Reports have come in that Toys R Us has CHARGED credit and debit cards for this pre-order. The set isn’t due to ship until November, yet they’ve charged the cards now.

Their policy is not to charge until the item is about to ship. Unless this is to ship in the next few days, then this is a serious error on the part of TRU.

Unless you have a few hundred you can afford to have them hold on your account, DO NOT pre-order this item. I’ll keep you folks appraised if they fix the error.

Such a shame too. They are going to RUIN their own pre-order with this, then blame consumers for low pre-orders. Mark my words…

-Sal

Toys R Us has just put up it’s pre-order for the Mega Bloks “Forward Unto Dawn” set.

If you buy this week, you can get another for half price!!

The FUD set is priced at $249. I’m not sure if that’s a pre-order price or the regular price. I’ve heard the price range from $269 up to $299. So if you’re thinking about this, it might be better the just pre-order it now and get it for what is likely going to be the cheapest you’ll be able to get it.

Better yet, if you have a friend who is thinking about getting this set too, then get two for the sale price and save even more. Shipping is free (up to $20) off orders of $75 or more, for which this obviously qualifies.

Don’t wait folks, it’s likely this set isn’t going to be mass produced in the thousands. I’m guessing the pre-order is up to gauge interest in the set and that only a select number will be made. Limited edition numbers? I don’t know that…yet.

-Sal

With the new video release, I take a detailed look into this amazing, massive, and epic set.

First up is my friend, Andrew Sparkes. He’s an amazing fellow, whom I’ve had the pleasure to game with on a continuing regular basis. I met him in person months after gaming with him for the first time at this year’s New York Toy Fair. I can tell you that “Sparky” is a genuine fellow who loves these toys and more importantly for we Halo fans, he loves Halo.

These next three shots take me back to a time when I was a kid watching Star Wars for the first time. That epic scene when the Star Destroyer slowly envelopes the screen as it’s chasing the rebel ship. Except in this case, it’s the good guys ship coming toward you!

Just look at that incredible amount of detail that the Mega Bloks designers put into the model!

These next four show the interior. A tight fit yes, but it’s packed with a lot of Halo goodness!

At the middle of the ship where it separates, there lurks an Elite, ready top pounce.

The middle section of the interior shows us a UNSC Technician and Officer.
Check out those details in there. Count them, SIX work stations!

Lastly of the interior, but MOST certainly not least is Master Chief in his cryo tube.

Master Chief in a cryo tube with Light Up Cortana looking on.

As you can see in that pic above, Cortana is lit. Here is a gif showing her lit and unlit:

Next we see how the ship separates in the middle to reveal the scene from the first Halo 4 trailer where Master Chief is looking out toward the shield world.

Some of the fantastic detailing on the hull of the model:

And finally another shot of my friend Sparky with the full model in front of him. He looks pleased as punch with the outcome of the model.

Okay, so I added the text in the bubble, LOL.

This is Mega Bloks 117th Halo set and they’ve gone all out. If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I’ve reported on this set before but only in small detail as there wasn’t much known about the set before now.

The “FUD” comes with a special light up Cortana (Mega Bloks first ever light up figure). As well there are four other figures. A blue Elite Zealot, Grey UNSC Technician, Green UNSC Officer, and Master Chief in his Mark VII Mjolnir armor.

This impressive set is more than 2800 bloks. The set has three top sections that come off to reveal an armory, control station, and Master Chief’s Cryo tube. The ship also splits apart to reveal the broken surface area that Master Chief stands at in the first Halo 4 trailer. (How cool is that!!!)

Take a look at this set from the side:

At nearly 100 “dots” long, not including the front antennae and jutting out engines, it’s roughly more than 80cm/31.5 inches long. Include those antennae and engines and you’re looking at a set that is easily 3 feet long.

See for yourself the epicness that is the MEGA Bloks “Forward Unto Dawn” Signature series set:

The set is due out holiday 2012, from what I understand. No word on cost, but considering the blok count, I’d easily guess this is a $300 set.

If you’re a fan like me of the MEGA Bloks Halo sets, then this is a must purchase set.

Pre-Order yours online August 1st at Toys R Us.

Great job MEGA!!!

-HFFL

Deinonychus (a fellow fan and friend of mine on XBOX Live), found this set at his local Toys R Us. (Photo credit goes fully to him)

It’s one of three new exclusives sets to TRU.

Flood Seige:

Front of box

Okay, one thing I’m REALLY liking about this set is the addition of the “Mass Driver” as seen in the last mission of Halo Reach’s “The Pillar Of Autumn.” However, the rest of the set seems a bit discombobulated. The Flood weren’t on Reach, we never saw an orange elite flood and the rest of the setting isn’t really anything out of the games.

So, does that matter? Heck NO!

The orange color of the Elite flood is in direct reference to it being a TRU exclusive. Orange is one of TRU’s corporate colors. They also use this color for exclusive McFarlane Halo figures too.

The setting itself could be a mishmash from Halo 3/Reach. But it’s cool regardless. Some really good potential here to make a UNSC base from. I’m pretty sure the Elite flood can be made into a regular elite. (That’s what I’d be doing with it anyway.) And one small detail…JERSEY BARRIER! YES!! I’ve been asking for this in Halo MB sets for many months now and it’s finally happened! Is it a small detail? Yep, but one that shows up time and again in Halo. While not exactly game accurate, it’s close enough for me. I hope I can get my hands on a bunch of these!

Now, one thing that is a downer. The price. It seems this set is selling for $54.99. It’s an exclusive, so TRU can jack the price up. Should they? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Just consider how many exclusives they’ve had before and look how many are still on the shelves. They price themselves out of competition. Look, I LOVE shopping there. But they have to be more reasonable with pricing. This set comes with 426 pieces. I always use the guideline of 10 cents per piece. So this set should be around $42.60. I’d be fine with rounding it to $45. But not $9 more.

As much as I want the set (and I’d like 2 at least of it), it will be a set I’ll wait for a sale for. Thankfully, TRU does do a “Buy on get one half off sale” fairly frequently for Mega Bloks. That’s when I’l buy. That will bring the cost of two sets to $81 or $40.50 each which is lower that what I think the set should be prices as.

I love to support Halo Mega Bloks. MEGA Brands itself can only suggest a price (MSRP). It’s up to the retailer to actually price an item. This is one of those times where the retailer is failing the license.

So, IMO, wait for a sale folks. While a good set, it’s not likely to sell out on shelves (again due to price).

Here are the other two sets from the TRU exclusive line:

Is that bubble shield clear? Translucent black? Either way, it’s not cannon to the games but is very cool.

Dang, I wasn’t going to buy another “Wolverine” set, but that black/dark grey version just looks awesome.

Again, thanks to Deino for the intel.

Covenant Wraith: Set number 97014

Build Time: 25 minutes sorting, 55 minutes build. Total 1 hour, 20 minutes.

Set Piece count: 637
Minifigs, Weapons and Accessories: Gold Standard Elite, Gold Ascetic Elite, Green EOD Spartan with parts for a Scout Spartan; Rocket launcher, Plasma Launcher
Special Features: Opening and Closing Plasma Cannon hatch/Cannon, Turret pivots 360°.
Dimensions: Wraith H 4-5″ (cannon sealed/open and extended) W 8.25″ L 8.75″ / Forerunner structure H 4.75″ W 3.5″ L 2.5″
Price/Value: $45US

The set has 637 pieces. To say this is an upgrade would be to diminish what is a truly fantastic set. The color for one makes this much closer to game accurate. The beautiful curvature of the replacement bloks makes this set look closer to the game model, while still having that familiar blok look. The cannon assembly is what really rocks in this set. The housing area of the cannon has been redone and so much for the better. I was impressed when I first saw this at New York Toy Fair, but I MUCH more impressed having now built it myself. The addition of the gold elites is great. With the gold elites from Seraph set you can build up a nice squad of Goldies. Need to have another elite to make the ultra, buy the drop pod that has the gold elite.

Okay so now for those pics (sorry no pics of the minifigs for now-pic didn’t turn out so well)

Click on images to see a larger version.

The box art. I can’t say enough how well the packaging looks for this line. It just keeps getting better with each iteration.

The contents:

All the pieces sorted out:

The build:

Take note in this next pic the way the curved piece fits together (insert). If you make a mistake here, you can fix it, but don’t be in a rush to pull out that pin, less you break it. Work it out gently. (TWSS)

Just look at that cannon and housing assembly. AWESOME!!!

The “wings”:

The finished model sans stickers:

A nice amount of leftover pieces:

Hey look a mini wraith from those pieces, sort of…:

The exquisite Forerunner structure. BTW, this one can be coupled with the Battlescape III set to make a larger structure.

Summary: While I liked the original MEGA Bloks Wraith set, this one is far and above better. New curved bloks, better in-game color, gold elites, green EOD and a mini set in the Forerunner structure. The price is actually VERY well priced. For a set of 637 pieces you might expect to pay close to $60. Instead it’s $15 less than that. A VERY good buy. That makes up for what I thought was a little bit of overpricing on two of the other new sets. So if you buy all 4 sets; wraith, seraph, space banshee, warthog; you definitely get your monies worth of bloks and Halo goodness.

Job well done MEGA!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 medals. Great build, awesome color…I could repeat myself even more here. Just go and get one, or three.

-HFFL

Warthog Resistance: Set number 97011

Build Time: 7 minutes sorting, 23 minutes build. Total 30 minutes.

Set Piece count: 285
Minifigs, Weapons and Accessories: Two NEW Green Mark VII Spartans!, Red Elite (new Halo 4 mold); Sticky pistol (NEW weapon), Assault Rifle, Carbine, Spartan Laser; weapons pod (NEW!)
Special Features: 4-wheel independent suspension, rotating and pivoting machine gin turret
Dimensions: Warthog H 4″ W 3″ L 7.25″ / Forerunner Structure H 4.5″ W 5.5″ L 5.5″
Price/Value: $33US

The set has 285 pieces. Roughly 75% are for the Warthog, with the rest for the Forerunner set piece. This new Warthog for Halo 4 is just plain amazing. For those who have other incarnations of Mega Bloks Warthogs, you’ll find the build similar in most respect, but there are some significant differences. The addition of the guardrails and gas cans just elevates the new warthog design to a more realistic level that we’ve not seen before. The Spartans in the set are AWESOME! Now we can say we have a Master Chief minifig! The Elite is very cool. I love this new more devilish look to the Elites. And we now get the first ever weapons drop pod!

Okay, okay, I know you didn’t read the above and went straight for the pics!

Click on images to see a larger version.

The box art:

Box Contents:

Sorting pieces (always good to do, IMO):

The build begins:

The finished warthog sans stickers (I don’t like to put stickers on the models. I always worry about them peeling off…)

Minifigs and weapons:

The weapons drop pod:

Leftover pieces:

What I made with those:

The sweet Forerunner structure:

Summary: A great set, with fast build time. The price is a little much for the set. With the piece count coming in at 285, this set should have been priced closer to $30. However, it’s only $3 more than that, so it’s close. There are some new parts here that I’m sure MEGA has to recoup the cost of. Those guardrail parts in particular as they can’t really be used on anything else but the warthog. (I expect we’ll see a Gauss and Rocket version of this later). The addition of the Forerunner structure is cool. It’s like you’re getting two sets in one. I hope we get more of those baseplates in upcoming sets. They really add some unseen punch to sets.

Overall Rating: 4.75 out of 5 medals. Oh so close, but for the couple of dollars I think it’s over priced. Still, is it worth getting? You bet your a…

-HFFL