Here is a gallery of the upcoming Hlao Avatar minifigs. Remember folks, these can be mixed and matched. (with exception to the Warthog)
Cute little things. I believe they are to retail for $3 each and are blind packed in a plastic tube.
Category Archives: Halo McFarlane Toys
McFarlane Halo 4 series 1 Carded pics!
These two pics have been leaked and I’m happy to bring them to you. The front is Master Chief, which we all knew would be in this wave.
Note however that in this pic there is a San Diego ComicCon sticker. It’s likely this is an early release with the only difference being the sticker itself. Again, Master Chief is in the first wave at mass retail, so unless you just HAVE to have one carded with the SDCC sticker on it, I suggest you pass on it.
The second pic shows the back and there is some interesting information to be read there. Now we know that the first wave consists of: Master Chief, an Elite Zealot, a Grunt “Storm” (Wonder what that means?), and a Spartan “Warrior.” Below that is says to look for Cortana, Spartan “Soldier” (Hmm, SPartan Classes now too, besides loadouts?), a Crawler and a Watcher. The last two are interesting. Are the the fauna of the shiled world “Requiem,” or are they a Forerunner construct like the engineer and just have different jobs that the engineers do?
Here’s a pic of Requiem from the inside. In it you can kind of make out flying animals/constructs that sort of resemble the Watcher. (Click on it to make bigger)
Very near center, just to the right of the middle hanging column is the animal/construct I’m talking about. Could this be a watcher? Or is it an engineer?
At any rate, the back of the card also notes that coming Holiday 2012 there will be a “Secret Enemy Figure.” It goes on to say “Don’t miss this deluxe boxed figure of an enemy unlike anything before.”
Well if that doesn’t whet your appetite for new Halo McFarlane toys, I don’t know what will.
Thanks to “Mr. Sci-Fi” for providing me a link so I could present this to you.
-HFFL
Toy Review: McFarlane Halo Anniversary Series 2 Mickey (ODST) not the mouse…
Here is my review of Mickey, the latest addition to the ODST squad from Halo 3: ODST. Mickey comes with his Rocket Launcherand the body of the bird part of the UNSC emblem.
The figure has the standard (which is to say excellent) articulation for a Halo human figure:
• Ball Joint Head
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• 2-part swivel Elbows
• Ball joint wrists
• Limited Ball joint Torso
• Ball Joint Hips
• 2-part swivel Knees
• Ball Joint Feet
The Pros and Cons:
Pros: It’s an extremely detailed figure. Lots of great sculpting went into this figure and it shows. The paint was good and the printed “Mickey” and “ODST” on the chest show particular attention to detail.
Cons: As with some of the other figures in this wave, Mickey can’t quite hold his weapon as intended. Not without much work that you may give up and choosing the “good enough” option. On mine his left shoulder armor came off. It didn’t appear to have any glue holding it on. Thankfully it’s a big enough piece not to loose so easily. Still, things like this shouldn’t happen.
And now for the pics:
The detail is awesome. Note below the sculpting and the printed parts. The backpack features some of the tiniest print of any McF Halo figure to date.
Whiloe there were a couple of minor things that could have been improved on, overall this is an amazing figure.
Whether you like ODSTs, or the specific squad from the game, this is a must figure to have. It’s my second favorite of this wave and is a very welcome addition to the collection.
Two more individual figs and two boxed set reviews still to come.
-HFFL
Toy Review: McFarlane Halo Anniversary series 2 Guilty Spark/Sentinel
McFarlane’s Halo Anniversary Series 2 has hit and I’m happy to bring to you my reviews of the figures.
The Sentinel features the following articulation:
• Ball Joint Head
• Hinge Shoulders
• Hinge “Elbows”
• Hinge “Wrists”
• Lower “Mandible” hinge joint
Guilty Spark feature only the eyeball turning to reveal a red eye, as it’s sole articulation.
Pricepoint: $11-15 US depending on store
The Pros and Cons:
Pro: These have been long wanted “figures” from many fans. While not really much for articulation, Guilty Spark plays such an important role to the original trilogy that it was almost a must that it be made. The Sentinels were at times allies and foes during the games and make for great forerunner army builders.
Con: Guilty Spark is relatively plain. Even though you can spin the eye to it’s red position, that’s the only thing that turns red, whereas in the game more of it’s blue lighted lines turned red. That is near impossible to do on a toy such as this, so it’s easy to overlook it. Though i do plan on doing my own custom red version. The Sentinel has me a little disappointed. If the arms lined up right, I’d have been extremely happy with it. However, as you can see from the pic below, they were misaligned at the forearm and wrist joints. This made it look like it was damaged, rather than a pristine construct of forerunner design. I do wish McFarlane could do more about Chinese quality control on these. If this had been packaged differently, it may have gotten into consumers hands in better condition.
I bought 4 of these so I could have extra sentinels. Unfortunately only one of the four was good, while the other three all suffered from some misalignment in the upper arms.
As such, my overall impression of this pack is not favorable. They are both figures I very much wanted, but the outcome left something to be desired. Sculpt wise they are great. How the sentinel was constructed, not so much.
The UNSC emblem part is the other wing. Not much to say about that.
From here on the rest of the wave gets better, thankfully. So I’m able to “suffer” the two figures I wasn’t as impressed with.
Now for the pics of this set:
-HFFL
Toy Review: McFarlane Halo Anniversary series 2 – White Multiplayer Spartan
McFarlane’s Halo Anniversary Series 2 has hit and I’m happy to bring to you my reviews of the figures.
The White Multiplayer Spartan features the following articulation:
• Ball Joint Head
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• 2-part swivel Elbows
• Ball joint wrists
• Limited Ball joint Torso
• Ball Joint Hips
• 2-part swivel Knees
• Ball Joint Feet
Pricepoint: $11-15 US depending on store
The Pros and Cons:
Pro: Is one of if not the first color variation that Joyride made during it’s tenure as the Halo action figure license holder. So this variation is a nod/throwback to that. As a white base color it lends itself well to custom paint jobs.
Con: Really an unnecessary figure. If you weren’t into collecting Halo figures back then, the color variant really means nothing.
My particular feeling towards this figure is “meh.” I bought it solely for the UNSC part to complete the Shield. Unfortunately, once I got it, I had even more buyers remorse. As you can see in the photo below, one of the legs near the waist has a HUGE black mark on it. It really detracts from the figure for me. I know McFarlane can’t really regulate Quality Control when the figs are being manufactured in China. Still, I as a consumer shouldn’t have to explain this either. Mind you I did buy mine from an online site that I use frequently. Had I bought this in store, I’d have looked over the figure to make sure the paint was good. In this case, I’d have passed on this particular fig.
The UNSC emblem part as you can see also has a shoddy paint job. So needless to say, my overall feeling toward this figure is very disappointed. Had it not had the UNSC part, I likely would have passed on it.
One thing I wish McFarlane Toys would focus more on is campaign figures, meaning specific characters. If they are to do multiplayer figs, then make them in the typical team Red and team Blue colors and from there only a rare few other colors, like Master Chief Green, Steel, and white. yes, this was a white figure, but it has smudgy metallic blue markings on it.
Thankfully, this was one of two out of the five figs from this wave that I wasn’t as impressed with. The other one isn’t bad, but it has it’s drawbacks, which you’ll see in another upcoming review. For now the pics:
The figure comes with a Battle Rifle, which is always welcomed. Note the black mark on the leg, visible in the two most left views in the pic below. One other thing I didn’t mention above was that this figure was so horribly posed in the package that it cam out bow legged and I tried to fix that. You can see in the right most view that the lower portion of the one leg is grossly aligned.
Note that the figure comes with a frag grenade and a wing piece of the UNSC emblem. AS you can see by the one I got, the paint was horribly misprinted. Sigh.
Now, all my problems with this figure aside, if you find one with a good paint job, should you get it? Well, that depends on if you want to complete the UNSC emblem or not. Or, if you have a feeling of nostalgia towards the Joyride figures. As I mentioned above, this would have been one figure I’d have passed on. That’s saying something too as I collecting very near everything McFarlane Halo.
-HFFL
McFarlane Halo Anniversary series 2 wave.
Before I get to each figures review I wanted to quickly post the wave as a whole and the buildable UNSC Emblem that comes with them if you get the whole wave.
The card back is the same for each, so I’ll post it once here. Only change is the UPC from figure to figure.
-HFFL
McFarlane Series 6 White JFO (Walgreens exclusive) in hand pictures!
I was able to get this via eBay. I do not often look to eBay for new toys. However, given the dubious nature of stocking for Walgreen’s stores and the likelyhood that this figure is going to be extremely hard to find, plus all the wasted time and especially gas looking for it, I opted to take a hit and get it on eBay before it becomes much harder to get and more expensive.
That said, I’m happy with this figure, though I think there is a little bit TOO much “dirt” on it. You’ll see what I mean in a moment. First let’s look at the figure carded:
Standard card, nothing to denote this is an exclusive on the front. Then again, since I got this from eBay, if there are any Walgreen’s stickers they were removed before I got it.
Now here we can see in the composite view shot the dirty look to the figure I was talking about, along with a close-up shot:
Here’s a good look at the Target Locator included, close-up in four views:
Finally a friend asked me to post the UPC of the figure for easier reference when going to Walgreens to explain to the workers there what they were looking for. So I’m happy to oblige.
Now as far as the figure itself, it uses the standard multiplayer base figure. All of the armor parts have been released before, but in different colors. What makes this fairly unique is that it’s White (albeit dirty white), and it’s one of the view that has a visor color other than gold. Since it’s an exclusive, I HIGHLY suggest if you see it at Walgreens to pick it up immediately. I doubt you’ll see it again. As well, and again I don’t push this often, if you see it on eBay for a price you’re willing to pay, get it.
A white spartan of any armor configuration is desired as it is the easiest to custom paint. Though with this one’s exclusivity, I’d think twice about it.
-HFFL
McFarlane Halo Reach Series 6 Mass Retail figure toy review
McFarlane’s Halo Reach Series 6 has hit and I’m happy to bring to you my reviews of the mass retail figures. I’ll post the exclusives figures reviews as I get them.
First here are all 5 of the mass retail figures:
There are also three other figures in this wave. Those are exclusive. There is a Red Recon (Target Exclusive), Orange Hazop (Toy R Us Exclusive), and the White JFO (Walgreen’s Exclusive <—strangely enough)
Here is the card back and front (with bubble cut off):
All of the figures in this wave have the same articulation (with exceptions to follow):
• Ball Joint Head
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• 2-part swivel Elbows (Except the Sabre pilot and Kat’s right arm, which only have the normal elbow swivel
• Ball joint wrists
• Limited Ball joint Torso
• Ball Joint Hips
• 2-part swivel Knees
• Ball Joint Feet
Other points of interest:
• Removable Helmet for the Brute and Elite only (Sabre Pilot mask can be removed with a knife easily)
• Jun’s and the Sabre Pilots “neckwear” can be removed.
• Brute’s Jaw opens and closes (and shown in pic below)
The following a composition shots and detailed shots of each figure.
The Pros and Cons of Each figures:
• Sabre Pilot:
Pros: Good Sculpt matches up nicely with marines from Reach.
Cons: Should have had ball joint elbows instead of just a swivel joint.
• Kat:
Pros: Excellent sculpt, Pain Application is good. They cyan really pops off the armor.
Cons: As with the Sabre pilot, I’d liked to have seen full ball joint elbows for both, not just the left arm
• Jun
Pros: Excellent Sculpt. Paint application is very nice here.
Cons: Face expression could have been better. a little bland here. Still I’d rather have this than some striking pose that would look out of place elsewhere.
• Elite Zealot
Pros: Great sculpt. Good color match to in-game Elite, yeah a concussion rifle!
Cons: Hard to pose. Legs just can’t seem to support the figure very well. It took me a good 5 minutes to pose him for the pics above. This seems to plague most of the Elite figures though.
• Brute
Pros: Wow, fantastic sculpt. For some reason I have a strong opinion about the Brutes. McFarlane really exceeds with these guys, in my opinion. Detail is amazing. I love that the jaw opens and closes.
Cons: Has a hard time holding an all too small Spiker. In fact the trigger loop broke on mine when I tried to fit the hand onto the weapon.
Some great Pros here with minor Cons. Really this is an EXCELLENT wave to get. With Jun and Kat we get the rest of Noble squad unhelmeted as seen in the game. (Oh I wish we’d have seen Emile…)
Army builders can delight in the Sabre Pilot, Elite and Brute. I highly recommend getting each figure in the wave. Don’t forget to look for the exclusives too!
Here’s the wave uncarded together to get a sense of scale:
The biggest and smallest of these:
“I sense something, a presence I’ve not felt since…”
“I have you now!”
I hope you enjoyed the pics and write-up. If so, please feel free to post a reply.
-HFFL
New York Toy Fair 2012 McFarlane – The unpackaged toys!
Continuing on with HFFL’s McFarlane coverage at New York Toy Fair 2012, we have pics of the toys on display out of the packaging.
Sadly we will not be seeing the full sized Banshee or Falcon come to light. I asked Mark Weber (Brand Manager for McFarlane) about these and he stated the Falcon would have been a cost of around $115 retail. Retailors weren’t picking it up to buy. A real shame too. It’s an AWESOME vehicle. I’d have bought one for sure. That Banshee is just plain SWEET! I hope that goes up for charity auction or the like. I’d at least like a chance to own it.
For higher res pics, please check out my flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23683004@N06/sets/72157629346652781/
New York Toy Fair – McFarlane Halo Action figure series.
McFarlane Toys booth was amazing. While this site is centered around Halo only, McFarlane did have some great stuff from their sports lines as well as Spawn.
I was fortunate enough to have a 45 minute talk with Mark Weber, Brand manager at McFarlane. We discussed not only the Micro Ops line, but also the action figure line as well. Even though he’s mostly a Sports guy with McFarlane, he still seemed knowledgeable with the Halo line as well. Unfortunately, Todd himself wasn’t there and wouldn’t be until the next day. By that time I was already on my way back home. Ah well, maybe next year.
Mark and I started to discuss the line and went over to the carded wall. As you can see by the following pics McFarlane has several sub lines within the main line of Halo.
Click on pics for larger versions
Here is the wall first:
To the furthest left is the micro ops line. To the immediate right of that is the Halo Anniversary line, series 2. This line will become Halo Universe. Next to that the Halo 4 line. Note that these were all mock-ups and only Cortana and Master Chief were shown due to the MicroSoft embargo on Halo 4 info being released. To the right of that is the Halo Universe line. and finally the last of the Reach specific series.
Below these on the shelves were the boxed sets. McFarlane really outdid themselves with these sets. There had been a different set-up to the boxed sets previously. However, one of which was combined to make the fuller Team Objective set. Note that the Halo 4 set in the lower left corner is a mock-up only. Noble team will NOT be in Halo 4. They were FPO (for placement only).
Top left we see the Spirit of Fire team. Three Spartan Mk V’s. Each with their own weapons and specific markings. You’ll see a better shot later of these uncarded.
In the center of the pic is the Invasion set and below that the Generator Defense set. I’m really liking the Invasion set since it comes with BOTH power cores (UNSC and Covenant).
To the right of those is the ever so sweet Team Objective set. This set has most of the regular objective pieces, with 3 flags, a capture plate, both the UNSC and Covenant bombs and several “Headhunter” skulls, not to mention a Res Spartan. Very cool set indeed.
To the bottom of that is the Noble Team set. If you didn’t get these carded before or want to display them as a team in nice packaging, this is the set for you.
Finally for the Packages shots we have (and sorry for the blurry pic, best one I had of these, unfortunately), two Halo figs (I don’t know which they are to be and McF wasn’t telling, LOL.
Next to that is a mockup of the Hunter. You’ll see the loose version later. I asked if this was the same as the previous Hunter. They weren’t sure.
To the right of that the AWESOME ODST drop pod. This is going to retail for around $40 and I have to say it looks to be worth every penny of it. In the loose pic you’ll see just how much detail there is in it. It has several moving parts and comes with either the Rookie or a “generic” ODST.
Lastly, the Halo 3 Co-op Multi-figure pack. Included are Master Chief, the Arbiter, an Elite Minor (Blue), and the Crimson Flight Elite. If I’m not mistaken the Crimson Elite is new as it hasn’t been done in that color. Hmm, I’ll get that set and have the MC and Arby be given as prizes here for a contest later.
Check back later today for the loose pics!