SPAWN 3
The second reincarnation of Spawn after Spawn 2 (August 1995). Spawn 3 follows the continued improvement of intricate sculpt seldom witnessed in action figures. Eventually, four versions, three of them unique figures constituted this little grouping of Spawn 3 Collectible Figures's Collection.
“Our hero, Spawn aka Al Simmons. Al, a CIA operative, was killed in the line of duty. A superior solder with keen fighting skills, he made a pact with the leader of the Darklands, Malebolgia, to see his wife one more time. In exchange, Al became Spawn and thus a soldier in Malebolgia’s army. After being tricked by Malebolgia, and thrust back to Earth five years in the future, Spawn now uses his finite powers to fight the destructive deeds of the empire of the Darklands, and evil everywhere.” - Ad for Spawn III –
February 1997 Series 7 Boxset Original: Spawn III
The original edition of Spawn III was released in February 1997 as part of the Series 7 ensemble. It contains a nicely sculpted masked Spawn in black costume with extendable red cape.
May 1997 Series 7 Boxset Repaint: Spawn III
v2 has a wolf. For a long period, it was assumed that v2 is a cheap repaint but gradually it was learned that there is really no difference. As a matter of fact, McFarlane Toys originally wanted to release the figure as one version together with an owl and wolf but business dictates otherwise.
Thus, the difference between the two lies with the animal that accompanies the figure:
I believe that this figure is inspired by the drawing inside Spawn #43 and you would see Spawn with both owl and wolves.
January 1998 Retail Exclusive Display Case: Burnt Spawn
Spawn 3 has the distinction of being the first figure to be encased in an acrylic case known to collectors as “fishtank”. This v3 was released in the US as an exclusive by KB Toys and titled “Burnt Spawn”.
Because he was released in September 1997, collectors assumed he is part and parcel of the Movie Series which happened to be released around the same period (beween June and September). That there is also a Burnt Spawn figure in the Movie Series only reinforced the mistaken belief this guy is from the same series. Well, no such thing, he is sold as “Burnt Spawn” for a better choice of name but he is simply a duplicate of Spawn 3.
Spawn 3v3 receives an incredibly ugly new head, one of the ugliest ever we reckons and in return for the ugly mug of a face that only Angela can love, he got metal chains and vinyl cape instead of plastic chains and fabric cape. The original wolf in v2 remains but the owl flew away.
November 2002 MTCC Exclusive: Spawn 3
Of all the presents that we got, this surely must be one of our favourite, the November 2002’s MTCC Exclusive resculpt of Spawn 3 introduced five years after the original. v4 proved to be very popular and resale price has remained high.
An exact duplicate of v3 minus the wolf and a beautifully crafted headsculpt, very batmanesque.
CONSIDER THIS:
In 1997, Spawn 3v1 and v2 appeared as masked.
In the same year, a repaint in an acrylic display case appeared as unmasked with a change of cape and chains but sale is generally...blah.
In 2002, the same v3 is reincarnated with exactly the same stuff but in mask and it suddenly sells much better! The lesson, masked figure always sell better.
