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 second of three over the next couple of days. Besides Tanaka here, I have a review for Fred already up, with Locke’s review coming tomorrow!

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 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 is Tanaka in orthogonal views. Click that graphic to make bigger!

A couple of action poses to show just some of the articulation.

These next four being close-ups. The detail of this figure is amazing! I think this is also the first time we have a Spartan that has wires like this coming from the back fins. No doubt something to do with the ‘Technician’ armor Tanaka wears.

The back of the figures has some fine detail as well!

I really like that McFarlane Toys layered the paint application well for this figure.

One thing not seen in the photos above is that my Tanaka figure’s right leg keeps popping off. This is the first time in all of the Halo figs from McFarlane that this has ever happened. (And I have a couple hundred of these easily) So I guess this was a fluke. The leg is easy enough to pop back on. It’s just a minor inconvenience.

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: This figure has some great articulation to it. The only downfall is the hip joint. You can’t quite get it to pose in some natural human poses. 9.5 out of 10 medals
Paint Application: Exquisite! Not a ton of weathering, which I’m okay with as this figure is silver in color. Just enough. The layered black, blue and brick red colors throughout the figure are well applied. Well done McFarlane Toys! 10 out of 10 medals
Accessories: The weapons with this figure are the same as with Fred. I didn’t risk using Tanaka’s DMR, so I used Fred’s instead for the photos. The pin in Tanaka’s DMR is stuck. I can’t get it out and I’m not going to try either, less it breaks on me. 7 out of 10 medals
Playability: This is a rare female Spartan (though there are a few more very soon to follow). I really like this figure. Looks classically Spartan, but with some more flare to it. High marks here! 10 of 10 medals.
Overall: Out of a total 50 medals, Tanaka scores 46.5 medals. Really, the only major ding is the DMR. Other than that, the figure is FAN-TAS-TIC!

Do I recommend this product? Absolutely! In fact, I like the colors of this spartan so much and that they are similar to HFFL’s logo colors that I’m making Tanaka the unofficial Spartan of HFFL! (Yes, it will be on the quiz kids!) SRSLY!!

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