Three never-before-seen Halo Mega Bloks Summer 2016 sets unexpectedly made their debut today, but there’s one of them that I’m far more surprised to see than the others. The odd set out in this trio is definitely the Halo Mega Bloks Summer 2016 UNSC Spade Rush set, which brings back the UNSC Spade vehicle from Halo: Reach. Traditionally the Spade is among the least-popular and worst-selling Halo vehicles, but let’s take a look and see if MEGA Brands will be able to buck that trend with the newly-redesigned UNSC Spade Rush 32730 set…

Halo: Reach is one of my favorite Halo video games (right behind Halo Wars and Halo 3: ODST), so I’m always excited to see MEGA Brands announce something new from the game. What’s a big surprise, though, is that they’re actually bringing back the old UNSC Spade vehicle! The Spade appeared briefly in Halo Reach, but appeared for a long time on store shelves, where it ended up getting heavily discounted to be cleared out every time it was released.  So seeing it again is, well… unexpected, to be sure!

That said, it looks like MEGA Brands has completely redesigned the build for the Spade from the Ground up for this UNSC Spade Rush set, and it definitely looks a lot more battle-ready and appropriate to a battlefield than the previous releases of the vehicle. Will it actually sell this time…? Well, that we’ll have to wait and see!

While the Spade vehicle itself in this set is much less “orange” than the original iteration was, Mattel is making up for that with the two Halo figures included in this set: an Orange Spartan EVA and an orange Operator Spartan. We’ve had Orange EVA Spartans released before, but I believe this is the first time there’s ever been an Orange Spartan Operator figure released.

What really sells these figures to me, though, is the blue visors! I’m a Syracuse boy at heart, so I’ll always opt for orange armor with blue visors when available, and I especially like the blue visor on the EVA helmet. I’m not convinced these generic multiplayer Spartans will appeal to most collectors out there, but they were compelling enough to make me push the button on ordering this set.

Along with the UNSC Spade vehicle itself and the two 2″ Spartan action figures, the set also includes two handheld weapons for the Spartans: an MA37 Assault Rifle and a Spartan Laser. Not the most exciting guns in the world, but perfectly acceptable for a pair of generic Reach Spartans.

The Halo Mega Bloks Summer 2016 UNSC Spade Rush set contains 215 pieces and should retail for $19.99 when it hits retail stores later on this spring. I paid the scalper price of $25.99 to get the set from ToyWiz, and while I’m not thrilled about the inflated price on their sets, I am excited about getting it early and without having to hunt for it at retail.

What do you think of the new and improved Spade Mega Bloks vehicle, Halo collectors? Does this new build give an old not-quite-favorite a new lease on life, or are you passing on the newest iteration of the modified civilian flatbed truck?