Here’s the fourth of my four part reviews of Jada Die-cast toys.
The Warthog. An Iconic, no, THE iconic vehicle of the Halo franchise.
As I’ve said before regarding packaging, Jada does a really good job of showcasing their product within. Front and center is the Master Chief, along with a UNSC Marine.
With the outer box removed, you can see the set has a backdrop to it, upon which the machine gun turret sits. I’m going to take an educated guess here, that given the design of the toy, it’s likely Jada will rerelease this, but with a Gauss cannon turret or Rocket Launcher turret instead of the machine gun turret.
As with previous sets, this one also comes with a base screwed into the bottom of the inner packaging through to the toy.
You’ll note in the pic above that again the underside of the vehicle is well detailed. Though again is made of plastic.
A close-up of the turret still on the backdrop of the inner packaging.
Apologies for the slightly fuzzy pic above. This is what you get in the set. The minifigs are well sculpted, however lack definition in the paint applications. Perhaps some weathering or shading would have helped to greatly accentuate them. I may just do that myself and revisit these articles at another time.
Finally, as seen above, the set with the turret attached and the minifigs in place.
The wheels move and the turret rotates. No other moving parts. I was a little disappointed with the position of the top mounted light (the black square along the windshield). I tried to reposition it, but it wouldn’t budge and I didn’t want to break it, so I let it be. Again, just a minor disappointment though.
The detailing on this set is fantastic. Mine is the “matte” version. I see by Jada’s website that there is a “glossy” version too. I’d rather have had that, but am not sure if that was an exclusive or just along side the other warthogs. Again, my wife got these for me though, so I’m happy to have them, regardless of what version I got. She’s a dear.
This set costs around $20 and I’m happy to say, it’s worth it. While I’ve expressed previously that you shouldn’t expect the minifigs to “make” the set and I agree with that here too, since this set includes Master Chief, it makes it all the better.
One thing to note from the above pic. The minifigs can’t actually hold onto the turret. I had to reposition this a few times to get it to stand properly for the shot. So in that respect, I have to say this is a display piece rather than a “play” piece (or toy).
-Sal
