The Al Simmons' collectible figure is but one of only three pre-Spawn human figures in this Collection. The other two are Cogliostro and Takeda.
As for Simmons, there are ten figures (five editions) of him:
1) Feb 1996 Total Chaos Series 1 Original
2) Apr 1996 Total Chaos Series 1 Repaint
3) Jul 1997 MTCC & Toycon Total Chaos Series 1 Exclusive
4) Jul 1997 Movie Series Original
5) Aug 2000 Series 17 Original
6) Aug 2000 Series 17 Variant
7) Jan 2001 Series 17 Repaint
8) May 2003 Series 23 Original
9) May 2003 Series 23 Variant
10) Mar 2005 Series 27 Boxset: Spawn vs Al Simmons
AL SIMMONS 1
There are 3 official versions to the first edition.
February 1996 Total Chaos Series 1 Original: Al Simmons
According to the official spawn.com website, the first version is part of Total Chaos Series 1 released in February 1996. End Cap February 1997 however stated date of release as October 1996 (End Cap refers to newsletter at the back pages of Spawn and Spawn related monthly comics).
What is Total Chaos?
"There are 7 figures in Series 1: Thresher, Dragon Blade, The Conqueror, Hoof, Al Simmons, Thorax and Gore. This is the first McFarlane line of toys that are not based on any comics, they come straight from the mind of Todd McFarlane himself. Total Chaos Series 1 was a test line to see if the public would like a non-comic book line and the public loved it. Series 1, though, has some of the most variations in any series of all McFarlane Toys..." (excerpt taken from abhol.)
Well, it was so successful that the series ended with Series 2. Whatever, the focus here is on Al Simmons. Here are bio and setting of Simmons and Total Chaos contained in the collectible's box itself.
The story goes like this "in a far off sector of the galaxy, there is a battle of good vs evil. This conflict is not fought by armies, but by a handful of warriors picked from throughout the eons of time. Chosen for their distinctive skills they are then adapted to fight in this war known as Total Chaos...loyalty and honor were the chief factors that the Accord considered when selecting Simmons. His experience in covert military operations on 20th Century Earth also makes him valuable to the team. He is now equipped with an arsenal of weapons, the most lethal include a flame thrower and missiles that are laser guided by his helmet. New battle armor also protects his (sic) from a variety of weapon attacks."
The original version sports a grey-whitish suit and a helmet that read "Delta" on it. I was informed that there are at least three unintentional variations for card collectors: original grey; original grey with light washing and original grey with very heavy washing (information and a lot of it that are not credited comes from the residential experts of the white and black forum boards - 'bonedust', thank you).
April 1996 Total Chaos Series 1 Repaint: Al Simmons
The repaint version in a blueish uniform.
You would not be able to find this blue repaint in the official spawn.com website. I have also no accurate information as to the date of the release.
Unintentional Variants
Besides the washings, other unintentional variants of both v1 and v2 that a card collector might be interested include firstly, colouring on the stenciled name on the uniform vary from black to yellow and secondly, the grenades attached on the chest came in different colours.
July 1997 MTCC & Toycon Exclusive: Al Simmons
The third figure appeared as an exclusive in the following places: Dragon Con, Atlanta; Wizard World, Chicago; Comicon, San Diego and MTCC. (see End Cap January 1998) Let's said the estimated date of release is July 1997.
The colour between the body and the suit is more well defined and the word on the helmet read "spawn" instead of "delta". Apparently, there is also a Forbidden Planet Exclusive that has a slightly different card.
And kid you not, if you look at the face from v1 to v3, you would notice a michael jacksonesque (late michael jackson...he is gone too soon, edited July 16th 2009) change in skin tone.
AL SIMMONS 2
There is only one official version in the second edition of Simmons.
July 1997 Movie Series Original
The 2nd appearance of Simmons as a collectible figure came with the release of the movie in July 1997. Unlike Simmons 1, Simmons 2 is an integral part of the Spawn lineup of toy series and thus some collectors considered him as the first edition.
He carried around with him a portable missile launcher.
A more professional rendition from the official site.
AL SIMMONS 3
There are three official versions, two from the original release of Series 17 in August 2000 and the third is a repaint released in January 2001.
Both versions from the original release are identical - Al Simmons in his camouflage uniform. The difference lies in the base.
August 2000 Series 17 Original: Al Simmons
The original version introduced is that of the clean version meant for the mass market. Clean here implied that the figure is non-bloody.
August 2000 Series 17 Variant
This is the bloody version for the specialty market with Simmons stepping on a dessicated corpse. Without the base, you would not be able to differentiate between the original and variant. This figure, sculpted by Gabriel Marquez, do check out his site at Gwin Sculpture Works. This figure has also won notoriety as one of the figure mentioned by Rev Christopher Rose, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Hartford, Connneticut, USA as objectionable. The inside joke is that the corpse is based on another sculptor: Kyle.
January 2001 Series 17 Repaint: Al Simmons
The third version, a repaint was released in January 2001.
Instead of the jungle green uniform, Simmons is repainted wearing urban camouflage.
The repainted figure has also been 'mildly' resculpted - his stance has been straighten up.
There is also a tweak to his arsenal. His weapons are on the right of the picture. He now has a knife and knifeholder, a M60 machine gun instead of the original M203 (M16 with grenade launcher).
And then there is the infamous base. His base as seen on the bottom right is now larger as compared to that of the regular versions.
AL SIMMONS 4
Two official versions of this fourth edition of Simmons. Image from spawn.com.
May 2003 Series 23 Original
The fourth edition comes in two versions. Both versions are released simultaneously but one is bloodier than the other. The original is that of Simmons without the blood and thus meant for the mass market. Due to QC errors, there are cards that have Simmons with and without helmet.
May 2003 Series 23 Variant
Interestingly enough, the official response to my query is that this bloody version is not an intentional variant and that there is only one version - the clean version! Every collector I spoke to differ but I guess some poor Chinese girls on the production line got so traumatised by the mutated appearance of Al Simmons that they dabbed paints indiscriminately to avoid looking at him.
This figure is part of Series 23 which also features Warrior Lilith. Check her out and you would be left wondering why is it that the mutated Lilith looks so fabulous while Simmons look so horribly mutated?
AL SIMMONS 5
Only one official version to this fifth edition and he appeared in a two-pack with his post-Simmons persona of Spawn.
March 2005 Series 27 Boxset Original: Spawn vs Al Simmons
Check out more of this figure under Spawn i86 in the index.
