Though it was a teensy bit late arriving in time for the August reset, sightings of the Target-exclusive Halo Mega Bloks Versus Snowbound Highbase 97069 have finally started to pour in! I went out to my local upstate New York Target today and was pleased to find a full stock of the Snowbound Highbase awaiting me on the bottom shelf.

As anticipated, the Snowbound Highbase 97069 set costs $34.99 at Target. Considering the Halo Snowbound Highbase Mega Bloks set has 438 pieces, that’s less than eight cents per piece! For a Halo Mega Bloks set, that price is a total steal. And it’s a particularly great price considering that this set is a store-exclusive in the United States (it’s available at Wal-Mart and other stores internationally), and store exclusives usually end up costing more than regular sets–not less.

Other than the enormous Highbase itself, this set is notable for two included items: the Arctic Mongoose and the blue Snowbound Spartan EOD. The Arctic Mongoose is the white-painted version of the Mongoose many fans have been waiting years for, as it’s never been made in toy form before. McFarlane Toys announced an Arctic Mongoose back in 2009, but it ended up being cancelled. The Arctic Mongoose isn’t included in any other Halo Mega Bloks Snowbound set at this time, so the Highbase is the only place to get it!

In addition, the Snowbound Highbase is the only place that the Snowbound blue Spartan EOD Mega Bloks figure is available right now. While the red Snowbound Spartan EVA figure is also available in the Snowbound Weapons Pack I, the blue Snowbound Spartan EOD is not scheduled to be included in any other sets at this time. You also get my personal favorite gun in the Halo universe with this set, a rarely-included Mauler.

I’ll post in-progress build photo previews of the Versus Snowbound Highbase 97069 and an in-depth, full review of the set over the course of the next week.