Ordinarily, if you should brush paths with a Spartan the “worst” that can happen to you is you get blown apart by a plasma grenade or eat a rocket to the face. But the subject of today’s review, the White Spartan JFO action figure, is sporting something special and far more sinister: the Target Locator. If you piss off this Spartan, you’ll have more to deal with than just dodging plasma rounds or exploding needles–you’ll have to make peace with being exploded into molecules by a 7-missile salvo of fiery death. This is not the Spartan that you wanna fuck with. He’s also not the Spartan you want to be looking for, as he’s probably the most ridiculous exclusive in the Halo Reach line. If you want this JFO Spartan figure, then you’re going to Walgreens. If he worth that hassle?

The Right:

When I first saw the Spartan JFO (White) announced, I believe my exact words were “A fucking Walgreens exclusive?!” I don’t like Walgreens. I just don’t. And I was very adamant that I was not going to make endless trips into Walgreens hunting for this Halo exclusive figure. But, I reported late last week that this final figure to be released in the Halo Reach line had finally been sighted, and I couldn’t resist making just one trip in to check for the White JFO. Fate was on my side, as my local Walgreens had two figures: the Brute Major and the White Spartan JFO.

If you have any Spartans from the Halo Reach line, you basically known what you’re in for with the White JFO. He’s just like all the other JFO Spartans, but this time in white. I’m actually particularly pleased with the color scheme on this figure, however. There weren’t nearly as many white Spartans released in the Reach line as there were in the Halo 3 line, so the White JFO feels a lot more special as an exclusive release. In addition, something about the white armor covered in sparkly silver accenting just looks ridiculously cool. It’s tough to capture in photographs, but the silver accenting on the armor combined with the silver faceplate on the helmet looks phenomenal.

The White JFO has the typical multitude of moving parts, as he’s loaded with 28 points of articulation including a ball-jointed head, ball-jointed upper torso, double-jointed ball-joint shoulders, double-jointed ball-joint elbows, double-jointed ball-joint wrists, swivel hips, ball-jointed thighs, double-jointed ball-joint knees, double-jointed ball-joint ankles, and swivel balls of the feet. This is the excellent standard for Spartans in the Reach line, and with a huge range of motion this JFO Spartan can achieve most any pose you could desire.

The big prize with this figure is the H-165 FOM Target Locator, so let’s take a moment and talk about it. The Target Locator is an all-new sculpt and this is the only scheduled release of it, so if you want to complete your armor you’ll need to track down this Walgreens exclusive. The Target Locator looks just like the speed radar guns that cops lock onto your car with–except if you get locked onto with the Target Locator, you’re about to be hit with an orbital strike of missiles and not just a speeding ticket. The Target Locator isn’t visually the most exciting weapon in the world, but it is accurately-sculpted and has a several paint applications on it to make it look pretty spiffy. The White JFO Spartan also includes a plasma grenade which fits snugly on the back of his waist, but at this point, I’m over plasma grenades, and I’m pretty sure you are too.

The Wrong:

Whether it’s through mold degradation from the Reach Spartan mold just being used too many times in the last two years or shoddy quality-control, the joints on the White Spartan JFO are much looser and more wobbly than they have been on earlier Halo Reach figures. The loose leg joints are annoying, but this is the first Reach Spartan with a noticeably loose shoulder joints that I’ve gotten. The result is that his arm inexplicably falls down after a few minutes (or seconds) when trying to pose aiming his Target Locator. Obviously you don’t want your Spartan to order an orbital strike at his own feet, so this is a bit of a problem.

Also–a Walgreens Halo exclusive? Really?! I hated this when it was announced, and I hate it now. The Target exclusives have been hard enough to find, and I visit Target at least a dozen times a week for various reasons. I’d rather never go to Walgreens, and I hate that McFarlane Toys forced me to. I was lucky to get the White Spartan JFO with little effort, but I know many others who aren’t having the same success. Making any Halo figure exclusive to Walgreens is obnoxious, but giving that exclusive an all-new weapon not included anywhere else in the Halo Reach line really sucks.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”

The Spartan JFO (White) action figure is exclusive to Walgreens (no, really), and will not be available at any other stores in the United States. Your choices are hunting for him at Walgreens or buying on the secondary market.

As far as online options go:

Literally, the only place I could find any White JFO Spartans online right now is ebay. I imagine they’ll hit Amazon eventually and other secondary retailers, but at this time they’re just not available anywhere else. You can check out the current listings for the White Spartan JFO on ebay by clicking here!

Overall: The Spartan JFO (White) is actually a very nice Spartan. The white paintwork on him is striking, and I think it’s pretty awesome that McFarlane Toys deigned to give us the Target Locator before the Halo Reach toyline came to its close. Would I personally have hunted endlessly at Walgreens to obtain this figure? In short–not a chance. But I was more than content to give Walgreens my $12.99 after one trip in to pick this figure up. If you can find the White Spartan JFO without driving yourself insane, I would recommend him as definitely worth picking up, for the Target Locator if nothing else. If you have to visit a ton of Walgreens or pay secondary market prices for the White JFO–well, I wouldn’t, but your mileage may vary.