McFarlane Halo 4 Toy Review: Crawler

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The Crawler is one of the new enemy types found in Halo 4. I’ve given it the nickname of “Didact Dog.” I love the design of this character from the game. So I was excited to see it in toy form. Read on to see if that excitement continued!

This figure is fantastic. The sculpt is ridiculously good. The articulation is hidden well, except possibly for the mouth, though that is to be understood if you want that kind of articulation. (And I certainly do!)

The Crawler has the following points of articulation:

Head-Ball Joint
Jaws-Swivel
Shoulders- front are swivel, back are DOUBLE-ball joints!
Knees-No front knee articulation, back have limited swivel joints
Ankles-swivel

As you can see from the pics above the figure has a fair good amount of articulation. I’m VERY happy with the outcome of the toy and can’t wait for the other two versions of the Crawler, especially the “Prime” or Alpha Crawler. The hardlight spikes coming out of this figure will look SICK! (And I mean that in a good way)

So should you get this? I say hell yeah! Even without accessories, the sculpt and poseability totally make up for that. Knowing that we’re likely to see the other two variations makes me happy and wanting more!

This figure can be found in the slender Gamestop packaging, the normal large card at big retailers as well as in both the Target and Toys R Us 4-pack boxed set.

If I could get more of this figure I would….darn being strapped for cash.  🙁  It’s an army builder for sure.

I give it 9.5 out of 10 medals.

McFarlane Halo 4 Toy Review: Cortana

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Ah the wonderous AI of Halo. Cortana is a great character. McFarlane Toys has again brought her to life, so to speak, with another action figure. Here is a compilation pic and a review of the toy.

Okay, first I’ll state that I got mine from Gamestop, that’s why it’s in the slender packaging. I’m not sure about the included Master Chief micro ops figure being included with the larger card, so check that.

I think it is very cool that we get that micro Chief. It’s a little funny too as normally Chief is the big fig while Cortana is mini (well in the games anyway).

Now to the accessories given. The screen with hand (permanently attached) is a very nice add-on. The issue I had though was that when I tried to take Cortana’s hand off from the figure to replace it with the screen/hand, it wouldn’t come off easily. So, rather than break the figure, I opted to leave it as is. That’s a bit disappointing though as I REALLY wanted to display her with the screen.

As well you get this large almost half spherical base, which is the top of the plinth she stands above in the game. Looks like it could have been ready for electronics like the Halo 3 version. I guess McFarlane took that out. Shame too as it would have helped.

However, given that this version of Cortana is solid instead of translucent like the Halo 3 version. So having lighting wouldn’t have mattered so much. The figure comes with limited articulation. Normally I would say the more articulation the better. In this case though, I would actually have preferred less. Since she can’t really sit or be posed any other way that makes sense or looks good, there really wasn’t much reason to have hip joints. Her head is in a downward looking pose and can’t be positioned upward. Darn…

With such a classic and iconic character of Halo, I was hoping for a little better here. While the paint apps are good, the fact that I can’t switch out hands for fear of breaking the fig, as well as not being able to pose her more dynamically, especially with her head being able to look up (as if to look at Master Chief) this figure is lacking.

I do appreciate the micro Chief and it will look great in my growing collection of McFarlane Micro Ops, which I hope continues to be produced. I wants my Scorpion and Pelican! LOL (and Mantis too please)

Overall this figure looks fine if you keep her in the static pose it’s meant for. That means though that there isn’t much action, in this action figure.

Thankfully though, she doesn’t require much “action” posing.

So, final thoughts…

Sculpt is great as always.
Accessories make sense and look great (though I wish I could switch out the for the screen hand)
Worth the purchase? Depends. I’d love to say yes without question, but I’m just hesitant to do that here. If you love the character then absolutely yes. If you’re looking for something very poseable, then no. Where am I specifically? I’m on the yes side with some slight reservations.

Since I know that I’ll likely jut be displaying her as a statue, she’ll do just fine. Just bummed about that screen hand…

I give it 7 out of 10 medals.

-Sal

Halo 4 weekly challenges: 12-03-12

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Campaign ones should be easy enough.

YEAH! 3 Spartan Ops weeklies! EASY!

War Games…hmmm, Looks like I’ll be playing a bit of Regicide this week. Man, I wish Griffball was a playlist and not just custom right now. Hmm, I wonder if customs would work in this? Doubtful.

HFFL Halo 4 Objective Playdate!

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Okay from now on, I’m going to have a weekly HFFL Objective gaming session on Sundays in Halo 4. Blog members are preferred, as well as Twitter/Facebook followers. Since the playlist is 5v5, I can take up to 9 other players and we can game against each other.

As far as when? Well, you’ll just have to look out for me on LIVE and/or watch for me to post on Sundays when I’m going to be on.

I want to get in a LOT of Objective games. I enjoy those playlists and want to work on those commendations too. If you’re up for it, shoot me an invite and please be certain to state you are a reader of the blog (I don’t accept random requests).

See you on the battlefield!
-Sal

Halo 4 War Games daily challenges: 12-02-12

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A perfection you say? 3,000 XP you say? Hmm, this might be tough, but worth trying for.

Win 3 KOTH matches? Okay, I’m up for that challenge.

This being said, I need to find gamers who want to play smaller playlists. My gaming group is big enough that I find we’re always having to play Dominion or BTB. I’m not a fan of the latter. (Never was in any of the games, not just Halo 4)

So what I’m looking for are gamers who enjoy those smaller playlists and won’t mind playing them for a whole gaming session. So today, if you’d like to get in games with yours truly, shoot me an invite on XBOX LIVE. You must state you’re a reader from the blog though as I don’t accept random requests.  I’ll be on intermittently all day today looking to play the likes of King of the Hill, Oddball, and Capture the Flag. I guess you could say it’s Objective Day at HFFL. Hmmm, that gives me an idea…

 

Halo 4 War Games monthly challenge: December 2012

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Alright! This is easier than last month, yet not too much less in XP. Last months was 117 wins for 17,343 XP. This month is 47 LESS matches, for only 2,343 XP less. That’s a good trade off.

You only need to win 2-3 matches a day if you play every day to get this monthly. Really very easy to do, even if you don’t play every day.

-Sal

Best use of the Dew/Doritos double XP codes!

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Okay folks, if you haven’t already figured out this one, then sit back for a second and get ready to be amazed…No? Okay well then peer at the screen and get ready to say, “huh, cool.”

The best usage of your double XP matches is in Spartan Ops. Now I’m NOT talking about just playing a chapter, though that will net you close to 6,000 XP. Nope, instead be sure to pick the second tab to find a game. Here you can pick form any of the 5 current weekly chapters so no worries about which mission you’ll be put into.

From there you’ll be matched up with other players. Now of course you can bring your friends into this as well if you don’t want to be matched up with randoms. Point is, using the “find a game” tab acts like matchmaking, but gives you more credits than a normal War Games match. You’ll earn about 5,000-6,000XP up front, PLUS that much again in double XP! Also, if you happen to have the Pioneer mod on you’ll earn an additional 1,000 or so XP. So yeah, I’ll take 13,000XP for a 8-12 minute mission in Spartan Ops any day over the 5,000 or so in War games.

So some of you may be saying, “but I like War Games,” or “I don’t like Spartan Ops.” (To the second one I’ll say shame on you, LOL. Play as you want of course. This is really for those looking to maximizing their double XP codes/matches. Spartan Ops matchmaking is the BEST way to do that.

Personally, I LOVE Spartan Ops. I play it over and over again. I love the challenge of crap tons of enemies at once. As well, I am one who likes to get 100% commendations. I was just a wee bit shy of that in Reach hitting 97%. So that’s my goal this time around at least 97% before Halo 5 hits. You WON’T get that unless you play a lot of Spartan Ops as well as War Games.

Have fun, and I’ll see you on the battlefield!
-Sal

Dortitos Halo 4 double XP code!

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Okay folks, I only have a couple of these left so here goes…

As always you need to be registered on dewxp.com or doritosxp.com to redeem these codes.

Heres’ the code minus the last character. You’ll have to figure that one out for yourself.

KNWMEH3LN*

This code is good for 12 matches of double XP in Halo 4.

Good luck!
-Sal

Mega Bloks Forward Unto Dawn set: Part 6 Stickers, Final Assembly and extra parts, OH MY.

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SO now we come to the end of my now 6-part review of this awesome set. I really encourage everyone out there who wants a piece of Halo history to get this set. Yes, it’s $250 and YES, it’s SO worth it.

So here we go with the final round of pics:

Besides the Master Chief minifig, we also get a Blue Storm Elite (only previously available as red in the Halo 4 Warthog set), a UNSC officer – FIRST time available (the arms and legs are the same as the technician), and of course the technician which was only available previously in the Countdown (or Sabre) set. The BR shown is included as well and is meant for Master Chief. The blok with the number on it is there for the batch/lot number in case of a recall.

I really like these extra minifigs. I would love to have a few extras of the elite. It goes without saying that having a small army of technicians would be awesome and a few extra officers would be great too. Unless they are released in future sets though, I’ll have to be satisfied with the ones I do have.

Here is the wing UNSC sticker. Now on the box it’s shown close to this position, while in the directions is very close to the front of the wings (in the pic that would be to the left of the wing). I happen to like it near middle as that’s closer to what it was on the original ship from Halo 3. However you choose to place this is your decision, so don’t let anyone detract you form your desired placement.

Here we see some stickers near the mid section of the ship.  MEGA was kind enough to cut the sticker on the left so that when the ship is put together it fits with the other portion of the sticker from the front half.

Some of the stickers at the front section of the ship. They add a nice touch to the ship without being obtrusive or overpowering to the rest of the model.

So now we come to the part where we see how the ship is fit together from it’s two main halves.

First you lift off the two roof panels by the midsection from both halves. As well, you’ll need to remove the hoses or they’ll get in the way of the ship being assembled.

Here you can see where it appears that several pieces will slot into the other half of the ship. Notably the smooth tiles near the middle of the pic actually do slot into holes that are part of the construction of the front section. As well there are two pegs that click into other holes to help keep the ship together. A very well done and thought out design by MEGA.

Here’s another view closer up of those holes and pegs that come together.

Here’s where the ship comes together. You can also see the sticker that was neatly cut by MEGA and how it comes together as well.

Note in the pic above the 1X8 plates that have been added. These too help in the connection of the halves. Surprisingly that’s all that is need. Those two, plus the pegs previously seen. Of course I wouldn’t go trying to pry them apart or carelessly carrying the ship around. But for the purposes of display those are all you need to keep the ship together.

Fit the roof panels back on. By the way, I suggest taking them all off then start with the front one and work you way toward the back. It can be a tight fit with those middle two, especially with stickers applied at the front of the back half.

In the previous three pics I left the roof hatches deliberately open so you can see just how dark it is in there even with the hatches open.

Now for the finished result! (Be sure to click the pic for the larger version!)

Isn’t she a beaut! I have to say I am SO impressed with this build. MEGA really knocked it out of the park here. So many added pieces to the sides give it great character. The main structure of the model is VERY sturdy. The minifigs are welcomed extras as are the MANY gun accessories. This is one impressive building block model.

Here are some stats I got during the build:
Build time: 5 hours sorting pieces ; 10 hours building. Not too bad for a model of this piece count.
Size: over three feet long, including the front antennae.
Weapons and accessories: 14 guns 1 radio back pack.
4 Minifigs

If you want any other stats on the model, just shoot me a reply below or e-mail me at [email protected].

As always, MEGA allows for extra pieces in their models. This set was no different. In fact the allowed for so many extra pieces that I was able to build something I think was cool…

Above are the leftover pieces I had.

So I went ahead and built a mini Forward Unto Dawn with them!

And finally below the mini model with the full sized one!

So that’s it. The Forward Unto Dawn from Halo 4. It’s a masterful piece and any Halo fan should be proud to own it.

It’s exclusive to Toys R Us for $250. Now before I go, I need to give a shout out to Toys R Us. When I first pre-ordered this back in July, I pre-ordered at the “Buy One Get One Half Off” price. I made sure to note that I wasn’t going to be charged on the credit card for the transaction until this shipped. However, I was charged which ended up making me default on other transaction for a total of $210 in fees. While the initial charge form TRU was put back into the account, the damage had been done from those fees. This is partly documented on the blog during that time.

What was good was that I was put in contact with one of their corporate customer service persons. He fixed this by calling up a local store that had it in stock. From there I just need to go pick it up. So in essence I got this for $40+tax less than retail. Also, he is to send me a gift card for $125 (half the amount for the second ship I would have got). I’m still waiting on the gift card and will let you all know when I get that. In fact you folks will benefit from it as I plan to buy Halo stuff with that gift card for prizes for contests on the blog.

Suffice to say that I’m glad the TRU made good on their end so far and hope they complete what we agreed upon as it will benefit the blog members too.

Back to the set for a final thought. This is the FIRST in MEGA Bloks “Signature” series. We can only hope that they release at least one new Halo signature series ship a year. I’m hoping for the UNSC Infinity next. Then possibly a Covenant ship. The price is up there, but again, for what you get, it is SO worth it. I’m COMPLETELY satisfied with the set!

THANKS MEGA!
-Sal

Halo Bulletin for 11.29.12

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Halo Bulletin

This week’s Halo Bulletin is a great one. We have official word on the Crimson Map pack release, with several pics of the three maps as well as a video partial walk-through.

Updates to matchmaking are discussed. FFA Throwback goes away while Team Regicide takes it’s place.

If you’re a fan of Forza, there will be a special Halo truck available in an upcoming DLC pack. Here’s the pic:

Man, I wish I could own that truck with that pint job for REAL!

Anyway, a really good bulletin this week.
-Sal