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Samurai Spawn, Lotus Angel Warrior, Jackal Assassin

It's that time again folks! That's right this is the part of the show where I rave on about samurai in a barely coherent, madman-like state while cut polishing a car

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and practicing my putting. This week we look at three, count 'em three, hip and/or happening samurai action figures from the folks over at McFarlane Toys in their Spawn 19 series. On the hit list we have Samurai Spawn (gasp!), Lotus Angel Warrior, and Jackal Assassin. Each one of them has that high level of detail we've come to expect from in McFarlane figures as a

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strong point, but varying levels of articulation depending on the figure, which could be a sticking point for some. All in all they're spiffy-and-a-half and look great on Ye Olde Shelf for display. Now to look at them individually...

Samurai Spawn
Let's start this cavalcade of questionable grammar with Samurai Spawn. The first thing that will pop into anyone's head who is at all familiar with the WarCraft real-time strategy games will think, "Hey! It's the orc grunt's long lost soul brother." Now while Samurai Spawn and

WarCraft Orc Grunt were college roommates (allegedly), Samurai Spawn shows that he by far has the better sense of style. From the fur to the huge, braided beard, to the carvings in the plating he is a site to see. Better still is that he has a very good range of articulation. Want Spawn to stand in an imposing stance like the bad-assed mofo that he is? Not a problem. Want him standing passively? That can be arranged. Want him kicking his heels in the air like the Rockettes? Um, no. With these looks and so many posing possibilities Samurai Spawn is very much pushing for being the flagship figure of this series.

Score: 9/10

Lotus Angel Warrior
Lotus Angel Warrior, while not as dashing or imposing as Samurai Spawn, is quite a nice figure. She's a slender lass with a couple of katana blades and a big, sharp-looking back-mounted thing, but it should be noted that there are no points of articulation to be found. There's no posing to be done with this figure, she just stands there. The one thing that's surprising is that she stands so well. With the tiny feet I was fully expecting the figure to be a real pain to stand upright, but low and behold I was able to stand here up right away, no problems whatsoever. In terms of her armor, what little there is, she sports a lot of tiny intricacies with mock-metalwork wonders and kanji characters. A nice figure, but don't expect to do much with her.

Score: 7.8/10

Jackal Assassin
This guy is ugly, and I mean u-g-l-y. From the beastly look on his face to the gaunt, death-like physique it's got an army of the dead sort of motif to it. Not that this is a bad thing mind you as it has all the detail we expect from a McFarlane action figure. It's big problem is that while it does have points of articulation there are very few options as to how you can pose the little guy. Bare in mind the sword-over-head pose he goes in looks pretty darn good. Another annoyance is that the figure is very hard to balance. Unless you place it on a perfectly leveled surface he'll topple over and that is just a great big no-no.

Score: 7/10

- Mr. Nash