Given that Spartan Vale is one of eight main characters in the runaway hit Halo 5: Guardians video game, you would think that Spartan Vale figures would be hitting from tons of companies. That’s not the case. In fact, not one bit of Olympia Vale merch was released by any company last year. But to kick off 2016, Halo Mega Bloks is bringing us the first Vale toy ever with the Halo Heroes Spartan Vale figure! Vale’s selling for more than triple her MSRP online–is she worth it?

The Right:

For whatever reason, most Halo merchandisers are almost totally ignoring the potential goldmine that was Halo 5 featuring eight named Spartan characters. And of those eight, no characters were more ignored than Linda and Olympia Vale.

From Square-Enix to Kotobukiya to McFarlane Toys to ThreeA, every company has ignored Vale but one: MEGA Brands. And now, the Halo Mega Bloks Vale figure has arrived! Huge thumbs up–thanks, MEGA Brands!

The Halo Heroes Spartan Vale figure itself is excellent, with all-around nice detailing on her armor. Vale’s armor is one of the more popular permutations from the video game, and I’m pleased with how accurately MEGA Brands has captured it in 2″ form.

Meanwhile, Vale’s colors and paint apps are also dead-on. The paint deco on her helmet is especially good, with neatly-applied blue paint on her visor and great-looking gold attachments on the sides of the helmet.

Halo Heroes Vale includes two weapons: an SMG with paint detailing and a Covenant Plasma Pistol. I’ll discuss the Plasma Pistol in a minute, but the SMG is terrific, with black paint applications on numerous parts of the gun. Great stuff.

Finally, like all figures in this series, I like the unique packaging art for Spartan Vale and her display base with pole and her name on it. The individual packaging artwork and named display base definitely make the figures in this series feel special.

The Wrong:

I’ve only got one real issue with the Spartan Vale Halo Heroes figure, and it’s the included Covenant Plasma Pistol. What’s wrong with including a second weapon? The fact that it’s unpainted. If Halo Heroes is going to be our “deluxe” range of Mega Bloks figures, then any included weapons should be painted.

If the old Drop Pods assortment could include several painted weapons, a figure, a big multi-part painted Drop Pod and  large boxed packaging for 10 bucks, I truly believe MEGA Brands could cost out paint deco for a tiny secondary weapon in these Halo Heroes sets as well.

That’s my own and only gripe with what’s otherwise an exemplary release.

Overall: While I’m grumpy about the unpainted plasma pistol, I love–love–this Halo Spartan Vale figure otherwise. Some people will probably balk at the price-point of nearly $5 each for 2″ Halo Mega Bloks Heroes figures, but I have no issue with the price for the reasons stated above in “The Right”. The unique packaging, painted SMG, super-articulation and overall great figure make this a great first Olympia Vale action figure every Halo Mega Bloks fan will want.

GRADE: A