McFarlane Toys 1994
So, there was this comic book dude named Todd McFarlane and he was working for Marvel back in the late 80s and early 90s. He was good, and quickly became a name after drawing the first full appearances of the character Venom. In 1992, along with a few other Marvel alum, McFarlane jumped ship and created his own company, Image Comics, and they launched Image with a series called Spawn. Spawn hit the stands in 1992 and sold an astounding 1.7 million copies, something unheard of for an independent comic company, but McFarlane wasn’t done just yet. He decided he wanted to release an action figure line and began talking to different manufacturers. One of the companies in discussion was Mattel.
It became apparent pretty quickly that Mattel did not see eye to eye with McFarlane and so he made the decision to venture out on his own. The first iteration of his company was called Todd Toys, but Mattel was having none of that. They sent a cease-and-desist order on the stating that one of the dolls in their Barbie line was named Todd. Yes, it was silly, and yes, they might have been a little miffed that McFarlane did not go with them but who really knows? What we do know is that McFarlane changed the company name to McFarlane Toys and then proceeded to change the action figure industry.
Production began with action figures based upon McFarlane's Spawn series. McFarlane wanted to do things a bit different. He was intent on making his figures look great, were intricately detailed, well-articulated and most importantly sold at a reasonable price. Spawn series one was released in 1994 and consisted of six figures, two vehicles and one playset. There was of course Spawn, there was Medieval Spawn, Tremor and the villains Violator, Overt-Kill, and Clown. There was the Spawn Alley Playset, the Spawnmobile and the Violator Monster Rig.
Spawn figures stood out, they were different from other figures. While other lines used only a moderate selection of paint colors placed in general areas, were packaged on standard cardboard cards and under detailed accessories, the Spawn figures came with intricate accessories, were detail painted and packaged in hard plastic which surrounded both the figure and blister card, making them geared towards collectors. And trust me, Collectors noticed. People were blown away with the level of detail. These sculpts were almost statue worthy and yet they were being released as action figures! It was crazy.
As if that wasn’t enough each figure came with a regular-sized, if not truncated, comic book. This was also amazing considering McFarlane’s pedigree in the comic world. The line was a smash hit and sold over 2.2 million figures in less than 3 months!
Spawn and Medieval Spawn both stood around 6” tall. Spawn came with Cape and weapon and an action feature. Clown stood around 5” and of course characters like Tremor and Violator stood taller. They had basic articulation and work well as action figures but the thing about these were how they displayed. Spawn figures are made to enjoy but also to collect, and collect people did!
For whatever reason I was not on the initial Spawn collecting train. I loved the animated series on HBO and occasionally read the comics and yes, I was one of the weird ones who liked the movie, and while I loved the way they looked and knew a few people who were nuts over them it took me a while before I started seeking them out. Today I proudly collect Series 1 and am a few figures in. I might go on to other series after I have completed it but here is the thing about McFarlane Toys. Since the first series they have gone on to produce 34 standard "sets" of figures not to mention a plethora of Collectors Choice, Exclusive figures and "one off" sets. But that’s not all. Because of their awesome sculpts McFarlane has been licensed to produce a wide variety of characters from movies, comic books, sports, video games and even music and they are all fantastic, but none of them hold a candle to the initial Spawn series 1 in my humble opinion.
We typically mention what caused the decline of a line at the end of the blog, but McFarlane is still running strong so let me end this with a bit of news. In early 2020 Todd McFarlane joined forces with Kickstarter to deliver an updated version of the original SPAWN action figure & comic from 1995 and it was a success. The new figures stand around 7”, they come with folding cape, weapons, a base and are highly articulated with over 20 moving parts. There is also new original comic cover art by Todd McFarlane, and they come in packaging that is an updated version of the original. But that’s not all. They will come in a resealable clamshell so you may take out your Figure and Comic for display but will be able to return them to their packaging as if they have never been opened. There is also a collector box and slipcover for protection. You could also choose to have an autograph by Todd McFarlane himself. A signed nameplate for display along with a bonus weapon: A reimagining, hyper-detailed updated version of the wooden plank weapon from that original Spawn Action Figure.
The downside is these are not technically available for sale and were Kickstarted packages. I’m sure these will pop up for sale on eBay and the like, but the price will almost definitely go up. All we can do is hope for another round.
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Jason Emmitt, signing off.
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