The original ODSTs were awesome, but the armor got in the way of their articulation. The Rookie, yeah, his wrists sucked. It seems they fixed those problems with the harder plastic used on the joints in the latter figures though. I love the look of the Reach ODSTs, but hate the articulation.
I'm happy with McHalo figures. Leave them at that scale. Yeah, it'd make things easier, but would suck for us fans that have a hundred or so figures already. With Halo, Walking Dead, and now Assassin's Creed, I think they're fine in their own lil' 5" scale niche.
As for the custom, lol(sorry, got sidetracked), looks awesome, but a bit to slim for my tastes. Might just be the body you used, but reminds me of Forward unto Dawn and the "kids" that were all suited up and supposed to be marines.