It’s been a little while since I’ve had the opportunity to review a McFarlane Halo action figure. Now thankfully, the first series of the Halo 5 Guardians McFarlane figures have started hitting retail shelves in my area and I was lucky enough to score a few of them.

This is the first of three over the next couple of days. Besides Fred here, I’ll also have reviews for Spartan Tanaka and Locke, both of Fireteam Osiris!

Okay, let’s get on with the review!

Technical Specifications:
Articulation:
• Ball Joint Head
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• Ball Joint Elbows
• Ball Joint Wrists
• Swivel Chest
• Limited Ball Joint hips
• Hinge Knees
• Limited Ball Joint Ankles
Accessories: DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle), Magnum
Additional Contents: REQ Pack sheet (Requisition Pack) This sheet has a code on one side that you can redeem for Halo 5 Guardians in-game content. The content redeemed for varies from code to code.
Cost: $13-17 (US) depending on where you buy it at retail
Availability: Mass Retail (I purchased mine at Toys R Us)

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

The slim tall card works well for these figures. Less space, which makes it easier for you to display, if you’re keeping yours in the package. I’m an opener as you know. In fact, the ding to the front of the card for Fred here might have been a detractor for someone else, but not me!  The figure is prominently displayed through the bubble, with the two weapon accessories clearly visible. The back of the card shows the other figures available in the first Halo 5 Guardians series.

Here’s a better shot of the figures available. The top 6 are mass retail figures. That meaning you should be able to find these at the normal shops/stores that carry Halo McFarlane action figures. The bottom 4 at left are exclusive. At the moment I can’t recall which of each is exclusive to where, but I’ll update this review once I know for sure. I do know that the Green Technician Spartan is the Toys R Us exclusive.

There is also a packed in sheet (seen unfolded here) that has a REQ Pack code on it. It’s on the other side of this sheet of course and no I won’t show it….don’t want anyone stealing the code, LOL.

Fred comes with a DMR and a Magnum. Sadly, when I went to put the DMR into Fred’s hands both the thin trigger and finger guards snapped. This was not due to me as I’m uber careful with my merch. Rather, it is a design flaw in the way the hand was molded versus the thin plastic on the DMR itself. The hand is molded with a near completely closed fist. There is very little give in the fingers. So when I gently opened up the fingers a little to get the DMR into position, the plastic closed back in on itself snapping the two guards. You’ll be able to see this in another picture in the review.

One thing I’m not fond of and never have been are the pins that McFarlane Halo figures have for their accessories. Luckily they can be removed fairly easily. 

Here are the front/back and side views of the fig. Click this to make bigger for sure!

With a decent amount of articulation, Fred can be put into some cool poses. There is one big limitation though, that being the hip joints. There were plenty more poses I wanted to try here but couldn’t because the hips just wouldn’t articulate to the position I wanted them to be in for a picture. Still, there is plenty enough movement within the figure that you should be pretty happy with it.

The sculpt of the figure is fantastic, as expected from McFarlane action figures. The paint detail is well done too. Just enough weathering to it to make it feel ‘lived in’.

Here’s the shot I eluded to earlier. If you click and zoom to the DMR’s finger holes, you can clearly see that they’ve both been snapped. I’m not going to bother trying to fix this as they’ll likely snap again. The fix for this could either be tougher plastic for the weapons, or better yet, better hand sculpt to allow for the figure to hold weapons. Unfortunately, McFarlane Halo figures have had this design flaw for some time. So, I wouldn’t expect this to be fixed any time soon.

Here are a few shots to show some more of the detail on this figure. It’s really quite nice. Superb marks here to the artist who sculpted this.

Evaluation
Sculpt: I give this high marks for the sculpt. Of course, McFarlane does have the luxury of having the digital files direct from 343 to use for the sculpt. Still, there is a human factor here too. 10 of 10 medals!
Articulation: As noted above, the articulation is very good. The only issue I have with the fig is the hip articulation. 9 of 10 medals
Paint Application: This is one area that used to be ‘okay to good’ with Halo McFarlane figures. Looks like they’ve improved the process here and we now have some well painted figures. Deal work with the paint application is great. Weathering is spot on and the overall paint is pretty well even. 9.5 of 10 medals.
Accessories: The sculpt of the weapons themselves is great. I’m not a fan of the holes in them from the pins. Yes, I know the pins are there to make placing the weapons on the figure easier. The bigger issue for me here was that the DMR’s finger guards broke way to easily when I was trying to place the weapon on to the figure’s hand. I’m going to try and get a replacement from McFarlane for the weapon itself. I’ll let you know if I’m successful or not. 7 of 10 medals.
Playability: With lots of articulation, a great paint application and good weapons (despite the DMR’s flaws) this figure has a lot of play value. This is one of those intangible that comes in the review, so your analysis may vary from mine. Is it safe for kids? Well, the package says 8+ and I’d agree with that. DO take care with the weapons, especially those pins as the pins may be easily lost or worse, swallowed. 9 of 10 medals.
Overall: Out of a total 50 medals, Fred scores 44.5 medals. That’s pretty decent. I think that is a pretty good indicator of the toy itself. The only big ‘ding’ to this was the DMR’s flaws. The figure itself is fantastic.

Do I recommend this product? You bet!

If you have any questions about this set that I didn’t cover in the review, please feel free to ask me. Either reply below or e-mail me at [email protected]

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

If this review gives you an informed decision on whether to purchase the toy or not, please consider a small donation (50 cents) to the blog. It’s much appreciated and helps ensure that HFFL stays active on the internet. Thank You.

-Sal