Review – Kubrick Spawn

I picked up both the Kubrick Violator (review here) and Kubrick Spawn toys when I visited New York back in February. It seems only fitting that Spawn’s review get wrapped up when I’m on the road for another office trip. After a long day of playing games it’s nice to unwind with a chunk of plastic and my own thoughts. Thoughts that I’m now going to share with you.

Packaging

Basically the exact same clamshell and header card design that we saw used for the Kubrick Violator, this toy’s simple packaging design does nothing to help or hurt Spawn. As with the Violator’s package, unsurprisingly, this chunk of plastic and cardboard goes straight into the trash and we move on.

I Can Almost See Through You, Spawn!

The first thing you notice when popping Spawn out of the package is that his head, arms, and legs are made of a translucent green plastic that’s just dark enough to obscure everything behind it except for the faint glow of any nearby lights. Highly reflective, Spawn’s green plastic skin creates harsh highlights across his body that are broken up only by the black cloak and shirt. And what’s neat is that even the black torso component is semi-translucent, allowing you to just barely make out the lights behind his body. There are some rough mold lines across the head, and posts show within the translucent green plastic, but overall the effect on the body is nice. He’s not as smooth and glass-like as some translucent toys that I’ve seen but the manufacturing is better than what we see most in mass-produced translucent toys.

Sculpt

There’s nothing really spectacular about Spawn’s sculpt. It’s clean, evocative of the character’s design, and fits the Kubrick mindset of “simple and cute.” The sculpted skulls and chains on the figure’s body are a nice touch but it’s really the cloak — which is not removable — that has the best of the toy’s sculpted details. The photo above and below clearly shows the cloak; I like how the sculpted folds in the cloak are raised and lowered from the surface of the cloak just enough to catch the light and create shadows across the cloak.

What I do not like, though, is that the cloak is a rigid piece that seriously limits how much you can move his arms. The cloak almost looks hinged from the front — as if the two sides could swing back out of the way — and if the cloak was really hinged it would drastically improve the toy’s playability.

Paint

Pretty much none. There’s a little paint on the head (the eyes), and the skulls and chains are painted, but otherwise all of Spawn’s color comes from the plastic. Fortunately the manufacturer used a few different colors of plastic — the green spike bands around the figure’s ankles and elbows are a different color from the other body parts — so it’s not a serious limitation.

Articulation

Seriously? You think this guy is articulated? I guess he is, but being unable to reach his arms very well makes his upper body basically locked in place. The legs are on ball joints but all they can do is swing up and down and a little to the side; you’re not gonna get any dynamic poses out of this Spawn. The last bit of articulation is the rotating hands but, again, reaching the hands is difficult because of the cloak. About all you’re gonna do with this toy is find a simple pose and set him up on your shelf or desk.

Closing Thoughts

Just an okay toy, this Kubrick Spawn comes far behind his companion Violator in terms of fun, cuteness, and playability. It’s not a terrible toy, but the only thing that saves the piece is the translucent plastic bits used for the body. Without those this would be a seriously flawed work of art with poor articulation and a sculpt that can only be respected because of the work done on the cloak.

Hardcore Spawn fans will likely want this particular version of the character but everyone else should give this guy a pass. He’s expensive for his size (roughly $7/inch) and doesn’t bring much to the party. Sorry, Spawn, but the more I played with you the less I liked you.

Philip Reed wonders if there’s a translucent Kubrick Violator on the market. That could be fun.