I make no secret of the fact that I love Halo Wars. It’s my favorite Halo video game, and most likely my favorite XBox game period. Since MEGA Brands began the Halo theme with the Halo Wars Mega Bloks line back in 2009, I’ve been begging, pleading, and demanding for a UNSC Cobra Mega Bloks set. Now that we’re finally getting the Halo Mega Bloks UNSC Anti-Armor Cobra 97139 in Fall 2013, is the deck stacked in the favor of a positive review for the Mega Bloks Cobra? Yup. Luckily, it doesn’t need to be–the Halo Mega Bloks UNSC Cobra is one of the high points of the 2013 Halo Mega Bloks line…

The Right:

Though its only appearance in the Halo video games universe has been in the tragically forgotten Halo Wars video game, the UNSC Cobra is unique among the vehicles in the Halo world because of its two distinct modes that it transforms into. Would MEGA Brands be able to design a Halo vehicle set that could handle these dual modes and still be a quality set in the same style as the rest of their Halo Mega Bloks set…?

Yes. Yes, they could.

The Halo Mega Bloks UNSC Cobra 97139 has been brilliantly designed so that you can convert between its dual modes quickly, easily, and with minimal problems. Basically, you flip a couple pieces downward, rotate the rear tires, detach and reattach the light rail guns and rear support stands, and–BAM! Instant lockdown mode or mobile mode. The instructions were a bit confusing the first time I read them, but after transforming the set once it felt natural and simplistic to do so again.

When I heard the news from the 2013 New York Toy Fair that the Halo Wars UNSC Cobra was finally getting a Halo Mega Bloks set, I was ecstatic. When I found out the Cobra was going to have electronic features, I was concerned.

I didn’t need to be: of all the Halo Mega Bloks sets, the UNSC Anti-Armor Cobra 97139 easily has the most “smart” and well-engineered electronic light & sound functions. How so? Unlike the other three electronic Halo Mega Bloks sets, the Cobra’s lights & sounds are context-sensitive and change depending upon what the Mega Bloks Cobra is doing at the time!

When the Mega Bloks Halo UNSC Anti-Armor Cobra is in its mobile mode and you activate the electronics, the twin light rail guns light up in orange and make a certain firing sound. However, when you remove the two guns and reattach them into the center, the UNSC Cobra Mega Bloks 97139 set automatically makes a mechanical conversion sound (sort of like the Transformers transforming sound effect everyone knows and loves).

Once the Halo Mega Bloks UNSC Cobra is in lockdown mode, you can activate the electronics to see the M98 105mm Light Rail Gun makes a different and more powerful sound effect, while the Light Rail Gun lights up in blue this time. The light and sound functions here work fabulously and are unobtrusive if you don’t want to utilize them (although I have to admit the electronics on the UNSC Cobra Mega Bloks set are a lot more fun than any other set’s light-up/sound functions).

In addition to the electronics, the UNSC Cobra’s Light Rail Gun turret can rotate a full 360 degrees, the vehicle’s six wheels roll flawlessly, and the cockpit hatch opens and closes so that you can insert your lemon yellow Spartan Mark VI (or other Halo Mega Bloks figure) at your convenience.

The other main component to the Mega Bloks Halo 97139 set is a little Covenant Shade Turret. Though this is obviously a secondary piece, MEGA Brands treats the Mega Bloks Shade Turret totally classy, giving it its own instruction booklet and making it look very nice and game-accurate. I didn’t buy this set for the Covenant turret, but it is an enjoyable inclusion to the set.

As far as value goes, I consider the Halo Mega Bloks UNSC Anti Armor Cobra set to have a fair value. While at 460 pieces for $49.99, the set falls short of my ideal 10 cents per piece rule, I’m willing to let that slide in this instance because the electronics are so beautifully integrated and well-conceived. At 11 cents per piece, the Mega Bloks Halo Cobra set is well-worth every penny.

The set includes three Mega Bloks Halo figures, and I’m excited for all three of them. We get our first Mega Bloks Spartan with a blue visor in the form of a yellow GEN2 Spartan-IV Mark VI, a new addition to the Covenant ranks with a deep red Elite Storm figure, and the first-ever painted Brute Stalker Mega Bloks figure. There are four handheld weapons included as well: a UNSC DMR, a Covenant Plasma Rifle, a Brute Mauler, and a rare Spike Grenade.

All three figures look nice, but the Halo Mega Bloks Brute Stalker is particularly exceptional. Brutes are rarely my favorite characters, but the Brute Stalker action figure just looks cool, and he’ s well-served by all the paint deco on him. At this time this is the only painted Halo Mega Bloks Brute Stalker figure scheduled for release, but I would love to army-build Brute Stalkers in the Halo Mega Bloks Series 8 blind bags.

The Wrong:

There’s obviously no easy way around having to remove the twin Light Rail Guns in order to convert the UNSC Cobra between its two modes, but I’m not a fan of having to detach the rear supports and plug them into a different place when changing between the UNSC Cobra’s mobile mode and lock-down mode. I think MEGA Brands could have probably found a way to design this slightly more elegantly. Even so, it works fine, so I won’t lose any sleep over this nitpick.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”
I got my Halo Mega Bloks UNSC Anti-Armor Cobra set from BA Toys, but they’re now totally sold out of the Cobra set.

Overall: Ordinarily this Halo Mega Bloks 97139 UNSC Anti-Armor Cobra set might only garner an ‘A’, but I’ve waited almost half a decade for this set, so I’m awarding it a rare ‘A+’. The electronic light and sound features of the Mega Bloks Halo Wars UNSC Cobra are easily the best-engineered and well-implemented of any of the electronic Halo Mega Bloks sets, all three included figures are worthwhile additions (particularly the Brute Stalker), the transforming dual-modes function works excellently, and the Covenant Shade Turret is a fine complementary piece. In short, the Halo Mega Bloks UNSC Anti-Armor Cobra 97139 set is an all-around outstanding set that easily earns my highest possible recommendation. Thank you, MEGA Brands.

GRADE: A+