To my great shame, once in a while, a really great Halo toy slips through the cracks without getting a review. The Halo 4 UNSC Cryo Tube with frozen Master Chief figure by McFarlane is one of those toys. I’ve had this set since fall, proudly displayed on my shelf, but I plum forgot to photograph and review it. Now it’s time to thaw out one of the most surprisingly awesome Halo 4 toys for a full review…

The Right:

Major kudos to McFarlane Toys for taking a big risk on this set to begin with. Let’s be honest here: the UNSC Cryo Tube is a stationary object that sees only about a minute of screen time across the Halo video games and is about as far away from action-oriented as you can get. And a Master Chief figure that’s meant to be inanimate? Crazy. If Halo wasn’t the juggernaut that it is, this set could (ironically) warm store shelves for a millennium. But make it McFarlane Toys did–and they didn’t just make it–they made it spectacular. Huge thanks to McFarlane for making this item happen.

While not the most exciting item play-wise, the Halo 4 Cryo Tube is a solid and wonderfully-detailed accessory. Before I got mine in hand, I’d heard a few people voice concern that the Cryotube might break. Now that I’ve got mine in hand, I can’t imagine that happening. The hatch seems to be incredibly sturdy and doesn’t seem to become any looser the more times I open and close it. The hatch opens and closes and stays open exactly as it should and how you’d expect it to. I just don’t see any danger of the Cryo Tube toy breaking unless I drop it on a hard surface while it’s in the open state.

The amount of paint deco on the Halo Cryo Tube is astonishing. Every single millimeter of this toy is covered in detail that makes it appear like realistic brushed steel. If the Warthog released by McFarlane Toys had half this much detailing on it, it would be a far, far better toy. The sculpting on the Cryotube is equally good. It has tubes and exhaust ports and wires showing all over it. Whatever detail you see on the Cryotube in the Halo video games is present right here. And hey–it’s pretty plush and comfy-looking inside of the Cryo Tube toy! I kinda want to crawl in there and have a nap myself, it looks so nice!

Value-wise, this Halo 4 UNSC Cryo Tube set is also a big hit. Considering the Cryo Tube includes a Halo 4 figure and only costs approximately as much as two Halo 4 action figures, that means that collectors get the superb and huge Cryo Tube for just the cost of one figure! I don’t honestly think that McFarlane Toys could have been priced any better than it is.

While the set comes with a Master Chief figure, there are obviously tens of thousands of action figures in existence that will fit comfortably inside of it. Use your imagination and I think you’ll come up with some really fun ideas for figures you’d like to have stored in cryo-stasis!

The Master Chief figure may look like any other Master Chief Halo action figure at first glance, but compared side-by-side with the regular Halo 4 Master Chief, the difference is obvious. This figure is an authentic-looking Frozen Master Chief, complete with ample white paint weathering. It sounds like such a minor difference, but having that extra paint deco makes the Master Chief look far deeper and more detailed. Between this and the standard Halo 4 Master Chief figure, this is clearly the more impressive figure visually. Otherwise, this is exactly the same figure as the Halo 4 Master Chief I reviewed a few months ago.

As an extra added attraction, this set includes one weapon for the Master Chief action figure: the newly-introduced Halo 4 Sticky Detonator gun! Never mind that the Sticky Detonator is nowhere around when the Master Chief is in stasis–the point is that we are getting a brand-new accessory of perhaps the coolest new gun from Halo 4 included with this set. The Sticky Detonator is nicely-sculpted and even has paint deco on it. It’s a great inclusion that really adds to this set, and I’m thrilled to get it with one of the first Halo 4 toys.

The Wrong:

So far as the UNSC Cryotube itself goes, it’s pretty golden. I think McFarlane could have perhaps done the icy deco on the window of the hatch slightly better using translucent paints, but it looks pretty nice regardless.

Meanwhile, while I love the paint detailing on the frozen Master Chief figure, he’s the first Halo 4 figure I’ve gotten that has seriously loose joints. He wobbles incessantly at the knees and elbows every time you touch him, and it’s really annoying. Considering how new the mold is, it’s a big surprise to me that the quality-control on the Master Chief toy is so questionable. It really is a lucky thing that this particular Halo 4 Master Chief figure is meant to be kept lying frozen in a cryo tube!

The Ridiculous:

This set comes with a sheet of instructions.

Really.

No, really!

I’d like to think your average consumer could figure out to open the hatch and put the Master Chief in on their own, but evidently McFarlane Toys doesn’t share that optimism.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”

The Halo 4 Cryo Tube retails for around $25-$28 and can be found at most major retailers. If you don’t feel like venturing outside to pick it up, you can get the UNSC Cryotube online for about $24 with no tax and free shipping.

Overall: While this may not be an essential part of some people’s Halo collections, there’s no denying that the McFarlane Toys Halo 4 Cryotube is a thing of beauty. I really don’t see how McFarlane Toys could have done this item in this scale and done it much better than they did. The frozen deco around the glass of the cryo tube could be a modicum nicer, but generally speaking, it’s pretty gorgeous (or as gorgeous as a cryotube can be). The Master Chief figure itself looks great, and frozen paint weathering on him adds depth and definition to the sculpt–I actually prefer it to the standard Halo 4 Master Chief action figure (despite his wobbly joints). Overall, this set is a smashing success–it takes what could be a very boring stationary object and yet another Master Chief and makes them into something special. Highly recommended.

GRADE: A-