The drought is nearly over my friends. Halo is about to come back into the foreground for the first time since 2015, and if the recent Mega Construx reveals are anything to go by, then it looks like we are going to have an explosive return to form for the franchise which we all know and love.
For anyone who doesn’t know me – I’m Tom, and I’m part of the Builds with Blocks crew. Today, we are going to breakdown the new sets, and talk about what they may mean for Halo Infinite – and for the wider franchise moving forwards. I’m not going to touch on the Heroes as a part of this, however, as we have already discussed them on the show, or the three prior-revealed sets (The Mongoose, Warthog and Pelican).
This will be breaking down purely the new reveals – so let’s dive in!
Up first, we have got the ‘UNSC Marine Gear Pack’. This pack is likely to have a small RRP (I’d estimate around $7.99) and includes two of the gorgeous new Halo Infinite Marines who are squaring off against an Elite Mercenary in crimson coloured armour. I love how this pack is an easy army builder for people who want multiples of the new Marines – and also love the assortment of accessories here. This pack also confirms that the new female head mould we have for the Marines can fit a helmet – so I am interested to see if this will enable us to make female Combat Evolved Marines, too! This pack also appears to have the Halo 4 style Battle Rifle, suggesting this weapon may make a return. All in all, this is a great pack – and one which I am sure fans will be excited to get multiples of to amass additional UNSC and Covenant forces!
The next pack is an equally interesting small figure pack – the UNSC Spartan Armor Pack. This pack includes two Spartans, one in Grenadier armour, and one in the Halo Reach style Recon armour, facing off against a solo Brute Warrior who comes wielding a Gravity Hammer. One detail I like here is the fact that the figures come in contrasting colours – meaning you could swap out their forearms and shins to have complete colour sets for their respective armour pieces. Not too much to say about this one – although it is nice to get the new MA37 mould in a cheap set, as it is nice to get this new drum-magazine weapon in a cheap set too. Good paint apps on these figures which are bound to be a hit.
Moving up in scale now somewhat we have a set which was rumoured for some time – and that is a new version of the Banshee in its Crimson Banished colour scheme. Whilst I was not particularly excited about getting another Banished Banshee so soon after the Halo Wars 2 variation of this vehicle, I am excited to have a new Elite Ultra in the more accurate white colour scheme, and am also excited to have a nice version of the brand new Spartan Recon armour in a more traditional green colour scheme. The build for the Banshee also looks gorgeous here – with lots of subtle building techniques implemented to make a really gorgeous looking vehicle with the sleek, angular style we have all come to know and love. I’d imagine this set will be around the $20 price point – and for that, you really can’t complain!
Moving on even further, we have a unique set which is not too distant from ideas which Matt, Colin and I have thrown around on the show – a segment of a Halo Ring. This particular version shows various pieces of the ring detaching from itself, and also appears to have an assortment of fauna on the surface of the ring – including simulated pine trees, mountains and more. When looking in the instructions for this build there is nothing hinting that multiple segments may be attached together – suggesting that this is more intended as a stand-alone display model, complimented by the black base with the sleek Halo Infinite logo. This is something which I think fans of Halo are going to love – as it personifies the brand perfectly and allows us to own an affordable chunk of the titular video game. I think this is a very unique collectible piece, and I am glad to see Mega expanding the range of sets which they are offering to appeal to fans of all ages.
The next thing we have is an interesting concept – the Halo-themed Building Box. This set includes an EVA Spartan, a Gungnir Spartan, and a mixture of accessories and blocks designed to allow fans to build different structures. Fans will receive instructions to build a small defensive fortification, a microscale Pelican and a Mongoose, but they can take these apart and build whatever they desire using the pieces. I can picture this being a popular way to easily amass the pieces to build large structures – such as UNSC Firebases, or even buildings from New Mombasa. Whilst we may not get structure sets too frequently from Mega, it is nice to see them giving fans the means to build their own structures – and it is also nice to see a couple of figures thrown in for good measure, too.
Moving on from this we have an incredibly exciting reveal – a brand-new vehicle, the Banished Skiff. This vehicle incorporates a rear cockpit, a missile launcher and a 360 degree turret – and feels very similar to the Brute Prowler in terms of design language, although it is a completely different vehicle in its own right. This vehicle has a large open troop bay in the middle which has space for several figures, and it comes in a primarily silver and crimson colour palette – beautifully going hand-in-hand with the Banished vehicles we have already received from Halo Wars 2. The skiff comes loaded with a compliment of two Brute Warriors and a Grunt Conscript – with a lone Spartan MK VIII left to defend against the incoming onslaught. This looks like a fantastic set with a wonderful new vehicle – even if the description does confirm that this vehicle will be non-playable in Halo Infinite. Of special note here is the inclusion of the alternate build – allowing us to create a cool Banished Walker with a Defensive Wall instead. I really love the dual-build functionality!
Following on from this, lastly but certainly not least, we have the Defence Point Showdown – a set which comes with just shy of 800 pieces and which gives us a truly massive Banished AA turret, alongside a UNSC Mongoose to fight it, and it also includes the Master Chief and a new named villain known as Hyperius, as well as a new mould ‘Grunt Assault’, as Mega refer to it. This certainly looks akin to the Grunt Imperial from Halo 4! Interesting to note is that Hyperius includes a painted gravity hammer, but also, appears to have part of Spartan Locke’s helmet on his shoulder plate. We know that the Banished fuse UNSC technology with their armour, as seen in Atriox’s armour, so could this mean Hyperius has killed Locke? We will have to wait and see! The Mongoose appears to be the same build as in the smaller set, and this set also includes a great new Marine with a new skin tone to add even more variety to the ranks. This looks like a great set – and this set also can be converted into a large fighter plane and utility craft. All in all the figures here look great and this is bound to be a popular set.
All these new sets will be complimented by the Heroes packs, and also by the prior-revealed Warthog, Mongoose and Pelican. There are also an Energy Sword and Spartan Helmet coming alongside these products, but we are waiting for better pictures at this time. What do you all think? Are you excited for these sets? Let us know, and make sure to join us for the next episode of Builds with Blocks, where we breakdown all things Halo and Mega Construx!
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