Today I am thrilled to be bringing you a review of the Mega Construx Pelican Inbound set – a set which was very kindly provided by the Mega Construx team for review purposes, as well as to be featured on Builds with Blocks.
This set is the flagship set for the first wave of Halo Infinite tie in products, and it presents the Pelican as it appears in the iconic ‘Discover Hope’ trailer from E3 2019. The set number for this set is GNB28, it includes colossal 2024 pieces, and it retails for $149.99 in the United States, and £124.99 in the United Kingdom.
The key thing I want you to take away from this set when it comes to its overall appearance is how spot on this feels in terms of shaping for the ‘classic’ Pelican design we all know and love. Whilst there are some minor differences between the canonical variant we see in Halo Infinite compared to other versions of the Pelican, I think it is safe to say that this version captures the profile of the more traditional Bungie-era design immaculately. This model genuinely feels like it could have been pulled out of a Blur cutscene – with a real attention paid to getting everything from the tail, to the engine pods, looking spot-on to their in-game counterparts. Elements like the new piece for the cockpit help to further capture the accuracy of this model – taking it to a next-level when we compare it to previous counterparts of this vessel which have existed.
Of particular note, I feel, is the plethora of printed details which adorn the body of the vessel, too. Everything from the vents on the vehicle, to the smaller UNSC logos and titles, all help to make these feel like a piece which is packed full of authentic detailing.
When we open up the vehicle itself, the sheer level of detail and attention continues inside the hold and cockpit areas of the ship – with plenty of effort put in to making this feel like a premium model. I found particular pleasure in some of the printed screen details which can be found inside both the cockpit and the hold, as these help to breathe more life into these spaces, and really help to emulate a lot of the smaller details which were present within the Discover Hope trailer which this vessel is so clearly basing itself upon. I also feel it is worth noting the amount of extra room in the cockpit here, and the fact that the cockpit goes straight through into the hold – providing a level of accuracy we haven’t seen in a Pelican build up until this point. This commitment to ‘levelling up’ the build of the Pelican is something which is present across the board, but it is particularly noticeable here, providing us with more generous space in the cockpit this time around.
When we talk about interior space, it is worth noting the way that this build opens up compared to other Pelicans – providing us with a fully functional interior space complete with a diagnostic screen, a seat, and a weapons rack – as well as a fold-down clip which the Master Chief can be attached to in order to suspend him in place. This allows us, again, to recreate the Discover Hope trailer – adding a nice element of dynamics to the set which I think a lot of fans are bound to appreciate. Whilst this does mean that most of your troop-carry capacity is sacrificed here, I genuinely feel that the sacrifice is worth it – as the level of access you get to the interior here really is like no other ship at this scale.
Moving around to the back, we have one of my few gripes with the set – which is the troop ramp itself. Whilst the landing struts are incredibly well built this time around, with an elastic mechanism designed to lock them in place, the ramp itself is a little bit too steep – making it a tad difficult for the UNSC’s finest to embark upon the Pelican itself! This is only a minor gripe, however, and I feel that with some simple modification this issue could be alleviated altogether.
The set also comes with three figures. The first figure is a nice variant of the Master Chief, who comes complete with a gorgeous drybrush effect which adds some silver details to make his armour pop. Whilst mine has some issues with the visor paint, it is still a nice figure – and it is interesting how Mega have found ways to make each version of the Chief in this line feel unique within its own right. Alongside the Chief, we have a Hunter – this time coming adorned in some Banished colours. There are lots of nice paint applications on this figure, making it feel like a premium variant of a character which we have seen a few times at this point. Whilst the inclusion of a single Hunter may be disappointing to some, I see it as a fun excuse to purchase another copy of the Pelican in the future. Lastly, we have a fan-favourite character, The Pilot – also known affectionately within the community as ‘Brohammer’. I was a little bit cynical about the colour choices for this figure before its release, but I can tell you that this figure really blew me away in person – with an incredibly strong likeness for the scale. He has some nice additional paint apps on his vest and legs which add some extra detail, and the inclusion of a helmet for him is nice. I am very excited to finally have a MCX version of this guy!
So, what do I think of this set overall? Well, I have a couple of small gripes – like the Ramp, and the Cockpit not sitting down all the way, but these gripes are few and far between, and to be honest, they are nit-picks. That is purely because this build is incredibly well executed. The Pelican is an icon of Halo and it is clear to me that the Mega team pulled no punches when it came to developing this set. The new scale for the Pelican feels much more authentic than builds we have seen in the past, and the added details combined with the use of newer pieces to capture specific angles really make this the best Pelican which has been released to date. I genuinely don’t know how they would top this one in the future – but I am interested to see them try!
What do you think of Pelican Inbound? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned for more from us in the near future. Also make sure you check out my YouTube review, linked below, for an even better look at this set in action.
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