Hello friends.

On Tuesday this past week, I was surprised and awed when this set was delivered to me. I wasn’t expecting and and found out that it came from a family member (not my wife this time). I’ve been asked to not divulge whom it is (though a few of you do know).

Anyway, this is first part of a FOUR part review of the Mammoth. Like the Mega Bloks Foward Unto Dawn set, it’s HUGE. So to try and get the review done in one article would being a disservice to the set.

Starting today and for the next three days thereafter, I’ll post up the following part to this review. Specs for the set will be in the fourth part.

So let’s begin with Part 1: Packaging and Sorting. (Click on each pic bigger)

Here’s the box front. Folks, this box is HUGE and has a handle on the top to prove it. With more than 2,000 pieces it really is a “mammoth” set. The front of the box highlights the ramps and doors that open, as well as a Micro Roland that is included in the set.

The back of the box gives us plenty of details. The main focus being the Mammoth itself, showing again some of the ramps as well as the rotating rocket launchers and Mini-Mac canon on top.

The side of the box.The top of the box. As stated, it has a handle to carry it.

Part of the details that describes the vehicle in-game. (Apologies for the fuzzy pic)

Just below that the minifigs are shown. For the first time a UNSC Officer is named and it’s Lasky. As shown there is also a UNSC Marine, this time with brown skin. Two spartans are included. One in Recruit armor, the other in Operator armor. I’ll have more to talk about the minifigs in the fourth part of this review.

The above pic shows nicely how the top sections come off to allow access to the interior of the Mammoth.

The bridge of the Mammoth with Roland in place.

The last of the detail shots shows the weapons included. Absent is the target locator. Though technically that’s not a weapon, but an accessory in this set.

When you first open the box you’re greeted to this awesome graphic that is on the reverse side of the front of the box.

Usually I cut my packaging apart and save just a few pieces of it for reference. In this case though, this box is going to stay whole. Though I’d LOVE to have a poster of this. Hmm, maybe I’ll take another photo of this without the flash and fix it up in photoshop.

Here is what you see in the box. The THICK instruction booklet is within a cardboard section kept apart from the pieces. Very nicely displayed, I must say.

Below that you get two of the following boxes.The inner box front. I really like the line work on this and the UNSC logo is featured prominently. If I recall, this is the same inner box design as the Forward Unto Dawn inner boxes.

The back of the inner box.

One of the sides of the inner box.

Now we finally get to the bloks themselves.

Here are the contents of one of the boxes. PLENTY of large bloks and plates.

The contents of the second box contain the smaller pieces as well as the wheels.

I’m showing this shot to give an example of what just one type of blok looks like in a pile. I like to stack my pieces before hand so as to save room on the table when building. It makes it easy for me to reach the pieces then. Otherwise, I’d be getting up from my seat after every step to put huge sets like this together.

Here are those same bloks stacked. I stack bloks typically in sets of 10. That also makes it easier when a step in the directions calls for a large number. I know immediately that one of my stacks is 10 and can pick them up and count them off with ease. Sure the initial set-up takes longer, but it’s worked for me this long and I like organization.

To further illustrate the organization, as I find pieces, I place a small sticky sliver on it. That helps me keep track of what pieces I’ve already found. In the case of some there are extra pieces that MEGA has included. That’s good to know as well so I’m not thinking at the end if I missed a step or a specific part somewhere during the build. The columns above that have a full sticky mean that I’ve found all the parts in that column. In the case of the extra pieces, I’ve put them aside so they are not mixed in with the other parts.

And the last shot for part one of this review shows all the pieces sorted out. As you can see, I’ve kept the left to mostly the golden tan bloks, then the larger black pieces, then all of the really small pieces. The wheels, minifigs and rocket launcher parts are in the upper right of this photo.

Tommorrow, part two will be the two main levels of the Mammoth.

-Sal

VanOcean a Halo Mega Bloks enthusiast found the following pic in China showing new mini vehicle Halo Mega Bloks sets to be released soon.

You can bet with so many ships and vehicles in the Haloverse that these are just the start!

-Sal

Mega Bloks Blue Series Rockethog: #97159

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 30 minutes
Set Piece Count: 193
Minifigs: Spartan Mark V [B] Blue, Air Assault Spartan Blue
Weapons: Socom pistol, DMR
Accessories: N/A
Price: $20. Target Exclusive
Special Features: Rotating/pivoting Rocket turret, wheels spin, independent suspension.

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

This set is part of a small “Blue” series. In particular it’s the rockethog. This version is no different than the one that came with the AA Turret VS Rockethog set, other than it’s BLUE color instead of the normal green. That said, it’s a good build! 

The back of the box. This shows one of the other “Blue” sets in the form of the Banshee.

The contents of the box.

The pieces all sorted out. Good mix of black and blue pieces here. And those tan camo…we’ll get to those later.

Well, it’s later, lol. The tan camo pieces are being used to prop up the model while building it. What’s great is later on when they are taken off then can be used as ground pieces! GREAT choice there by Mega Bloks to do this. I like them better than solid red or yellow as we normally get. Anyway…the above photo shows the chassis being put together.

The sides of the hog are assembled and attached.

Part of the front end assembled and attached.

Here we see the steering column, console and back end assembled and attached as well.

The windshield and rollbars attached. Then the wheels. We have a hog, but not yet a ROCKET hog. At this point, you could stop if you wanted to keep this as a civilian warthog, which I almost did.

The orthogonal views of it, sans Rockets.

The rocket assembly attached.

Here are the two minifigs you get with the set. If you missed the previous blue Air Assault and want one to be “Kat” from Reach, then this is a good alternative, even if the blue is darker than her actual armor color.

Orthogonal views of the figures.

As usual, Mega gives us plenty of leftover pieces.

At first I made a rock formation with the tan camo, then made a simple wall with them. Again, kudos to Mega for choosing to use that color of blok instead of a bland solid color.

Finally, I took the remaining black and blue pieces and made a slanted mechanics lift, so a UNSC engineer could work on the hog if needed. The blu cross bar on the lift holds the hog in place.

Summary: This set takes a very short time to sort and build. While it’s an older design (as in older than the Halo 4 style), it’s still a great design for the hog. We’ve only had the rocket hog of this variety once before, so I’m glad to see it back in rotation. Also, it’s the first time we have it in blue. The build is solid and the figures look great! The value is decent. If you break it down, minifigs cost about $3 each in those single packs. This leave $14 for the hog itself, which I think is definitely worth it.

Overall Rating: I give this set 10 out for 10 medals.

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the review. If you have this set yourself, please give me your thoughts on it too!

-Sal

Mega Bloks Collector’s Edition Pack: Set #97205

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: N/A
Set Piece Count: 59
Minifigs: Spartan Mark V [B] GOLD, Spartan Grenadier GOLD, Spartan HAZOP GOLD, Spartan Air Assault (Active Camo); Elite General Blue, Elite Commando Blue X2, Grunt Minor Blue
Weapons: Pink energy sword, Focus Beam, Plasma Rifle, Plasma Launcher; SMG (Active Camo), DMR, Assault Rifle, Grenade launcher
Accessories: 2X3 figure stands (8 pieces)
Price: $20. Target Exclusive
Special Features: N/A

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

This packaging is quite different than anything else that we’ve gotten from Mega Bloks. It’s pretty cool.

The back of the box shows the figures off very nicely. As well, it shows two of the Blue series sets.

Here are the minifigs pre-assemebled in separate baggies.

The weapons included. Nice assortment here. Not really a fan of the Pink energy sword, but not a detractor though.

Minifigure stands.

Covenant minifigs. I didn’t show the additional Elite Commando here as it’s the same. The Elite general is a great color.

Here are the gold Spartans. SHINY!

Oh that sweet active camo effect!

Here’s the whole gang hanging out and waving to the crowd.

Is a battle about to ensue? Hmm, looks like the Air Assault Spartan is getting the drop on one of the Elite Commandos.

Summary: No time needed to build this as it’s just the figures, weapons and their stands. The figs came pre-assembled. This is a nice set. The Gold color is very nice. I do wonder why there were two of the same style elite in this one, especially since it wasn’t the common Elite minor (most common in the game). Still, the Covenant figures are great for army building. Of course I LOVE the active camo figure. As a fan of clear figures anytime one of these is offered I’m always glad to add it to my collection.

The valur is decent enough. At $20, it puts each figure at $2.50 each, which is less than the single blind pack figures.

Overall Rating: I give this set 9 out for 10 medals. It would have got a 10 had it had a different figure other than the duplicate.

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the review. If you have this set yourself, please give me your thoughts on it too!

-Sal

VanOcean, has struck again, uncovering two new sets to come from Mega Bloks for their Halo line.

The first is a 4-figure multi-pack.

What’s great about this set is that you get two good army builders in the grunt and jackal. As well, for folks like me who like active camo figs, we get an AC Recruit Spartan IV. Also, there is a Red Scout Spartan. VERY good set, imo. A little odd the packaging shows a clear AC spartan while the set comes with a blue AC Spartan. But I’m NOT complaining. I LOVE AC figs (as most of you long time readers know!).

Taking a look at the back reveals three other sets. What looks to be a Black and Yellow Cyclops (or maybe Green and Yellow), a Ghost set with a white or silver Elite Zealot and a Spartan, and the UNSC Weapons pack II as seen below.

Okay, this is a KNOCKOUT set! First it comes with an incredible army builder in the regular Halo 4 marine style. Not to mention an energy core, a couple of sandbags….AND SKINNED Weapons! YES!

The AR and DMR get FIRST-EVER skins! The DMR is even more special as that is the skin you can only get through Spartan Assault!

The back of this box also shows the previously pre-viewed ODST drop pods coming for the holidays.

Here’s what you get in the Weapons pack.

And here are two action posed pics.

All pics are from VanOcean, a Mega Bloks fan in China.

-Sal

So I was bored and ill last night and today. Instead of just doing nothing at all, I decided to do something constructive, literally.

I took apart my previous Mantis Repair Bay tower, seen here:

And this time set out to create a sort of UNSC Infinity Bridge as well as repair bay underneath it. The pieces from this come from Halo Mega Bloks Countdown set.

Here is what I came up with:

With the tall girders supporting the upper deck nicely and cross-beams attaching some of them, this double ‘deck’er structure is sturdy.

A view from the left. Note the hanging hose from one of the cross beams. I’m calling this some sort of a pneumatic pump tool to aid in fixing vehicles.

Here is a view from the back (could be front if you consider the windows of the bridge look out…) Note the yellow rack. It contains all the tools needed for repair. As well, there is a winch just above to help replace engines or lift other heavy parts into place.

A view from the right shows a smaller repair bay, likely for a mongoose.

Above is a view of the Holo table with control panel. I really wanted to make a holo table, so this was my chance to do so. Considering the self imposed limited pieces, I think it came out nicely.

A better view of the garage. This shows the tool rack better, as well as the pump to the left and the winch above the rack.

A top view. Don’t step off the edge!

Here’s a bottom view for those who might want to recreate this. It’s a pretty straight forward design. Not difficult at all, IMO.

Now as you may have noticed in the first pic (Mantis repair bay), there were some green pieces. I converted those into a mechanic’s lift for a warthog to drive on to. This makes it easier for the mechanic’s to get to the underside of the vehicles. The open space near the middle locks the wheels in place.

A demonstration of a warthog in place. Works both ways of course. Simple yet effective in it’s design.

Here is the Lift and Warthog in place in the garage. It’s good fit. Snug, but not completely cramped.

A more top-down view showing the hog in place.

Finally, a comparison pic showing the new Pelican as well as the Mantis that was in the former incarnation of this build.

I had fun building this as I just went off of an idea in my brain and ran with it, so to speak.

Do you like it? I sure wish MEGA Bloks would make more structure playsets. I’d love to have an official UNSC Infinity Bridge. For now, I’ll make due with my own.

-Sal

Mega Bloks UNSC Pelican Gunship: Set #97129

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 1 hour of sorting, 4 hours 15  minutes to build. Total 5 hours 15 minutes.
Set Piece Count: 1161
Minifigs: Spartan Pathfinder (Spec Ops color – Spartan Grant though not named as such); Spartan Operator (Spec Ops color – Spartan Hoya though not named as such); Spartan Scout (Silver color – Sarah Palmer though not named as such); Electronic Promthean Knight Battlewagon
Weapons: Shotgun, 2 magnums, 2 SOCOM magnums, DMR, 4 frag grenades
Accessories: N/A
Price: $68-110 depending on where you buy it from.
Special Features: Front and back cockpit window hatches pivot up/down; VTOL (4) thrusters rotate; wings rotate; top access hatch open/closes; gun mounts rotate; rear landing gear pivots down; main engines rotate; rear hatch opens/closes; side weapon access door flips up/down; vehicle attach post pivots down/up

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER) (Video Review at end of article)

The front of the box. AS you can see to the right, you can press the button to test out the lights and sounds. VERY cool! 

The back of the box shows off the features nicely as well as the minifigs and other sets.

Here is what you get inside. Plenty of bags to sort!

After roughly an hour, I got the pieces all sorted out. Only one part was missing and one a little deformed. I called up Mega Bloks customer service and they are replacing them. I should receive them shortly.

And so the build begins. Here we see the first few steps of the body being assembled.

The structure seen from both sides is a transitional piece that connects the cockpit with the body.

Here is the attachment of part of the cockpit, transitional piece and body. Note the pins are green. Hard to tell from the instructions. Also, shown bottom right is where the temporary electronic connection is for customer testing through the green button on the front of the box.

Highlighted in red is the button on the cockpit that you can depress to make the set make various sounds and show lights.

The side exhaust is attached to the body. The gold color really sets this portion apart.

These are the two rear landing gear assemblies ready to be attached to the Pelican.

This is where the pin of the landing gear is inserted.

The side gun mounts are cool. Might I suggest you insert the small pins in the round parts first before adding them to the main mount. I had a heck of a time trying to put the pins in first.

This series of pics shows the gun mount able to be rotated. Nice feature!

Ah, step 95…this is where I made a mistake. I put on the other part instead. After building the whole wing, I realized it was wrong and had to take it apart somewhat, add the correct piece and rebuild. This is were lighter color for the green would have served we builders better. Tough to tell the difference between those parts.

The wing assembly is fixed and ready to be attached to the body!

This step really makes the Pelican come alive that much more. At this point, it’s looking like a Pelican. You’re about 2/3 of the way through building it here.

Building the rear engines, I found that I was missing a part. I went ahead with the build, knowing the piece was missing. Thankfully it’s not crucial for stability. I did call customer service and they are sending out the part.

Here is were the pin meets the hole for the engines to be attached to the ship.

The top hatch in steps of being completed.

This pic really shows the cool moveable features of the Pelican. LOTS of play value here!

The set completed sans stickers. (Most of you know I don’t like putting stickers on my sets. I worry about them peeling off or scuffing and looking horrible later on.)

Orthogonal views of the Pelican. It’s 17 inches front to back, 15 inches width and 7 inches tall. It’s quite impressive in person!

Now on to the minifigs, accessories and leftover pieces!

The Promethean Knight Battlewagon is VERY cool. As you can see by the last pic, it’s electronic too! The watcher that comes with this is static, meaing it’s wings and limbs do not move. It’s actually the battery casing for this minifig. The only small issue I have is that this didn’t come with a regular head besides the one with the armor opening to expose it’s skull. Still, that last shot really shows off the FUN of this feature!

Beyond the knight you get three spartans. From left to right, Spartan’s Hoya, Palmer, and Grant. Though none are named directly, one of the Mega Bloks personnel let that slip during a video from this year’s New York Toy Fair. I’m VERY happy to have there. Palmer’s visor isn’t the right color. That is SO minor though and I plan on fixing that with a repaint of the visor on mine.

Minifig battle! Who’s going to win? I’m placing my bet on the Spartans!!!

Speaking of, here are the weapons close up that you get with this set. Not to mention the Binary Rifle and Sword form the Knight are removable!

As always, Mega gives us left over pieces. This set has a LOT of them. The tan camo ones were used during the build as stability pieces. I’m happy that Mega made them in this color as they can be used as terrain pieces to go with your tan baseplates if you so choose. I chose a different path for them though…

Two variations of some sort of battlefield kit.

This is what I REALLY think is cool that I was able to make from the left over parts. A MINI-Pelican! Okay, not quite accurate, but it’s clearly recognizable! I love it when I can make a mini version of the set from left over pieces!

Here are the lights of the guns and cockpit in the dark. Extremely cool!!!

Last but not least the whole set with minifigs in place, the leftovers being show and the weapons scattered about.

Summary: The build time is not particularly fast. The sort time alone made me wait until the next day to start building it. Then, I built at a casual pace working over three days to finish this in steps. Still, if you’re adventurous you CAN build this in one sitting.

There are a few small issues I have with the build. For one the instructions needed to be lighter in color.
• It became hard at some points to tell the difference between dark green and black parts.
• The rear vehicle post I feel should have been shorter, but I’ll take it. Better than NOT having it.
• Step 95 as you saw above made me misstep and I had to rebuild the wing. Again, it was the color of the instructions that made this happen for me as I couldn’t tell the difference between the parts shown.
• The top hatch does leave a gap between it and where the cockpit meets the body. This is not too bad though. Just something I’d have tried to cover up a little better.
• The main compartment in the back, like the pelican’s predecessor is still way to thin. I know this was done to use less pieces and keep the set affordable. Still, I’d have preferred a wider body.
• Actually, for that matter, the cockpit could have been wider too. Those both though are something that becomes necessary to do to keep a set affordable.
• The rear engines no longer pivot up and down, instead only right to left somewhat. Using the joint system from the mantis would have potentially solved this.

Upgrades I enjoyed from the previous version are:
• Lights and Sound! Really, these are cool!
• Nice DARK green color. VERY military!
• Plenty of moving parts!
• Side gun mounts are fantastic! Yes, this was an upgrade by 343 and Mega Bloks interpreted it nicely into the build.

Overall Rating: I give this set 9 out for 10 medals. Even with the few issues I had, I still find this to be an INCREDIBLE set. VERY much worthy of the Halo Mega Bloks line!

I HIGHLY recommend getting it. That said, I got mine from Wal*Mart for $68 online as opposed to say Toys R Us for $110 in the store. So shop around a bit before you buy and save some money!

Video review to come tomorrow!

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the review. If you have this set yourself, please give me your thoughts on it too!

-Sal

It was a long build, but it’s finally done.

After a couple of missteps in the process, I finally finished this. There are now 90 photos I have to edit first, the write up the review and upload the pics. The final build is fantastic!

So PLEASE come back tomorrow to see how this build went, where I messed up, how it got fixed, and a pretty darn cool “leftover pieces” build!

-Sal

Well, I had hoped to have this done yesterday. However, it’s taking a bit longer than expected. I’m at step 50. There are just over 140 steps in the building of this. So I’m a little better than 1/3 of the way there. It’s looking good so far. I have much of the main body done.

I’ll be working on this today and will hopefully have it finished before tonight’s Halo Fan Friday League (HFFL’s community Halo night).

-Sal

So that order from Wal*Mart for Halo Mega Bloks sets…they messed it up. Yep, couldn’t get a 2 item order correct.

We ordered the Mega Bloks Pelican and Red Spade set. What did they bring out? The Pelican and Brute Prowler set. Up folks, look at my e-mail receipt, look at what the box is you brought out? Doesn’t match up….

Thankfully, they did take the prowler off the order and refunded the money back onto my wife’s card. But still…kind of ridiculous that a simple order got messed up.

Ah well, so I won’t have the Red Spade set review as hoped for. But I will have the Pelican set. That will definitely be tomorrow though. I haven’t slept in more than 30 hours and I have a 4+ hour podcast to do tonight. So yeah…building this tomorrow instead.

-Sal

As a fan of Halo Mega Bloks, you folks know I love the sets. I love them even MORE when they can be found for a great price.

While perusing Wal*Mart’s site this morning, I found that the Pelican set was being sold online for $68 and change. Folks, that’s $40 LESS than Toys R Us. While I’m a strong supporter of TRU, $40 less just can’t be beat. Normally this would be $100 at Wal*Mart anyway, so it’s a great deal no matter how you slice it.

Here’s a screenshot for proof (that shows that time stamp in the upper right corner):

Now, you’re mileage may vary, so check the site. Hopefully it’s the same nationwide. (Can’t speak for the rest of the world though…).

My wife got a bonus last week, so I asked her for this, especially since it was a great deal. She obliged in fact saying I could get the Red Spade set (shown in the bottom right corner). She’s a GEM folks! I love her DEARLY.

I chose the ship to store option so I could have this later today. Now, all this said, that price MIGHT be what it is in stores as well, but I can’t confirm this at the moment. So either call up your local store, or go there. But why waste gas or bother them with a call (when you sometimes won’t get the best customer service). Instead, get this online. BTW, it’s also FREE shipping. Not just to the store, but since it’s over $50 free to ship to your home. Sure, it will take a few more days, but again, if you want to save on gas…

Anyway, once I found this price, I KNEW i had to pass it along to you my good readers.

I’ll be a HAPPY builder later today! Look for the reviews for each in the coming days (barring some screw up with Wal*Mart – crosses fingers in hope there isn’t a problem).

-Sal

Glad to finally know what’s in this set. There are some definite gems in there that make the set WORTH the $30 sale price, IMO.

Here are some product shots found on eBay of this set:

In my opinion, this is a great set for several reasons.
• A ton of figures for a great price
• Army builders galore
• Previously released figures in NEW team colors
• Previously released figures sought after

Now about the price, it’s been said that it’s really $50, but on ‘Black Friday’ there will be a sale of it for $30. Even at $50 for the amount of figures and accessories plus bloks, makes this worth it.

With there being several grunts, elites and brutes, not to mention a couple of ODSTs, it’s a great deal for army builders.

The Cyan color Covenant figures have never been done in that color before. In fact Cyan is one of the lesser used colors in Mega Bloks repertoire of Halo minifigs. Yes, they aren’t game accurate for the FPS games, but come on, these are TOYS!

Some figures like the steel colored Spartans are sought after. Others like the Translucent Cyan Brute and Translucent Green CQB are great for guys like me who like translucent figs.

The green spartans are also cool as the represent the original color of the Mjolnir armor. I’m totally diggin’ that Green Recon!!!

One last thing to note is that we’re getting some great tiles with multiplayer emblems on them.

Now I can only HOPE that MEGA will make one with my gaming group’s symbol on it:

For a further breakdown of the figures I’m going to use part of a post from a local Halo Mega Bloks collector, reader of the blog and friend, “W2daERN“:

Re-releases: 
Orange Grunt (Series 6)
Orange Spec-ops Grunt (Shade Turret)
Copper ODST (ODST Hawk)
Green CQB (TRU Dream Team)
Green Flame Marine (Various, weapon from dream team)
Green EVA (EVA’s Last Stand)
Silver ODST (ODST Battle Unit)

New Figures: 
Orange Elite Commando
Cyan Grunt
Cyan Spec-ops Grunt
Cyan Jump-Pack Brute
Cyan Brute
AC-Blue Jump-Pack Brute
Orange Elite Flight
Orange Combat Elite
Black EOD
Black Scout
Black Security
AC-Green CQB
Green Recon

Again folks, this is a GREAT deal, especially for those of you who collect Mega Bloks.

-Sal

Fellow Halo Mega Bloks collector ‘Vanocean’ found these.

It looks like these drop pods are more of a two-piece mold, so as to be used as part of the packaging. Notice there is no extra paint detail with any of them. Also, the current drop pods wouldn’t be able to be used as packaging given their multi-piece design.

I’m liking these. Looks like you get a fig, weapon, blok and of course the drop pod package. I’m curious if these will be out for the holidays. Would make sense. And besides, if you’re like me, you’ll use the drop pods for a Halo themed Christmas tree. I only with the one that came with the green ODST was bright green as the red one is bright also.

Another cool thing to note is that it looks like the ODSTs have a teeth mark paint app on their helmets. VERY cool!

Not sure on the price, but I’ll venture a guess of $5-6. Normally a blind pack fig is $3 and that comes with a weapon and stand. This having the drop pod, even if a one or two-piece thing would add the couple bucks more.

-Sal