As much as I’ve been enjoying the Reach toyline, there’s been one thing that’s been getting on my nerves: the lack of originality. Far too many of the multiplayer Spartans come in just one color without any special attachments or whatever. Heck, every Spartan in Series 6 is pretty much the same crap we’ve seen over and over again. Heck, we haven’t even been getting Spartans with different colored visors until recently. Still, once in awhile, one figure comes up that stands above the rest in both concept and execution, and quickly became one of my favorites in the entire line.
The Spartan Gungnir Custom is that such figure. While some of the armor sets have come with parts to make a Gungnir, this is the only one so far available in the single pack. It seems like McFarlane REALLY wanted to get creative with this one. Not only does he have the robot arm and extra ammunition, but he also uses the larger male body to give him more character. It’s this kind of ingenuity that seems to be lacking on some of the figures in this line, though it seems like they’re slowly starting to add them in.
Instead of the standard Gungnir helmet, McFarlane opted to use one of the enhanced versions. This is a pretty cool choice since most helmets in the toyline are just the standard version. Too bad they did it to one that you need a really high rank and lots of credits to get.
The inclusion of the robot arm is one of my favorite additions to this figure. It’s the same one Kat uses, and it surprisingly still looks good, if a bit thin. It adds a lot of character to the design, too. How’d he lose the arm? Did it get chopped off in a swordfight with an Elite? Did he lose it in a reactor explosion? That’s for you to decide.
Even the Sapper chest adds a lot of character to him. But as cool as it is, I don’t think it’s enough! I gave mine one of the extra ammo belts from the armor pack I reviewed a few weeks ago—makes him look truly overkill.
But if a robot arm and tons of ammunition wasn’t enough, they decided to give him Jorge’s body, making him the only other “big guy” in the line! He even got a medical pouch on his left thigh and extra shell casings on his left arm.
However, being the “big guy” has its drawbacks, as he can’t equip the jetpack like the regular male and female bodies. It’s unfortunate, but it wouldn’t be a McFarlane toy if he was perfect, now would he?
The Gungnir comes equipped with the same grenade that every other Spartan has, and the rocket launcher, a first for the Reach toyline. It’s a bit difficult to get into his hand at first, but not near-future like some of the Covenant weapons. The sight of the rocket launcher in the robot arm is just awesome. It’s difficult to get him to hold it in both hands, but it can be done.
If there’s one Halo Reach figure I’d recommend to anybody, it’s this one. He’s just so cool. He has his shortcomings like all others, but none of them outweigh the awesomeness of the rest of his design. If you want one for yourself, come into FPNYC for yours.
