I’ve written about this figure before and shown a “pre” preview. Now McFarlane has released more images of the Didact action figure, so it’s time to share them with all of you!

The level of detail  is exquisite! Paint application looks superb. One thing I’m noticing too is that the joints seem to be fairly well hidden. That is a HUGE plus too me.

Here’s a shot of the Didact in it’s packaging:

Can I say that I am SUPER excited that McFarlane Toys included an alternate head with this? So extremely happy they did this. For much of the game we see the Didact with his helmet off, however there are those time where it’s on. I think it’s great that McFarlane is giving US the choice of how we want to display the Didact figure, rather than coming out with one helmeted then later down the road another without. That said, I’d still like to have two of these to display both ways!

As you can see on the package shot there are armor and weapons skins. I previewed those previously as well, but just in case you missed it, here are what they will look like in the game:

The Venator armor already looks like a form of Forerunner armor to me. So adding the Didact’s color scheme/accents is freakin’ AWESOME!

Now THIS is how all the Forerunner weapons should look! (IMO)

I’m quickly finishing up my Suppressor commendation, but I’m going to hold back a bit until I get this figure so I can rock the new skin!

Here is the official text blurb from McFarlane about this figure:

Paint: original paint
Scale: 9-inch
Format: action figure
Packaging: boxed

In scale with our standard 6-inch figures, these deluxe boxed collectibles bring the larger characters and accessories of the Halo universe to your toy collection.

Our Didact action figure captures every detail of the Master Chief’s powerful nemesis, from the wicked spikes of his metallic armor to the glowing lines tracing along every piece. Figure stands approximately nine inches tall, includes 29 points of articulation, and includes a code that unlocks exclusive Halo 4 video game content – Refractive Venator Armor Skin and Refractive Suppressor Weapon Skin!

There is no retail price listed, though it’s been reported previously that it’s expected to be $29.99.

To view on McFarlane’s official site go here.

-Sal

Coming soon from McFarlane Toys!

This is sure to be a quick sell-out like the Chief Vs. Hunter statue was. So stay tuned…

[UPDATE] Got a new pic showing the not as yet finished statue as being peered at by Todd McFarlane.

Looking good Todd, looking good!

-Sal

The image is a comparison between McFarlane Halo action figures. They are to scale with each other, so they also represent the scale in the game.

Wow, Master Chief looks PUNY… 🙁
(Click image to make full size)

So are you excited for the Didact figure? Plan on getting it? Do you have the Knight and/or Master Chief yet?

-Sal

When you buy the soon to be released Halo 4 series 2 action figures from McFarlane Toys, you’ll get an extra bonus!!!

FINALLY, we have pics of what these skins look like and are called. Personally, as I’m a collector of McFarlane figures, I’m VERY happy that these are coming out. Without further ado, let’s get to the SKINS!

The Storm Rifle finally gets a SKIN. ANd it’s very COOL (pun intended). It’s called “CHILL” ANd you’ll be chillin’ like a villain if you use this cool as ice skin!
Next it’s time to “Engage” upon a new Carbine skin, called…ENGAGE. I think this DEFINITELY looks like a skin you’d see on Covenant Weapon.

There’s no bones about it, this next skin is awesome.

For the next skin we have Riptide. I like the look of this skin. I just wish we could give the skins other colors.

Next we have an armor skin. By wearing this would we then be the Toxic Avenger?

Another Armor Skin is NOT Ruined by this design. In fact RUIN is my second favorite of these new skins.

And finally a pair of skins that share the same name. One for a weapon, the other for an armor skin. I give you: REFRACTIVE!

These two skins are by FAR my favorite of all of these new skins. It makes sense too as the Didact figure is going to cost you more than the other figures since it’s bigger. Still, I can’t wait to ROCK these skins!!!

Look for these figures in October from major retailers.
Here’s the blurb from McFarlane on these:

“For years, McFarlane Toys’ Halo action figures have brought the characters of the Halo video game series to your toy collection. This Fall, they’ll start giving back, by bringing cool new customization options into your Halo 4 game!

With Halo 4 Series 2, all of our figures will come with unique codes that unlock new, exclusive in-game content to help you stand out in Halo Infinity multiplayer. We’ve got a total of eight new armor and weapon skins, and each one is only available through McFarlane Toys action figures. Each figure unlocks a different item. All armor skins feature customizable colors.

Update your Spartan’s armor and loadouts with these never-before-seen patterns!

If your Spartan needs a new style, help is on its way. Halo 4 Series 2 will be in stores this October.”

-Sal

I had the fortune of getting this figure from eBay for a reasonable price. It sucks that Gamestop “charges” so many PowerUps points for their promotions. I had almost nearly enough to get one on my own (as I rarely turn in my PowerUp points). However, this one eluded me by about 2K points. No way I was going to be able to get that quickly, so I turned to eBay.

After bidding on several (I always try to get a deal and not bid too high), I managed to get this fig for $25 shipped. Considering McFarlane figs normally cost between $12-15, the fact that this is an exclusive and NOT available at the store level, I think I got a pretty good deal (even though there is a noticeable bend near the top of the cardback).

Normally I take figures out of the packaging. However, until/unless I can get a second one of these, this pup is staying put on the card. It’s a fantastic sculpt. The color is rich.

If you’ve got the PowerUp points, I highly recommend getting this fig.

-Sal

I’m pretty sure I mentioned this before about series 2, but just in case, there will be DLC codes associated with these figures for Halo 4. What that DLC is, hasn’t been made public yet.

In the meantime, here is some additional info on the figures for the upcoming wave. (Text from McFarlane.com)

NEW UPDATES ON THE SECOND SERIES OF ‘HALO 4’ ACTION FIGURES!
Figures To Include New Unlockable ‘Halo 4’ Content

You’ve waited and waited…Now your patience shall be rewarded.

The second series of action figures based on Microsoft Studios and 343 Industries latest major game title – Halo 4®will be hitting stores this fall! Just like Halo 4 Series 1, this line brings fans all-new, never-before-seen characters, weapons, accessories, and vehicles from Halo 4 to your figure collection. Each highly detailed figure will stand approximately six inches tall and include an average of 25 points of articulation.

As an added bonus, each figure will also include a unique code that unlocks exclusive Halo 4 video game content…More information coming soon!

No needed to pull out your replica Plasma Rifle…Here is the official line up for the second series of Halo 4 action figures!

MASTER CHIEF
Our latest action figure of John-117, the Master Chief, features an all-new weapon, debuting for the first time in Halo 4: the Asymmetric Recoilless Carbine-920; better known as the Railgun. The ARC-920 Railgun is a compact-channel linear accelerator that fires a high-explosive round at incredible speed, delivering both kinetic and explosive force to hard and soft targets alike.

As an added bonus, the Master Chief also comes with a free Micro Ops figure of Cortana. Perfectly in scale with our other Micro Ops figures, Cortana also works as an accessory to our standard six-inch figures. Cortana can be removed from her base and held in a figure’s hand, just as she’s often seen throughout the Halovideo game series!

ELITE RANGER
The Elites are back in Halo 4, including the popular Ranger variant as depicted inHalo: Reach. Elite Rangers feature a fully-sealed environment suit and an airtight helmet with clear visor; perfect for extra-vehicular activity in the vacuum of space. Our Elite Ranger figure comes with the redesigned, Halo 4 version of the Beam Rifle.

STORM JACKAL
The Kig-Yar, commonly known as Jackals, return in Halo 4 as part of the alien Covenant that continues to threaten humanity and the UNSC. The Storm Jackal features the new, more sinister look seen in Halo 4. Figure includes the redesigned version of the Covenant Carbine weapon.

SPARTAN SCOUT (RUST)
The fan-favorite Scout armor, previously seen in both Halo 3 and Halo: Reach,, returns in an updated, yet instantly recognizable form for the Spartan-IVs of the UNSC Infinity in Halo 4. Our Spartan Scout figure features a rust paint scheme, and comes equipped with the new Sticky Detonator weapon; previously only available with the Master Chief in the UNSC Cryotube boxed set.

SPARTAN C.I.O. (VIOLET)
An all-new Spartan armor type making its debut in Halo 4, the Spartan C.I.O. is distinguishable by its unique helmet with three optical sensors. This brand-new Spartan figure is clad in violet armor and comes with the latest version of the Designated Marksman Rifle, a popular mid-range UNSC weapon first introduced inHalo: Reach.

All of these new Halo 4 figures will hit stores in October.

Text taken from McFarlane:

The second series of Halo Avatars are invading stores this month! Based on the stylized representations of the Halo characters that are available on the Xbox 360 console, these little guys from the Halo universe are ready to help save the day!

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. To represent the customization options available to online avatars, McFarlane Toys’ avatar figures feature interchangeable heads, torsos, and legs. Collectors can mix and match pieces to create their own custom avatar figure, much like they can with their online avatar.

HALO AVATARS SERIES 2

• Blue EVA Helmet/Legendary Tee

• Emile

• Anniversary Helmet/Tee

• Blue JFO Helmet/Black Noble Team Tee

• Brute Costume

• Banshee

• Red Spartan Mark VI

• Metallic Gold ODST

In addition to characters and apparel, Halo Avatars series 2 also includes a “prop” items, the ultra-rare Avatar Banshee. Don’t think it will be that easy to find your favorite avatar, because each figure comes disassembled and randomly packaged in a small “blind” foil bag.

The hunt for Halo Avatars Series 2 figures this February at Gamestop, Target, Toys R Us, Wal-Mart – Canada, Blockbuster – Mexico, Toys R Us – Canada, Fred Meyer, Kroger, HEB, F.Y.E, local comic book stores, and other retailers nationwide.

End Copy Paste

Wow, I’m looking forward to these. They are quite affordable at about $3 each. Now trying to get them all will be the issue. The vehicle ones are rare and the gold minifigs are highly desired. I’m surprised AND very happy that McFarlane is making Emile. Here’s hoping they also make the rest of Noble Squad including the default Noble 6.

Source Link: http://spawn.com/news/news2.aspx?id=13910

-Sal

I’ve been wanting to see other named Spartan IIs come to the McFarlane Halo line for some time. Other than Master Chief and Jorge there hasn’t been any. Until NOW!

Blue team brings us Master Chief, as well as his squad mates Fred-104 and Kelly-087.

Now on with the review.

The box has a nice window to see all the figures and accessories. On one side you get details about each spartan, while on the other side, a graphic of the spartan with their weapons. The back shows the team again as well as the next series of McFarlane Halo figures and Micro Ops sets.

I just posted pics of these the other day. The box shows Lasky, while Waypoint didn’t. I’m still trying to get absolute, confirmation on Lasky. I hope he’s in this wave. I really like that character.

Someone else reported that the Micro Ops line was cancelled. As far as I know, it hasn’t. In fact the box shows the next wave of Micro Ops. Man, I hope like heck these DO come out. I LOVE the scale of these!

So here is what you get inside the box. The three figs, a Spartan Laser, 2 knives, Assault Rifle, Energy Sword, Shotgun, and 2 Plasma Rifles. That’s a decent mix of weapons and accurate to what was in the cartoon episode.

A quick height comparison reveals that Fred and John are the same height while Kelly is shorter.

Other than paint application, the only two differences between Fred and John are their helmets and shoulder armor. Good use of the same mold, while making them look different.

Oh, forgot to mention one leg has an extra hole. Not sure why though.

Kelly’s figure gets a brand new sculpt. Receding visor and high heels! Just what a female spartan always wanted, LOL. McFarlane did a great job here making her cartoon accurate. Shame the cartoon itself played into a stereo type with the heel thing. Still, this figure is striking and easily differentiated from the other two.

Finally here’s a graphic of the articulation of the figures. Each has the same articulation as the other two in the box.

McFarlane really did a wonderful job here with these figures. I highly recommend getting this boxed set, which retails for around $32-35. That’s a GREAT price considering an individual figure costs around $12-14 each. So you actually SAVE money with this boxed set.

This set gets a 9.5 out of 10 medals from me. Only reason it didn’t get the full 10 is that the knives aren’t so easily held nor stored on the figures. But that’s a minor nitpick. GO GET THIS BOXED SET!!!

-Sal

Rumor has it this series has been delayed until September. I have confirmation of this from BBTS.com, the online retailer I normally get my McFarlane figures from.

Regardless, it’s still nice to see better detailed pics of them. Waypoint released these on their site yesterday.

Having paid for this several months ago, I forgot when it was coming out. So to my happy surprise this showed up at my door yesterday (as well as the 3-pack Blue team set to be reviewed tomorrow).

I have to say that this is a fantastic figure before I go any further.

Okay so on to the pics and the review. As always, click on the pics for a larger version or open in a new window to view while reading the review. (And of course you can download the images. I just ask that if you repost this article and/or the pics to give me credit as “Pictures by Sal Salerno of HaloFanForLife.com“.

The figure is packaged in a box with a large “window” to showcase the figure. What I like is that the box isn’t overly big. It fits the size of the figure well. The window makes it very easy to see the figure. That’s a good thing for those who like to keep their toys in the package. I’m not one of those folks (normally). The graphics on the box are pretty good.

As seen from the side of the box, the figure has 40 points of articulation and the Watcher figure can fit in the back. Though it’s really just the body of the Watcher, and not the ring portion as well. Still, that’s fine by me.

When you first take the figure out of the box, it comes twist tied to this inner plastic. Note the curved foot anchors at the bottom. Be sure not to throw these away accidentally. While I didn’t need to attach these for the review, they are important to keep for display purposes.

The figure has some amazing articulation. Here is the list of articulation for the Knight starting from the top of the figure:

• Each “back wing” is ball jointed (x5)
• Ball Jointed Head
• Ball Jointed Shoulders (x2)
• Ball jointed Elbows (x2)
• Ball Jointed Shoulders small arms (x2)
• Swivel Jointed Elbows small arms(x2)
• Swivel Jointed Wrists small arms (x2)
• Swivel Waist
• Ball Jointed Hips (x2)
• Ball Jointed Knees (x2)
• Ball Jointed Feet (x2)

Now if you add the joints up it’s only 23. However, if you count each ball joint as TWO that being “double swivel” instead of true ball joint, then there are more than 40 points of articulation. So it’s all in how you interpret the articulation of a figure.

Regardless, the articulation on this figure is SUPERB!

The detail of this figure is amazing. The shape of the parts and the grooved in lines are all crisp. Paint detailing is fantastic. I didn’t find any blemished on my Knight at all. The only slight issue was the Scattershot (weapon in the Knight’s right arm) was slightly curved. I think that has to do with how it was twist tied into the inner packaging.

I was so surprised that the small black arms had articulation. McFarlane could have skimped here and I wouldn’t have cared. Yet they didn’t and it makes the figure just that much better.

The cost of the figure is around $26-30 depending on where you buy it from. Is it worth that? A resounding YES! The size of the figure is great. It fits in well with the other figures from the Halo 4 line (I’ll get a comparison pic up shortly). The sculpt, paint application and articulation are just amazing.

My only complaint is why don’t we have the Lancer, Battlewagon, and Commander versions of this yet! LOL.

This is a MUST by if you collect Halo McFarlane figures. And I’ve got to say even if you’re a carded collector, this is one you need to open up and display. (So yeah, buy TWO of them. One to keep in package and the other to open.) Seriously, the figure is THAT good.

-Sal

Here are the avatar figures for series 2:

• Blue EVA Helmet and Legendary Tee
• Emile
• Anniversary Helmet and Tee
• Blue JFO Helmet and Black Noble Team Tee
• Brute Costume
• Metallic Gold ODST
• Banshee
• Red Spartan Mark VI

I want them ALL! Of course the Gold ODST and Banshee are going to be the hard ones to get (likely). I say this because that was the case with the gold fig and vehicle from series 1.

As soon as I can get a pic of these, I’ll post it.
-Sal

I’d like to thank my bud “Viking Spawn” for pointing the way for the pics.

The soon to be released Promethean Knight has at last been revealed.

As you can see it’s very well articulated. I’m not really a fan of the extra foot pads. Yeah, it adds stability, but it does draw your eyes to them as well. I’d rather be looking at the figure. Of course I understand a figure of this size and being that top heavy though likely needs the added support. I do like the way McFarlane made some of the floaty bits. They’re attached via clear studs. Nice touch.

Now I wonder if this can fit a Watcher inside it’s back? It’s certainly an intimidating looking figure and those little arms are all sorts of creepy, LOL.

I definitely want this figure and hope to goodness the Battlewagon Knight is made as I like that version the best, mostly due to the hard light spikes coming from it’s back.

-Sal