Mattel has taken over the Halo master license from McFarlane, and their first figures have already hit store shelves. The figures are a mixed bag, but there’s reason to be optimistic.
Halo: Combat Evolved was a launch title for the original Xbox in 2001. Seven core games, a few remasters, mobile entries, and two spinoff real-time strategy games later, Halo has become one of the most lucrative properties in video games. The game’s central hero, the Master Chief, and Halo‘s fast-paced arena multiplayer have become cultural icons in the United States and abroad.
Joyride Studios held the Halo license for Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 until it eventually turned over to McFarlane for Halo 3 and Halo 4. It was announced this year that Mattel would assume the master license, allowing them reign over weapon replicas, the continuation of their Mega Bloks series, and of course action figures. The first 6-inch action figure released by Mattel was this Elite Officer and Ghost vehicle set. The set provides impressive value: it includes a fully articulated figure (with removable armor pieces and a weapon), the Ghost (a huge chunk of plastic by itself), and a four-piece display stand, all for $30.
The Elite Officer is a decent toy plagued by some questionable design choices. Notably, the figure “features” removable armor, which will eventually allow collectors — or more likely kids — to mix and match armor sets. As a $20 retail toy line, I’m not sure what Mattel is hoping to achieve, but the removable armor was executed better than I had expected. Better than expected still leads to problems, though, as the wrist armor, in particular, doesn’t stay on at all. This, combined with the fact that the pieces are small, will likely lead to the permanent loss of these armor pieces in carpets across the nation. The shin armor, which includes an interlocking front and back piece, can also leave some unsightly gaps in the armor. I have another small gripe with the material used on the chest piece. Most of the armor pieces are a soft plastic, but the chest piece is made of a soft, flexible, Rubbermaid-esque material. I worry that it may disintegrate over time.
Unfortunately, the Elite Officer doesn’t scale well with the Master Chief. Elites are listed between 7 feet 4 inches and 8 feet 6 inches on average, and the Master Chief is 7 feet 2 inches in armor. I suppose this Elite could fall on the lower end of that scale, but the Master Chief usually looks up to Elites in the games. Aside from that, the sculpt is excellent. It’s every bit as good as McFarlane’s Elite sculpts, but there is no paint detailing to bring it out. We’re talking Marvel Legends, bare minimum stuff here. Like Marvel Legends, though, the figure is well articulated. The Elite Officer features a ball-jointed neck, ball-jointed shoulders, single-jointed elbros, hinge-and-swivel wrists, a diaphragm joint, ball-jointed hips, thigh swivels, single-jointed elbro knees, hinge-and-swivel ankles, and ankle rockers. Although the elbows, hips, and knees are somewhat limited, you can still get the Elite Officer into most standard poses. The figure is also packed with a Covenant Carbine (which is only a little on the large side) and pegs to plug the weapon into the Elite’s back or hip.
I purchased this set for the Ghost, though, and I absolutely think that it was worth $30 on its own. For only $10 more than a standard figure, I thought Mattel would give minimal effort on the vehicle, but that is not the case. The center of the Ghost expands so the Elite Officer can drive around as comfortably as the Master Chief does. In addition, the mounted guns and vehicle joysticks shift upward and downward. The Ghost actually features a fair amount of paint, too, with teal, light purple, and gray coloring the vehicle. My biggest complaint is not with the Ghost itself, but rather on the stand it comes with. When I picked this figure up a few months ago, I thought it was impossible to balance the Elite and Ghost on the stand, but the stand does snap into place if you align it correctly (which is more difficult than it should be).
As fans of McFarlane’s Assassin’s Creed and Walking Dead lines could guess, McFarlane’s Halo figures were sometimes great and sometimes terrible. McFarlane’s decisions are often met with raised eyebrows these days, and their Halo line was no exception. Despite the fact that McFarlane held the license until the beginning of 2016, the line likely peaked in 2010 and 2011, when their Halo: Reach figures were gaining momentum. After that time, McFarlane’s figures were less articulated and sporadically released. For many, the shift to Mattel was a much-needed breath of fresh air. While Mattel hasn’t always had the best track record, I can say that this Elite Officer and Ghost set is definitely a step in the right direction for Halo collectibles.
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