The Toy Box: October 2012

Canadian born Todd McFarlane made a big splash in the US when he joined Marvel Comics in the 1980's, but never planned to be a comic artist, let alone one of the most famous.

McFarlane who was attending Eastern Washington University on a baseball scholarship suffered a career ending ankle injury in his junior year which forced the young athlete to quickly find a new career. During his off seasons, McFarlane could be found working at a local comic shop in Spokane, Washington where his desire to doodle turned into a passion for drawing. The local shops quickly took notice, and soon McFarlane was selling his work publicly.

Though his most popular work to date are Spider-Man and Spawn, McFarlane actually started with a back up story for Epic Comics Coyote in 1984. From there he moved on to DC Comics where he began his first major project as the artist for Infinity, Inc. During that two year span, McFarlane also produced several Detective Comics for Batman during the "Year Two" period.

1987 saw the beginning of his career with Marvel Comics. While his first assignment was on The Incredible Hulk, McFarlane soon joined writer David Michelinie on The Amazing Spider-Man. It would be the beginning of history in the making.

McFarlane brought several changes not only to Spider-Man, but to the villains he commonly fought. If that weren't enough, McFarlane also is credited for creating Eddie Brock, more commonly known as Venom.

By 1990 McFarlane had grown tired of Spider-Man, or rather, other people's stories of Spider-Man, and announced that he would be leaving with issue 328. Editor Jim Salicrup was in no hurry to see him depart, and quickly offered McFarlane the opportunity to produce his own comic series simply entitled, "Spider-Man". Issue one has become one of the most iconic comics to date selling over 2.5 million copies, and seeing a multiple cover/reprint run, to and include the infamous "Platinum Edition" which write off the press sold for $500.00 to $1000.00.

Unfortunately, by issue number sixteen of this hot new title, McFarlane was tired of the ever increasing creative difficulties with new editor Danny Fingeroth. He left the series, turning it over to his soon to be business partner, Erik Larsen.

In 1992, McFarlane, along with six other of the hottest comic artists of their time (Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Rob Leifeld, etc.) formed Image Comics. Their goal was to have 100% creative input and control of their newly created comic titles. It was a gamble for everyone, a huge success for some, and major loss for others.

Despite Image Comics major success with the public, its fortune was built on hype, and once readers started getting their fill of Image Comics, several titles started disappearing as it became obvious that people weren't going to buy books simply based on the names of the artists behind them if the stories weren't any good or the characters all that memorable. Fortunately for McFarlane, Spawn didn't fall into this category, and quickly became one of the highest selling comic titles of all time.

With success in hand, and a huge influx of cash in his pocket, McFarlane began branching out in the industry. One such leap was into his own toy company, Todd Toys, which would later become the company it is today, McFarlane Toys. Todd Toys was unlike any other toy company out there. Rather than focus on 3 3/4 inch figures, the company produced larger six to eight inch figures which allowed them to focus on and deliver highly detailed sculpts. Each figure became its own piece of art, and as a result comic fans soon became toy fans, and the secondary market exploded.

****A Note Before We Dig In****

Collecting Spawn toys is no easy challenge. While we've compiled a very thorough list of every known figure out there, we admit openly that this does not include a photo of every single variation of said figures that has been found. Some figures can have upwards of ten to twelve different variants. This is due in part to very small changes in sculpts to the figures and packed in accessories. Some even include slight paint changes, while others are simple production errors that people consider to be a mass produced variant. We don't know how many variant figures exist for each figure, nor could we honestly say any one person out there does, to and include Todd McFarlane himself. However, we have chosen to show some of the more commonly known ones.

Series one launched in 1994 and featured six figures. McFarlane ensured he got his money's worth from each scuplt by way of multiple repacks, repaints and altered exclusives. To say the company capitalized on the eagerness of fans to spend money on any variation of figures would be an understatement. In fact, the company thrived on it.

This is where all the repainting started. It would become a staple in the series to a point that if a series didn't have a second wave of repainted figures fans got worried that a new series wouldn't follow.

At the time of its production, "Hamburger Head" Spawn, which is the repainted version of the original Spawn figure, was one of the most highly sought after figures on the market. Fans loved the repaints which they deemed to be "chase" figures.

As series two began production, McFarlane Toy re-released the repainted versions of the figures in the newly designed "Lightning Package". This would become the new look for the line which would last through the forth series.

Right from the start McFarlane created his own Collectors Club which was a way for fans to get exclusive figures not available at local retail stores. At first the club only offered a "Worm Head" Spawn which was nothing more than "Hamburger Head" Spawn with newly added worms, and a black Violator. With their popularity, Necroplasm Spawn was added to the mix. Red Violator as show below is actually a Japanese exclusive that wouldn't be available in the US until later, and in very different packaging (See series two).

With the huge success of Spawn both in comic and toy format, other companies were eager to get in on the exclusive business, though due to the supply versus the demand, these all comprised of repainted versions of the already released figures.

KB Toys went excessively overboard with their complete first series run of gold figures.

Series one would be only one of two series that would include vehicles, and the only series to include a playset. McFarlane caught on fast that if you were going to incorporate "silly" accessories into an adult themed series that weren't "cannon", they wouldn't be popular nor sell.

Series two brought with it female figure love. For some reason in the world of action figures, female characters always seem to get short packed. This was apparently the case with Angela who quickly became a fan favorite, and skyrocketed in price on the secondary markets. Some fans were quick to point out that the character had no panties on, which was quickly rectified by McFarlane Toys so as to avoid any bad publicity. We don't personally think there were any intentions behind the original non underwear wearing figure. McFarlane Toys probably didn't expect to find that so many fans were raging perverts, and therefore didn't deem it necessary to invest the money on sculpting/painting underwear.

Another of the most commonly known variants is Angela with a pink ribbon staff. However, there are several more variations of Angela that contain little variations to her staff. Combined with the panty/no panty figure, this makes for one heck of a hunt for variation chasers.

Series two was also the first series to branch off from Spawn by including another Image character, Badrock. While this wouldn't happen often, other series in the line have included other Image Comic characters.

Commando Spawn is another one of those figures in the series that has more variants than it should. Several variations exist with minute changes to the accessories packed in.

Pilot Spawn has become a collector's nightmare. It is a figure that offers a huge challenge to completest due to the multiple changes in production runs to the emblem on his chest. Silver, red, blank, and even hand drawn emblems have been found by collectors around the world. Add in a color change to green for the scope over the figures eye, and you double the amount of variants that could possibly exist.

Some of the repainted figures offer such a small change from the original that they can be a little difficult to spot for unseasoned collectors. However, in the case where a figure gets a complete overhaul, such as Commando Spawn in his newly painted camouflage look, and Pilot Spawn which was painted completely white, you can see that there are some that are incredibly easy to differentiate between.

The Collectors Club exclusives released with series two were Angela fans dreams come true. Heavenly Fire Angela, a Pewter version, and a repainted red version were hot items for 2005. US buyers also got the chance to nab up the recently Japanese exclusive red Violator who now came packed in a rather generic black package.

KB Toys continues their run of gold painted exclusive figures. Though rather than tackling the entire series, this time around they chose only two.

Kmart jumped into the exclusive arena with their large two pack of series one's repainted Medieval Spawn and series two's original Malebolgia.

Target also received a large exclusive box which contained repainted versions of series one's Violator and series two's Commando Spawn.

The series rounded off with a numbered limited edition box set of Spawn and Violator from series one.

Series three of Spawn included some of the most popular characters produced in the 90's. Cosmic Angela, The Curse, Redeemer, and the all new sculpted Violator II were quick to become fan favorites.

Interesting about series three is that while there were a set of repainted figures produced, they were all exclusive to Spain.

You'll notice that the Diamond exclusive green painted Cosmic Angela doesn't come in the same packaging as the regular series three figures. That is because this particular figure wasn't actually produced until 2007. Since it does however relate to this particular line, we've chosen to list it here.

Puzzle Zoo offered an exclusive white Vertebreaker figure through their online store.

Two new repainted figures from series three were produced for the Collectors Club - Though they were not as popular as the prior series release of Angela exclusives.

A medium size peg box of Future Spawn was produced during series three, as was its repainted counterpart.

McFarlane got the final part of his lesson in vehicles during series three when the company produced the ridiculous Air Cycle and Violator Chopper. After the failure of these two items, the company never released another vehicle during the 34 series run. The Battle Horse was the only "vehicle" that fans received with open arms. All three can be found either with a figure packed in, or without any figure inside. These versions represented are those that came with a figure. The vehicle and figure combinations are as follows;

Air Cycle with Pilot Spawn
Vilator Chopper with Violator
Battle Horse with (white) Medieval Spawn

With the success of Violator II in series three, McFarlane Toys found the value in revisiting prior released figures that didn't necessarily meet fan standards. As a result, series four saw quite a few resculpted figures.

Though Exo-Skeleton Spawn can be found with both a gray and tan bone covering, neither is considered a repaint. Rather the repaint is a white bone version as seen below.

The Maxx and Shadowhawk (of their own self titled Image books) made an appearance in series four, and quickly became fan favorites. The Maxx was released with both a black and white Isz, but like Exo-Skeleton Spawn, neither of these is considered a repaint, rather a production variant.

What became interesting about the Spawn series around series four was that the repaints actually started to be better than the original run. While this wasn't the case for all the figures, it was certainly felt that way by a good portion of fans for the majority of them. Not only did the figures get a recoat of paint, but some got more detail in it.

Though Violator II wasn't a part of series four, the figure was repainted and included with its repaints. While the name on the package simply said Violator II, the figure became known around the collector world as Cyber-Violator (II) based on its design.

FAO Schwarz offered one of the most popular store exclusives to date in the series - The Maxx. Though the figure was no different than the basic figure from the line, it included a total of four Iszs - Two black and two white.

When McFarlane saw that fans were Isz crazy, he released a club exclusive pack of them which also contained a single red colored Isz.

Series five once again saw an overhaul to the packaging, a change that was for the better. A large, colorful banner now adorned the top of each package, which complimented the figure inside nicely.

The series also saw the continuation of "II's". Meaning, older figures continued to be revamped. As the company continued to grow and mature, there became a need to continue bringing the older figures up to the new standards of the company.

Series 6 brought with it a continuation of female character fan love in the form of Tiffany. Much like Cosmic Angela, fans were eager to swoop up every version of Tiffany made available, and boy were there a ton of variations - Due in part mostly to the sword changing from gold to silver, coupled with slight packaging variations.

The popular Super Patriot figure made its debut in series six. An interesting change to this figure was that the first version released contained his name displayed in an American flag type lettering color scheme. The second version was the standard yellow text.

Two years after series six, the Collectors Club revisited the Tiffany figure with an all new special limited edition version. Much like the basic figure, this version was highly sought after by collectors.

Puzzle Zoo offered an amazing reissue of the Sansker figure, and the difference from the basic figure and repaint are well worth noting. This particular version had a "human like" head.

Three different versions of the medium size peg boxed Mutant Spawn were produced.

Series seven utilized the same packaging design as five and six, but changed the color from a glowing green to a bright orange. With it came the fan favorite Sam and Twitch two pack. This unique pack featured both figures for the same "low" price as a single figure.

A nice change to series seven was that when the repaints were released, the sticker at the bottom right of the front of the package changed. This helped collectors to easily spot the difference from the originals.

Two boxed figures of Spawn III were released. The first came packed with an owl, while the second was packed with a wolf. Beyond that, there are no differences to the figure itself.

Despite its very different package design, this club Exclusive Spawn III was produced in the same year as its original boxed series seven version.

Series eight of Spawn is a milestone in and of itself by way that it was the last consecutive series to be released simply under the guise of "Spawn". While other series would return to this basic title, the majority of the remaining thirty-four series contained some form of sub title.

The packaging color once again changed, but kept the same overall design. This time it switched from the newly established bright orange to a nice bluish glow.

Note the demons which accompany Grave Digger. They would become an individual exclusive through the Collectors Club (see below).

The repainted figures were especially easy to spot as this time around the sticker at the bottom right said, "2nd Edition" right on it.

As we mentioned above, the demons packed in with Grave Digger became their own Collectors Club exclusive in the Demons pack, or "Bag of Demons" as it is more commonly referred to by collectors. The bag contained only the darker colored versions which were released with the repainted Grave Digger figure.

Manga Spawn would become the first sub titled series, and one of the furthest leaps from the series design as it had come to be known for. The series was so unique that helped to draw in new fans of the toys who would appreciate the venture from the "norm".

The package design feels "futuristic" in a way. The bright blue stretches above each letter of the word "Manga" almost resemble something you would see in "The Matrix" films. Overall, this is personally one of our favorite packaging designs in the entire series.

As a whole, the series has the majority of variant figures distributed around its multiple characters. Most of these are due to slight paint changes during production.

There are almost just as many repaint variations as there are of the original released versions.

The series nine exclusives stepped up the packaging design by leaps and bounds. The newly produced acrylic cases not only made for nice packaging, but fantastic display pieces. This particular packaging design would be used a few more times during the series run, but not nearly as much as it could have been.

Series ten continued the Manga Spawn line, changing the package from its bright blue and pink colors to variation of greens. This is personally one of our least favorite packages. Even though it keeps the same overall design of our favorite, series nine, there is simply too much green here for us. There seems to be no attempt at being creative with it.

An interesting thing to note about series ten is that there are no repaints with the exception of the boxed versions which weren't released until way further down the line.

The Walmart exclusive Manga Spawn Robots wouldn't be released until 2004 - six years after the series debuted.

A mass released repainted version of the set was released shortly after the exclusive version.

Series eleven would be the first release of Dark Ages Spawn figures. This motif would be revisited several times during the remaining line, often times being followed with yet another sub title.

The series had almost a "brutal" feel to each figure, and once again helped to draw in toy collectors who weren't necessarily Spawn fans. Spawn The Dark Ages was a series that focused on Lord Covenant, a 12th Century knight killed in a holy crusade far from his homeland, who returns to Earth as a Hellspawn.

Slight production changes caused a fair amount of variations in the series.

The large Poacher figure was too big to fit into your standard bubble packaging without making it ridiculously oversized. It was nice to see McFarlane Toys use the beautiful acrylic casing when the figure was released.

Series twelve was the final series to be released simple entitled as "Spawn". The series was so large that looking back, in and of itself it seems like it could have been one giant "send off" party for the once single named series.

The packaging took on a very dark tone, utilizing very dark background colors with bright orange lettering surrounded by a white border. The package lacked that certain "excitement" that prior series visually had.

The figures themselves were rather dark, painted mostly with dull blacks and grays.

Different for this series was that the repaints weren't released across retail chains. Instead they were Diamond Exclusives, and not all the figures were produced with a new look.

The boxed Cy-Gor 2 was a nice figure in that it finally allowed the character the space it needed for its sheer size. The figure was originally confined to standard packaging which meant that it had to be shrunken down to coincide with the scale of the other figures. Cy-Gor 2 did not suffer this manufacturing flaw, and shows off the characters giant frame.

Arsenal of Doom would be the final acrylic case produced, and was also a Toys R' Us exclusive (with the exception of Spiked Spawn which was released with the Spawn: The Movie line). We would have really liked to see more figures released this way, but sadly there were none.

The Collectors Club kicked their exclusives up a notch with the Terry Fitzgerald and Todd the Artist figures.

In what seemed like a breath of new life, series thirteen would be the start of the road to a whole new era of Spawn. The days of Al Simmons and his plight against Malebolgia seemed far behind the series, but would be revisited with sprinkles of exclusives here and there, and in spades during the early 20's series.

With the exception of production changes and exclusives, this series contained no repaints.

Toxic Studios released a trio of pewter and gold exclusives.

The final release in the series was the large, boxed Desiccator figure.

Series fourteen returned to the Dark Ages line, and with it came the typical second wave of repaints.

The packaging had watercolor look to it with a redish skull at the top left. The fade effect on the title helps to compliment the overall look and feel of the package design.

Mandarin Spawn was re-released with a different paint job as a McFarlane Show exclusive. A McFarlane Show exclusives were figures that were produced to be sold at events that representatives from McFarlane Toys attended. They were not show specific, but rather sold from show to show until they ran out.

In 1999 the Collectors Club offered the exclusive Cogliostro figure. In 2000, a repainted version was offered, as was the Bag of Dragons. Because the repaint and Dragons fit into this line, we've included them here.

Series sixteen - Techno Spawn, is one of the smallest series to date (if not the smallest). The line was very confined to six figures, and two repaints.

If series fifteen is one of the smallest to date, then series sixteen is definitely one of the larger. For only having four figures, there were so many variations made.

Changing from the normally vertical rectangular packaging, the series went with a rectangular horizontal package. This was incorporated because for the Nitro Riders series, each figure came packed with its own bike.

We really like the logo for the series, but the remainder of the package leaves little to desire. The change from a vertical package to a horizontal one is a nice touch, and certainly helps to mix things up in the line.

On top of the regular release of the figures, collectors had the opportunity to chase down pewter versions of the characters.

If that wasn't enough for you, there were even harder to find gold versions.

Stacked on top of all of that, the heads were slightly resculpted, and pewter and gold versions were also made available as Collectors Club exclusives.

Yet another version of Eclipse 5000 was produced as a McFarlane figure show exclusive.

Finally, for those lucky enough, there was also a preview version of Eclipse 5000 which came sealed in a back with a fold over cardboard top. His bike was not included.

Series seventeen returns to the root of Spawn under the guise of Spawn Classics, offering collectors both new and old to the series an opportunity to get a fair amount of the original Spawn characters. It’s also the first series to actually have an Al Simmons character.

The header for this package is amazing, and really captures the feel of the comic.

We love what McFarlane Toys has done with the repaints for this series by way of putting them in their own unique packaging.

As a throw back to the series, McFarlane Toys produced the awesome box set which featured Spawn One and Five. The one represents Spawn as he looked at the beginning of the series, and the five represents the latest incarnation of Spawn. It was released in both a version with a window, and without.

For the first time, fans were also able to get their hands on Al Simmons’ widow Wanda and daughter Cyan. Though the figures don't offer much in terms of "play", they do offer a sense of completeness to the series.

Once again, a select lucky few were able to get their hands on a preview version of Medieval Spawn which came packed in a bag with a sealed folded over cardboard top.

Here today, gone tomorrow was series 18, Interlink 6. This very confined series encompassed six figures which could be combined to create one giant figure - A salute to Voltron of sorts.

Dark Ages Spawn returned in series nineteen with the sub title The Samurai Wars. The figures and packages had a very Japanese style look and feel to them, and added a nice new level of change to the line. The series contained five basic figures and no repaints.

A large boxed figure, as well as a two pack of basic figures was released during the series.

During the line, an exclusive accessory pack was released via the Collectors Club. In 2002 - one year later, a repainted Lotus Angel Warrior was also released through the club. The figure was packaged in the standard PVC packaging which many companies utilize today for their toys.

Very few action figure lines live long enough to see a fifth series, let alone series twenty which McFarlane toys quickly produced in 2001. Even if the series stopped here, it would be one of the longest running series to date produced by McFarlane Toys (Halo would be the other).

Spawn Classics 2 brought with it a unique packaging design for each figure, and the double "XX" to show the milestone twentieth series was a nice added touch. The figures themselves are some of the best sculpts and paint jobs of these now iconic/classic characters.

Rather than call them "Repaints", McFarlane Toys opted to call the re-released second production of figures "Specialty Figures". These were the same figures with slight differences sculpts, paint jobs and accessories.

Much like the boxed Cy-Gor figure from series twelve, the boxed Overkill allowed the figure to show its sheer size in comparison to the regular characters. Combined with a fantastic sculpt and paint job, this really is one of the best classic figures.

To finish off the era of classic characters, McFarlane Toys released Jason Wynn through the Collectors Club. It was the crowning piece for all the "original" figures.

Spawn and McFarlane Toys were back to business in 2002 with the new Alternate Realities series, aka series twenty-one. With this series came the most drastic change to the overall packaging design to date. Rather than continue to be produced on cardboard bubble packs, the figures now came in the standard PVC packaging more commonly utilized for "large" figures these days. As a nice added touch, each package was designed specifically for the figure inside, leaving no two packages alike.

Though there were five figures, only three were repainted and re-released.

A boxed Spawn VII figure was released across retail stores. While the figure was a nice design of Spawn sitting on a throne of sorts, it didn't necessarily match the look and feel of the Alternate Realities figures produced for the line. The figure seemed "thrown" in.

Diamond Distributors released a pewter Raven Spawn.

Towards the tail end of the series, the Collectors Club featured the fan favorite Biker Chick.

Series twenty-two brought collectors back to the Dark Ages Spawn, this time under the sub title The Viking Age. The "DA" series was quickly becoming a fan favorite because it seemed to allow the line to stray the furthest from the comic book. This in turn really helped to bring in new collectors and fans.

Six figures were produced, all in their own unique PVC packaging. There were no repaints with the exception of the one San Diego Comic Con exclusive (see below).

Spawn the Blood Axe was released as a pewter San Diego Comic Con exclusive in 2002.

A box set of Spawn the Blood Axe and his horse Thunderhoof was released retail wide with the basic figures.

Urizen is by far one of the most frustrating Collectors Club exclusives for fans. Sure it was easy to get your hands on the packed figure, and to an extent still is today. However, several fans clambered to be one of the few who would recieve a limited edition signed version by Todd McFarlane. McFarlane signed only forty figures, ten of each in a different color (red, blue, green, black). To have a complete set of five is to have the holy grail of Spawn collections.

Five figures and no repaints encompass series twenty-three - The Mutations line. This is probably our least favorite line. While it's a creative retake on some of the classic characters from the series, it doesn't seem all that necessary, and for us, doesn't add anything to the long running line.

A second version of Al Simmons was released, but the differences are very subtle between both versions.

For fans looking for an insurgence of Spawn, Spawn, and more Spawn, they need look no further than series twenty-four, The Classic Covers. Every figure was Spawn himself, and every package one was designed to resemble a classic cover of the comic book series.

The packaging was changed to now be a single bubble that showcased the figure in full glory. The only obstructions were the transparent sticker which showcased the series name, and the black warning label. All and all, its a well put together set, and serves the purpose of giving its nod to its origins (the comics) perfectly.

Each figure was known simply as the comic number it represented.

While there are no repaints, the series received a resculpt, and an entire new run as Walmart exclusives. The packages were also slightly altered to now include a banner logo.

If the basic figures are nice, then the Walmart exclusives are beautiful. They are so much more amazing than the basic set, and the basic set itself is nothing to scoff at.

Spawn i.98 which is a boxed version of Spawn with his horse is a nice added touch to the series which rounds it off perfectly.

One final figure was made available exclusively through the Collectors Club.

With the huge success of the Classic Covers line, McFarlane Toys was eager to capitalize on it once more with series twenty-five. This time the series branched off of Spawn himself, and incorporated other characters from the series.

The package design went back to the standard PVC packaging utilized in prior series, and once again ensured that each figure had its own uniqe packaging.

The boxed figure for this series of figures was The Creeech.

Walmart returned with its own exclusive set of the basic figures.

To the dismay of collectors, Walmart requested that McFarlane Toys alter the Sam figure who initially had cigarettes in his mouth to now have toothpicks in it.

Biker Chick returned to the Collectors Club in an all new package sporting a repaint.

With the Classic Covers figures selling so well, McFarlane Toys jumped into a new series of Spawn with series twenty-six. They dubbed the series, "The Art of Spawn".

The packaging was unique to each figure, and had a certain amount of "charm" to it. The subtle use of colors helped it to stand out as a somewhat prestige collection of figures.

Some fans were becoming disheartened that the series was turning more into a collection of plastic statues than action figures, and to an extent their complaints were valid. The points of articulation were slowly but surely disappearing from the line, however this seemed like the point of this particular series. They seemed designed more so to be on display than "played" with.

Billy Kincaid made his plastic debut via the Collectors Club.

Two years after the line, McFarlane Toys returned to create the Collectors Club exclusive Spawn i.7 - Though it was no more than a repainted version of the basic figure which was released with the series initial launch.

Series twenty-seven continued, but was also the last Art of Spawn series. With the series came an amazing sculpt of Clown as well as a fantastic Wanda figure. The two were definitely the highlight of the series, though with that said there were some impressive versions of Spawn released as well.

Diamond Distributors offered an exclusive three pack of Spawn figures which encompassed three different series of toys.

The series concluded with the highly controversial Spawn i.30 figure through the Collectors Club as well as a nicely repainted version of Clown who was originally released in the basic series.

Spawn Regenerated returned the series back to its action figure ways with series twenty-eight. As if hearing the cries of collectors who didn't want mini, plastic statues, McFarlane Toys released an awesome wave of figures upon them.

The figures inside were amazing, as was the unique packaging for each of them.

Its interesting to note that the Mandarin Spawn figure is packaged in a completely different package than the remaining five figures in the series.

For those who missed out on the exclusive Urizen in 2002, the opportunity arose again with the new boxed set which also contained a Spawn figure.

Spawn Evolutions coincided with issue 150 of the comic series which introduced an all new Spawn, new characters, and story arch. Series twenty-nine was a great opportunity for these new characters to stand in their plastic spotlights.

Six figures were produced on unique PVC packaging. No repaints were produced for this series.

Series thirty was an interesting take in the world of Spawn. McFarlane Toys imaged the toys in the likeness of a Saturday morning cartoon, and spun a whole series around the premise. Mind you, there was no such Saturday morning cartoon, nor has there been to date. However, if there were, we're sure that The Adventures of Spawn would have been a fun cartoon to watch.

The series featured six classic characters all in a very interestingly shaped PVC package. Though the packaging was bland, the bright, vibrant colors screamed "cartoon series".

Prior to the series ending a Collectors Club exclusive of Lord Mammon was produced. Two different versions were packaged, one with a human head, and one with an alien head, though in a sense either package came with both options via removable heads and limbs. We don't personally see any rarity in either version from the other.

Series thirty-one brought a take on the world of Spawn with a depiction of characters "Hellspawned." The Other Worlds series of toys encompasses the world of Spawn from comics both old and new.

2007 also brought with it the opportunity for Collectors Club members to get their hands on a figure not available since the first series - Necroplasm Spawn.

The Adventures of Spawn returned for a second series in series thirty-two. Seven all new figures were produced, including a chase variant of Tremor for the collectors who love a good hunt.

The packaging was updated from the prior "animated" series which now displayed a circular logo with the figure's name inside.

The Philbiac Brothers was a nice multi packed offer from the Collectors Club which complimented the series nicely.

Age of Pharaohs brought a whole new take on the Spawn universe in series thirty-three with some really amazing figures based on an Egyptian theme. Though with it came a very bland orange and yellow packaging.

Six figures were produced for the line.

The final series of Spawn as of 2009 is Spawn Classics. This small four figure set brings an updated look at four figures from prior lines in the thirty-three series available.

Since series thirty-four there has been no official word that the Spawn line was cancelled, but to disheartened fans it has been three years without so much as a single exclusive or anniversary edition.

The final Collectors Club exclusive was released in 2008, and while it has come to be known as Santa Spawn to the collectors of Spawn, its official name is Best of Spawn.

McFarlane Toys struck gold when it was first established in 1994, and since them has risen to the top of the action figure world to become the fifth largest manufacturer of toys in the United States. That's an impressive stance for an owner who was nothing more than a comic book artist with a dream.

While we have long since stopped reading Spawn comic books, we'd be lying if we said we never wanted to see a series thirty-five and beyond of figures. Regardless of our reading preferences, McFarlane’s Spawn line has always seemed to be a staple in our collections since day one. It was a series that shaped the new Millennium of action figures, and to this day still leads the pack in producing high quality little plastic treasures.

No word was ever officially given that the series was cancelled, so Spawn could certainly return at some point, picking up right where it left off. For those of you who stil need more Spawn, you can also check out the small movie based line, as well as the Reborn series (1-3). We didn't touch on those here because neither are actually a part of the series 1-34 covered here, but rather their own stand alone series. We're sure we'll get to them at some point, but for now, we thank you for joining us in what may very well be our longest post to date. We thank all the readers of this site for joining us weekly to read each new post, and for giving us the opportunity to bring to you this most frequently requested post. We hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as we have enjoyed presenting it to you.

Join us next time when we take a look at Charmed!

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October 2012 Recap

Spawn (McFarlane Toys)