If I said I wasn’t getting a little impatient waiting for the first NECA Halo figure to arrive, I would be totally lying. It was still 2013 when NECA announced their acquisition of the Halo license, and we got our first glimpse of the NECA 18″ Master Chief figure prototype way back at the New York Toy Fair 2014 in February. Retailers started taking orders with an estimated summer release date, but that just didn’t happen. But finally–finally–the Master Chief is coming home! Place your orders now if you haven’t done so already–the NECA Halo Master Chief 18″ figure is expected to hit online stores in October 2014!

Well, it took a little bit longer than we expected, but NECA Toys is finally ready to deploy their first quarter-scale Halo figure, the 1/4 Master Chief 18″ figure! After originally being aimed at summer 2014, the Master Chief figure is now completed and scheduled to ship out in October 2014–just in time for the release of the Master Chief Collection on XBox One!

Apparently NECA had to do some extra work fine-tuning the Master Chief to get him perfect, but as this is a pretty pricey figure and likely the only 18″ Master Chief action figure that will ever be made, that’s A-OK with me.
I saw the unfinished, unpainted prototype of the NECA Master Chief at the NY Toy Fair 2014 in the winter, but this is the very first time that NECA has shown painted images of the figure.

We’ve had a nearly-uncountable number of Master Chief Halo action figures released over the past decade, but this Master Chief will stand apart from the crowd by being the single-largest action figure of the Master Chief ever produced.

As we saw at the prototype stage, the 18 inch Master Chief figure will come packing two accessories: the Master Chief’s iconic Halo guns of the Assault Rifle and Magnum. Both look terrific, although I think it’s sort of a shame we’re not getting some more unique-looking guns like a Needler or Plasma Rifle with the Chief. Could there be an 18″ Covenant Elite figure someday? I sure hope so!

I know that some people will balk at the $90-$100 price-point on this NECA Halo 1/4th scale Master Chief figure, but he’s basically an articulated version of the Sideshow Master Chief Premium Format Statue at a quarter of the cost. When you look at it from that point of view, the Master Chief is really quite a deal.

NECA also went ahead and posted an image of what the (totally unfolded) box for the Master Chief NECA 1/4 figure will look like. It’s pretty standard fare with the same Halo 4 packaging style we’ve become accustomed to from every other company, but it’s nice to finally see what the box for this Master Chief is going to look like at least.

The Halo NECA Master Chief 18″ figure is still available for pre-order, and is scheduled to hit online stores in October 2014 (just a few short weeks from now!). I ordered my quarter-scale Master Chief figure online, as none of my local stores carry the massive 1/4 NECA products like Master Chief, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss out on the biggest Master Chief action figure ever.

Now that we’ve seen the finished prototype photos, how do you like NECA’s first foray into Halo figures, Halo collectors? Will the NECA 18″ Master Chief be on your shopping list, or is this Master Chief too big (or too expensive!) for your wallet?