Generator Defense
McFarlane Toys produced the Generator Defense Deluxe Set as part of the sixth and last series of boxed sets shipped under the Halo: Reach label.
These Deluxe sets have had their ups and downs from series to series, but Generator Defense turned out to be one of the better ones, at least conceptually. Generator Defense is a multiplayer mode where a team of spartans tries to keep the opposing team of destroying a piece of equipment, all the while attempting to destroy the opposing team’s generator.
The set includes a Spartan JFO, this time painted in olive green and steel as secondary color, armed with a shotgun and with the pieces to assemble the Shield Generator accessory.
The JFO is a rather common Spartan class these days, although the one included here has a different chest armor piece than the one sold individually in this same series and the pauldrons ha came with are also normally seen on HazOp Spartans.
As usual, the level of sculpted detail is really good and the articulation is as versatile as ever with these figures, consisting of:
• Barbell jointed neck.
• Pegged hinge shoulders
• Hinged elbows with swivels above and below the joint.
• Hinged wrists with swivels above and below the joint.
• Barbell mounted torso.
• Swivel hips.
• Barbell mounted upper thighs.
• Pegged hinge knees.
• Hinged ankles with swivels above and below the joint.
• Barbell mounted toes.
Of course, the main component of this boxed set is the Shield Generator. The Generator requires minimal assembly, and it is a good idea to check that the blast shield is right side up before snapping the reactor core into place.
Once the fuel rods and the blast shield are in place, the next step is attaching the support plates to the base of the generator. This turned out to be trickier than I expected because the plastic the support plates are made of is fairly rigid and I didn’t want to risk breaking them.
Once assembled, the Generator has a couple neat play features. First, there is the reactor core shielding that can be lifted and lowered by hand, and the radar antenna on top of the generator can tilt and rotate.
The deco on the Spartan is really good, with a nice green hue and white accents applied over the steel-colored sections and a bright gold visor. There are some wear marks and scratches simulated over the figure, but the effect is rather subtle.
On the Generator, however, not all turned out as good. The main color is a duller olive green hue, and the simulated wear and tear is also quite nicely applied. Also, there are a lot of stenciled markings all over the piece that add a lot of detail and authenticity to the generator, even if a couple of said stencils on my set were not quite perfectly aligned.
One UNSC sign is applied well over the edge of a raised detail plate, which is something I could overlook if I wanted to, but on a grille on the same side of the machine, it seems like someone randomly painted parallel yellow lines until some of them fell into place.
I would have also liked it better if the reactor core rods had been given some shading to spruce up the appearance, instead of just being painted in sickly yellow.
Still, even if the Generator might need a little touch up work, I found this set to be very satisfying.
Errex Score: 80/100
Category: Featured, HALO, Toy Reviews, Video Games
About the Author (Author Profile)
I've been collecting action figures since the original Kenner Star Wars days. Nowadays, I still collect pretty much anything that catches my eye.Subscribe
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I really love the set pieces they have done with the HALO line. I was tempted by this just as a background Star Wars/GI Joe display piece.