Covenant Revenant Attack: Set number 96982

Build Time: 5 minutes sorting, 30 minutes build. Total 35 minutes.

Set Piece count: 281
Minifigs: Elite Ultra, Elite Minor, Spartan Commando
Weapons and Accessories: Needler, Plasma Rifle, SMG, Long Ammo Crate, Bubble Shield generator
Special Features: Revenant’s front wings pivot, rear mounted cannon deploys

Dimensions: Revenant: approx. 6 in. long X 5 in. X 2 in. high; Bubble Shield: approx 5 1/2 in. diameter X 3 in. high.
Price/Value: $32.99 US

The set has 281 pieces. Most of these are dedicated to the Revenant, while the remaining are shared between the Covenant barriers and bubble shield. The directions are straight forward, with one exception. Step 12 calls for a small curved piece. Be certain you have the smallest size. I put on the one just bigger than that then realized my mistake at the next step.

All in all this is a great set. Cool new minifigs with excellent sculpting and paint application, and a repeat of the blue elite minor, which is a welcome army building enemy.

The Revenant’s color is amazing. It’s a shiny wine/burgundy color that really stands out. It’s VERY close to the in-game color. Hopefully this will mean an Elite Zealot minifig will soon come as those colors are very close.
The bubble shield is a great addition to the Halo Mega Bloks toy line. At first I was concerned how this was going to be created. Having experienced bubble shield from other toy lines (the Star Wars Droideka one comes to mind), I was immediately concerned about safety for small children. Not to worry, not only it the shield so large that there is no way it would not let air in, there are 4 holes created by each of the studs on each of the 5 pieces of the outer bubble shield. This was a WELL executed piece and I highly applaud Mega Bloks for the design and consideration to child safety.
The Covenant barriers are two welcome pieces of set dressing. I always appreciate the extras like these as they bring a subtle yet more filling role to the set and toy line overall.

When I first heard that the Revenant was going to be made I was ecstatic. I consider this the Covenant’s hot rod of Halo Reach. It has the speed of the ghost and half the firepower of the wraith. With it’s sleek curving lines and color it really stood out.

For the typical retail price of $32.99, this set is just slightly overpriced, however I have my theories as to why. I’ve talked with two other collectors about this as well and the theory summarized is that the new color as well as molding had to have it’s costs recouped somehow. Not to mention the amount of paint applications on the minifigs, especially the Ultra, and Spartan. I hold a general 10 cents per part rule when considering price. So at 281 pieces that amounts to just over $28. The set costs $5 more. However, in my opinion, given the great new color and the amazing bubble shield I consider it worth it. An extra minifig would have been great. Since there are extra arms and a helmet for the Spartan that makes up the difference for me.

I’m VERY pleased with this set with one exception. The front wings are one stud too wide. You’ll see in the pics later the comparison between the toy and the in-game model and it will become quite clear. As well Mega actually got the wings wrong as far as the position of where the wing pivots. It should have been further out and not right next to the body. Still it’s close, just not perfect. The only other minor annoyance was that I couldn’t get the Ultra into the set with the peg in the back and had to take that out and just have him holding onto one of the steering grips.

Overall Rating: With this review I am changing my medals to go from 1-10 instead of the usual 1-5. For this set I give it an 8.5 medals out of 10. The front wings were the main reason for it not being a 10.

Now on to the pics (click to see a larger version):

The front and back of the box:

What you get inside the box and what comes in the bigger bag:

The sticker sheet:

The pieces sorted into the “brickyard”.

Some new and interesting pieces in this set:

Step progression shots:

Alternate views of the finished Revenant (before stickers applied):

Toy/In-game comparison shots. Here is where you can plainly see the error of the front wings. You can see how the front wings are too wide and the pivot point should be out further. I believe this could have been accomplished. I did buy two sets of this, so I’m going to attempt to make a custom one with the corrected wings being more slender and the pivot points being further out. Look for that to come in the near future. Note how the toy is more an inverted “T” block shape whereas the in-game model is more trapezoidal and streamlined. I know the Covenant shapes are harder to create in Blok form, so some leeway is given there.

The amazing bubble shield. A note on this. It was first supposed to be yellow/gold as it was in Halo 3. The color wasn’t coming out right, so Mega opted to do it in blue, hence the health shield. They did however keep the generator in the set. While technically incorrect, I am happy they kept the generator in and look forward to a yellow/gold bubble shield in the future.

The Covenant barriers come together:

Here are the pieces left over (I was actually missing two parts from the build, thankfully those were hidden parts. I’ll be contacting Mega about getting the replacement parts for this):

I always enjoy making “minirigs” out of the left over parts and this is what I came up with.

Here are the minifigs that come with the set:

A close up of the Elite Ultra. Fantastic sculpt and paint apps.

The spartan in various views with both sets of extra armor on:

The completed set (sans stickers):

I hope you enjoyed reading this review as much as I enjoyed writing it. I also hope you found it informative.

All in all a great set. I recommend getting it!

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UNSC Spade vs. Skirmisher: Set number 96981

Build Time: 5 minutes sorting, 15 minutes build. Total 20 minutes.

Set Piece count: 204
Minifigs, Weapons and Accessories: Reach style Marine, Skirmisher, “Grenadier” Spartan, right “JFO” arm, left “CQC” arm, Base “Grenadier” helmet, Base “Mark V” torso, Assault Rifle, Needle Rifle, Heavy Machine Gun, Marine Backpack, Grenadier Backpack, long ammo crate
Special Features: 4-wheel independent suspension
Dimensions:
Price/Value: $19.99 US

The set has 204 pieces, all but the minifigs, weapons, and accessories are dedicated to the Spade model. The set was a quick build, though there was one instruction error near the beginning. Step 4 puts 2 2×2 brown plates in the wrong position. Instead of in the middle as the step describes, they should be one pip closer to the front as subsequent steps show.
From there on the directions are right. The only problem with some is that the brown and dark grey colors are so close in hue and the directions are so small that it might be hard to distinguish which part you need, so “read” carefully when building.

Click on images to see a larger version.

I showed a pic of the box earlier. Here it is now again for reference.

Here is the back, note the cool armory sets coming soon and the complementary Air Assault Spartan vs. Shade turret.

Here is what you get when you open the box:

Next the minifigs, weapons and accessories:

I’m not fond of the blue-green color on the marine, however it is close to the in-game model (which again I’m not fond of the color). This is not a knock on Mega Bloks, rather the choice of color by Bungie. Apologies that the extra Spartan armor isn’t clear in the photo. To note this spartan is by far the BEST spartan Mega Bloks has produced for the Halo line. Not only is the sculpting top notch, the paint application is extensive and brilliant. The addition of a metallic olive green makes this minifig shine, literally.
The only minor issue I have is with the skirmisher’s plumage. It should be black with slight silver/grey highlights, not silver/grey with black highlights. It’s an easy fix to custom. It likely won’t detract for kids.
The marine’s sculpt is fantastic. While I dread the color, I do look forward to getting more of this style marine. Hopefully we’ll get him in different non-game colors. I’d like to see a green/brown version and a sandy/brown version.

Here are the pieces sorted in what I always call the “brick yard.”

Steps 1-10 nets you this:

Steps 11-14 build the base of the bed of the Spade.

Steps 15-21 piece together the engine area, front and mid frame.

Steps 22-25 complete the rest of the frame and add on the front bumpers and tow cable assembly

Steps 26-28 add the wheels and antennae. Here is a shot of the completed set with minifigs.

I elected not to put the damage stickers on my set, preferring a clean version of the Spade. The hubcaps on the tires are a fantastic sculpt. Oh, of note, the inner grey wheel hubs were a bit of a pain to insert into the rubber wheels. Kids should get their parents to do this for them.

Here are the parts left over:

As always I try to make some little minirig or something out of the left over pieces (makes them easier NOT to lose as well:

All in all this is a fantastic set. Great new minifigs with excellent sculpting and paint application. The Spade seems to be just a tad oversized, however I’m fine with that. The build time was fast and other than the one misstep in the instructions, it was not complicated.

I enjoyed new color bloks. Orange, Brown, and light Blue!

The Spade is somewhat of an obscure vehicle from Halo Reach and I was a little surprised that we got it. It was definitely one though that I wanted Mega Bloks to make and they did not disappoint. Now if we can get the blue and green versions as well!

For the typical retail price of $19.99, this set holds it’s value. With three and a half minifigs and a full sized vehicle it’s hard to refute the price given that minifig sets of 4 are normally $12 nowadays. So for just and extra $8 you get the vehicle too.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 medals.

Fellow collector and friend of HaloFanForLife Kevid Hurd found series 4 (all except Cortana which was cherry-picked out of the box).

The codes for these are as follows:

Artic UNSC Pilot a15111mm
Green UNSC Marine a16111mm
Yellow UNSC ODST a17111mm
Blue Covenant Elite a18111mm
Cooper Covenant Brute a21111mm
Crimson Elite Pilot a22111mm
Purple UNSC EVA Spartan a23111mm
Cortana ?????????

He presents the following video:

These are by far some of the best Custom Halo Mega Bloks vehicles out there. Check out Mega’s blog post about them.

http://blog.megabloks.com/posts/goodwillhunters-custom-halo-vehicles/

Here is a shot of a set that is likely a prototype. The revenant will be coming out with the Skirmisher Vs. Revenant set in 2012. Though I’d LOVE to see this set (pictured) come out as well. I like the gun tower and the set itself mimics the previously released Warthog vs Covenant AA set.

Here is a pic of the back of the box of the soon to be released Spade Vs. Skirmisher set. I talked with Andrew Sparkes, VP of Boys Brands at Mega Bloks last night. He had just built the set that day and said it was an extremely fun build.  Note the Jorge figure. Finally a straight up Noble team member. There is no denying that’s Jorge. The Skirmisher looks great. The only thing I don’t like about it so far is that it’s plumage on it’s head should be black as that’s how it is in game. I’m totally digging the needle rifle it carries though.  The Spade itself looks awesome and I’m hoping to see it again in it’s green and blue colors.

of note as well on the box are the other sets. There is a white EOD set, with possibly white Mark V pieces, an Elite Ascetic set, EVA/Marine set with extra Scout and CQB armor. And of course the Shade set mentioned previously here.

I’m excited for this set and all the other sets shown. Mega Bloks has really done an excellent job of making fun sets and sets we ask for.

Kudos to Mr. Sparkes and his whole team at Mega Bloks for making the line fun and worthy to collect!

Update, now a pic of the FRONT of the box!

New pictures have surfaced of the 2012 Halo Mega Bloks Revenant set. Note the new Elite Ultra, and Plasma Rifle. Also note the Health Shield due to release in the Spade VS. Skirmisher set. Look inside of the shield and you’ll see a core that is actually for the normal (Halo 3) bubble shield. Check out the Carter-esque minifig. He’ll be part of the upcoming Armory line.

Simply amazing. This shows that 2012 will get off to a great start for Halo Mega Bloks.