RKasaAs promised, I haven't taken too long to get my next review up ^^; I have a third one planned right now, but I don't know when/if that'll go live.
Anyway, on to today's post, which features something not seen very often in the reviews here: a figure of a Western video game character.
I'll be covering two items together, both in Kotobukiya's relatively new ARTFX+ line, a sub-series of ARTFX that features 1/10 scale figures: the Halo Spartan techsuit basic body and green Mark V armor set. Note that I'm compiling their scores together mainly because one is pretty much useless without the other. I picked both of them up at Amazon.com, which has some of the best prices for them right now, at least for US-based collectors. However, if you're picky about box condition, this shop should always be a last resort.
Here's some additional pics of the individual boxes, if you absolutely must see more:
View spoiler
Dents aside, the boxes, which seem to be specially printed for Kotobukiya USA's releases, aren't anything spectacular, with Halo-themed graphics and descriptions of other ARTFX+ items in the series. Despite containing different items, the two boxes are the same dimensions, which is nice for storage purposes, but extremely wasteful when it comes to the techsuit.
Seriously, here's the blister for the thing! The techsuit box could've been so much smaller, but then it would've lost that uniformity, I guess.
And here's the instruction sheet and blister for the armor. Everything's nicely laid out in order...
...plus, the arm and leg parts are all labeled "L" or "R", which makes assembly much easier!
Next up is the techsuit by itself. Note that the foot pegs are different lengths, but as with the labels on the armor, this is to help ensure that you don't mix up the feet. There are "L" and "R" designations on the feet as well, though, just in case!
...and here's the techsuit with all the armor attached.
The Spartan-- who I'll call "Master Chief" from now on since he pretty much is Master Chief-- looks good! This version of the Spartan armor is from the very first title in the series, Halo: Combat Evolved. Even the visor gives off an old-school Xbox-era feel, with a perfectly-applied glossy gradient instead of the metallic paint used on a lot of other Master Chief/Spartan figures. And speaking of the paint job, though it looks simple, the armor seems to have been painted in such a way that there's a metallic coat just beneath the green surface. This makes Chief the rare figure where light wear and tear could potentially make him look better instead of worse.
Getting the armor on was mostly not a problem, thanks in large part to the labels. I say "mostly", since many armor pieces are held in place not by pegs, but friction. What this means is that they can slip out of place, especially while being posed, so this is something to keep in mind if this sort of thing frustrates you.
I should also note that the chest and hip armor seem to be made out of ABS instead of PVC, as they're stiffer and more fragile. Fortunately, these parts do use pegs, but still require some care in handling.
Some more angles, starting with a back view. The "UNSC" stands out a bit on the forest green armor. Also, if his helmet looks a touch too high up on his neck, I had trouble getting it onto the ball joint (which is itself attached to another joint inside the neck, making things extra tricky). Scraping the inside of the joint hole in the neck with a scissor's blade helped a little, but it's still a very tight fit and, ultimately, I'm not sure how far in I got it.
And here's a side view. The Chief's posture here is kind of odd, but he balances well...
As you can see in all these shots, Chief stands on a magnetic base. This base has a brushed metal surface with the Halo logo, and the underside is made of a soft rubbery felt. It's a very nice, simple base.
Chief can stand well enough on his own without the base. Here he is with one of the two included weapons, the Sangheili energy sword (which didn't become equippable by Spartans until Halo 2, but I love this weapon so much, so whatevs). As a result of how it was packed, the sword's two blades taper together, but other than that, it looks great.
Chief also comes with a standard pistol, everyone's favorite overpowered weapon from Halo: Combat Evolved.
As you can tell from the photos so far, there aren't too many options for posing. There's hinged or rotating joints for the shoulders, upper arms, elbows, and wrists, a ball joint on the neck, and some articulation in the torso, but that's about it. As good as this looks, if you want a fully-articulated Spartan/Master Chief action figure, there's better options out there. This is more like a static figure that happens to have some poseability.
I'm pretty happy with this figure and would be willing to pick up an ARTFX+ product again. It's a very nice display piece for Halo fans that doesn't break the bank, plus the different armor packs opens up the potential for mixing and matching pieces between sets.
Until next time... See You, Space Marine!
Anyway, on to today's post, which features something not seen very often in the reviews here: a figure of a Western video game character.
I'll be covering two items together, both in Kotobukiya's relatively new ARTFX+ line, a sub-series of ARTFX that features 1/10 scale figures: the Halo Spartan techsuit basic body and green Mark V armor set. Note that I'm compiling their scores together mainly because one is pretty much useless without the other. I picked both of them up at Amazon.com, which has some of the best prices for them right now, at least for US-based collectors. However, if you're picky about box condition, this shop should always be a last resort.
Here's some additional pics of the individual boxes, if you absolutely must see more:
View spoiler
Dents aside, the boxes, which seem to be specially printed for Kotobukiya USA's releases, aren't anything spectacular, with Halo-themed graphics and descriptions of other ARTFX+ items in the series. Despite containing different items, the two boxes are the same dimensions, which is nice for storage purposes, but extremely wasteful when it comes to the techsuit.
Seriously, here's the blister for the thing! The techsuit box could've been so much smaller, but then it would've lost that uniformity, I guess.
And here's the instruction sheet and blister for the armor. Everything's nicely laid out in order...
...plus, the arm and leg parts are all labeled "L" or "R", which makes assembly much easier!
Next up is the techsuit by itself. Note that the foot pegs are different lengths, but as with the labels on the armor, this is to help ensure that you don't mix up the feet. There are "L" and "R" designations on the feet as well, though, just in case!
...and here's the techsuit with all the armor attached.
The Spartan-- who I'll call "Master Chief" from now on since he pretty much is Master Chief-- looks good! This version of the Spartan armor is from the very first title in the series, Halo: Combat Evolved. Even the visor gives off an old-school Xbox-era feel, with a perfectly-applied glossy gradient instead of the metallic paint used on a lot of other Master Chief/Spartan figures. And speaking of the paint job, though it looks simple, the armor seems to have been painted in such a way that there's a metallic coat just beneath the green surface. This makes Chief the rare figure where light wear and tear could potentially make him look better instead of worse.
Getting the armor on was mostly not a problem, thanks in large part to the labels. I say "mostly", since many armor pieces are held in place not by pegs, but friction. What this means is that they can slip out of place, especially while being posed, so this is something to keep in mind if this sort of thing frustrates you.
I should also note that the chest and hip armor seem to be made out of ABS instead of PVC, as they're stiffer and more fragile. Fortunately, these parts do use pegs, but still require some care in handling.
Some more angles, starting with a back view. The "UNSC" stands out a bit on the forest green armor. Also, if his helmet looks a touch too high up on his neck, I had trouble getting it onto the ball joint (which is itself attached to another joint inside the neck, making things extra tricky). Scraping the inside of the joint hole in the neck with a scissor's blade helped a little, but it's still a very tight fit and, ultimately, I'm not sure how far in I got it.
And here's a side view. The Chief's posture here is kind of odd, but he balances well...
As you can see in all these shots, Chief stands on a magnetic base. This base has a brushed metal surface with the Halo logo, and the underside is made of a soft rubbery felt. It's a very nice, simple base.
Chief can stand well enough on his own without the base. Here he is with one of the two included weapons, the Sangheili energy sword (which didn't become equippable by Spartans until Halo 2, but I love this weapon so much, so whatevs). As a result of how it was packed, the sword's two blades taper together, but other than that, it looks great.
Chief also comes with a standard pistol, everyone's favorite overpowered weapon from Halo: Combat Evolved.
As you can tell from the photos so far, there aren't too many options for posing. There's hinged or rotating joints for the shoulders, upper arms, elbows, and wrists, a ball joint on the neck, and some articulation in the torso, but that's about it. As good as this looks, if you want a fully-articulated Spartan/Master Chief action figure, there's better options out there. This is more like a static figure that happens to have some poseability.
I'm pretty happy with this figure and would be willing to pick up an ARTFX+ product again. It's a very nice display piece for Halo fans that doesn't break the bank, plus the different armor packs opens up the potential for mixing and matching pieces between sets.
Until next time... See You, Space Marine!
Comments6
The Halo figures I really want to get are ThreeA's www.worldofthre.... After seeing their Commander Carter in person at a comic book store, I'm in love. They're so big and expensive, though D:
I've long been curious about the McFarlane figures, but have never picked any up.
Those would be the ones! I love the 3A versions but yes they are costly. The mcfarlanes have a really good paintjob. I'll likely invest in them when I have a bbit more cash.
Play Arts Kai, maybe? My other Halo figure is a PAK (ITEM #84189) and I was pretty disappointed with it, mainly thanks to a sloppy paint job on the visor and some weird knee joints. PAKs have supposedly gotten better since then, but also much more expensive; either way, after buying two of them, I'm done.
The Halo figures I really want to get are ThreeA's www.worldofthre.... After seeing their Commander Carter in person at a comic book store, I'm in love. They're so big and expensive, though D:
I've long been curious about the McFarlane figures, but have never picked any up.
Definitely! Speaking of which, one thing that would've made all the different armor sets better is mixing up the weapons a bit. The individual sets all come with the same weapons; if you want something else, you have to get ITEM #289421, which comes with an assault rifle, but is a complete figure as opposed to an armor set.
WindsorSeven • 7 years ago • #13161130How much did these two sets run you?
Before shipping and sales tax (and ThankYou points!), $19.68 for the techsuit and $23.16 for the armor. The latter is much cheaper right now, though! - www.amazon.com/...
Besides the rather... odd articulation I like this idea of the base with armor you pick yourself. I can see some nice custom armors coming out of this. But if not, hey, favorite armor on display. I'm down with that as well!