From www.halowaypoint.com:
http://halo.xbox.com/blogs/Headlines/post/2012/01/20/McFarlane-Toys-to-Create-Halo-Avatar-Figures.aspx

Unique Partnership to Bring Inexpensive, Stylized Figures to Halo and Xbox 360 Fans

This fall, McFarlane Toys, Xbox LIVE and 343 Industries are joining forces to bring Halo fans an all-new series of unique collectibles: Halo Avatars. While our standard 6-inch figures are based on the Halo video games themselves, Halo Avatars are based on the stylized representations of the Halo characters that are available on the Xbox 360 console itself.

First introduced in 2008, avatars are the online representation of a gamer’s Xbox LIVE profile. Players can select from thousands of unique bodies, hairstyles, clothing, and accessories to create their own custom characters. Through the online marketplace, gamers can add themed avatar gear from dozens of video-game licenses, including Halo. From Halo-themed t-shirts, to Spartan helmets, to full suits of character armor, gamers can make their avatars look like true Halo fans, or even characters from the Halo universe.

Todd McFarlane, CEO and founder of McFarlane Toys, explains, “Rather than make up our own style of mini-figure, we decided to take advantage of the style that Xbox LIVE has established with their avatars. Since each avatar represents an individual gamer, players have a strong personal connection to their avatars. When you choose a Halo Spartan helmet for your avatar, that helmet becomes more than just a piece of some fictional character’s clothing—it becomes part of your online persona. Avatars have become the mascot of the Xbox brand. To represent the customization options available for online avatars, McFarlane Toys’ avatar figures feature interchangeable heads, torsos, and legs. Collectors can mix and match pieces to create their own custom avatar figures, much like they can with their online avatars. In addition to human characters and apparel, Halo Avatars also include various “prop” items such as Warthogs and Banshees.

Todd says, “Working with both Xbox LIVE and 343 Industries gives us access to a huge new library of Halo characters, with a fun, friendly style that is perfect for casual collectors.”

Each 2 1/2″–tall avatar figure is randomly packaged in a small, Halo-themed plastic cylinder. The top and bottom of each cylinder can be removed, and each piece can be used as a display base. The tubes can even be connected, stacking to form a multi-level display.

“With Halo Avatars,” Todd continues, “we wanted to do something as different as possible from our standard 6-inch figures. Those figures are big, game-accurate, heavily articulated, and serious. Our avatar figures are small, stylized, pre-posed, and playful. With a standard action figure, you know exactly what you’re getting. With an avatar figure, each one is a surprise. And collecting a full series of our standard figures can be a significant investment, but an avatar figure is something any fan can afford.”

The MSRP of a single avatar figure is less than three dollars. “Halo Avatars let fans get a cool new Halo toy for a fraction of the cost of a full-sized action figure,” Todd notes. With Halo Avatars, McFarlane Toys hopes to reach out to a new audience. Xbox LIVE avatars are rated E, for Everyone, so they can be enjoyed by collectors of all ages.

Halo Avatars Series 1 consists of eight random figures:

• Master Chief
• Carter
• ODST
• Flaming ODST Helmet and ODST T-Shirt
• Green Operator Helmet and Reach T-Shirt
• Elite Costume
• Warthog
• Metallic Gold Master Chief

Halo Avatars debut in fall 2012 and continues into 2013. Available at Walmart, Target, Toys “R” Us, GameStop, local comic book stores, drug stores, and other retailers. MSRP is $3.

Here’s the direct link:
McFarlane Toys Brings the Entire Halo Universe to Collectors with Halo Micro Ops

Here is the full text from HaloWaypoint.com:

New Miniature Toy Line to Offer Wide Range of Small-Scale Figures, Vehicles and Environments from the Halo Universe

McFarlane Toys expands its long-running, best-selling line of Halo collectibles this fall, with the addition of Halo Micro Ops. This all-new series consists of miniature figures, vehicles, and locations from the entire Halo universe, at roughly 1:100/15mm scale.

Todd McFarlane, CEO and founder of McFarlane Toys says, “Halo is known for its massive, larger-than-life visuals. From the towering Forerunner relics, to the enormous military transports, to the Halo rings themselves, everything is designed to make your human character feel small and overwhelmed. That’s awesome for a video game, but it’s a challenge for toy makers! With our standard 6-inch action figures, we found we could release small vehicles like the Ghost and the Mongoose, and medium ones like the Warthog, but that was about as big as we could go. In order to be able to create anything larger—to really bring the rest of the Halo universe to collectors—we had to go smaller. Much smaller.”

With its smaller size, Halo Micro Ops covers the Halo universe, from the tiniest Grunt to the largest Scarab. With such a wide range of product sizes to cover, Micro Ops is available in four different packages. Small carded sets include small vehicles like the Warthog and Ghost. Larger carded sets offer bigger vehicles such as the Falcon, or small buildings like the Bunker from theHalo 3 multiplayer map High Ground. Larger buildings, including the Tower or Gate sections of High Ground, are packaged in small boxes, while large vehicles such as the Elephant will be packaged in an even larger box.

“When you turn the scale down, you turn the possibilities up,” Todd explains. “With Micro Ops, we’re pulling the camera way back, and looking at a bigger picture. Our 6-inch figures are a great way to bring the individual characters of Halo to collectors—from Master Chief, to Noble Team, to the Elites and Grunts of the Covenant. But the Halo universe is so much bigger than that. Vehicles like the Pelican, the Falcon, the Phantom—they’re all important pieces of the universe. Environments like New Mombasa, High Charity, or The Library; these are all as memorable and important as Master Chief himself. With Micro Ops, we can now begin to bring the full scope of Halo to fans.”

Halo Micro Ops delivers the whole package, with all of the amazing detail and game accuracy that McFarlane Toys is famous for. With Micro Ops, Halo fans are able to collect the breadth of the Halo universe, with all the pieces perfectly in scale with one another, and without taking up too much space.

Recreate your favorite moments from a Halo campaign, multiplayer or firefight, or create your own custom scene. Collect your favorite pieces, or build a massive army and stage an epic battle for the fate of the galaxy. With UNSC, Covenant and Forerunner forces, the entire Halo universe is yours to command. The only limit is your imagination.

The initial Micro Ops lines cover the Halo trilogy, Halo 3: ODST, Halo Wars, and Halo: Reach. Later lines will add figures, vehicles, and environments from Halo 4. Series 1 includes:

Small Carded Sets
• Warthog and Mongoose
• Banshee
• Ghost vs. Wolf Spider turret (pic of turret below)

• ODST Drop Pods

Large Carded Sets
• Falcon
• High Ground Bunker with Shade turret

Small Boxed Sets
• High Ground Gate with Warthog
• High Ground Tower and SAM Launcher

Large boxed sets will be available in 2013.

Halo Micro Ops debuts in August 2012 and continues into 2013. Available at Target, Toys “R” Us, local comic book stores, and other retailers. MSRPs range from $8 for the small carded sets, $18 for large carded sets and $29 for the small boxed sets.

Here’s the official link from HaloWaypoint.com:
McFarlane Toys to Create Halo 4 Action Figures

Here it is in full text (my thoughts to follow after initial post):

Long-Running, Best-Selling Figure Line Continues in 2012 with All-New Figures from the Latest Halo Video Game

This fall, Microsoft Studios and 343 Industries are releasing Halo 4, the highly anticipated video game expected to be one of the top entertainment launches of 2012. McFarlane Toys is proud to announce that its best-selling line of Halo action figures continues this fall as well, with figures from Halo 4.

Halo 4 brings back the most popular character of the Halo universe, the Master Chief, and kicks off an all-new trilogy of games. Dubbed the “Reclaimer Trilogy” by 343 Industries, these new games explore the characters of the Master Chief and Cortana, expand the Halo fiction in bold new ways and bring even more of the innovation that the Halo series is known for to the gaming world. McFarlane Toys Halo 4 action figures bring the all-new characters, weapons and vehicles of Halo 4 to video-game fans and action-figure collectors worldwide.

“Each new Halo game is a significant entertainment event,” says Todd McFarlane, CEO and founder of McFarlane Toys. “Halo 4marks the return of the Master Chief and Cortana, plus the introduction of new characters, weapons and locations sure to excite long-time fans.”

Action figure collectors can expect the same quality and attention to detail in the Halo 4 line that they’ve come to expect from McFarlane toys. “We’re really excited to be working with the all-star team of 343 Industries,” Todd notes. “Microsoft has assembled an incredible group of developers to ensure Halo‘s continued place among the top entertainment franchises. 343 Industries is pushing the envelope with the visuals, storytelling and gameplay, and we can’t wait until fans get their hands onHalo 4.”

The Halo 4 figure series continues in the 6-inch size introduced with their Halo: Reach figures. They’re also introducing a series of larger, boxed figures. These deluxe items are in scale with their 6-inch figures, but include larger accessories, such as Master Chief’s Cryotube.

McFarlane Toys is part of a select group of licensees with Halo 4 products available at game launch. Halo 4 Series 1 kicks off this August with four carded figures and one boxed figure set, and expands to include even more figures later in the fall.

Todd promises, “343 still has some surprises to reveal, so we can’t give you all the details just yet. But we’ve seen what they’re working on, and Halo 4 will be worth the wait!”

August 2012

Carded Figures
• Master Chief
• Secret Figure 1
• Secret Figure 2
• Secret Figure 3

Boxed Figure
• Frozen Master Chief and Cryotube

November 2012

Carded Figures
• Cortana
• Secret Figure 4
• Secret Figure 5
• Secret Figure 6

Boxed Figure
• Secret Boxed Figure 1

Halo 4 Series 1 will be launched in August 2012, and will expand around the game launch in fall 2012, continuing into 2013. Available at Walmart, Target, Toys “R” Us, GameStop, local comic book stores, drug stores and other retailers. MSRP is $12 for standard carded figures and $25 for deluxe boxed figures.

HALO UNIVERSE

In addition to its all-new Halo 4 action figure line, McFarlane Toys is continuing its popular Halo: Anniversary series in fall 2012. Since the franchise’s tenth anniversary has now passed, the line is being rebranded as “Halo Universe.”

Halo Universe continues to bring fans the classic, fan-favorite characters from the earlier Halo games, and even includes “expanded universe” sources such as novels, comic books and the animated feature, Halo Legends. This series also continues the popular “build-a-figure” feature of our Halo: Anniversary lines, bringing collectors an extra bonus item such as the Difficulty Plaque or UNSC Logo.

Todd explains, “Halo 4 brings fans figures from the latest and greatest Halo video game. But Halo is a franchise with over a decade of incredible games, movies, books and comics. With our Halo Universe line, we can continue to offer long-time fans the classic characters they know and love.”

Halo Universe Series 1 consists of five figures and one 6-inch-scale vehicle:

• Frederic-104 (Halo Legends)
• Romeo (Halo 3: ODST)
• Elite Commando (Halo 3)
• Brute Captain Major (Halo 3)
• Spartan (Multiplayer)
• ODST Drop Pod

Halo Universe Series 1 debuts in October 2012. Available at Walmart, Target, Toys “R” Us, GameStop, local comic book stores, drug stores, and other retailers. MSRP is $12 for figures and $39 for vehicles.

First I need to give credit for the pics to McFarlane’s website: http://www.spawn.com/news/news2.aspx?id=13807

Now onto the pics (I’ve consolidated them here for quicker reference).

First the single carded figures to scale with one another:

Click on each thumbnail to see a larger version.

Great looking figures as always. I’m partial to the Brute and JFO. For some reason I really like the way McFarlane has sculpted the brutes. I wear the JFO helmet a lot in multiplayer, so it stands to reason I’d be partial to it. I still find it strange though that Walgreen’s got the exclusive for this. Jun and Kat look good and they round out the rest of unhelmeted Noble squad members. (We never saw Emile or Noble 6 clearly without helmets in the game.)

Of the three deluxe sets, I am looking forward to the objective one the most, then the Invasion one. I wouldn’t have bought the Generator Defense one, but McFarlane scored with me by including the JFO.

There is one thing we fans of Halo have been certain of for the last couple of years, every 3-4 months there is a new wave of figures from McFarlane. I say this as a good thing. Here are the latest pics of this wave of figures and sets (descriptive text copied from spawn.com):

Jun (unhelmeted)
The Noble Team Spartans of Halo: Reach, unlike Master Chief, are seen both with their helmets and without. This new, alternate version of Noble Three brings back Jun with his unhelmeted appearance. Figure includes his signature Sniper Rifle and a Frag Grenade.

Kat (unhelmeted)

The Noble Team Spartans of Halo: Reach, unlike Master Chief, are seen both with their helmets and without. This new, alternate version of Noble Two brings back Kat with her unhelmeted appearance. Figure includes her signature Magnum and a Frag Grenade.

Brute Major
The fearsome Jiralhanae, better known as Brutes, dominate the battlefield with their raw strength and savagery. Only those warriors who have proven themselves in battle may earn the right to wear the distinctive gold armor of the Major class. Figure comes with Spike Rifle and Plasma Grenade.

Elite Zealot
The Covenant dispatch Elite advance teams to hunt down artifacts of value to their religion. Such teams are small, nimble, and almost always Zealot-class. Our latest Elite figure features the unique armor and maroon color of the Sangheili Zealot. Figure comes with Concussion Rifle and Plasma Grenade.

Sabre Pilot
When the planet Reach was threatened by a Covenant supercarrier, Noble Team initiated the daring Operation: UPPER CUT to take it down. Noble Six and Jorge took the lead, but they couldn’t have succeeded without the assistance of the brave Sabre pilots of Echo Team. Our Sabre Pilot figure features the simple blue flightsuit and enclosed helmet of the UNSC Air Force — essential for the cramped cockpit conditions and proximity to the vacuum of space. Figure comes with DMR.
NOTE: the pilot is a rerelease of the Pillar of Autumn marine with a color deco change and LESS armor. Here is the original release:

Spartan HazOp (male) (rust/rust)
Some operations are considered hazardous even for a fully armored Spartan. These ops call for the specialized HazOp armor set. This Spartan features the Hazardous Operations helmet and shoulders, orange “rust” paint, and includes a Focus Rifle and a Plasma Grenade. Exclusive to Toys “R” Us.

Spartan Recon (male) (team red/team red)
Developed in ONI’s Beta-5 Division Ordnance Testing Facility, the Recon armor was intended to offer stealth capabilities with little or no loss of endurance. This figure comes with matching Recon helmet, shoulders, and chestplate; is painted in bright “team one” red; and includes the intimidating Rocket Launcher weapon and a Frag Grenade. Exclusive to Wal*Mart, Target, and Gamestop. First ever Silver visor Spartan along with the JFO Spartan from this wave.

Spartan JFO (male) (white/white)
The Joint Fires Observer helmet is reserved for Spartans of Lieutenant Colonel rank and above. Figure comes with matching JFO helmet and shoulders, white armor, a Plasma Grenade, and an all-new weapon: the devastating Target Locator. Exclusive to Walgreens. First ever Silver visor Spartan along with the Recon Spartan from this wave.

Team Objectives
Our first-ever Halo Accessory Pack brings the action of Halo: Reach multiplayer to your figure collection! Stage an epic match of Capture the Flag between your Red Team Spartans and Blue Team Spartans with detailed replicas of the highly coveted team flags — or pit your players against one another in a heated round of Assault with the Capture Plate and Assault Bombs. Want to throw an Elite or two into the mix? We’ve even included the Covenant version of the Assault Bomb, first introduced in the new map, Breakpoint. The Team Objectives Set includes a team red Spartan Mark V with Gravity Hammer, a Red Flag with detachable base, Blue Flag with detachable base, Neutral (Gray) Flag with detachable base, 5 Headhunter skulls, UNSC Assault Bomb, Covenant Assault Bomb, and a Capture Plate.

Invasion
The multiplayer action continues with an expanded pack of figures based on the high-stakes, Spartan vs. Elite mode known as Invasion. On the Boneyard map, the Sangheili invaders team up to infiltrate a UNSC shipbreaking yard and steal a Data Core full of military secrets. The humans get their chance to infiltrate the enemy on the Spire map, which features a team of Spartans infiltrating a heavily guarded Covenant tower. Our Invasion 3-pack includes a red team Spartan Grenadier custom with Grenade Launcher (first ever blue visor spartan), a blue team Elite General with Plasma Repeater, and both a UNSC Data Core and Covenant Data Core for each soldier to defend or capture.

Here is a brand new pic of the upcoming Series 2 Anniversary, 2-pack, and 3-pack sets.

I personally am VERY happy with the anniversary figures, in particular Captain Keyes. I am all for Campaign unique figures. It will be great finally having Guilty Spark and Sentinels. The Generator set is interesting, and I’ll get it more for the JFO figure, but will still have a place for the generator. The Spirit of Fire Red team set is excellent. Looking forward to getting them and all the rest shown in this picture.

The soon to be released series 6 looks fantastic!

I’ve bought all of the unhelmeted Noble members so far. So, it’s a no brainer for me to buy Jun and Kat.

The Sabre pilot looks good and will go great with the other UNSC troops.

The Elite Zealot looks sleek in it’s crimson armor. Menacing.

I’m really looking forward to the Brute Major. McFarlane really has done justice to these brute figures from Reach. Lots of detail and paint.

All in all a good to great wave of figures. Though I’m still hoping for more unique campaign figures…

Here we have a pic (small as it is), of the upcoming packs for Invasion and Team Objective. Prices will vary by store, however should be in the range of $30-33 each.

What’s great about the Invasion set is that you get EACH of the power cores, plus notice the very cool BLUE visor on the Spartan! (That may change though)

The Team Objective set comes with it’s on set of goodness. All three flags, blue, red, and neutral, a flag capture plate, both the UNSC and Covenant bombs, and 5 skulls for headhunter. Personally I’d rather this set NOT come with a spartan so the price would come down. I suspect though that McFarlane is making that a selling point and also justifies the higher cost.

Now if only the Elite General were made in it’s red color!

The third video of how McFarlane makes Halo figs is up!

The Scarab you may have seen at the end is the ActionClix one that came out a few years ago. Not one from the rumored new line by McFarlane.

The second in the three part series, this video shows the mold making process created from wax parts that in turn were created from the digital parts shown in the first video.

Here is the first part if you missed it:

Making of a Halo Figure – Intro & 3D Models (1 of 3)