Cloak (with Master Chief)

I saw this in the store and thought it looked neat, but I hadn't bought a Halo figure in a good while.  They're cool, but I can only own so many of these similar looking guys in different colors.  My buddy Zach bought it, though, and explained that it was worth a purchase.  WE'LL JUST SEE ABOUT THAT.

This is Master Chief, of the Halo series.  I dunno which version, since they're a little different from game to game (the armor, anyway).  Considering the pics on the front of the package; I'm assuming this is supposed to portray him in some position from a cut-scene.  He even comes with a hand holding some dog tags for him to stare at, as if to lament the waste of life amidst the horrors of war.

Or he collects them for points, I dunno.

Then there's a gun!  Naturally.

Neither of those things are the important feature, of course.  Something has to get me to buy another Halo figure.

It comes off!  And yeah, there's a full figure underneath - I mean, there SHOULD be, since he costs the same as the rest of 'em.  You just never know; in a toy world where you can buy a full figure for 20 bucks, or a figure of little R2-D2 in the same line ALSO for 20 bucks.

Anyway, for ease of use, the cloak comes in two pieces.  The arm also is attached only at one end, so you can bend it up to get the figure's arm in there, if need be.

And, just as you'd expect, the figure underneath is pretty neat!

They've come a long way from the older ones.  I've only got two: a silver guy and a clear guy, and the clear guy's pelvis exploded, so he's out.

Everything is similar to the old guy, save for new clicky-joints and a sturdier hip joint system.  It does make the hips a bit more restricted, but you can mess with them enough to get what you want in the end.

Lots of articulation on a sturdy figure, so you certainly feel like you're getting your money's worth out of the guy.  As stated: He comes with the gun and dog tag hand.  There's also an extra jetpack-looking thing that you have to remove to get the cloak on.

You can see a hole on the back of the jetpack - those are hardpoints for attaching his gun, or, any other gun in the series (assuming these work like the older ones).

I'm really impressed with this figure!  The way the hips were done on the older figures was functionally better, but weaker in construction.  It's nice to see that area improve; it decreases the poseablity a little, but increases its playability without feeling like you have to handle it with care.  I wouldn't have handed off the older figures to young kids, but I feel like I could with this one (though, of course, not to anyone young enough to swallow all the tiny bits).

Give 'em a shot of you run into it - even if you're generally not into these kinds of figures.

HA!  Like that's the main event, or something.  Nah, come back, this is all about THE CLOAK.

Look at that thing!  Can you imagine all the uses for it?  If not, I've provided some examples.

Because of course I did.

First things first: MotUC figures.  Sadly it does not fit on the men - the shoulders are WAY too wide. It does, however, fit on the women!

Only certain females can fit the whole cloak, but the great thing about it is that you don't need the whole thing for it to look awesome!  The main problem is fitting the hair in there - with Teela I had to SHOVE the hair into the head hole, then shove the body up into the head again.  Of course, with the pic directly above: things are easier without hair.

Or if the hair is up and out of the way, like Entrapta's crazy locks.

Sometimes the hair just won't let you do it, but you can sorta "float" the head on there.  With Glimmer here, I had to set her head mostly on there.  If you move her, the head falls off.  Made for a cool pic, though!

From here I just ran around and grabbed figures that seemed like they would fit.  This cloak is payin' for itself by being a general, all-purpose accessory!

As stated: this just doesn't work for everyone.  You can use it for awesome shots, but some, like the Stormtrooper, just don't have enough neck showing to be able to pop the head back on again.  The head is just resting on the top of the cloak in that shot.

This thing is PERFECT for many Kamen Rider figuarts, so far.  Many of them have shoulders that can be moved down, so it can fit perfectly.  They often have removable heads, too, so that helps when trying to get this thing to fit.

The shoulders are one of the main problems, though.

For instance: Mega Man X is actually missing his left arm, here!  I couldn't get the cloak on him at all, but once I popped an arm off, it fit like a glove.  Since he's mostly hidden, you can't really tell he's missing an arm.

If you have the figuarts Mario, then you know this pic is a lie.  The man has no neck.  The head is precariously perched on the cloak, but I'll be damned if it didn't turn out nice!

This set with the cloak and its Master Chief accessory is seriously worth it, people.  The bottom half of the cloak doesn't always work, but the top half works for SO MUCH that you'd be missing out if you skipped this figure.  It's especially nice that the right side is open and folded up so you don't have to have your figure standing and nothing else.  Granted, that means you can't have them just stand (unless resting on a staff) but I think having a cloak with no arms showing is far more common, so I'm glad to have this one to promote a bit more action.

The only downside is figuring out which figure gets to keep it for the time being!  Give it a shot, won't you?