Monthly Archives: August 2012

Toy Review: McFarlane Halo Micro Ops small card sets

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I saw these first at New York Toy Fair this year and immediately was excited for them. They are a fun small size in realistic detail. Great for building massive and small dioramas alike. They also are very affordable.

The small card sets seen here retail between $7-9 depending on store. I think it’s a fair price, not just for what you get, but the overall quality of what you get in something this small in scale.

All “carded” pics are directly from McFarlane’s website, the loose shots are mine.

First up the Banshee set. This set comes with a Reach style Banshee (my preferred version as it’s sleeker than previous incarnations), as well as two micro figures. One is an Elite Pilot while the other is an Elite Ranger.

The Banshee’s four wings rotate slightly and independent of each other. VERY cool set. I want to get another one of it.

Next is the Ghost with Wolf Spider Turret set. This set includes Emile (Noble 3 from Reach) and an Elite, I think it’s supposed to be an Ascetic, hard to tell. Also of course the Ghost and Wolf Spider Turret. The turret comes with an extra “closed” hatch if you want to display it that way. Be forewarned, trying to pop that closed hatch on should be done be small nimble fingers. It’s not for thick fingered folks… The turret does rotate. Do NOT try to take the Ghost off it’s stand. It is not removable. That’s a feature I wish McFarlane would have considered. I broke mine off the stand after shooting the pics…

Thirdly comes the ODST Drop pods. This is a good set with lots of detail. Comes with one deployed pod and one landed pod. Each pods’ front doors pop off and can be put back on easily. As well the side doors swivel out on each. There is a small steel color stand for the deployed pod and a highly detailed dirt base for the landed pod. The micro figures with this set are as follows, Buck, Dare, the Rookie. I think this one has some good value to it given the two pods.

Lastly is the Warthog/Mongoose set. I think this is my favorite set and I can already see this being reissued as a Gauss hog set and/or Rockethog set. Included are a Chain Gun hog, Mongoose (Reach style), micro figures of Marine Gunner, Spartan Warthog Driver, Spartan Mongoose driver.

All in all really good sets. Detail is fantastic at this scale. Price is good to great. If you want to build a diorama, these are certainly the ay to go. I highly recommend them.

-Sal

HaloFanForLife Swag store coming soon.

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I’m working on opening up a e-store for HFFL swag. Simple stuff. Mugs, t-shirts, cards, etc. Prices will be as absolutely low as I can go. I’m using CafePress, so they have a starting charge. At most mine will be only 25 cents to a dollar more than their base price. This covers costs. I’m not in this to make money.

It should be opened in a couple of days as soon as I fix a few graphics.

Mega Bloks Review: Countdown set #97017

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Countdown: Set number 97017

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 1.5 hours sorting, 5.5 hours build. Total 7 hours.

Set Piece count: 1241
Minifigs: Blue Spartan “Jorge-like armor”;2 Reach style Marines-1 with green eye HUD/1 with gold goggles; NEW UNSC Technician; NEW Brown Spartan Mark V [B]; Standard Green marine with NEW head featuring military cap instead of helmet. Armory items: JFO right arm, CQC left arm, Operator helmet
Weapons: 2 Assault Rifles (black); 3 Magnums (grey); Battle Rifle (black)
Accessories: 2 Reach style marine backpacks; Tools include: Power wrench, wrench, screwdriver, hammer, ratchet, crowbar, lock cutters, monkey wrench

Special Features: Sabre cockpit slides open/close; Yellow gantry ladder swivels
Dimensions: Sabre W 10.5″ H 3.75″-without 4″-with staging rockets L 15″-without 16″with staging rockets / Gantry-Tower assembly W 18.375″ D 9.5″ H 16″
Price/Value: $110US

The set has 1241 pieces. Roughly 80% are for the Sabre, with the rest for the Gantry/Tower.

Here are the pics with some explanation along the way, to help your build.

Click on images to see a larger version.

 


The second pic of the above shows the contents of the big bag from the first pic in the upper right.

Pieces sorted out into the “Brickyard.”

Note in the above picture the yellow circles. The two forward parts of the engines kept falling off. This was due to the +bar being too short and not being a snug fit. For the rest of the build until the end, these parts remained off so as not to fall off and frustrate me. In the end I used double sided tape to keep them snug.

In the above pic the yellow circle shows where there should be a 2X2 double stud sided piece. That piece was missing. Thankfully it isn’t an integral part of the build and would be hidden anyway, as you can see.

The cockpit assembly is terrific. Nice smokey glass, dark grey hatch and the sliding feature works VERY well.

Beautiful, isn’t she?

To save space yet show build progression, I made this animated gif of the gantry assembly:

Next up the control tower/station in steps:

 

In this next pic, you see the junction between the gantry and the tower. The directions call for the silver piece (at the bottom) to already be on the build. I found it much easier to take this off, assemble the bottom part them fit the silver part on top.

Bright yellow!

Here is the set fully completed (without stickers) As some of you long time readers know, I don’t like to put stickers on my sets. This set certainly speaks for itself without the stickers, don’t you think?

Here is the sticker sheet:

The leftover pieces: As usual, I try to make a mini of the set the pieces came in. I was successful in part for a small control station. The miniSabre came out pretty good I think. I even was able to make stage separation rockets for the miniSabre.

And finally the minifigs, weapons and armory bits:

Summary: A fantastic set, with long build time. The price is set VERY well for the set. With the piece count coming in at 1241, I would have expected the set to be priced closer to $125. There are some new parts here like the engine nacelles, cockpit slider and cockpit hatch that really add to the look and playability of the set. I am extremely happy with the turn out of the Sabre, but for the one issue with the front engine nacelles not staying on without a little help. Either a longer +bar or a tighter fit would have fixed that. Still, it’s fixable and not too troublesome. If you display this upright as picture, then it’s not an issue.
The gantry/tower assembly is huge and fits the Sabre well. It really adds to the set. Had this just been the Sabre, I’d have been very happy. I feel the gantry/tower was the extra put in the set that adds to the realism of it.

Overall Rating: 4.75 out of 5 medals. Just one missing non-essential part and the forward nacelles as mentioned keep this from being perfect. But damn, it’s CLOSE. Is it worth getting? HELL Yeah!

-HFFL

McFarlane Halo Micro Ops series 2 preview pics!!

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Several preview pics and information have been released for the upcoming series 2 of the Micro Ops line.

Here’s the intel and pics:

Scorpion:

This set includes a new Halo 4 UNSC Scorpion tank, a heavy ground combat vehicle used by the UNSC during large scale operations, features a hatch that opens and closes, along with a rotating & elevating turret. The set also includes Halo 4 Master Chief and two Marine figures for a total of 4 pieces.

Covenant Watchtower:

This set includes the Covenant Watchtower from Halo: Reach, featuring a working gravity lift that elevates figures from the ground level to the top. The set also includes two Jackal Snipers with Needle Rifles and a Jackal Major with Needler for a total of 4 pieces.

Gauss Hog with Generator:

This set includes a Warthog, the UNSC’s primary ground vehicle, with rotating Gauss Cannon; and a UNSC Generator to be protected by Spartans from enemy attack. Also includes Kat (a member of Noble Team from Halo: Reach), along with a UNSC Trooper driver and gunner for a total of 5 pieces.

UNSC Wolverine:

This set includes a Wolverine, an anti-aircraft half-track vehicle used by the UNSC, that features a rotating turret and driver hatch that opens and closes. Also includes UNSC Marine driver and UNSC Flamethrower Unit figures for a total of 3 pieces.

Figure pack (with Ground Cover):

This set includes Jun and Jorge (members of Noble Team from Halo: Reach), along with a UNSC Trooper, Elite General, Grunt Ultra, and Grunt Heavy figures. Also includes a Small Barrier, a mobile metal ground barrier used by UNSC infantry forces, and a Portable Energy Shield, a deployable cover created by the Covenant (enemy) for a total of 8 pieces.

Covenant Drop Pods:

This set includes two Covenant (enemy) Drop Pods, high-altitude deployment vehicles used by Elites to deploy a single occupant to a planet’s surface. Each pod features a removable hatch door. Set also includes a beach base, flight stand, and two Elite Ultra figures for a total of 6 pieces.

What’s cool is that we’re getting the Noble Squad members in these. Hopefully McFarlane will round out the squad with Carter and the default Noble Six in the next series.

-Sal

 

 

 

 

 

Preview of McFarlane Halo 4 series 2 figures

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A preview pic has been released. Series two includes the following figures:

Master Chief
Commander Thomas Lasky
Elite Ranger
Storm Jackal
Spartan Scout (Team Orange)
Spartan C.I.O. (Team Purple)

Lasky as we know now is the man character in the “Forward Unto Dawn” mini series coming in October.

STOP! Don’t yet order that Mega Bloks “Forward Unto Dawn” set!

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Reports have come in that Toys R Us has CHARGED credit and debit cards for this pre-order. The set isn’t due to ship until November, yet they’ve charged the cards now.

Their policy is not to charge until the item is about to ship. Unless this is to ship in the next few days, then this is a serious error on the part of TRU.

Unless you have a few hundred you can afford to have them hold on your account, DO NOT pre-order this item. I’ll keep you folks appraised if they fix the error.

Such a shame too. They are going to RUIN their own pre-order with this, then blame consumers for low pre-orders. Mark my words…

-Sal

Pre-Order the Mega Bloks “Forward Unto Dawn” set today! (buy two and get one for half price!!)

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Toys R Us has just put up it’s pre-order for the Mega Bloks “Forward Unto Dawn” set.

If you buy this week, you can get another for half price!!

The FUD set is priced at $249. I’m not sure if that’s a pre-order price or the regular price. I’ve heard the price range from $269 up to $299. So if you’re thinking about this, it might be better the just pre-order it now and get it for what is likely going to be the cheapest you’ll be able to get it.

Better yet, if you have a friend who is thinking about getting this set too, then get two for the sale price and save even more. Shipping is free (up to $20) off orders of $75 or more, for which this obviously qualifies.

Don’t wait folks, it’s likely this set isn’t going to be mass produced in the thousands. I’m guessing the pre-order is up to gauge interest in the set and that only a select number will be made. Limited edition numbers? I don’t know that…yet.

-Sal