Yesterday I reviewed the brand-new UNSC Armory Pack from the Spring 2012 Halo Mega Bloks assortment, and today I’ll be covering its companion set: the Covenant Armory Pack #96952. I like the value pricing of these smaller Halo Mega Bloks sets at just $5.99 each, but I was less than infatuated with the UNSC Armory Pack. I didn’t like the color of the Spartan armor in that set, but I was especially perturbed with the armory’s lack of ability to, well–function as an armory and store multiple weapons. I didn’t think the UNSC Armory Pack was bad, per se–just extraordinarily mediocre. Luckily, the Covenant Armory Pack fares a little bit better…

The Right:

As I mentioned in the UNSC Armory Pack review, I am especially pleased that MEGA Brands carried over the 2012 “Customize!” theme to the small Armory Packs. Without the extra interchangeable pieces of armor, this set would contain just another Combat Elite, something we’ve had more than our fair share of. With the extra parts, you also have the chance to build just the second rare and high-ranking Elite Ascetic in the Halo Mega Bloks line so far. Previously the only way to get Elite Ascetics was to buy hard-to-find Elite Ultra Drop Pods for $9.99 each, so I really appreciate a cheaper and easier method of acquiring Ascetics.

The Elite (in either armor permutation) has the same excellent articulation we’ve come to expect from the Halo Mega Bloks Elites, including 12 points: a ball-jointed head, ball-jointed shoulders, hinge elbows, swivel wrists, swivel waist, ball-jointed hips, and hinge knees. For a figure that’s only 2 inches all, all that flexibility is as impressive as always. As with all Halo Mega Bloks figures, the Elite’s wrists have the perfect grip to tightly grasp all of the Halo Mega Bloks weapons.

I wasn’t really certain that I needed more purple Combat Elites, as I knew I already had several on my Mega Bloks shelves. Then I picked one up and realized that the older purple Combat Elites are totally inferior in every way to this new one. Both the paint and the sculpt on the purple Combat Elite in this set are far more detailed and better-looking than the old ones I had on the original Halo Mega Bloks Elite mold. So not only do I not mind another purple Elite Combat, now I want to army-build the ones from this set!

The Covenant Armory Pack includes four weapons: a Needle Rifle, a Needler, and two Plasma Grenades. As with the UNSC set, all of the weapons have paint deco and have been nicely detailed. While the UNSC weapons are by nature pretty plain, the Covenant weapons are more elaborate and have more paint applications as a result. All four weapons look great, even the Plasma Grenades that ordinarily look really uninteresting when unpainted. I’m already starting to accumulate more Needle Rifles than I need, but it’s still fresh enough that I can’t really complain about it.

Also like the UNSC Armory Pack, this set isn’t just a figure with weapons and extra armor–you still have to build the armory itself. I’m glad that the building aspect is intact for these Halo Mega Bloks sets, as the blind-bag Hero Packs always feel a little disappointing since there’s zero to assemble once you open the package. The Covenant armory is a simple and straightforward build that can be completed in about two minutes, but it still makes the set feel more “complete” that there is some construction involved.

The Covenant armory is a big improvement upon the UNSC armory because it actually has the necessary parts to store a bunch of weapons. The Covenant armory has three grasping pieces including, and consequently it can hold three weapons as opposed to the single weapon the UNSC armory was designed to store. In addition, the Covenant armory has an appropriate science fiction look and feel to it that is a stark contrast to the earthy, realistic UNSC armory. The purple and clear blue blocks of the Covenant armory look quite cool and the armory looks like it would really fit in well on a Covenant ship or world.

The Wrong:

I understand why MEGA Brands wanted to have containment for the extra parts inside of the Armory, but the feature doesn’t work nearly as well for the Covenant set as it did for the UNSC Armory Pack. The reason being that while you can easily hang a Spartan helmet or torso in the UNSC armory and just say it’s spare armor, with Elites you have to have their actual head and arms inside the armory. It’s pretty morbid to put together your Covenant armory and hang some severed arms from it. It doesn’t make a lot of sense play-wise either–I can’t really see Joe the Elite dropping by the Covenant armory to pick up a new head after his head gets blown off by a UNSC grenade. The whole idea of this is just bizarre.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”

The Covenant Armory Pack 96952 is part of the Spring 2012 assortment of Halo Mega Bloks. The set is now starting to show up at retail stores like K-Mart, Target, and Wal-Mart.

As far as online options go:

Amazon has the Covenant Pack in-stock from a variety of sellers at right around retail price (and some even below retail price!), and many of the sellers are offering free shipping.

BigBadToyStore still has the Covenant Armory Pack available for just $6.99, and they also have a TON of other Halo Mega Bloks sets available at the best prices of any online store.

And if you want to try your luck, there’s always ebay, where you very likely can get a good deal on this set or buy individual pieces from it. You can check out the current listings for the Halo Mega Bloks Covenant Armory on ebay by clicking here!

Overall: The Covenant Armory Pack 96952 is a nice little set, and it actually is good enough to earn a whole grade higher than the UNSC Armory Pack. The purple Elite Combat is a huge improvement over the old-style purple Elite Combat in all aspects of paint and sculpting, and is well-worth army-building even if you previously invested in the older purple Elites. The Elite Ascetic is a rare permutation of the Elite and I’m glad to get it in a value-priced set like this one. The armory itself in this set is in colors that nicely reflect the sci-fi nature of the Covenant, while also having the capacity to store triple the weapons that the UNSC armory can. The only thing that seems really awkward about this set is how the armory is designed to hold entire severed limbs and heads from the Elite figure. While this isn’t in the upper-echelon of MEGA Brands’ best Halo Mega Bloks sets, this is a great item for army-builders and a well-rounded set overall that earns a solid recommendation.

GRADE: B+