HALO 4 Warthog

Presenting the HALO 4 UNSC Collector's Edition Warthog.

Okay! This is the M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, Warthog (or simply Hog), as it appears in HALO: 4. Now we should point out that when this blog started a lifetime ago in 2010, we featured the HALO Reach Warthog. Till today, that Warthog remains one of our most valuable Dungeon displays.

But this puts it to shame.

Over the past ten years or so Bungie has really made it a point to refine the graphics that went into the HALO games, but what here is more than a polish or design enhancement.

No.

This is a completely different vehicle.

From the top-side, yes the changes are cosmetic. But all you have to do is flip it over and you will see a completely different build between the original HALO Reach Warthog on the left and the HALO 4 Warthog on the right:

The original HALO Reach Warthog's tires are individually mounted. There is no axle between the tires and each tire moves individually. The new HALO 4 Warthog has a very complicated suspension system surrounding its axle - check out those springs - they work! While the HALO Reach Warthog had a suspension system due to the natural "springiness"of its plastic, this new HALO 4 Warthog has a real, quasi-working suspension system.

New:

Old:


New:


Old:


But the changes to the M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle's chassis are relatively cosmetic:


Note that we replaced the HALO Reach Warthog's M41 Light-Anti-Aircraft Machine gun a long time ago with an M68 Gauss Rifle.

The HALO 4 Warthog's blister card simply reads: "The Warthog is easily the most well-known and pervasively encountered land vehicle currently employed by the UNSC.  The most prominent offensive usage involves the incorporation of bed-mounted weapon emplacements such as light anti-aircraft guns, gauss cannons, and missile launchers, converting this agile transportation vehicle into an anti-aircraft or anti-armor weapon."


Yes, the HALO 4 Warthog comes mounted on a platform....... OMG! We threw it away!!!! Oh well. It is a pain to remove and we wanted the HALO 4 Warthog to roll anyway.

WHAT'S TO LIKE ABOUT THE HALO 4 UNSC COMBAT EDITION WARTHOG? 

FIRST: We love how we can move the entire HALO Reach Noble team now.

One of the limitations of Warthogs in general are that they only seat three people. Perhaps we can squeeze in people hanging on to the sides, but given how easy it is to flip a Warthog? We would not recommend it, even with those new side handlebars of the HALO 4 Warthog.

So a second Warthog to move the six members of Noble Team brings smiles to our faces.






SECOND: Now if we HALO Reach Warthog detailing was great, then the HALO 4 Collector's edition Warthog is the pimped out version of the Warthog! To say that it is detailed is an understatement:

We don't remember those gas cans siting there in the video game. They look like inviting targets - EXCEPT!!!! Believe it or not, the Warthog runs on water.... or urine if necessary.... so shoot them at your own risk.

Check out the interior! Those are rubber seats. They're supposed to mimick the look of leather and we suppose they do. Nice touch. We did not mount those stickers, and unfortunately one of them warped.

THIRD:  Moving parts. Like the HALO Reach Warthog we love how the mounted gun swivels. But unlike the HALO Reach Warthog the new HALO 4 Warthog's front tires can turn left-and-right- and check this out! You can look under the hood!




We unfortunately don't know much about engines so we can't comment on it. Looks kinda small though.

FOURTH: The Halo 4 Warthog is heavy - literally. A quite beefy 11 pounds. We love how it doesn't feel like cheap light plastic and because of that we value it as something worthy of display.



WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THE HALO 4 UNSC COMBAT EDITION WARTHOG? 

FIRST: It really, really was a pain to get it out of its display stand. You need a long-stemmed and very narrow phillips screwdriver. And because she's heavy, having to turn the Warthog on it's side (Or upside down for better leverage - watch the gun if you do). The screws were really in there tight. We hated it.

SECOND: Unfortunately the HALO 4 Warthog comes with fragile parts - mostly because she's so hard and heavy - but then again we've come to expect this fagility from Jada Toys. While shooting the HALO 4 Warthog, one of the bumpers broke:

THIRD: The HALO 4 Warthog's M46 anti-aircraft gun cannot be replaced unlike the M41 anti-aircraft gun of the HALO Reach Warthog.

This particular HALO 4 Warthog was purchased from Toy Kingdom in Megamall here in the Philippines for PhP 3,799.75 (Roughly PhP 86.35). We may have been ripped off because it goes for US$ 49.99 in Amazon (Roughly PhP 2,199.56 plsu shipping - and remember she's quite heavy.

Still a great find.