If you’re not familiar with Halo 4, the newest slew of enemies in the campaign are known as the Prometheans. Consisting of a few different types of baddies, the Promethean Crawlers are the mass produced cannon fodder of the Halo 4 story. And to be honest, I’m not sure if this particular version of the Crawler is completely in scale with Chief and the other Spartans, as it does seem to be a little big. Nonetheless, while this isn’t my favorite Halo 4 figure, I think it’s an okay start to McFarlane’s take on the Prometheans. (As always, click the images for larger versions.)
Starting off with the head, McFarlane impressed me with giving the Crawler the ability to open and close its jaws via a hinge joint on each of them. The orange paint on the inside of the mouth is a decent substitution for the actual in-game glow, but mine seems to be a little spotty. I’m not sure if that’s from bad paint apps or if it’s rubbed off from opening and closing the jaws. The head attaches to the neck via a ball-joint for rotation, and a hinge for up and down movement. The neck then plugs into the torso and features a hinge-joint for even more up and down movement.
The shoulders of the front arms are connected to the torso via a ball-joint, and the elbows feature a standard swivel while also allowing the forearms to swivel around. While I’m happy that there is articulation in the elbows, it could be better as the forearm can really only bend up to make a 90 degree angle with the upper arm. Maybe I’m just being too picky, but this would’ve been a really nice place for some extra articulation seeing as how a toy like this will be doing a lot of crouching and bending. The wrists are similar to the elbows in the sense that they also featured a hinge and swivel.
There is also a ball-joint in the middle of the abdomen that allows the Crawler to twist each halves of the body around, while also allowing hinge movement to bring the two sections closer together for a taller stance. The hips use very odd joints, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. A small bar connects the torso and leg with a ball-joint at each end for plenty of articulation, while also acting as a small hinge to move the legs up and down vertically. While the gap the bar creates is a bit much, I’ve seen much worse, so I’m not too bothered. The knees are able to be swiveled, and the ankles are thankfully on a ball-joint with a hinge joint akin to the front hands.
Overall, the Crawler is a decent figure for what it is, but the entirety of it is still lacking. With no accessories (I still don’t know how these bastards hold weapons) and only one version of the Crawler out right now, I’d have to say to pass on this unless you’re really wanting a Promethean and can’t wait for the Knight. I don’t want to say that this is a bad toy overall, it’s just hard to justify it for someone who’s not a Halo nut like I am. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a decent Promethean figure to hold you over until the Knight, by all means give this guy a shot. Tell me what you think! I want to hear your thoughts on the Crawler, as well as McFarlane’s Halo 4 line so far in the comments below.
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You mentioned using Future Floor Polish to tighten the joints on the Halo Figure Forum. Someone then stated that its hard to find. It isn't! Its just changed names.
Look for Pledge Floor Polish with Future Shine. Same stuff, and it works wonders. I would have posted it on the forum there, but I'm not a member!
Anyway, excellent review. I think I might actually track one of these down now.
Thank you!
And thanks for bringing the name change to my attention, I had no idea.
I didn't initially like the scale of these figures as they came out at a time when 6" was the expected norm. Even still it seems that the current and previous series (Halo 3) were larger than the Halo 2 and ODST figures. However, with my ever growing collection of japanese figures being heavily in a 5" scale it looks like I need to at least pick up a Master Chief.
It always amazes me how this stuff gets produced so quickly after game releases lol. But hey this is good stuff! Thanks for the review… I think my son is gonna love it…