McFarlane has launched its newest Halo 3 line: Legendary Collection. Previous Halo 3 figures from Mcfarlane were well articulated, about 5 inches and ranged from $10 -$15. The previous lines were too small for me, so I waited for the Legendary line. The Legendary figures are bigger, limited articulation, and of course, the dynamic pose. Pretty much what you expect from a McFarlane line. But this time around, the figures costs around $20. Is it worth the price? Without further ado, here’s my Legendary Master Chief review:

Packaging:
Comes in a box that screams “collector’s item”. It’s not your ordinary toy package. This one comes in a rectangular shaped box. Front of the box shows the figure in all its glory. While the bottom part has the title of the line. Side of the box has a picture of the figure and the name. The back of the box has a little information about the line and the figures. McFarlane did a great job with the packaging.
Grade: A

Sculpt:
I love the dynamic pose: Master Chief getting swarmed by a couple of vicious Infection Forms from The Flood. He is bending at his knees, so he stands around 5.5 inches. He looks a little bit skinny from the side but from the front, he looks perfect. I like the urgency in Master Chief’s pose.
Grade: A

Paint:
The paint job is a mix bag. I’m glad McFarlane’s first priority in the paint department is Master Chief. Even though Master Chief’s armor is a little dirty, it still has the trademark green metallic color. I like how they just didn’t make it a clean armor like the prototype. The shotgun that he comes with could have been better. It looks too plasticky compared to Master Chief. The Infection Forms, also lack the red color that were shown for the prototype. I wish they added the color to make them stand out.
Grade: B

Accessories:
Master Chief comes with a shotgun, a base and 3 Flood creatures. Halo fans might complain why it didn’t come with his default weapon: the assault rifle. The shotgun was my favorite weapon in the franchise(even though it became weak in Halo 2) and I think McFarlane made the right choice. To me, the shotgun just makes him look more bad ass and in the scenario, it’d be his most effective weapon. The Infection Forms are well sculpted but like I said about the paint job, it could have been better.

The Infection Forms are attached to the base through a metal pole. Make sure to push the pole all the way in to the base. I had to use push it in pretty hard because the holes for the base didn’t go to the bottom.
Grade: B+

Articulation:
Since McFarlane is going back to its old roots, this barely has any articulation. His neck, wrist, shoulders and ankles can be moved. That’s it for this figure. At first, I didn’t notice most of the articulations because the paint made it really hard to move. I never had this problem before with McFarlane. He’ll pretty much stay in his pose no matter what you do with the articulation.
Grade: D

Value:
When Mcfarlane first started, they had the best value for figures. Figures were around $10 and you got a well made figure. Fast forward to 2008, where our economy is in a recession and we have the first $20 line from McFarlane. They might have added that these figures are limited and very detailed but it doesn’t warrant the price. I’ve seen better lines from McFarlane back in the days, like the Spawn Cover series and those retailed for about $11.

For a price tag of $20, I expect a figure to have a great paint job as well as a great sculpt. With Master Chief, I only get the latter. With the quality I’m getting, this should be around $15-$16.
Grade: C

Variations:
There is an active camo Master Chief. I don’t know why you would want that because it’s just a clear version of our hero. Doesn’t look look too exciting to me. But it’s a variant so it’ll probably go up in value.

Conclusion:
If you have extra cash or a hardcore Halo fan, get the figure. It has an awesome sculpt and the paint job is above average.

Master Chief is well made but for the $20 price tag, it’s overpriced. Quality control could have been better, especially the holes on the base. Big part of what sold me was the packaging. It made the figure look like a real collectible. But once you open it, it’s your average McFarlane toy, which is still better than 80% of other figures out there.

Photo gallery at the bottom of the page.

Big thanks to Avi from Toypit for informing me about the Halo Universe and Master Chief’s articulation.

Overall Grade (not an average): B

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