There are two editions of Ninja Spawn. The first has two versions released in 1995 and the second, an excellent re-interpretation is introduced in 2006.
NINJA SPAWN 1
There are two official versions:
August 1995 Series 3 Original: Ninja Spawn
Series 3 of August 1995 introduced to us the first Japanese-theme Spawn, a Ninja Spawn clad in black with a nice assortment of weapons. This Ninja came with a hood option to cover up his face and of course I cover him up, I mean, I have no intention of scaring the wits out of those Samurai defending their castles.
Card collectors might be interested to know that some star-burst stickers on the plastic box is placed on the left instead of on the right as shown in this picture. Luckily, I am not a stickler for details (yes dear Virginia, every pun intended). Apparently, the sticker was originally on the left but it covered his lovely face and later production has the sticker moved to the right instead (End Cap January 1997).
A 6-Pack that include Ninja Spawn released in 1995/96 and discovered in eBay. Figures from the earlier series were haphazardly packaged to attract a larger audience.
And in late 1997 he received the honour of being pirated. Image courtesy of Joe Madeira, www.bootlegactionfigures.com/blog.
January 1997 1995 MTCC Exclusive Series 3 Repaint: Ninja Spawn
Released as Series 3 MTCC Exclusive in November 1995, a Ninja in bright silver costume would not live long in ancient Japan...unless he only fought in daylight.
It was speculated that this was originally meant to be a Repaint Series in partnership with another company but it did not work out. An official article in End Cap ated January 1997 denied the existence of a Repaint!
The card advertisement sell this fellow as one who live "many centuries ago...in what is now Japan, who suffered the same fate as Al Simmons". Boy oh boy, this man suffered the same fate alright, so similar that it is spooky...like Simmons, he got a laced-up face! Shoelace in medieval Japan!!! Come on!
And fellow Spawn readers who know the history behind the stitching of Simmons' face (please disregard the claim of Batman's batarang which is the actual incident but not official, go figure that out) would probably be left scratching their heads in bewilderment about the probability of flying bullets "in what is now Japan". To read more of this incident, check out Spawn #20 dated November 1994.
NINJA SPAWN 2
Only one version thus far.
June 2006 Series 29 Original: Ninja Spawn 2
This entirely new resculpt of Ninja Spawn appeared in June 2006 under Series 29: Evolutions.
Well, Ninja Spawn certainly evolved very well when compared to Ninja Spawn 1 and the best part, no stitched-up face!
The incredible thing to me about Spawn figure is the back of the figure, the care that is put into it is amazing.
And his weapon assortment is equally impressive...
Ninja Spawn 2 inspired the creation of a comic spawn character in #160 (September 2006) where he appeared as one of two Spawns called up to assist Al Simmons the Spawn in his quest to defeat the 12 Disciples, guardians of the portal to Eden. Readers would recall that Simmons possessed a legion of thousands of Spawns inside him but instead of summoning more to help him, he get Ninja Spawn 2 and another medieval fellow instead. It is only a comics and one should never sweat the small stuff but I got this one very tiny mini small stuff - if the legion insides Simmons died at the same hour as him back in the 1980s, why are they attired in such ancient costumes?