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If you are a fan of Todd McFarlane's Spawn character, then you probably know about the recent Kickstarter he held for a new 7" Remastered Original Spawn action figure based on the original 5" one released back in 1995. The Kickstater which had an original funding goal of $100,000 ended up with 23,761 backers and a total pledged amount of $3,447,390. All-in-all a fairly huge success for the comic book artist. Of course that first Spawn figure wasn't the only one released back in 1995. It was one of 6 figures released in the first wave that Todd used to help launch his toy company McFarlane Toys. When Todd first announced the plans for his Kickstarter during Toy Fair in February, he said that if it was successful he would look to do something similar for the other 5 figures from that first 1995 wave. Besides the original Spawn figure the wave also included figures of Violator, Overtkill, Tremor, Clown and Medieval Spawn. Since it seems pretty clear the first Kickstarter was a success, I can only assume that another one for another wave 1 figure will eventually be launched. However which figure will get the modern treatment remains unkown. I've decided to rank the remaining 5 figures from that first 1995 wave in order of least to most I would like see get the modern figure treatment. Of course feel free to leave your own thoughts in the COMMENT SECTION of which figure you want to see next. 5) Medieval Spawn Being we just got a Spawn figure, I would rather see this variant version of the lead character held back for a later release. It's a cool looking figure, but probably my least favorite of the original 6. 4) Tremor Only being a casual Spawn fan, I would say Tremor is probably the least known character to me from series 1. Despite looking cool, that lack of familiarity has me putting him at number 4. 3) Violator I almost feel like Violator and Clown should be released as a two-pack, but if I had to pick one over the other, I would rather see the Clown version done as a modern figure before Violator. 2) Clown Being Spawn's most notable nemesis, I can see Clown coming in at number 1 for a lot of people. I definitely would love to see a highly detailed and fairly well articulated 7" Clown figure produced by McFarlane, but from a personal standpoint he is not my favorite character. Because of that I have Clown coming in at number 2. 1) Overtkill My number 1 pick, and my favorite character from the first wave of 1995 Spawn figures is Overtkill, or as I know him better as, Over Kill. You see my first exposure for this guy doesn't actually come from the Spawn comic books, it comes from an old VHS video series called "The Comic Book Greats". As a kid I always wanted to draw, unfortunately I was never really talented enough to do it well. Still I enjoyed watching tutorials from great comic book artists. Back in 1991 the great Stan Lee launched a new series on VHS called "The Comic Book Greats" where he would interview well known artists and writers of the time. The first episode featured Todd McFarlane who of course had become an artist sensation at Marvel. During that episode the two sat down and mapped out from scratch the creation of a brand new never-before-seen character they called Over Kill. I still have that VHS tape somewhere. Later on Todd would rename that character Overtkill and insert him into his new Spawn universe at Image Comics. Because of that Stan Lee video series, Overtkill has always been a favorite of mine and I would love to see a modern articulated 7" figure of him created. If they do him I will definitely be buying one.

For those who missed out on getting their hands on the McFarlane Toys 7" Mortal Kombat 11 figure the first time, you are going to get another chance at it. However there is going to be one minor change made to the figure with the second run. The original batch of figures released featured the character with a sword, and the new figures will feature a mace. Images of the new weapons have yet to be released, but if it is accurate then it likely will be the war club you see him use in the game. You can pre-order the Spawn figure from our sponsor BigBadToyStore.com now, though right now they are still listing the sword coming with the figure, expect that to change soon.

McFarlane Toys has released official details and images for their The Original SPAWN Action Figure Kickstarter which launches later today. The figure will be 7" and have double the articulation as the original figure released back in the 90's, and will include a folding cape. Read on for full details and images below: 0588906abbe192fcdff19a1312c15517_h264_high.mp4

Todd McFarlane himself has released new official images for the upcoming 7" articulated Mortal Kombat Spawn figure from McFarlane Toys which will have 22 points of articulation and be out in March.

Did Todd McFarlane just prove that the big box retailer is now obsolete when it comes to the world of action figures? Todd McFarlane is largely attributed as the person who created the action figure collecting demographic in this country in the early 90’s, when he launched his little toy company now known as McFarlane Toys. A toy company that gained notoriety, not by making cheap toys for young kids, but by delivering highly detailed pieces of art in the form of an action figure. Something that would attract consumers both young and old. He proved that there was profit to be had for toys other than just catering to the now shrinking demographic of young kids and the parents who buy them. Even the larger toy corporations like Hasbro and Mattel eventually started to follow his lead to make stuff that was geared more towards the adult action figure collector. Back then, there were a lot more options for these toy companies to sell their products. No longer was the selling of action figures just confined to the likes of Toys R’ Us and other toy-specific shops. Now you could find toys at various music and video retail stores, even in comic and specialty shops which were a growing and thriving business in the early 90’s. Since those early days, the retail landscape has changed drastically. Most music and video stores are all but extinct, as are most toy-specific stores. Even video game stores seem to be on their last legs these days. Comic shops also have taken huge hits over the years, calling into question their chances of long-term survival. Beyond a few smaller etailers, that really only leaves the big-box retailers like Walmart, Target and a few others to sell these things — meaning they dictate what gets made, how it gets made and what doesn’t get made at all. These big-box retailers, and the demands they appear to place on the toy manufacturers, contribute to the biggest complaints most collectors have when it comes to collecting action figures. Cheap quality to keep the price down, the same big-name characters rehashed over and over, hard to find store exclusives, and limited availability of the things people actually want. To me it comes down to this. Because the manufacturers have so few options where they can sell their products these days, they have no choice but to abide by the demands that the big box retailers place on them. Perhaps that is about to change though, and the path to that change may be led by the same man who helped create the action figure collecting market all those years ago. Yesterday, Todd McFarlane launched his very first crowd-sourcing Kickstarter campaign for a newly designed Spawn figure. A figure that pays tribute to the very first Spawn figure he did in the 90s. The Kickstarter has a funding goal of $100,000 over the course of 30 days. In just under 12 minutes of the Kickstarter going live yesterday, the figure surpassed that $100,000 goal. As I type this, the Kickstarter, which has been live for less than 24 hours, has obtained $716,034 in funding. Now McFarlane isn’t the first person to look to something like Kickstarter to sell an action figure. He isn’t even the first major toy company to do it. In recent years, Hasbro launched their own crowdfunding website and sold several large and expensive type items straight to the consumer through it. Mattel tried their own variation of this concept for Masters of the Universe through their MattyCollector website, which lasted a number of years. Had Mattel put more emphasis on the customer service end of that operation, it probably would have been even more successful than it was. Still when it comes to the world of action figures, I don’t think I have seen anyone have quite as much success with a crowdsourcing campaign as McFarlane seems to be having with his first. It really makes me wonder what this could mean for the future of how action figures targeted to the adult collector are sold. McFarlane himself has already touted if this first campaign was successful, it would allow him to get more of what collectors want into their hands by circumventing the big box stores. Of course, until the final product is actually delivered into the hands of the consumer, it is hard to say how successful this will really be, but it definitely gives me some hope for the future of the hobby.

Today at Final Kombat 2020, the championship finale of the Mortal Kombat 11 Pro Kompetition esports series, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and NetherRealm Studios revealed a new Mortal Kombat 11 gameplay trailer debuting Todd McFarlane’s world record-breaking comic book character, Spawn. The new video shows off the latest playable fighter’s iconic look, including his signature cape, chains, battle axe and more, which can all be used against opponents. The trailer also features two unreleased music tracks from heavy metal band, Trivium, entitled “IX” and “Scattering the Ashes.” Spawn was formerly Al Simmons, the U.S. government's greatest soldier and most effective assassin, before being mercilessly executed by his own men. Resurrected from the ashes of his own grave in a flawed agreement with the powers of darkness, Simmons was reborn as a creature from the depths of Hell – a Hellspawn. Now, he is thrust into the world of Mortal Kombat 11, where he will fight for supremacy against all Kombatants. Spawn is voiced by actor Keith David, the original voice actor from “Todd McFarlane’s Spawn,” the Emmy award-winning HBO animated series. The new guest character will join the Mortal Kombat 11 roster on March 17 as part of the early access period for Kombat Pack owners, followed by wide availability on March 24. Kombat Pack owners will also have access to the new Spawn-inspired character skin, “Hellspawn” Jacqui Briggs, on March 17, alongside the Matinee Skin Pack featuring “Osh Tekk Vandal” Kotal Kahn, “Swashbuckler” Erron Black and “Space Marine” Jacqui Briggs. McFarlane Toys will also be releasing a Spawn Mortal Kombat action figure today (March 8th at select retailers, emulating the character’s distinguished look from Mortal Kombat 11. The Spawn Mortal Kombat figure will join Raiden, Johnny Cage, Scorpion and Sub-Zero as part of a line of action figures based on Mortal Kombat 11 fighters. The Mortal Kombat 11 Kombat Pack is the best way to upgrade the Mortal Kombat 11 game experience with new downloadable content (DLC), featuring six characters, numerous skin and gear sets and one-week early access for all content. The final character coming to Mortal Kombat 11 via the Kombat Pack is Spawn (March 17 early access, March 24 wide availability), alongside The Joker, Sindel, Terminator T-800, Nightwolf and Shang Tsung (all available now). Players can purchase the Kombat Pack as part of the Mortal Kombat 11 Premium Edition for $89.99 (SRP) or individually for $39.99 (SRP). All DLC characters and bonus character skins will be available for individual purchase after the one-week early access period.

Earlier this month we broke the news that McFarlane Toys would be doing new 7" articulated Spawn figures this year, and now we have gotten word via the latest Diamond Distributor Previews solicitations that the first one of those figures seems to be coming in their Mortal Kombat 11 line. For those not familiar with the game, starting on March 17, 2020 players will be able to select Spawn as one of the characters they can choose to fight with. See the teaser trailer for the game which features Spawn below. With McFarlane Toys having the license to do Mortal Kombat 11 action figures and with Spawn being featured in the game, I guess it should come as no surprise that we will be getting a Mortal Kombat 11 version of Spawn in action figure form. The Previews solicitation unfortunately does not include any images of the figure, but my guess is we will see it on display next month during Toy Fair which kicks off on February 22.

Unparalleled Universe was on hand this weekend at the New York Toy Fair and got a hands-on look at the upcoming Mortal Kombat 11 Spawn 7" action figure from McFarlane Toys that will be released in March.

Raenius bides his time in Hades longing for a chance at revenge on Zuess (McFarlane Toys 1999 "Curse of Spawn II" series 13 Raenius action figure)

If you caught our interview with Todd McFarlane earlier this month (and if you didn't what are you waiting for), then you already know that new articulated Spawn figures are coming from McFarlane Toys sometime this year. Just the other day we told you how it looks like Spawn will be showing up in the McFarlane Toys 7" Mortal Kombat 11 series of action figures. Now it looks like Todd may be teasing another new Spawn figure he has in the works with Ninja Spawn. Just the other day he posted this on Facebook: Now it's possible this post was done more to promote Spawn 301, but the fact he references the old Ninja Spawn action figure makes us wonder if he isn't hinting to something more. Could Ninja Spawn be one of the new action figures he has planned to release in 2020??? Is that a version you want to see made? Let us know in the COMMENTS SECTION.

Shang Tsung is coming to MK11 along with Spawn, Sindel, Nightwolf, and 2 more guests in the Kombat Pack! Early access to the Sorcerer begins June 18th.

The Walking Dead Director and Effects Specialist, Greg Nicotero has been tapped for Todd McFarlane's New Spawn Movie. Nicotero, an award-winning executive producer, director, and make-up special effects creator on THE WALKING DEAD has come on board, with his company KNB EFX, to create the new Spawn design for the upcoming McFarlane/ Blumhouse Spawn feature film. McFarlane, Nicotero and KNB EFX Group, worked together on the 1997 Spawn movie. "I'm a long-time fan of Gregs work and the projects his company, KNB have done throughout the years," said McFarlane Working with him once again, to re-invent the Spawn 'look' so it will match the supernatural theme in the movie, is going to be a fun process. This year, McFarlane has announced an ensemble of award-winning talent that has signed on to the Spawn Movie Cast – Academy Award and Goolden Globe winner Jamie Foxx (Ray, Django Unchained, The Amazing Spider-man) has been cast as Spawn and Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker, Wind River, The Avengers) has been tapped to play Twitch. This newest adaptation—a gritty, R-rated reimagining marks McFarlannes film directorial debut. McFarlane is partnering with Jason Blum and Blumhouse Productions, the producing force behind recent hits Get Out and Split and The Purge franchise, to develop a feature film around the Spawn comic character created by McFarlane.

Deadline is reporting that Jeremy Renner will star alongside Jamie Foxx in Spawn, the Blumhouse film that marks the directorial debut of Todd McFarlane from his scripted adaptation of his comic book creation. Renner will be playing the character of Detective 'Twitch' Williams. This unconventional detective is near fearless and compliments Spawn’s demonic powers. Jason Blum told sources, “Jeremy is the ideal choice for Twitch Williams. He radiates honesty, intelligence and a hard-working, everyman charisma, the same qualities that make Twitch such a compelling character.” Foxx is set to play the title character, who started out in the comics as Al Simmons, a member of a CIA black ops team who is twice betrayed: after being set up by his cohorts to be murdered with his corpse set aflame, Simmons is then double crossed in Hell. He is convinced to become a Hellspawn warrior in exchange for being able to be reunited with his wife, only to find himself stuck in his demonic creature shell, and that his wife moved on and married his best friend. Spawn turns his rage on street scum and revenge. He realized long ago that he can’t battle the constant evil permeating the globe alone, and must enlist the aid of humans to help him fight the war. "As a first time director, I wanted to surround myself with the most talent and the most skilled people I can on all fronts,” McFarlane told sources. “I was lucky enough to land Jason Blum and then Jamie Foxx, and I knew the person on screen the most is this police officer, Twitch Williams. We needed as strong a person as possible because he will be the face of the film. I took my naïve Hollywood approach again, and said let’s start at the top and work down. Jeremy was at the top. I’m a huge fan of his. The character doesn’t need to be a bodybuilder or GQ handsome. I was looking for somebody who’s a person you’ve met before; I needed someone who can pull off the grief of an average human being. I’ve seen Jeremy do that in more than a few of his movies. He was at the top of my list, just like Jamie.” The next step for the project will be to lock a distributor to set the financing on a film that will likely carry a $10 million-$12 million budget, an R rating, and franchise potential. “Jason and I feel we have a strong package here,” McFarlane said. “Academy Award nominated and Academy Award nominated actor. As a first time director, I guess I’m the weak link, but I think my brand is strong. Hopefully when we go to studios, fairly soon, we’ll get the interest of more than one and we can pick what place will do this project justice, marketing and distributing it. We’re going to go for as close to a green light as we can get, since the development process has already been done. We’re looking for someone to say, ‘yeah cool, we’ll take it.’ It’s a reasonable budget, we’re not asking anyone to stretch. The goal here is a quality project at reasonable price.”