It seemed McFarlane Toys could do no wrong. Spawn, movies, sports, military and other genres of figures seemingly were churned out almost on a weekly basis from McFarlane.
Of course like any other fast growing phenomenon things tend to slow down and when McFarlane had a reshuffling of its creative staff, rising costs and other manufacturing concerns the fervor over its toys died down.
McFarlane Toys still turns out fantastic figures but at a higher price and less frequently.
Two of my all-time favorite McFarlane Toys consist of actually the same character.
McFarlane Toys Mandarin Spawn is by far the most elaborate, ornate and technically sophisticated figures I believe McFarlane Toys ever produced.
Before I get started let me state that adequately reviewing these incredible figures is daunting. The sheer scope of how each sculpt with accessories, color application and articulation boggles the mind.
By far these are some of the most detailed action figures I’ve ever reviewed.
How McFarlane Toys was able to not only design, sculpt, paint and package and sell them for around $8 to $10 back in 2005 is almost incomprehensible.
To create such detailed figures in today’s toy industry would be much more expensive and I doubt the figures could sell for retail less than $30 each-possibly more.
When I first saw the Mandarin Spawn: The Scarlet Edge The Dark Ages action figure my mind was blown. It far outshone the other figures in The Dark Ages selection in my mind.
The articulated figure looks more like a sculpted statue than action figure-it’s that good!
I big kudos out to the artists responsible for the figure. Seldom have I seen such a detailed toy. It rivals many of miniature statues I’ve seen in museums. Amazing!
Starting with the figure’s head-the sculpted face-mask is accented in gold and red with a single white miniature face in the middle of its forehead.
Large protruding bicuspids and heavily accented cheeks, chin, nose and forehead are covered in gold.
The face is striated in gold and red layers and sweeps back into several spikes culminating in a large center spike.
The head rests on a swirling golden lasso of red and gold melding into a large fanged face with green eyes, flared nostrils and gaping mouth that decorate the figure’s chest.
One swirling red and gold shoulder pad frames a white face while the other looks like a windswept piece of fabric wrapped around another white face.
The waist is decorated with a large gold and red ornate belt that extends almost to the figure’s knees accented by a jeweled encrusted pattern.
A single piece of red fabric decorated with yellow flames and black thistles partially covers the striated red and gold upper legs, twin knee armor fashioned as a face with gold, red and green jewels flows back behind the knees forming black horned spikes.
The lower legs are covered by similar designed pieces of flared armor with large white faces just about the feet themselves.
The feet are large three-toe monstrosities with huge black nails ringed by gold and red.
The Mandarin Spawn figure’s arms are covered by red and gold armor on the upper arms, large gauntlets of gold, red and white faces and the hands are black with tendons of gold ending in sharp points.
Included with the figure is a large shield of red, black and gold filigree with a large white face at the top and decorated by numerous round green jewels.
Twin green, red and silver staffs are tipped in gold, a large brown and black horn attaches to the right shoulder of the figure and a large silver sword with a green handle comes with an additional blade that when attached to the green handle produces a 12inch weapon.
The figure comes in a bubble pack for hanging or standing and is cradled in a form-fitting cocoon for safe keeping and protection.
The details are amazing from the gold trimming, jewels, attention to accuracy, paint application, sculpt and accessories.
It’s hard to describe because it does not do the figure justice.
Even more impressive is the Mandarin Spawn Regenerated. It’s chock full of even more details and is much more massive.
Where to begin? Let’s start with its head.
Similar to the regular Mandarin Spawn figure the Regenerated figure has the same colors but a few less spikes and a smaller large spike. However the detail is much finer, especially around the mouth and eyes.
A bowl shaped collar encircles the head. It is trimmed in gold and consists of around three separate layers.
The chest decoration is also more decorated with a heavier accent on the stylized head with wraparound horns on either side.
The waist has a similarly design (in addition to a gold skull) connecting to three strips of red cloth: one on the front and one on each side.
Underneath the cloth is heavy leather brown inner armor.
Each cloth strip has archaic designs in black and white.
The legs of the figure are armored with dragon heads, gold and red with black accents and multiple white horns and green jewels.
The back of the leg armor is primarily red with gold piping.
The shoulders are upper dragon heads with fangs and tusks. On the right shoulder is a large white and black horn.
The arms are primarily black with gold and red gauntlets culminating into heavy gold armor with spiked fingers and teeth.
The figure comes with a large red staff with gold pommel with a red banner and oversize multi-edge blades that is engraved with a black dragon.
The figure’s hands are gray and its three toe feet are black with gold decorations.
Articulation and color application are well defined for each individual area and the details are mesmerizing in their scope and ingenuity.
Both Mandarin Spawn figures are some of the most prized McFarlane Toys Spawn figures and for good reason-they are amazing!
The figures sell for around $50 each.
No comments:
Post a Comment