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Spawn - Image 10th Anniversary figure, McFarlane Toys Meat and Potatoes; 5.0 Perks; 5.0 Homer Factor; 5.0				Description; As close to the ultimate Spawn figure as you can get. The piece is about 7" of MEGA articulated figure; shoulders, wrists, ankles, toes, the works allow this figure to take on a ton o' posing possibilities.  The figure is the classic red and black with about 18" of chain and a large, plastic, sculpted cape.  The cape is cut into huge sections to give the illusion of a flowing, billowing piece of cloth. Spawn also comes with a stand which is the top steeple of a church.  The entire stand has a number of well-placed pegs for a number of amazing display possibilties.
Wow, who woulda thought it's been 10 FREAKING YEARS since Image gave the comic industry a serious kick in the butt.  Ok, ok, say what you want about McFarlane and Liefeld, which is quite a bit, BUT if it weren't for them, comics would have probably stagnated into a mass of kids-only products and never really expanded as much as they have.  Sure, 'Sandman' was probably the fuse, but Image was the first biiiiiiiiiiig load o' gun-powder that helped the industry move forward.  Same with toys.  No body would have thought about special collector's editions, re-issues, super-detailed sculpts, et al, could make money.  Hey, these were TOYS, kids don't care.  Ah, but McFarlane knew that a growing army of ADULTS do care about stuff like that... and those adults had MONEY.  Finally, toys in the US went beyond 4" of badly painted, static plastic and transformed the industry into a machine that has everything from 'Hellraiser' to 'Thundar the Barbarian.'  And what better way to commemorate this then with the figure that started it all; Spawn.  Ok, I have NEVER read the comic... and frankly don't have much interest in it.  However, as a toy collector... Spawn is to toys as 'Sandman' is to comics, the one that sparked a revolution.  McFarlane Toys went full-throttle in creating the latest edition of the figure that brought US toys into the 21st century.  Meat and potatoes... There are times when McFarlane Toys just looks at a figure and goes 'Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah,' and settles for static pieces, like their latest Neo figure.  However, that's not the case here; last count, there are about 30 points of articulation on this thing.  Remember those painful looking Spidey poses Todd did?  Well, you can do most of them with Spawn.  Naturally, the sculpt and paint are incredible; detailed folds on the voluminous cape, nice dark red and sooty grays and those eerie green eyes.  But the fun doesn't stop there.  The perks are also outstanding.  Ok, ok, so the cape isn't removable and doesn't have any wire in it to make if flex and re-shape.  Just the same, the cape is sculpted from plastic, helping it keep all of it's neat folds.  And a very nice effect is rather then being foldable or containing wires to help it change shape, the cape is cut into large sections.  The sections of cape are connected in layers, giving the cape the illusion of a moving, breathing, billowing, almost living thing.  And then there's the stand; the very top of a cathedral.  The base has an evil looking gargoyle with it's wings spread out to act as a stand for Spawn, and a large crucifix is the stands backing.  A few pegs are mounted on the stand to help Spawn stand on the diorama with ease.  Oh, and that neat gargoyle-pose Spawn has on the back of the packaging?  He can actually stand that way.  Wow. Homer factor?  Well, considering this is the 10th anniversary commemorative for Image, and Todd decided to go whole-hog on the figure, you can expect a LOT of anticipation. The end result?  There aren't enough adjectives to describe how incredible this piece of work is.  This is one of those figures that borders on art; the sense of detail in creating the figure, plus the huge amount of articulation give you a ton o' possible display and PLAYING possibilities.  This is THE Spawn figure, bar none, folks.