In 1994, a comic book artist first began his toy empire after he was unable to find a good toy maker to craft high-quality figures based on his popular comic Spawn. Instead, he opted to create his own toy company, Todd Toys, and Mr McFarlane redesigned the action figure world.
Each toy was bigger, more detailed, more articulated and more badass than any toy before. His first series, Spawn Series 1, started a revolution towards better quality action figures for both kids and collectors. Now, more than 7 years and a name change forward, Todd McFarlane's toy empire McFarlane Toys has redesigned and released one of the most badass of all their figures, straight from the Spawn comic and from the first series of Spawn toys. His name is Overtkill.

The original figure was 6" tall, with colorful (alas simple) paint faithful to the comic, with 4 awesome points of articulation and a great action feauture allowing you to recreate his doom from the comic book - when you press the button on the back of his head, it fires off. He also came with a ripped out parking metre, which he could hold well. He was a landmark in his time, but now he's a little outdated.

Introducing Overtkill III, the new Spawn Classics - Series 20 boxed set - the enormous 10" remake of the bad boy, with massive detailing, paint, articulation and accessories. This is the totally badass boxed set you've been waiting for, Todd McFarlane's answer to Kaiyodo's Monev the Gale.

Overtkill was originally Overkill, an armor-plated assasin sent to kill Spawn in the comic book. Although he failed, he lives on in action figure form as this hulking beast of a figure with an extra "t" in his name. Not only is this figure true to the comic book, but it's also slightly more detailed; starting at the bottom, the legs are metallic, covered in metal wires and bits surrounded by blue armour plating with golden blades on each side. Both feet are connected to visible pnuematics which actually work as you move his legs. A control panel-like armour belt covers his midsection articulation up to his torso, which is different colors of metal and technology bits up to his only remaining human skin up to his head. His face forms a scary grin, a wonderfully painted red-marble bullet-sight over his left eye, connected to a metallic visor with antennae. On his back is a metallic plate with golden blades running down his spinal cord to his large metallic butt. Many wires, plugs and cogs fill his neck and skin across to two massive armour shoulder pads, with light blue shading and detailing. Ball-jointed, metallic-muscled arms are covered in hidden and revealable guns, outlined by blue armour up to his ghastly fingers, each stemmed with wire nerves and armour. The metals and metal paints that cover Overtkill actually look metallic, like chrome - it's excellent. All over his body are little details and items that make him look totally king - I especially like the fold-out guns, but more on that later. This figure is true McFarlane-quality; beautifully detailed from top to bottom. But how does he hold out on his articulation, which is usually McFarlane Toys' biggest downfall?

Quite well, it turns out. Big boy Overtkill here weighs in with over 16 spots of articulation, including huge ball-jointed shoulders, wrists, neck, midsection, leg, feet and knee - plus he's articulated on the many hidden guns and shoulderpads all over his body. By McFarlane standards, this guy is Oscar(TM) material. He doesn't have a whole lot of poses to use, though, but that's not a problem - his main pose is badass - simply standing and hulking above your other figures is awesome, especially when his arms can go all around him and everywhere else. I like it a lot, and it's a huge improvement over the original Overtkill, whose measely 4 points of articulation was once a breakthrough for action figures.

In terms of accessories, Overtkill is back to the basics. He comes with a number of golden chains, which can be wrapped around his body for display. Despite from being made of plastic, these chains are sturdy and useful for his display and play - I keep one wrapped around his right hand, like he's going to swing it and kill someone; and the others around his legs and waist, where they look nice and scary. He also comes with a cute ripped-out parking meter, reminiscent of the original, except far more detailed. Overtkill can hold it in either of his hands thanks to a peg in the back, although it looks better lying at his feet, making him look rather threatening. While it'd be nice to have more accessories, due to the size and detail of this figure, what he's got is grand, and he gets top points.

As for an action feature, he has a few neat little gimmicks which will appeal to the kid in all of us. He has pistons in each leg, little pnuematic pumps which move as you move his feet. This is another fine bit of McFarlane detail, and it's nice and cool. Another cool thing are the guns that extend from his arms, hidden above and below his wrists; built and articulated into his arms, pressing the grill on the panels lifts the hidden guns from their places, which aim forward at the target. There are two in each arm, although one in his right arm is permanently extended. The packaging includes the original Overkill art from the Spawn comic, which is a great little gimmick for the collector, and can make a nice display diorama for the enormous figure. The packaging also features a picture of Overtkill and the others in the Classics line, and is quite enormous to hold the massive figure inside - seeing this monster stare at you from his monsterous packaging is kind of scary. It's all a rich tapestry that works very, very nicely.

I completely adore this fine, fine figure. Overtkill III is badass, from top to bottom, and one of the biggest figures you'll ever stumble across. He's also at a good price; for only $20 you get a big hunk of figure, which is the only place where he can really contend with the far better Monev the Gale. Monev has enormously better articulation and posing, on-par excellent detail and is close to the same size, but he's $30+ and becoming more expensive as he becomes rarer, a complete collectors item, whereas Overtkill is more publically released and easier to find. Is Overtkill then a poor man's Monev? Hardly. Alone, he's an excellent figure, and he's awesome in a Spawn display and also full of play and action for the kids. This is a rare toy: a McFarlane Toys figure that is suitable and playable for kids? It's almost unheard of. Yet here it is, and it rocks. You've come a long way, baby, from your early 6" simple toy, to your massive 10" monster. To see a comparison of them, check out my toy comic, here: http://www.swis.net.au/~aston/bindex.htm - a few panels down is the original Overtkill, and then the new Overtkill III.
Much recommended.

(By the way, Yo, I was only going to give him 4 stars, but I gave him the extra 1 just to tick you off. Enjoy!)

Thanks for reading my epinion!

Total Count of "Badass"s Featured In This Epinion: 5

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 20
Type of Toy: Action Figure