the art of spawn

When I was a serious collector of action figures, a trip to Silver Snail would always keep me abreast of what should be in stores if the stock room fanboys didn't always get their hands on them first. I was foremost a Star Wars collector, with Todd McFarlane's Spawn action figures as an occasional distraction.

While I was never much of a fan of his comic, I always respected McFarlane for approaching his property carefully. While Lucasfilm would stop at nothing to plaster Star Wars on any item under the sun (and essentially creating the action figure industry as we know it), McFarlane took complete creative control over his empire, making sure that branding of his hero was consistent across all media. The dark and often violent Spawn cartoon and the mediocre movie that essentially captured McFarlane's immature mentality was all under his direction and at least maintained his anti-hero's manufactured image.

However the action figures were where he really caught on to something amazing. Until McFarlane Toys, high quality action figures were almost unheard of; instead, you'd have to purchase a limited run 12" statuette for the same level of detail. McFarlane took this idea and mass produced figures that could easily be added to any kid's collection - as long as their parents didn't mind buying a toy drenched in blood or draped with human skulls - while still appealing to the serious collector, who wouldn't be ashamed of displaying them alongside conventional models or maquettes.

Maybe I'm giving the guy too much credit, but I see McFarlane's line of toys as a real watermark for quality and attention to detail, while still making them moderately posable. And he's since branched out into Sports action figures, movie-inspired figures and er..."original" concepts mostly following the same theme, but still of outstanding quality.

I've been out of the action figure game for some time now, and on a whim I decided to check out my local discount chain to see what was on the shelves for Christmas. I half expected to see empty racks in the action figures section, but when I came across some select members of Spawn Series 26: The Art of Spawn, I grabbed a couple that caught my eye knowing that I'd probably be paying twice the price at a hobby store or comic shop. The two figures up for discussion are Issue #7 and Issue #8.

Issue #8, which remains imprisoned in plastic, appears to have no points of articulation and resembles an immovable hunk of plastic. Which is fine, I suppose, considering the pose. However Issue #7, whom I removed, is most disappointing in its inarticulateness. I have a fascination with Spawn wielding really large weapons, and the Issue #7 figure only has rotatable forearms, which are basically useless. His posture is cast in stone, eliminating any ability to reposition his aim. His left hand is closed in a grip, making it impossible to fit the handle of the second weapon in without wrestling with the thankfully flexible plastic. And even the cape, which was molded to wrap around the lower half of his body, doesn't sit right on the ground, exposing his feet. It just looks weird. For a successful integrateion of posability and a completely over-the-top arsenal, see Spawn IV.

Not that I ever played with Spawn toys (cough), but the fact that I could re-pose them when the mood suited me was reassuring. And because no action figure is perfectly balanced - especially ones with this many attachments - the ability to adjust limb joints to get them to just stand was essential. Maybe the Art of Spawn series is meant to approach model quality, but for a mass market toy it's serverely limiting.

If you just look at them though, they truly are a sight to behold. Issue #7 perfectly captures the version of Spawn displayed on the cover. You really have to respect a toy manufacturer who is meticulous enough to recreate veins, musculature and real chains. I wouldn't call this my return to collecting Spawn action figures, but it seems that in the last few years McFarlane's ambitions for the series have changed in favour of the premium action figure collector.

half imagined