When you have the hundreds of Halo Mega Bloks Spartans figures that I have, sometimes you start to wonder if you really need any more little Spartan action figures. And it’s in that moment that MEGA Brands unveils something so tantalizing that you forget you ever wondered if you needed more Halo toys. For me, that moment was when the 2013 Halo Mega Bloks UNSC Combat Orange Unit was announced. While the set doesn’t totally fulfill the ambitious hopes and dreams I had for it, it does include a couple of must-have orange Spartans for my collection, including one never-before-released by any toy company…

The Right:

You know you’re a Halo nerd when: you know off the top of your head that this is the first time any company has released an Orange EOD Spartan action figure. Yes, McFarlane Toys has done an impressive job of releasing a huge variety of orange Spartan figures over the year, but the orange Spartan EOD is one of the only orange Spartan armor permutations never released by any toy company–ever! I don’t know if MEGA Brands was aware of that nugget of trivia or not, but I choose to believe they were. Way to go, MEGA Brands!

In addition to the orange EOD, this set gives collectors an orange Spartan Scout figure. While McFarlane released an orange Spartan Scout as their second orange Spartan action figure ever way back in the Halo 3 line, this is the first time we’ve gotten an orange Scout Spartan Mega Bloks figure. I have quite a few Spartan Scouts already, but I have a particular fondness for the orange one and I’m thrilled to add it to my orange Spartan battalion.

For weapons, we get an Active Camo Shotgun, SMG, Rocket Launcher, and Shotgun. Nothing really exciting here, and I’d have loved some of the newer weapons releases like the DMR or Sticky Detonator, but I can live with arming my Spartans with these weapons.

The Wrong:

As much as I applaud MEGA Brands for straying from the usual path of red and blue and steel combat units, there’s a couple things about this Halo Mega Bloks UNSC Combat Orange Unit that strike me the wrong way.

I legitimately groaned a little bit when I saw the details for this set and discovered a UNSC Orange Spartan Mark VI included in this set. That figure was common in the Halo Mega Bloks Series 3 Figures Mystery Packs, and as that set didn’t exactly set the world in fire, I can still easily acquire as many orange Mark VI Spartans as I want from a local Toys R Us or Target. It’s unlikely we’re ever going to get another Orange Combat Unit, so I can’t help but feel we’d have been better off getting an orange Air Assault Spartan or orange Grenadier Spartan figure or whatever.

And on that note, I have to complain about the Active Camo CQB included in this set. Sure, it’s nice to get an Active Camo Spartan without searching for an Ultra Rare blind-bag or buying an expensive Battlescape, but in this scenario, I sure would have preferred an orange Mark V[B] Spartan or an orange Recon Spartan. I don’t mind an easy-to-get Active Camo Spartan, but I sure don’t want to army-build Active Camo CQBs, so this wouldn’t have been a top choice (at all) for me.

Finally, I think that the ratio of fans actually utilizing the Combat Unit display bases is minimal at the very best. I’d rather take $1-$2 off the cost of the set and not have those pieces included at all. For army-builder sets like these Combat Units, it’s just not practical to pay a little extra for each figure set for a stand that few collectors (and fewer kids) are ever going to use.

“Where Can I Buy It?”

Some collectors have been lucky enough to find the new Combat Unit at Toys R Us, but for everyone else who doesn’t want to wait another month to find this set in stores (like me), BA Toys has the UNSC Orange Combat Unit available right now.

Overall: I’m really pleased that MEGA Brands released an Orange UNSC Combat Unit set and I’m more than content with the dollars I spent on it, but it’s really not the most riveting set around. The orange Spartan EOD is a huge prize for orange nerds like myself, and I’m glad to finally have an orange Mega Bloks Spartan Scout in my collection. But I’m not sure that I like an Active Camo Spartan in a color-specific combat unit, and I’m fairly certain anyone who wants orange Spartan Mark VI figures will have no problem getting them from their appearances in the Hero Pack Mystery Bags. No particularly rare weapons in this set, and I can live without the ubiquitous combat unit display stand. If you’re like me and want to army-build orange Spartans, this is obviously a must-have set. But if you’re indifferent about orange and the thought of an orange EOD Spartan figure doesn’t get you all riled up, you can probably give this set a pass.