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UNSC Mongoose (Combat Edition)

November 9, 2012 | By Errex More

One of the new licensees for the Halo franchise is Jada Toys, a company better known for their line of die-cast cars, so it was something of a surprise when the announcement came that they were one of the license-holders to produce toys based in Halo 4.

The scale they selected for their Halo 4 line is about 1/40, a size similar to the Human Alliance assortment of vehicles from Hasbro’s Transformers line, which means there will be fairly large vehicles from the Halo Universe in this line but I decided to start small, so I went and got me the smallest set they produce, which is the UNSC Mongoose.

Jada offers his human Halo vehicles in two types of finish, the regular glossy look and the matte finish they dubbed the Combat Edition. In the case of the Mongoose, the glossy edition comes with red- armored Spartan mini-figures, while the Combat Edition Spartans have blue armor.

Although I think the glossy Mongoose looks good, I went for the matte one, which I think reflects better the nature of these vehicles, and I’m something of a Blue Team player anyways.

Jada’s Mongoose mold looks even more detailed than the much larger Halo: Reach version produced by McFarlane Toys.

In addition to the painted UNSC markings and insignia, the Jada Mongoose has a dashboard label not present on the larger vehicle. However, the one thing missing from the 1/40 scale Mongoose is an abatable passenger seat, although it does have a passenger platform.

The vehicle has independent axles for each solid rubber wheel and comes mounted on top of a plastic base molded as rocky terrain. Right out of the box it is kept in place by a small screw on its base but once removed, the vehicle stays in place without much problem.

Now, even though I certainly like the Mongoose vehicle, I have to confess that the main draw for me to get into this line were the action figures. The Mongoose set includes two Spartans; the one in the driver’s seat is dubbed as a Spartan Soldier, while the other one standing to the side in the package is called a Spartan Warrior (as if there was any real difference in concept).

Visually, however, the Soldier is the one unarmed, with black visor and with a number of pouches sculpted on his torso, while the Warrior comes armed with a non-removable rocket launcher and has a golden yellow visor.

The really neat thing about these mini-figures is that both are quite nicely articulated and considering these are 2 inch tall, their articulation count is nothing short of impressive, consisting of:

• Swivel neck.

• Pegged hinge shoulders.

• Swivel Waist.

• Pegged hinge hips.

• Pegged hinge knees.

The overall articulation is quite functional and the joints are pretty tight, which may require taking a little bit of care the first time you use them, but as a whole these are mighty impressive little figures.

The paintjob on the figures is fairly basic, consisting mostly on two or three colors. As I mentioned, only the Spartan Warrior has yellow paint applied to his visor, making it the more striking of the pair, but both figures look great riding the Mongoose.