Adventures of Spawn, 2 - Action Figure Reviews

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Series

Adventures of Spawn, 2

Craftsmanship

8.0 / 10

- Very nice color and sculpting design

- Great variety of characters

- Poor articulation limits the ability to keep the figures "fresh"

Playability

6.0 / 10

- Solid and durable but practically no articulation

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Adventures of Spawn, 2

by McFarlane Toys

Maybe it’s been around for years, as far back as the original Batman: The Animated Series but it’s only now that I’m really seeing this style. After playing Team Fortress 2 for a great many hours over the last month (played in frantic bursts between other games) I’ve really come to appreciate this exaggerated animated style, where a simple silhouette lets you know exactly what and who you are looking at. At first, it felt like the Adventures of Spawn was a simple “Tonkafication” of the usually gory and ultra violent Spawn universe; something for kids. And really, they are aimed at kids, though that doesn’t explain the extremely limited articulation and the obvious concentration on making them display figures as each comes with a base to install them on. And even if they are aimed at kids the sculpting and design should have wider appeal beyond 12-year olds.

Creech

With this version of Creech I now have three versions of the figure – the original of which is partially responsible for my collection of action figures. Creech stands solidly on its disc base and it’s a damn good thing it looks so good – the bright solid colors are great – because there’s effectively no articulation, therefore no pose options. The “dreadlocks” are a bit bendy but that hardly makes up for it.

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Creech also lacks his usual wrist guns, which is a plus if a kid actually picks up the figure to play with since there’s nothing to break off.

Commando Spawn

Commando Spawn really makes me think how appropriate the Tonkafication moniker really is. Take a look at the oversized action figures that Tonka makes of firemen, policemen, etc. and tell

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me that Commando Spawn doesn’t remind you of those figures. Commando Spawn is a bit more menacing but he’s so big and cartoony he’s hard not to like. He’s not really all that playable, but with little articulation it makes it a relatively solid figure.

The knife on his right thigh can be removed – I don’t know why; it can’t be put into either one of his hands. The big gun in his left hand can be removed but the knife is too small to fit snugly.

Commando Spawn (left); Agent (right)

Agent

The over-shapely Agent is the lone female in the group. Sporting a crazy gun, she stands about six inches tall when installed on the base. And she will have to be installed on the base to keep standing since the feet are way too small to be useful.

The sculpting and colors are great and easily fit into the rest of the line-up.

Tremor

Here’s a figure so top heavy that even when installed on the base has a hard time staying upright! The feet of the figure and the pegs of the base are different than the other figures, but even with that modification it isn’t enough to keep Tremor standing.

The sculpt and color are great; however, the downward look of Tremor means you can’t see his face unless he’s displayed above your usual sightline. This would be a bad idea – at that height Tremor could case real damage to any child who just happened to be underneath when Tremor took his inevitable tumble. Like Creech, with few moving parts Tremor makes an okay play toy, so the display issues aren’t really a problem.

Raven Spawn (left); Tremor (right)

Raven Spawn

This figure probably bears the strongest resemblance to the original, “adult” Raven Spawn released a few years ago.

The twin scythes are pointy as hell! Though the scythes can be removed, Raven Spawn is not as “kid friendly” as most of the other figures, though it has been softened quite a bit. The original had a lot of spikes. This version does sport the multi-toned brown colors of the original, though the solidness of them creates a rather pleasant look.

Once again, there’s not much in the way of poseability.

phlebiac brothers

Phlebiac Brothers

These McFarlane Club Exclusives make me thinking of the original Garbage Pail Kids and M.U.S.C.L.Es – they straddle the line between cute and gross with ease. They don’t have a display disc to sit on, which makes them most at risk of being lost. As the smallest figures, these actually have the most potential for play by small children – not too small; these are definite choking hazards.

For display purposes I really like the fact they can be “sprinkled” around the shelf among the other figures and completely fit in.

I’d actually like to see more figures like this – big, solid lines and colors – because they just look good and are such a pleasant departure from the usual blood-drenched figures we get from McFarlane Toys. (My own request is that McFarlane revisit the Total Chaos figures.)

- Omni

(December 11, 2007)

Note: The one figure part of the Adventures of Spawn not reviewed here is Omega Squadron, but we’ve thrown in a picture of him right here:


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