Although not nearly as prominent as the Halo Mega Bloks UNSC ODST Recon Specialist Drop Pod, there was another Halo Mega Bloks Drop Pod that many thought was lost forever: the Covenant Crimson Drop Pod with white Elite General. A year-plus after our first glance at the set, though, it has finally landed in fans’ collections (although I don’t know that anyone would consider this particular Covenant Drop Pod finished product to be “Crimson”)…

The Right:

Here’s a rarity: for once, I like the Drop Pod in one of these sets more than the figure! That’s not an insult, though–this is far and away my favorite Halo Mega Bloks Covenant Drop Pod. While the early information for this set described it as being the “Covenant Crimson Drop Pod”, and some retailers are still referring to it as such, this Covenant Drop Pod isn’t crimson-colored… at all.

Instead, the 2013 Halo Mega Bloks Covenant Drop Pod 97106 is molded in the gorgeous shiny maroon color that we first saw in 2012 on the Covenant Revenant. To me, this is clearly the best-looking Covenant Drop Pod that MEGA Brands has released yet. You would be amazed how much of a difference some shiny paint can make!

In addition to the newly-colored Covenant Drop Pod and white Elite General figures, the set includes three weapons with full deco: the Plasma Launcher, a Plasma Rifle, and a Needler.

From the first time I ever wielded a Plasma Launcher with unlimited ammo in a Halo Reach Rocketfight, I have been in love with the Covenant Plasma Launcher. I’d go so far as to say that it’s my favorite Halo weapon ever–UNSC or Covenant. There’s something about launching a spread of sticky Plasma Grenades at rapid speeds and watching your enemies explode that’s just ever so gratifying. So am I thrilled to get a Halo Mega Bloks Plasma Launcher with paint detailing in this set? Yeah, you’d better believe I am.

But wait! The painted Plasma Launcher isn’t the only (sort of) new weapon included with the Covenant “Crimson” Drop Pod. While the painted Plasma Rifle is identical to its earlier Halo Mega Bloks release, the Needler is new and improved! Yes, we’ve had painted Needlers included before with Covenant Drop Pods, but this one is superior to all of them because it features the same awesome shiny maroon color as this Drop Pod does! I always will prefer this shiny maroon to flat purple paint, and this is now my Needler of choice. More like this, please, MEGA Brands!

The Wrong:

When I got my first white Elite Mega Bloks figure with the Halo Mega Bloks Revenant set last year, I was really pleased with the otherworldly white color. As we’ve gotten more and more white Elites, I’ve become less so. While the white Elite prototypes always look phenomenal in photographs, those figures have an advantage in that they’re painted white instead of being molded in it.

The actual product, like this white Elite General Mega Bloks figure, has armor made out of white plastic that almost looks “fake”. This Elite General figure in particular looks very plastic-y and toy-like, as he has very little paint deco on top of the white molded plastic. The gold highlights are a nice touch, but there’s not enough of them to counteract how “white” this figure is. It doesn’t look terrible or anything like that, but this Elite General definitely falls short of looking as good as it could with more paint detailing.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”
The Halo Mega Bloks Covenant Elite General Drop Pod 97106 is just starting to reach online retailers such as BA Toys, where I got mine. This set should be hitting retail stores throughout the winter.

Overall: While I don’t like Halo Mega Bloks 97106 to the extent that I did the ODST Recon Specialist Drop Pod, I do still think it’s pretty good. The “Crimson” Covenant Drop Pod (if you want to call it that) is the most aesthetically-pleasing Covenant Drop Pod yet, and makes all the others look bad by comparison. And I’m glad to finally have another Elite General Mega Bloks figure to add to my Covenant ranks, even though he looks a little bland. The Halo Mega Bloks Covenant Drop Pod Elite General 97106  isn’t going to top anyone’s list for “Halo Best of 2013”, but it is a solid set with some items I think most Halo collectors are going to want.

GRADE: B