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08/26/2008 McFarlane Toys SDCC Exclusive HALO 3 Spartan Soldier EVA "Hellspartan" Review
I was going to do more SDCC exclusives but I am going to stop with this one - The McFarlane Toys HALO 3 Hellspartan. I have many issues with this figure and I am going to start on how it was available. Early reports had it that this exclusive was going to be available for purchase at the show. It wasn't. Instead you had to stand in line (at least for the first couple of days) for a postcard that had a purchase code on the back so you could order it later off the McFarlane web site. I know manufacturing delays can happen (I assume that is what happened here) but it just kind of sucks to get a postcard instead of the figure you want. My second problem is it was bundled with the Active Camouflage CQB Spartan Soldier which was a previous McFarlane online exclusive. I assume this happened because the CQB wasn't selling as quickly as they hoped so they bundled it with a cooler figure. I don't know if that is exactly what happened but it gives that impression. I know for myself I could care less for the CQB as the Hellspartan was the figure I really wanted. I am not even going to review the CQB I care so little for it. My third problem with this offer is now I had to pay shipping on top of the $30 I was already spending to get the one figure I really wanted. I think it ended up being close to $40 shipped.
The packaging confuses me a bit. It is a nice standard carded bubble that displays the figure well. It is also nice and compact. It won't take up unnecessary space. BUT it doesn't look like the packaging for Series 1 or 2. Maybe this is what the packaging will look like for Series 3 and up. I would argue this packaging is better because there is so much less wasted space on it. I just think there must be MOC collectors out there who are bummed that this card style doesn't look like their other HALO figures.
The figure is nicely sculpted and painted. It does feel "Spawn-ish" to me so in that sense the figure is a success. I kind of would have preferred a different head - or armor type to be more exact - maybe the CQB. Either way this figure does look cool. There are also a lot of articulation points so you can get it in several cool poses. This isn't like the "McStatues" most people associate McFarlane Toys with.
One other problem I did have with the figure is that upon opening the figure, I discovered the left leg wasn't even attached to the body. I had to pop it back on - with no issue. I can still get it to pop back off but I have to make an effort out of it. It doesn't do it by accident which is great. I did panic for a moment thinking I was stuck with a broken toy. A couple of the other HALO figures I have have shoulder armor pieces that pop off very easily. Not this figure which is also nice.
The figure came with an assault rifle and a grenade. Be careful - I almost lost my grenade because it didn't stay on its peg. It is of no fault of the toy but the thing is so small that it was a challenge to find in the carpet. I paid $30 plus shipping for the pair of the two SDCC HALO figures. If you didn't get a coupon code for these from SDCC, you are likely going to have to go to eBay and pay twice that for them. This figure seems too cool to make that limited but I understand the game of con exclusives. I am giving this figure a *** out of five star rating. It is very cool looking but I had far too many issues with it: wasn't able to get it in person, had to buy a figure I didn't want to get it, unattached leg, etc, etc. I almost gave it ** 1/2 stars because of all of that but the figure is still cool. I don't think it is cool enough for the possible $60 it could take at the time of writing this to pick one up on eBay. I am not a HALO or McFarlane hater - I am really not. I just had some issues with this figure.
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