Here we have Spawn in hand, and he represents the prototype design Todd came up with when he was a teenager. The aesthetics we have here aren't quite the same as with the Spawn we normally see in the lore, as this was from a period when the character was meant to be from space, though he was initially meant to be blue. Later in Todd's life, he redrew Spawn closer to the aesthetics the character is known for today. It's mostly close to the final design, though the head feels closer to the mask design of Bane or Spider-Man rather than have smaller, green eyes in addition to having a spikier, asymmetrical set of spiked add-ons to the suit. He also later had black legs and a less traditional superhero belt, instead opting for a more skull and chain motif only fitting someone as hellish as he is. The transformation is the most undeniable aspect of this antihero, and it's no doubt that the look we have here would almost feel more at home with the bronze age rather than the era Spawn originated in comic history, which saw the likes of The Death of Superman, Batman: Knightfall, and many other impactful moments in comic history. That being said, am I the only one who thinks the cape smells funny? It appears to have been something from the paint similar to how NECA figures smell, but I swear this could have been avoided if he had a cloth goods cape.
His head sculpt is a lot more sci-fi in design than it is edgy and hauntting as seen with the look Spawn is known for, though that does have to do with the fact that the character was originally meant to be from space rather than hell. This deco, however, fits for an intermediate step in his evolution from high school days to the eventual change in Todd's profile and the final form we got in 1992. Spawn's articulation is standard for the line, featuring a double-ball neck joint, ball joints for front and back motion in addition to having them shift around with the rotator cuffs hiding said joint, hinges for outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double-jointed elbows, and double-purpose wrists that can rotate at two pegs, with the connection at the forearm allowing the hands to hinge either vertically or horizontally. The torso includes a diaphragm joint and dumbbell waist, hips can move front and back as well as in and out, slight thigh rotation is included, knees bend with double-joints, and the feet can rotate, hinge, and pivot. Finally, the toes can bend for natural walking poses. He also has two necroplasm accessories that could likely double as guns if you remember his occasional reliance on firearms.
The stands barely get acknowledged nowadays but Iike how I have 3 kinds of stands: one for DC, one for Spawn, and one for McFarlane Toys Digital.
As for the variant, this is a single blister release of the figure, now in Cosmic Blue to represent Spawn's original concept art even better. Would be funny if he came with a variant of Todd.
And here we have Todd McFarlane himself in-hand. He is not normally someone I'd expect to get a figure of so soon, and he almost looks 1:1 to the man himself. Maybe the hands might look a bit oversized on him, or the limbs themselves may look a little too skinny. In any case, the tooling appears to be generally new, and the casual wear with the ID tag, t-shirt printing, and the watch on the right arm make for a refreshing attire in a line filled with fantasy designs and spandex suits.
His head sculpt is a decent match for the writer and artist, though the eyebrows are either too dark or too thick. Maybe this is meant to be a younger Todd, but who knows. His articulation is the same as Spawn's, so here we have him with his accessories instead, with a drawing pad containing Proto-Spawn in decent print quality as well as a right hand with a drawing utensil of any kind.
He also comes with a right hand to hold his microphone for when he wants to do interviews with anyone you could imagine. Just don't put him next to that balding fuck from Collider named Frosty.
And to make this set even weirder, he comes with a pair of bare feet. This is inspired by how Todd sometimes worked in his office barefoot, but without that context, it appeals to a certain fetish group; their club leader is Quinton Tarantino, btw.
For a size comparison, here is Todd in-between Batman and Wallace. Why Wallace, you may ask? That's because McFarlane Toys previously had the Wallace & Gromit license for the best stop motion movie known as Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Meanwhile, DC's collector-friendly action figures are made by McFarlane today, and it seems to remain that way so far unless those rumors on Marvel Legends being made by McFarlane Toys somehow come true.
And here he is with Shrek, still in his blister card from waaaay back in 2001. I almost want to review Shrek and Wallace, but while I have Gromit, I need to get Donkey. Let's see if I can review all of them before GTA 6 comes out.
Overall, this 2-pack is pretty solid in terms of celebrating the history of Todd McFarlane and his creation; the price it went for might be ludicrous to some who expected higher quality, but with more sculptwork applied to these figures as well as there being consistent synergy with the usual 2-packs we get in the collector's market with McFarlane and Legends. Some sites have this for cheap, but even if you pay full price, you are at least getting more value for money than with Maximum Spider-Man. And even if you find the idea of Todd getting his action figure "egotistical" (I know certain people out there REALLY hate him), at least this is a figure of a living person (idk if Hasbro or Marvel got permission to make their Stan Lee figure from his organization or not).
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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