They've always done a ton of repaints and redecos, and it's been a mainstay of the company from the beginning. But it wasn't until last year that they actually put out a series specifically designed for these, called Reborn. Of course that doesn't mean we don't get redecos in the regular series as well, but at least with Reborn, you know that's what you're getting.

I reviewed all of the first series back then - Clown, Curse of the Spawn and Raven Spawn, and Domina, Wings of Redemption Spawn, and Redeemer. This second series includes Interlink Spawn, Manga She-Spawn, Spawn the Raven Knight, Mandarin Spawn, Cyber Spawn and She-Spawn 2. I'll be reviewing three of the six tonight.

Killer Toys was kind enough to send these along for a review. Your local comic shop, and certain bricks and mortar retailers, should have these in any day.

"Interlink Spawn, Mandarin Spawn and Manga She-Spawn"

You bought them once, why not buy them again? Well, they better be pretty damn good to convince you to cough up money a second time around...and it also helps if they pick the most interesting figures to repaint. I completely understand why they did Mandarin Spawn - he was a terrific success for them the first time around. The other two, well, let's say I'm less inclined to understand the motivation, especially Interlink Spawn. Maybe he's a Todd favorite.

Packaging - ***1/2
Clamshells. No real descriptive text. Enough said.

Okay, maybe this is the first review of mine you've ever read where I extolled the virtues of the clamshell packaging - very sturdy, takes a lot of shelf abuse, easy to store, shows off the figure, allows for very colorful graphics on the insert. And my one big complaint about McToys clamshells? They could do a little more with the insert to explain who the hell the character is supposed to be, what's changed, and how to put them together in those cases where there's assembly required.

Sculpting - Mandarin Spawn ***1/2; She-Spawn, Interlink Spawn***

These are McFarlane action figures. It pretty much goes without saying that the sculpts are amazing. However, even these figures come from far enough back in time to have far less detail than current lines like Monsters or Aliens and Predators.

But Manny was a man ahead of his time. His sculpting was outstanding then, and it's still outstanding. The overall design of the figure is eye catching and draws your attention like flies to...well, it draws your attention, but in a good way. The intricate work on the body and armor is particularly eye-catching, and he stands great on his own. Check out the huge, pointy horn on his right shoulder or the evil, fanged chest plate and tell me he's not the shizzit. Or at least the cat's pajamas.

The Manga She-Spawn is a moderately decent design, but I'm not a huge manga/anime fan. Still, even with a far less detailed design, they've done a nice job giving you an attractive looking figure. The wings snap into the back tightly, but without too much effort, and the rooted hair works in this case. She also stands great on her own, and her hands are sculpted to work with the huge accessory.

My least favorite is Interlink Spawn. I'm not a big fan of robots, and the idea of a robot Spawn is just silly. It seems far too much like jumping on the bandwagon of a style just because it's popular, and not because it actually makes any sense. While the detail work on Interlink is the usual great job, the overall design and style pretty much leaves me cold.

Articulation - Interlink ***; Manga, Mandarin **1/2
Some people claim that if it's made by McFarlane, it's just a statue. While that can be very true - just look at the current crop of Monsters figures - it's not necessarily always true. McToys favors sculpt over articulation, but when it's possible to add articulation without sacrificing sculpt, they do it. They've been extremely creative on some lines in hitting a balance between the two, but at other times it seems like it's just too much effort for them to try.

The articulation on these figures varies pretty widely, which is not surprising since they came from very different series the first time around.

Manga babe has neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees. And let's not forget the wings! All the joints work fairly well, and the arm articulation is crucial to some decent poses. The joints are tight, but I didn't have to use the old freezer trick on any of them.

Interlink is loaded up with articulation, not surprising for the style. Not only does he have a lot, many of them are very unique in their design. The neck allows the head to look up, twist, and turn, by using two joints. The shoulders have two joints as well, and the arms also have cut elbows and wrists. The packs on his back can move up and down, and turn inward and out, and he also has ball jointed hips. There's waist and knees too, and the knees are rather unusual as well. They work like an ostrich, bending backward rather than forward (the armor restricts the legs moving very far back, but allows them to move forward much further). And finally, the armored leg gun/covering thing-a-ma-jiggies on the frotn of his legs open up revealing his booties. Like I said, he's definitely well articulated, but in the end I had a tough time keeping him standing. The odd knees weren't as tight as they needed to be to support all the weight.

Finally, there's Manny. He has neck, shoulders, elbows, one wrist, and hips. Although he's the worst articulated, he also stands the best on his own, and the arm articulation allows for some poses with both the weapons and the shield.

Paint - Mandarin, Manga She-Spawn ****; Interlink ***1/2
If I were to complain about the paint ops, I'd be lying. They really are exceptional, and I'm getting pretty tired of saying that about Mcfarlane figures these days. I remember a time when paint was a major problem for these guys, but I haven't had any issues in recent history.

Interlink's repaint job isn't my favorite, but I think it is probably more interesting than the original. They've used a couple different finishes again, some areas in matte, some in gloss, to give the predominately black figure more visual appeal.

She-Spawn falls into that same ball park, but her small detail work is much more impressive. Also, the silver wings are a nice offset to the basic black of the costume, and the red and white highlights look great.

Mandarin Spawn looked pretty damn good the first time, but here they've done another terrific job. Is this paint scheme better? That's a really tough call, and I think a little less use of the bone white would have been better particularly around the face. But overall it really is eye catching, and the lines are clean, the details neat, and the variaty great.

Accessories - Mandarin Spawn ***1/2; She Spawn ***; Interlink **1/2
Manga She-Spawn and Interlink each come with one or two accessories, nothing to text message Grampa over, but acceptable. Mandarin Spawn is a different story.

Manny has his doubled ended sword/spear that fits in his right hand, his very intricate shield that fits on his left, and two swords that fit into a really cool double holster on his hip. There's also a gold braid to wrap around the swords on his belt. Overall, that's an above average number of accessories for the normal Spawn figure, and these all look exceptional and work great.

Manga chick comes next with her large, double ended weapon, with a projectile firing mechanism on one end, and her mask. The mask fits fairly well, but be careful with the projectile end on the spear. The peg was bent on mine, and I almost managed to snap it off trying to get it to work.

Interlink has his huge backpacks, but I consider these part of the figure. They pop onto the back easy enough, and look fairly good. His real accessory is a wand, something I'd expect the Wicked Witch of the West to carry. It's not particularly impressive, poor guy. Actually, the "wand" is a projectile that you can fire from his right arm. Don't worry, it's definitely not going to put anyone's eye out.

Fun Factor - **
If Interlink had better knees, he would have scored better than the others in this category. Hey he's a sorta, kinda robot - kid's love robot figures. They'd get pretty tired of the floppy joints though pretty quick. And while the other two will look good on the shelf, I can't see them playing with them too much.

I may have to take that back though - my three-year-old son seems to have a fascination with Manga She-Spawn. That's my boy.

Value - **1/2
If this was the first time around for these guys (and gals), they'd do a lot better in this category. McToys was one of the first companies to raise their prices to $8, then $10 a figure, but they've also been able to maintain that price point while other small companies have been forced to go up to $12 or even $15.

Overall - Mandarin Spawn ***; Manga She-Spawn **1/2; Interlink Spawn **
I just said it, but it's worth reiterating - if these were new figures, they'd do a lot better. But they aren't new, and you get a lot more credit for coming up with something original than just rehashing last year's ideas.

Still, if you didn't pick up Mandarin Spawn before, you might want to give him a second look. He's a sharp figure, and well worth the ten bucks. I'd pass on Interlink, but then I would have passed on him the first time around.

Where to buy
Killer Toys has them at the great price of $10 each, and other comic shops and retailers should have them any day now.