Reviews (1)

Great looking figure, but not very durable
Having recently decided to once again start collecting figures, McFarlane's Spawn was of course one of the first franchises to pop into my head. McFarlane's figures have always been great. Curse of the Spawn lives up to that criteria, but isn't devoid of problems.

The Spawn: Reborn line, which is a collection of previously released figures with new details/modifications and paint jobs is a great new line of figures. Curse of the Spawn is a menacing, vile and yet awesome piece to display. Everything from the detail of the skin and armor to the tattered and worn cape flowing from the back just give the figure a distinctive look. There's peg holes in the back of the fig, probably from the previous sculpt, where you could actually put the wings from the 'Wings of Redemption' figure.

Unfortunately, as i've stated before, McFarlane toys have a severe problem: durability. This figure broke before I even got it out of the packaging. The spines on Spawn's left arm caught the edge of the plastic and tore right out, and had to be super-glued back in. The axe weapon that it comes with had a small piece break off after being dropped no more than a foot. The axe also does not fit into the hand, and im utterly afraid of forcing it in there because of what else might happen to the figure if I do.

As is usual with almost all McFarlane figures, these are meant as display pieces, and they are great display pieces at that. The problem is that its just not a very durable figure. Once you have it set up the way you want, touching it is basically out of the question. This is in no way a bad figure...its a great piece and one of my favorites all around, but im just disappointed at how quickly it broke. It wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed, but it was irritating, to say the least.

Collectors, by all means, pick it up. Its a great fig. Don't let my negative experience scare you off! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Some key alterations in the Swat Spawn from the cover of #64
I am sure that I am not alone in going back and comparing the various figures in the Spawn 24 series from McFarlane Toys. The obvious general comment is that in most of these cases the toy goes into considerably more detail than what was drawn on the original cover. For example, the Swat Spawn from issue #64 has most of his body in shadows or extending beyond the frame of the cover. The original cover art was penciled Greg Capullo, with Chance Wolf and Todd McFarlane providing the inks. For example, there is no clue what Spawn's right arm was doing, which makes this pose an interesting choice.

But there are also a couple of interesting omissions. The first, of which nothing can be done, is that you do not have the whisp of smoke coming out of the barrel of the large handgun (or the burning "bullet" holes in the wall behind him, for that matter). However, the second is the more interesting one, because on the cover of "Spawn" #64 the figure clearly has "666" written on the helmet over the visor. Gee, can you imagine any reason why they might have made that change before marketing this particular Spawn figure? To be fair, in "Checkmate," the story of issue #64, when Spawn dons the disguise for Wynn's SWAT team, he does not have any number on his helmet. This was an interesting choice to be included in this series, inspired by the cover art of "Spawn" and some of its related titles. My only serious complaints are that the "gold" parts of the outfit should be a little brighter, so there is more of a contrast with the metalic blue-grey parts, and that Spawn's eyes, the only part of his iconic image that you can really see, need to stand out just a tap more. Personally, I think it would have been more interesting to see a trio of these figures as a SWAT team chasing down Spawn (my favorite from the series is the issue #43, which has considerably more detail than the original cover art).

Oh, and how are these "educational"? Well, they inspire kids to go back and read the original comic book don't they? DON'T THEY? I know I did, because otherwise I would have not caught some of the differences. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great Figures!
All I have to say is that these two toys look awesome. I have never seen better detail on any other action figures. If you're looking to play with these figures, then don't buy these. But then again, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO PLAY WITH THESE? They look awesome! I have them next to my keyboard and they look slick.

Everyone should get these guys.

nonsence
(...) It just shows he lacks any artistic understanding. These are fabulous toys/sculputers. Exellent interpretetion of the comics, gorgeous colors. When i first got my hands on it i couldn't put it down. Its a beatiful peace of art work, thats what it is. And no, it is not meant for overgrown man who need to manipulate their toys into one form or the other, it is meant to be as is, fabulous sculpture combination and pose and stunning, very correct color.
I hope the McFarlane people make some more, i am so looking forward to adding to my newly found collection.

Good for display, but not much for action
Although they're the first set of Sam & Twitch action figures McFarlane Toys has put out in almost a decade, and their painstakingly crafted likeness are based on some surreally goofy artwork from the cover of one of their books (check it out at www.spawn.com/comics/cover.aspx?bookid=15-22-13-0), I found myself less than impressed by this plasticized incarnation of my fave four-color detectives. For starters, articulation (poseability) is very limited. Sam (the morbidly obese guy sittin' on the stool with three cigarettes in his mouth) can only rotate his right arm just above the elbow, and both feet above the ankles. Twitch can rotate his head, arms at the shoulders, wrists, and feet just above the ankles. Sam can't be put in any kind of meaningful pose, and all Twitch can do is raise an arm to point one of his ludicrously long-barreled revolvers at a perp, a la "Dirty Harry". 'Course, seein' as how these guys were sculpted and produced by McFarlane Toys, a company whose products are geared towards collectors who usually want something to display rather than play with, this lack of limberness is to be expected...

One other problem I have with this pair is the paint job, especially the details on Sam. While both figures were given a sorta sepia-toned paint job to reflect their 'pulp-crime-noir' roots, at least the flesh tones on Twitch's face and hands are somewhat normal. Sam on the other hand looks like he's just come off of his moonlighting job as a chimney sweep! I'm also not too cool with the work they did on Sam's face that was done to imitate the shading effects you see in the artwork. The big guy looks like he's got a huge shiner covering most of his right face around the eye, while the area around the left eye is a ghastly shade of stark white. Personally, I think they shoulda just left his face alone, made his flesh tones similar to that of his partner, and allowed me to provide my own shading & lighting effects (i.e. an incandescent lamp).

Final note: apparently the rumor that the hobby store version of this toy (Sam with three cigarettes hangin' from his mouth) would be slightly different than the one that was to hit the retail shelves (toothpicks substituted for the cigarettes) isn't true. The big guy definitely was puffin' on the coffin nails in the set I saw at a local Toys 'R' Us I visited the other day...

'Late ... Read more