[Review]-Halo Wars Cyan Spartan (Mega Bloks)

[Zip]

So. Mega Bloks Halo Wars. The license that was met with much dread and controversy from Lego fans. But that didn't matter, Mega Bloks now had something that could fight against Lego Star Wars. It's been pretty successful so far, but to what extent?

I don't know. What I do know is that I received an exclusive MB Spartan today in the mail, and I intend to make an unbiased review of it as possible. It also helps that I know very little about the Halo storyline, so don't expect too many geeky ramblings. So, what exactly is this thing? Read on.

Presentation

From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.

The "box" is nothing more than a normal-sized envelope. It's slightly bulging due to the contents inside. The thing is thin cardboard, don't expect any bubble wrap or the like.

The cover is very similar to that of the MB Steel Spartan, another promotional figure (but you had to pay for that one). The Spartan stands ready, aiming his pistol at some unknown threat in whatever wasteland his background is. It's not too flashy (aside from the limited edition sign), but it wasn't meant to be in the first place since it was mailed out to people who hadn't even seen the box.

The back displays the other Halo sets released during the season, along with the typical warnings. Nothing else to say here.

Building

Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

So I open the envelope.

Everything in there is neatly bagged, and surprisingly secure and undamaged. I tear it open, along with the Spartan's bag inside of it. Along with the pieces, there's a piece of paper.

Unlike its Steel Spartan counterpart, there is no certificate. Instead, we just get some warnings and a small ad for other Mega Bloks toys. So let's move to the pieces:

We get two pistols; a display brick; and of course, the figure. The figure is counted as one piece (even though it's actually made up of 14 pieces), which may be surprising for people who haven't bought any MB sets in a while. If you can't tell already, there really isn't a "build", which is to be expected from a figure pack.

Set Design

Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.

Oh my god. The details. I did not know you could do that much engraving and painting on a 2-inch minifigure and mass produce it. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that everything on here was done by hand. After looking through several real-game Spartan pics, I'd say this is a very accurate figure. The quality is surprisingly high, so you won't have to worry about paint or parts chipping off. The best part? It's proportionate. Pretty scary for a minifig.

On the left is a Neo from the large Neo-Shifter figures, and on the right is a 2010 Space Policeman. The Spartan is definitely the most detailed of the bunch.

There is some "dirt" painted on the armor to make it look more realistic. It contrasts well with the bright cyan armor, but I can't imagine it looking as good with the darker figures.

The camo display brick is just a dirty green brick (the "camo" is done poorly here). The pistols are nice accessories, and from what I've heard; very hard to find.

Playability

The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?

Let me remind you guys here- this is not a Lego minifigure. It's more than a display piece, because guess what? It's a mini action figure. This thing has 12 points of articulation. Neck, shoulders, elbows, hands, waist, hips, and knees. You read that right. For something sculpted with such high quality, one wouldn't actually expect it to be that poseable and not break. But it is. And it looks good while posing.

----

The only gripe with the articulation is the lack of any ankle movement. This hinders the legs to stand still in an area of no more and no less than 3 studs. It's not a big deal, but I consider it a downgrade since the Neo had ankle articulation and this doesn't.

There are worries about the joints being loose, but don't be. The one I have has fairly strong joints. Certainly better than that of the Neo's.

Final Thoughts

Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

First of all, the thing was a free promotion. You didn't have to pay anything to get it. So if you don't have the Spartan in cyan by now and want it in that color, then off to Ebay with you.

Generally speaking though, the MB Spartan is a great design regardless of any color. It's much more playable and displayable than a Lego minifig, and surprisingly high quality to boot. MB has something here, and while I haven't tested any of the vehicles to recommend them, I highly recommend the MB Spartan minifigures.

Pros

What's to like?

• High quality sculpt and paint
  
• Very Poseable, especially for something this size
  
• Free (but only for a select few)
  

Cons

What's not to like?

• No ankle articulation
  
• "Dirt" effect may not look good on certain dark Spartans
  

The pros-cons list is, IMO, not the best representation of this. The best way to appreciate this is to have it in-hand.

Now, Lego fans, get ready to be conquered.

Full gallery here.

[vexorian]

This is just a small action figure with no ankle articulation and stud sockets in the feet. It does not really qualify as a minifigure seeing how you can't really disarm it and use their stuff to customize other megabloks minifigs. I cannot believe mega would release these as standalone as there really isn't anything impressive about it. Perhaps 20 years ago when action figures would get away with just being pose-able. Oh yeah, just noticed it is free which is basically the only fair price for it.

Edited August 12, 2010 by vexorian

[Zip]

This is just a small action figure with no ankle articulation and stud sockets in the feet. It does not really qualify as a minifigure seeing how you can't really disarm it and use their stuff to customize other megabloks minifigs. I cannot believe mega would release these as standalone as there really isn't anything impressive about it. Perhaps 20 years ago when action figures would get away with just being pose-able. Oh yeah, just noticed it is free which is basically the only fair price for it.

I swear, Vexorian, did you even readthe topic or look at the pictures, or did you just come here upon seeing the title just to bash this like a normal, biased Lego fanatic?

Yeah, no ankle articulation. It's such a big deal for something with 12 points of articulation, isn't it? You can separate this thing into 14 pieces, and they're fully compatible with other MB minifigs. MB's recent minifig format is the same for all of them, whether it be the Iron Man or Dragons Universe figs. The weapons can be held by any figure from Lego or MB.

BTW, the actual price is $2.50 for a standard minifig pack, 50 cents more than a normal Lego minifg pack. This was just a, I repeat "free promotion".

Really now, learn to read.

[Tervlon]

Thanks for the great review! Never bad to see what the opposition is doing, but it won't win me over.

I guess thats a neat little action figure. But I quit collecting those years ago, I like building toys called LEGO and this is NOT a building toy nor is it LEGO. MB still suffers from low quality plastic gloss and it just looks cheap. I don't feel like I'm missing anything with my Minifigs, even if they don't have ball joints.

[Deinonychus]

Nice review Zip! But really, don't even try to turn anyone on to Mega Bloks here. It's like trying to get people at a Klan rally to listen to some Hip-Hop. Minds are made up.

[Zip]

Nice review Zip! But really, don't even try to turn anyone on to Mega Bloks here. It's like trying to get people at a Klan rally to listen to some Hip-Hop. Minds are made up.

Naw, I wouldn't go that far, I just want to emphasize that it's a cool figure. I haven't bought a Mega Bloks brick-built set in years to judge that.

Edited August 12, 2010 by Zip

[Peppermint_M]

Indexed

[prateek]

This makes me sad that I didn't sign up for the promo.

[Peppermint_M]

I would love those pistols. I do like those articulated figures, such a small size but they have more points of articulation than some of my carded figures and even the costly boxed ones (my FF play arts are all that have that spartan beat in articulation) great poses, imagine the animation possibilities!

Thanks for the review, Halo isn't really my thing, so I am yet to pick up a set.

[lightningtiger]

The figure is nice, but those pistols.......SWEET !

Great review 'Zip' even though it's MB !

I'm a conformist! !

[Thrund]

The recent Mega Bloks figures are incredibly detailed and well-proportioned for their size, but somehow they seem too realistic and don't have the charm of Lego minifigs. Although the parts are technically interchangeable, the ranges are so individual that it would look weird if you actually did so.

Having said that, it's an example of one thing I've always respected MB for, they may be based on Lego-compatible blocks but they've always gone out of their way to develop their lines in different ways to Lego.

[Dunjohn]

Hmm, now I'm almost tempted to go out and get one of those battlepacks with a bunch of Spartans and Elites. I hadn't been before, but you've made this guy look very impressive. Nice work!

[Sirius Black]

MEGABLOCKS? On a LEGO fan site?? Find a Moderater!

(Finished ranting now) phew...

The figure is rather interesting, but look at the quality of that 2 by 4 megablock that it is standing on.. It looks awful.

The figure is interesting though.

Sirius

Edited August 14, 2010 by Sirius Black

[CMP]

Agreed, Sirius. The normal Megablocks stuff sucks, but when it comes wo figs and accesories...you gotta give 'em credit.

[JimBee]

Thanks for the review, Zip. I personally don't find this (or the Megbloks Halo line in general) "crappy", "cheap", or whatever else these have been called at all. In fact I find myself glancing at the Halo sets in stores all the time. It's certainly not a bad thing, but this sort of thing is just not interesting to me. A 2-inch action figure, alright. I got over the whole action figure thing when I was ten. It's cool, but just not as charming or as... "compatible", if you will as a Lego minifigure.

[Dunjohn]

It turns out that this was part of a line similar to LEGO's Collectible Minifigures (which, in hindsight, it says right there in your photos). They were in the shop today so I grabbed two. The fig I really wanted was the regular green Spartan with Plasma Sword and, thankfully, I got that in the first pack. I saved the other until I got home.

I said earlier in this thread that I'd been rather impressed by how these look, but now I'm amazed. They're fantastic! The plastic quality and paint jobs are fantastic, the joints are good and the detail is astounding. It is kind of a shame that the ankles restrict straight standing to three studs, but far be it for an AFOL to complain about the number of joints on a minifig.

This is the sheet that came with it. The back just contains some dire multilingual warnings and a small boxout with some other Halo sets. There's only eight figs in Series 1 but, unlike LEGO, there's a rarity system. The yellow guys are rare and the orange guy is ultra-rare. At this point, I hadn't opened my other bag. Not being a fan of the later Halo games, the only other minifig I'm really interested in getting is the purple Elite with Plasma Pistol. The others must all be from Halo Wars or something. Is that a samurai Spartan? Good grief.

So, now I open the second bag.

Hah! How's THAT for beating the odds? I nameth thee Arbiter and Master Chief. The Elite's ankles make his natural stance four studs wide, but you could probably get away with three. Both figs' feet are quite large, meaining you won't be able to put anything on the neighbouring studs even though they don't occupy them. Edit: Actually, the Elite may be three studs too, as he seems a little unstable on four.

The weapons fit Legoman hands perfectly, though the slight angle on their wrists make positioning akward. There's also no spare room on the grip so a Power Miners rock monster, for example, couldn't hold one in its larger hands. The plasma sword also comes very close to touching the minifig's sleeve, even when it's gripped right at the top. The plastic quality and detail again are fantastic. That's a paint job on the Plasma Sword: the handle and the bit between the blades are clear.

Now, down to business. I only have a small pool of two samples to work with, but these stamped, inkless codes are the only differences I can see between the packs. The black 2x4 brick that came with each minifig are printed with the same codes (you can just about make it out on the Master Chief shots above, but I hadn't noticed them before taking the pictures) and that strongly suggests that the codes tell what's inside the packs. If anyone gets any more of these, maybe we could pull together a list?

I'm an ardent hater of clone brands so my fellow haters can be assured that when I suggest giving these a shot, I mean they might actually impress you. The rest of Mega Bloks can go to hell (HELL I SAY!) but these are genuinely very nice. It might help if you don't think of them as belonging to a clone brand. They're just little action figures that happen to fit studs. The tremendous detail and quality certainly help sell that.

Edited August 16, 2010 by Dunjohn

[Zip]

Very nice work, Dunjohn, at first I thought that these figure packs would all be by random chance, but it looks like there is an identification method.

It's good to know that people are willing to give these little guys a chance.

Say, do you happen to know the numbers on the green display brick? I want to see if it matches with the package's.

Edited August 16, 2010 by Zip

[Dunjohn]

Very nice work, Dunjohn, at first I thought that these figure packs would all be by random chance, but it looks like there is an identification method.

It's good to know that people are willing to give these little guys a chance.

Say, do you happen to know the numbers on the green display brick? I want to see if it matches with the package's.

Yep, they match exactly. They're black, though.

[Zip]

Bingo.

Folks, we finally cracked the identification.

A02060MM Green Spartan

A03060MM Yellow Flame Marine

A04060MM Red Marine

A05060MM Pilot

A10060MM AC Spartan

A07060MM Purple Elite

A08060MM Blue Hayabusa

A09060MM Green Elite

Edited August 16, 2010 by Zip

[Dunjohn]

Wow.... my photo did that? You're good :)

[Zip]

Wow.... my photo did that? You're good :)

Naw, I got this from the Bloks Forum.

[prateek]

How much are the figs?

[Dunjohn]

They're €2.49 here, same as the Lego ones.