent Armory/Weapons packs.
We had a similar Elite to the Flight Elite above come in a Banshee set. This color is better, but I can’t bring myself to use this head when the Honor Guard is SO much better.
Just look at that minifigs. It’s a masterpiece!
Look at that detailing. By far one of the best MEGA has ever made in the Halo line. It’s my favorite Covenant minifig, hands down.
Summary: This set just screams to be a multiple purchase and indeed I did get two sets of it. The Grunts are great for army building, while having a set of Honor Guards just makes sense. The fact that these are so well painted needs to be stated again. I put this one in the category of MUST HAVE!
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 medals! SUPERB!!!!!
-HFFL
UNSC Cobalt Combat Unit: Set number 97001
Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 1 minute sorting, 1 minutes build. Total 2 minutes.
Set Piece count: 48
Minifigs: Cobalt Spartan Mk V; Cobalt CQB Spartan; Cobalt Marine (Green eye display), extra Cobalt Scout Helmet and Arms.
Weapons: Shotgun, SMG, Silenced SMG, Rocket Launcher
Accessories: Trip Mine
Special Features: N/A
Price/Value: $12 US
This is a good set, though the color is a bit shiny for me. I like that we get a trip mine, though I’m a little perplexed that we didn’t get a backpack for the marine. The UNSC 2X2 tile is really nice and I’ll use that for other sets.
Here are the pics.
Click on images to see a larger version.
Summary: A good set, especially if you like the color. The figures are detailed nicely and you get a good little assortment of weapons. I’m not too keen on the color myself as I keep thinking it looks like a nail polish color.
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 medals. (Only the color brought this down a little. Not bad, just not what I expected in “Cobalt” form.)
-HFFL
Covenant Armory Pack II: Set number 96997
Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 1 minute sorting, 1 minutes build. Total 2 minutes.
Set Piece count: 22
Minifigs: Yellow Assault Elite with extra Combat Elite head.
Weapons: Plasma Rifle, needler, needle rifle
Accessories: N/A
Special Features: N/A
Price/Value: $6-7 US
We don’t really get Yellow Elites, so this was welcome. The weapons are painted well. Because of that they look much better than the normal all purple versions. Some purply bits to build and a green baseplate round out the set.
Here are the pics.
Click on images to see a larger version.
Summary: The painted weapons really help this set to shine. The Elite itself is good if not so detailed. Nice to have an Assault Elite though so I’m not knocking it.
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 medals. Add a sticky grenade and a sword and I’d have bumped this up to 5 medals.
-HFFL
UNSC Armory Pack II: Set number 96996
Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 1 minute sorting, 1 minutes build. Total 2 minutes.
Set Piece count: 22
Minifigs: White AA Spartan with extra HAZOP helmet.
Weapons: SMG, Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle
Accessories: N/A
Special Features: N/A
Price/Value: $6-7 US
FA nice little set for building up your Arctic Spartan ranks. The only minor issue is that I was surprised that the baseplate wasn’t white instead of the green that it is. The extra helmet looks a little out of place on the figure as it’s not as detailed in paint apps. Still, it’s nice to have options.
Here are the pics.
Click on images to see a larger version.
The AA Spartan looks good. I think this is the first “male” version of the AA Spartan.
Summary: A nice little set with virtually not build time. Worth the price.
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 medals Add an extra weapon and a frag grenade and I’d have bumped this up to 5 medals.
-HFFL
Okay, I only have a pic of the back of the box, but it’s very cool.
Here’s a bit of a close-up of part of the back:
Photos courtesy of “Dielectic”
What’s great is the you get another look at the full model, as well as numerous other close-up shots showing detailed areas of the ship.
Note in the close-up pic the stocked armory. In it you have the following weapons (subject to change):
5 Assault Rifles
1 Battle Rifle
3 Frag Grenades
1 Radioman backpack
1 Sticky grenade Pistol
3 Magnums
3 SMGs
Not too shabby.
I’m really excited to get one of these!
-HFFL
