Series: Spawn Reborn

Craftsmanship: 7.0 / 10

- Great style and sculpt

- Lousy balance

- Poor articulation

- Paint scheme is very good

- Real chains

Playability: 7.0 / 10

- Sword-hand and chest light up!

- Chains can be snapped off

- Sword-hand is kinda pointy

- Cape can be taken off / put on easily

Related Links:

Action Figure: Spawn (Image 10th Anniversary)

Action Figure: Predator (Movie Maniacs) 

Redeemer (Spawn Reborn)

by McFarlane Toys

Remembering our action figure heritage is a good thing.  It teaches what works and what doesn’t.  So it was with great nostalgia I approached Redeemer, part of the Spawn Reborn series.  But all those feelings of nostalgia quickly melted as I experimented with getting him to stand.

Stand!  Damn, you!  Stand!

There were two positions that worked – and they were precarious at best.  He’s more stable without his big green cape on but then he doesn’t look as cool.  Hopefully you have some spare display discs available because that seems to be the only way to keep him standing with any consistency.  I’m convinced that the root cause of this unbalance is the inadequate articulation.

Redeemer has hinged knees and quarter-seamed hip joints, which have always been a frustrating combination – more so after being spoiled by the articulation sported by Spawn (Image 10^th Anniversary).  The remainder of the articulation consists of seams at the neck and shoulders, and a hinged joint at the left elbow.  I know that Redeemer stretches all the way back to Spawn Series 3, when McFarlane Toys was just starting out, but I question why he was re-released with no improvements to the articulation.

The sculpt and paint make Redeemer an attractive figure to display.  I have to admit some clouded views on the color scheme.  He sports the official colors of the Armchair Empire: gold and blue.  With the green cape, one of Armchair Empire’s unofficial colors, really cranks it in terms of display and the real chain is very nice – but still doesn’t make up for the lack of useful articulation.

Redeemer’s pointy sword-hand inhibits rough play.  And, woe, the poor soul that steps on Redeemer in the dark.  If it doesn’t break the skin, it will definitely hurt like hell.  Under rough play the chain is likely to snap.  And speaking of snapping, the elbow seems to be susceptible to snapping – small kids are likely to overextend the joint (since this in one of those rare McFarlane action figures that won’t cause nightmares, kids will play with Redeemer).  The cape is easily installed and removed, and it’s big enough that it’s not easily lost.  In a masterstroke, Redeemer has a small battery pack that lights up his sword-hand and chestplate.  Press the button on the pack and you get one of the cooler action figure affects.  Another upside to Redeemer is that he’s about the same size as every other Spawn figure, making him compatible with a variety of figures.

Collectors wanting another chance at Redeemer should pick him up – it’s way cheaper than paying some big bucks on ebay.  If you leave him in the package, you can up the Craftsmanship score a bit because you won’t have the massive headache of getting him to stand.  Not really a play figure, but still some fun to be had.

- Omni

(June 29, 2003)