Okay first, let me state that this review should have never even happened. I had this on pre-order from back in December and completely forgot about it as I meant to cancel the pre-order some time ago. Well, lo’ and behold it came in and WHAM my bank account got nailed for it. I really can’t afford this, so it’s going to go up for sale for the price I paid w/shipping. In the meantime, I figured I might as well review it while I do have it.

So here goes:

The box is nicely done. Clean graphics that wrap around the sides. The back of the box  shows Palmer in some good action poses. The front flap opens to reveal the figure and accessories in the tray below. (Sorry no pic of that)

So here’s what you get in the box. In the tray you have Palmer, an extra set of hands, a Magnum and a Railgun. Packaged behind this hidden from view is a plastic stand that you can assemble (at right).

Here’s a better shot of the accessories. The railgun is very nicely detailed as is the Magnum. Oh and that little piece below the magnum is a kind of “extender” to put in the hole in the back to allow for weapons to be attached there. Though you’ll see in a minute that it’s not needed for the railgun.

Orthogonal views of Palmer. Now, here is where I need to break some things down. The figure’s wrist joints are SMALL. Be very careful with them as I think it could be possible to break them if you’re not careful. Also, the waist armor is a separate piece that “floats” in position. It hides (somewhat) a horrible joint system in the hips. I mean horrible not in that it doesn’t work but that it’s easily seen and with that huge gaps in what should be a more solid looking figure.

Other than those two ares, the rest of the sculpt is fantastic.

The paint application overall is good, however I noticed that some of the red markings on mine look a slight bit off. Also, the silver paint feels “sticky.” (No jokes please…) Seriously it’s like there is a slight film of stickiness on this.

The figure is chock full of articulation as shown by the action poses here. Though again, be careful with the hands/wrist. It took me a couple of minutes to get the railgun to hold and pose right. With regards to the magnum, I suggest you have the hand OFF of the wrist joint first. Put the magnum in the hand, THEN put the hand into the wrist joint.

Finally some detail shots. Again as you can see the detail of the sculpt is fantastic. The railgun in the middle is NOT using the extension piece I mentioned earlier, though if you have other Halo Play Arts figures, you may have to use it for weapons from those figures.

All in all it is a great figure. Considering the news of the new Halo game “Spartan Assault” and Palmer being the key character in it, and if you want a little bit of the Halo virtual world brought to life so to speak, then this figure is a good start.

With McFarlane Toys and Mega Bloks not coming out with a named Sarah Palmer figure any time soon, this may be the only way for you to get her.

-Sal