Another Spartan Warrior, from my same pal who lent me the Blue one. My knowledge of Halo hasn’t exactly increased since the last time I took a look at a figure like this, so I’ll still be talking about it in the context of any regular action figure.
My comrade picked up this Play Arts after what I presume was a good experience with his first one. Personally, I liked the look of the Blue Spartan more, but sadly I didn’t actually have that one on hand to juxtapose here.
I’m not really digging this Spartan’s overall look and proportions. The massive chest vest and the skinny lower legs/ankles really put me off. I suppose this layout is more pragmatic for actual combat, but it just makes the overall figure look more unbalanced.
This guy’s head sculpt also throws me for a loop. I can’t really tell where the visor is. Like, the shiny reflective silver band could be it, but it’s unnaturally narrow and positioned really far up the face. I find myself preferring the distinctive orange visor of the Blue warrior more.
The overall sculpt of the armor is nice, if a bit cheap-looking and messy. The Kevlar patterns featured throughout are certainly a nice touch, but something about the particular shade of red used here throws me off. It just looks too thin and transparent. It doesn’t quite have the feel of solid armor.
The paint apps are also extensive, but messy. I get that it’s meant to look worn and weathered, but…the weathering blends in so much with the actual armor that I’m not sure what the armor looked like before battle. It looks less like grime and dirt got on the armor and more like they were part of the armor when it was first worn.
The weird design of the legs does make for some very free movement though. Kneeling and three-point landings aren’t even an issue.
Take this! SPARTAN KNEE…!!!
Slightly inspired by the Falcon Knee of Justice.
I’ve seen a lot of figures in my time, but this has got to be the only one I’ve worked with that can pull of a kick this fabulous.
Once more, however, I’m left in bewilderment with the hands. All things considered, this is a very free-moving figure. As such, it’d be fun to play around with it without its usual armaments and see what creative poses I can come up with, but that function’s more than a little hindered with the strange and limited manipulator selection that we get.
As with the Blue Spartan, the Red Spartan only comes with two pairs of hands – one dedicated to holding the weapons and the other for bracing them. Some relaxed palms or at least closed fists seem like a basic commodity that was somehow overlooked.
The weapons aren’t bad; we get a very basic loadout consisting of the “Z-130 DEAW Suppressor” (the funky energy-looking weapon) and a “M6H PDWS Magnum” (the handgun). I know these because I actually read the box of the figure this time; I didn’t actually go out of my way to research anything into Halo.
My comrade who lent me the figure for this ‘shoot also included the weapons from the Blue Warrior, though he didn’t actually include that other figure so I could juxtapose them. They seem to sport the same type of handgun with some minor paint app difference, though completely different primary weapons.
Yet again…the peg problem I outlined with the Blue Spartan Warrior hasn’t changed here. The admittedly cool-looking energy gun has a giant rod sticking out its side that isn’t actually a secondary handle.
The pegs are on the guns for the sole purpose of allowing attachment onto the Spartan’s thighs and back. I’ll give it props that it at least looks pretty good drawing its sidearm.
Playing around with the Suppressor. It was actually kind of difficult finding decent poses with this thing. It just doesn’t feel right to have a humanoid Spartan like this wield such an alien-looking weapon.
The Magnum isn’t bad; it’s very simple and small but I like how it wields. However…
Because my friend went out of his way to include them for me anyway, double handgun action is even better. I’m getting Strike Noir vibes.
And because there are always more guns to be had – primary weapons in duel-wield mode. This looks ridicuously difficult to handle, but we’re talking a Spartan here.
FULL BURST MODDEE-OO…!!
This is actually totally possible because of the pegs included on every weapon and the slots featured on both thighs. I’d include one for the rear slot to have it firing off the back if I had any more weapons.
The same action stand that came with the Blue Spartan Warrior is included here. It actually works pretty well for holding up the figure’s extreme weight, though it doesn’t really need to be there to help the Spartan just stand, since it has fairly good balance on its own. Two clamps are included, with the actual arm being adjustable to various degrees of length.
Juxtaposed with the closest thing I have to it in my current collection – my Hot Toys 1/6 Iron Man Mk. VII. In all fairness, the Mk. VII is several times more expensive than the Spartan will ever be, but this is really what I meant by the armor not really looking right. Iron Man’s armor just looks more real, like metal, rather than the extraordinarily worn-down bits on the Spartan that look kind of like weathered clay.
SPPPAARRRTTAAANNNN KIIICCCKKKKKK….!!!!
I basically took the kick shots just for this moment.
Anyway, all told this is a solid figure. It generally has the same flaws as the first one I took a look at, the Blue Warrior, though with a much more unlikable armor design (but that’s just me). I’m kind of curious though – is this really just called the “Red” Spartan Warrior and its next of kin the “Blue” Spartan Warrior? They don’t have any cool fancy Latin designations for the armor? Maybe I’m just being ignorant, but from the quick Google Search I conducted it doesn’t look like anything disproves this theory.
The Play Arts seem to be pretty consistent with their quality, though admittedly I’ve only had a chance to take a look at two figures from the line. I’d like to work with a Master Chief next, if my comrade ever decides to pick one up.
