Was Todd six inches or only three?

§ September 5th, 2012 § Filed under misfit toys, retailing § 10 Comments

In response to Monday’s post, where I rambled on at length about Spawn toys and their lack of secondary-market interest, readers Corey and Doc Arkham brought up the first issue of the Spawn comic book. To quote Doc, in his response to Corey’s comment about Spawn #1’s ease of sale:

“Spawn #1 is an easy sell, but every 90s collection is almost guaranteed to have at least one copy in it. It’s such a readily available resource that it doesn’t even figure into an offer price.”

I see early Spawns all the time. In fact, I purchased part of a collection at the shop yesterday, but passed on those very Spawns. Spawn comics, especially #1, are among those where far more people are interested in selling them to me than buying them from me. (Kinda like sets of Marvel trading cards, but that’s a story for another time.) I do sell those #1s on occasion, but too often people who ask about it are trying to price their own copies and are often amazed that it isn’t hundreds of dollars. Now, Spawn comics from about issue 50 to 100 or so…those I could use.

To clarify some of my comments from Monday…yes, while a lot of McFarlane toy sets warm the pegs quite nicely, there are certain figures I could always use. Some of the more famous modern monster figures, like Freddy Krueger or Jason, I could sell those all day. Or this Six Faces of Madness series…that was an enormously popular set. Or Spawn. Not “Medieval Spawn” or “Spawn as He Appeared on the Cover of Issue # Whatever” or Wings of Redemption Spawn. Just plain ol’ Spawn, with the chains and the big cape, as he appeared in that first issue. I could probably sell those.

As for the Todd McFarlane figure, Heli has this to say:

“Unless I’m mistaken, that figure was actually originally thrown in with some Spawn movie playset or other as ‘the bum,’ and then carded and resold through the club.”

That did stir some ancient memories in my tired brain, and that set was Spawn Alley. That linked page includes the note that the “Todd the Bum” figure (pictured here) was only in the sets distributed through Diamond Comics. My memory was that the movie playsets were actually produced at a smaller scale than the standard Spawn figures (like at about 3 inches), while that Collector’s Club figure was at the usual 6-inch Spawn scale. However, the “Todd the Bum” and Todd McFarlane figures are the same sculpt (with different color schemes), even if they are, possibly, if I’m recalling correctly, different sizes. Please correct me if any of you out there know for certain. I know the Spawn.com listings have them at the 6-inch scale, but I’m certain at least one of those sets was at a smaller scale.

One final comment, from the amazingly-named Suckmaster Burstingfoam:

“Do you really wear a toupée? Interesting.”

To paraphrase an old David Letterman joke…if I needed a toupée, would I buy one that looked like this?

10 Responses to “Was Todd six inches or only three?”

  • Snark Shark says:

    “VLAD THE IMPALER”

    oh, I have that one!

    STOP LAUGHING!

    “My memory was that the movie playsets were actually produced at a smaller scale than the standard Spawn figures (like at about 3 inches”

    that fits with PART of one i saw at a thrift store.

  • Casey says:

    The last time I saw one of those sets was as a child, and I actually remember noting how small they were.

  • Heli says:

    Yeah; I agree that the movie sets were smaller figures, although the main movie line was 6″ like most of their stuff.

    Having never owned or even seen in person (to my recollection) a Todd McFarlane figure, I just figured he was 3″ like the Bum one. I stand corrected. I suspect they used some of those computer thingies the kids like to embiggen him for maximum Toddage. I’m kind of surprised they didn’t do a 12″ supersized version, like they did for a few of the figures (Spawn, Medieval Spawn, and Angela, IIRC).

    …and knowing is half the battle.

    PS While you’re on the subject of Spawn toys, have you covered the “party Angela” phenomenon?

  • Tim O'Neil says:

    I had a couple of McFarlane’s Dragon toys – they looked real nice, and my mom loves dragons, so there are a couple of those still knocking around my parents’ house.

    What about modern sales of Spawn? Has the series picked up new readers since it entered its 20 year anniversary with all the variant covers and such?

  • swamp mark says:

    Mike,recently you told a guy that if he couldn’t get hold of a certain book (I think it was Popeye) you would be happy to sell it to him.Well,it looks like Black Kiss is banned in Canada now and I would much rather give my money to you than ebay.How would I go about getting on your pull list for items like this,assuming that the risks aren’t that bad for you?I’m expecting problems with Faust too.Thanx.

  • Daniel Latta says:

    I thought the toupee joke was from Ted Koppel.

  • Xanadude says:

    Isn’t it just the same, repurposed sculpt that was used for The Man of Miracles (http://www.spawn.com/toys/product.aspx?product=2952) and one of the Elvis figures? (http://www.mcfarlane.com/toys/categorytype.aspx?categoryid=7)

  • Corey says:

    Yeah, just about every guy that comes into my store looking to sell his “old” comics (still in the “original plastic bag”, of course) has Spawn #2-12. And Bloodstrike #1, for some reason.

    We also have one of those Todd the Artist figures. I feel strangely compelled to buy it for myself.

  • Steve Canadian says:

    Suckmaster Burstingfoam! That’s a great obscure reference to a bit from Stephen Fry’s late 80s BBC radio series, Saturday Night Fry. It’s from the silly names sketch, where listeners have sent in some funny real names they’ve heard. Suckmaster is, iirc, the name of a listener who wrote in.

    Also, McFarlane Toys action figures, w00t! I had a buddy who left a dragon action figure at my house and had never picked it up. When he’s old enough, my nephew will inherit it.

  • Doc Arkham says:

    “people who ask about it are trying to price their own copies and are often amazed that it isn’t hundreds of dollars.”

    Ah, those guys. Too cheap to buy an Overstreet, and they haven’t been in a comic store for so long they’re still looking for the latest issue of Wizard. They want you to help find one of two comics – Spawn #1 or Superman #75 – and go from smirking to slack-jawed when you explain how little you charge and how much you’d pay for a copy (compared to their expectations, or course).