If you had asked me two months ago if MEGA Brands would ever release a Halo Mega Bloks Tartarus figure, I would have likely said “no way”. But that would have been two months ago, and things have changed dramatically since then. After being announced just one month ago, the Halo Mega Bloks Anniversary Battleground set is now available–with the first-ever Tartarus Mega Bloks figure! Is this exclusive set worth your 15 bucks? Read on…

The Right:

Due to the fact that the Halo Anniversary Collection Battleground is a Toys R Us exclusive set, you might be fearing an inflated price tag. Rejoice: there’s not one. For $14.99, you get five Halo Mega Bloks figures that all have something new or different about them. That’s a solid value right there: thanks MEGA Brands!

While you can’t actually see the second Brute Minor figure in the window on the packaging, have no fear–he’s packaged in the bag with the weapons inside of the box.

I’ve never been a big advocate for the small-sized Brutes that we get in the Halo Mega Bloks line, and I’m not in love with these Mega Bloks Brute Minor figures either.

Even so, they have a couple of cool accessories that earn them a thumbs-up from me: translucent red Brute Plasma Rifles and Brute flags that attach to their backs! These accessories really set the Jiralhanae Minors in this set apart from their predecessors, and make them a bit more fun to display and pose (even if they’re still not the ideal).

The Halo Mega Bloks Brute Minors are led by the single most famous Brute from the Halo games: Tartarus! Tartarus has his fair share of problems (and I’ll be talking about them at length shortly), but I am overjoyed regardless that MEGA Brands is releasing an official Mega Bloks Halo Tartarus action figure at all.

Of course, what fun are Brutes without UNSC forces to beat up…? And so, we also get two slightly different UNSC Marine figures (of different ethnicities) with this set.

MEGA could have cheaped out and gave us old mold UNSC Marines, but instead they went the extra mile and gave us new Marines with the improved articulation and partially-removable armor. That choice makes these Marine figures feel fresh and worthwhile and not just filler in the set. They come with an always-welcome Rocket Launcher and the ever-popular Assault Rifle.

The Wrong:

The headliner of this set is–hands down–Tartarus. Any time we get a unique character as a Halo Mega Bloks figure it’s a big deal, and ordinarily said figure comes out looking both accurate and excellent.

Tartarus, well… he’s not bad. Tartarus has a unique molded head, which is absolutely crucial. This Mega Bloks Tartarus head is only about a half-inch big, so it was never going to have the detail of the McFarlane Toys figure, but MEGA Brands does pack some good details into the sculpt (such as Tartarus’ trademark mohawk hairstyle).

The paint deco on Tartarus is rather unimpressive, unfortunately. Yes, Tartarus is a gray-white Brute–but he shouldn’t look squeaky clean light-grey like he just got out of the shower. A slight darker grey paint wash could have gone a long way to adding depth and shading to Tartarus’ appearance, making this figure a whole lot snazzier.

Tartarus is the same size as all the other Halo Mega Bloks Brutes figures, as it wouldn’t make much sense to suddenly switch sizes now that collectors have dozens (if not hundreds) of Brutes already. I never thought Tartarus would be properly scaled, but it definitely feels weird having UNSC Marines figures that can stand eye-to-eye with the white Brute Chieftain. If MEGA Brands ever does decide to start upsizing the Jiralhanae for future releases, I’ll be all for it.

Unfortunately, there’s one more thing that’s got me down about Tartarus: his weapon. Tartarus carries the first Gravity Hammer seen in the Halo video game series: the Fist of Rukt. While this weapon is unique in the games, MEGA Brands took the safer route and just have the standard Gravity Hammer a pretty paint job.

I can totally understand why MEGA Brands opted to my create a new mold for the Fist of Rukt, but I’m still disappointed. I would have frankly rather the set had included a unique Fist of Rukt Gravity Hammer and not included one of the UNSC Marines for the same price, as having Tartarus packing an inaccurate weapon feels really cheap in this instance.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”

The 67519 Halo Mega Bloks Anniversary Battleground set is a Toys R Us exclusive set, although it can be found pretty easily at MSRP online as well. This may be a tough set to snag in stores for a while, as I imagine it’s going to be very popular due to the inclusion of Tartarus and the hype surrounding the Halo 2 Anniversary Edition in the Halo The Master Chief Collection video game.

Overall: Despite some of my nitpicking/whining, the Mega Bloks Halo Anniversary Battleground 67519 is a solid figure pack and a great value at 15 dollars for five new figures. A bit more of a paint wash on Tartarus and an authentic Fist of Rukt Gravity Hammer would have made this set all-out awesome, but even with its shortcomings the Halo Mega Bloks Battleground is still a worthwhile set that Halo 2 fans cannot miss. The new super-articulated UNSC Marines are excellent, the Brute Minors with flags are a fun addition, and it’s great to finally have an official Tartarus Halo Mega Bloks figure. Recommended.

GRADE: B+