Halo 3 Deluxe Master Chief Costume

I didn't want to write a review for this item, but the workmanship of this item was so poor that I needed to let people know what this item entails. Be warned: this suit needs to be prepped prior to wearing - give yourself some time to properly customize this suit to fit you right, and to reglue and retie broken hooks and ties.

Prior to purchasing this item, I spent a great deal of time researching this costume. This costume got great ratings and feedbacks from almost every website, and so I decided to get this Halo Supreme Edition suit by Rubies as a Christmas present for me. Now I wish I didn't. Lets start with the positive things about this suit...First, it's a decent replica of Halo Master Chief's suit. Second, I got it from Amazon for less than the suggested retail price. Third, free shipping from Amazon was awesome - fast and the box arrived in great condition ;)

Now, the bad news. First, this suit was made in China and it shows ;#. The ABS plastic is downright cheap and painful...alot of the edges are rough and have not been sanded down. The velcro used to attach the pieces are badly glued...glue marks are every where. On some of the gear items, the velcro could not hold together because plastic panels were rivoted badly. My leg and thigh pieces that are put together differently...inconsistent overlapping of panels, exposed seams, and poor rivoting. I'm not an expert on ABS armor manufacturing, but man, where's the quality control inspector? It's brutal. And yes, the quilted jump suit is hot - be warned - you need to have long torso and short leg to fit this jump suit. I'm 5'10", 44R chest, 33R pants, 180 lbs, and athletic built, and this jumpsuit was a little long for me.

I'm glad I bought this item early - got 10 more months until Halloween. I have time to tailor the jumpsuit to fit me right...might have to convert the jump suit into a two-piece suit, add more velcro patches, and install a zipper in the front of the pants for those quick restroom stops. In addition, I need to reglue some of the broken hooks and re-rivot the various armor panels the right way. This is more than what I originally had in mind.

The bottom line is that you might not get that awesome suit you see on the box. It may require some sweat and cash to make it right...so, give yourself some time. Hope this review helps.

The costume is awesome, don't get me wrong. It is a good replica of the real concept, albeit with a vinyl jumpsuit and Chinese-made ABS plastic.
The suit looks and feels good, or rather, the armor pieces are a good representation of what you'd wear in a replica suit.
The cod-piece strap broke after a day of trying on, luckily i had a glue gun and quickly repaired. Also, many of the straps to attach the armor pieces seemed...flimsy. Like it was too easy to tear off. It was obvious they used some sort of industrial glue, or maybe just a glue gun, but it seemed to not withstand some forces (e.g., pulling, wrapping around body, etc.). I'd recommend a much stronger adhesive for keeping the strap mounts on the armor pieces.
The helmet was really good, although the manner of holding/mounting the battery compartment (for the LED lights) to the helmet seems odd and not the most secure.
Lastly, the jumpsuit. I HIGHLY recommend incorporating some/many ventilation "cuts" into the jumpsuit. I probably sweat far too much of my body's water weight through the jumspuit (over the course of 2 nights). I actually went ahead and cut several "slashes" into the jumpsuit in hope of allowing some air to come through the suit. HIGHLY RECOMMEND all-over ventilation of the jumpsuit.
And WHY AREN'T THERE any pockets, ANYWHERE, on the suit?? Very easy to stitch on pockets.... I ended up wearing shorts w/pockets underneath the suit, and cut openings into the suit approximately where one's hands would go into the "pantleg" of a normal pant.

Overall though a great pickup. INSTANT HEAD-TURNER. Damn near universal recognition wherever i went. :)

Make the improvements i suggested, and you'll get a 5/5. 4/5 for now.
If you're still going to buy - keep a glue gun and other small tools available, to fix any small strap issues, etc.

This review is to add on to J. Luu's comment. I also did a lot of research and scouring of the internet on this suit... bottom line: out of the box the suit is crap. I'll go through step by step what I found wrong with the suit and what my impressions are so that I can better inform those who are looking to buy this.

The Helmet:
First opening the box the pieces that hold the lights on the side of the helmet were detached bouncing around in the box... one of the batteries (I'm surprised they even gave me batteries) was stuck inside the padding INSIDE the helmet. So I had to take the liner out to get it. The little box where the light sits is poorly made and I will have to epoxy the lights to the helmet and modify it so u can put the batteries from inside the helmet. If u move around too much quickly the lights can come off the helmet (don't need that happening when saving the universe!!) the visor... crap... total see through plastic... my suggestion is to pop it out... use a dremal tool and cut a gold mirror motorcycle visor for the design and then take another one and bond them together then install... (Double visor effect). Part of the plastic on the helmet was coming apart, so... bond that together. The actual size of your head has to be about the size of a watermelon in order to fit inside it; otherwise it is loose and rattles. Expect to put some foam or padding inside to make a snug fit.
Jumpsuit:
Very big! I'm about 5'10, 180 athletic build... too long for me and too much material on the sides. If u want to take the time and have it tailored to fit you if you need it, then that is the way to go. I scrapped the idea and went with an under armor top, bottom, and balaclava to cover the neck. I would recommend dark sneakers or combat boots for the shoe covers.
The Armor:
Paint job to my expectations is terrible. I would suggest if you're good at paints Google or YouTube the paint jobs and make it custom. It will look a lot better or take it to an airbrush place and have them redo it. The plastic seems very thin and clunky. I'm thinking about putting some foam or cushion inside of it to make it less hollow. (When the pieces hit together you can tell it's a cheaper plastic). Hopefully the extra padding will make it fit better and dampen the sound. The gloves were better than I expected... good detail if u have really big hands or really small... you will have to make your own and modify. The forearm and bicep pieces and shoulder pieces are decent. I will put padding inside the forearm and same thing with the calf pieces. The thigh pieces are a little tricky. They don't sit very well and I am going to install extra clasps that fasten to the belt part to help hold them up. The little *pouches* it comes with to cover the belt straps are laughable, and fall off when you move. I would say instead of a clip on make it one solid piece and slide the strap through like a belt loop. Boot covers I thought were a little lacking, but when everything is on it you don't really notice. I don't like the Velcro they use to keep the chest piece and back piece together. (Two at the shoulders on top... and two on each side on the bottom) I'm not a big guy so the length of the straps doesn't help me... yup... modify again...

Summary:
All in all this costume is poorly made in my opinion; however it's a nice base to those who want to modify it to make it their own. If u don't have the programs... or the time... or the talent to use the materials to make you suit from scratch then this is the way for you. If you don't really care about the looks then you this is the costume for you. With a little bit of work and time you can make this suit shine. I will probably post pictures of when everything is finished. I'll be sure to post before and after pictures. And honestly for the price of these things you would expect to get more. If you go into this without high expectations you will not lose motivation.

hopefully this review has helped those ready to suit up... "There's two of us in here now, remember."