Halo - SPARTAN TANAKA!

Halo Universe Series: Wave 2 - Spartan Tanaka (Grunt Ultra BaF) - Mattel 2018

I have always found the Mattel handling of the Halo property to be very confusing. However, I just finally wrapped my head around how different waves and character assortments work. So far, each Wave of figures has had two assortments. I have dubbed Wave One the "Crawler Wave." The first six figures allowed you to build the "Alpha Crawler". Then the second assortment for Wave One had two characters swapped out. These new characters had different Build-a-Figure pieces (Head & Shoulders/Back) which allowed you to build a slight variation, the "Crawler Snipe." Wave Two I call the "Grunt Wave." The first assortment allowed you to build the "Imperial Grunt." Then the second assortment swapped out a whopping four characters and allowed you to build "Grunt Ultra." If this roadmap was laid out for collectors, I never saw it. I would just see new figures in stores and get really confused. But I admit it was also exciting to stumble across unexpected characters like Holly Tanaka. Let's check her out below!

Here is the summary of my wave research mentioned above:

WAVE 1 - CRAWLER WAVE

(Assortment A) ALPHA CRAWLER

(Assortment B) CRAWLER SNIPE

------

1 (AB) MASTER CHIEF (Pelvis - for Alpha Crawler or Crawler Snipe)

2 (AB) SPARTAN LOCKE (Chest/Neck - for Alpha Crawler or Crawler Snipe)

3 (AB) SPARTAN HELIOSKRILL (Front Legs - for Alpha Crawler or Crawler Snipe)

4 (A)  LINDA-058 (Head - for Alpha Crawler)

4 (B)  KELLY-087 (Head - for Crawler Snipe)

5 (A)  SPARTAN AIR ASSAULT (Shoulders - for Alpha Crawler)

5 (B)  FRED-104 (Shoulders - for Crawler Snipe)

6 (AB) ELITE ZEALOT (Hind Legs - for Alpha Crawler or Crawler Snipe)

WAVE 2 - GRUNT WAVE

(Assortment A) IMPERIAL GRUNT

(Assortment B) GRUNT ULTRA

*Note: the numbers on the cardback for Assortment B are labeled incorrectly. I've streamlined them here.

1 (AB) ATRIOX (Legs - for Imperial Grunt or Grunt Ultra)

2 (AB) MASTER CHIEF (Pelvis - for Imperial Grunt or Grunt Ultra)

3 (A)  JEROME-092 (Shoulders - for Imperial Grunt)

3 (B)  ODST (Shoulders - for Grunt Ultra)

4 (A)  SPARTAN BUCK (Torso - for Imperial Grunt)

4 (B)  ELITE WARRIOR (Torso - for Grunt Ultra)

5 (A)  ARBITER THEL 'VADAM (Arms - for Imperial Grunt)

5 (B)  IMPERIAL GRUNT FORERUNNER (Arms - for Grunt Ultra)

6 (A)  SPARTAN VALE (Head & Gun - for Imperial Grunt)

6 (B)  SPARTAN TANAKA (Head - for Grunt Ultra)

(None) SPARTAN LOCUS (Walgreens)

(None) SPARTAN FOTUS (Toys R Us)

Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!

From Left to Right: Linda-058, Spartan Vale, Kelly-087, Spartan Tanaka, and Spartan Locus.

Here is a composite image I threw together of all the stripped-down bucks. From Left to Right: Kelly-087, Linda-058, Spartan Vale, Spartan Tanaka, and Spartan Locus.

Cheers!