Arghh! I'm just plain annoyed with this figure, and that's very rare for me. My name is Shocka, and I'm an action figure collector of the very worst. I love heaps of different types of figures, I have over 300 and a whole lot of them are demons. The creepier the better. Demon figures are my favourites, and I've always loved the Violator demon figures from McFarlane Toys. Since the first series of Spawn, which included a plastic bendy Violator that rocked, I've been collecting the fellows like crazy. McFarlane have done plenty of versions and varients, including a robotic version, plenty of different coloured bendy versions (including a rare gold version) and a few supersized versions (including 13" and a Deluxe Movie Edition which I'd kill to get my hands on). The Movie Edition is partly the reason why I'm so annoyed with the latest edition to the Violator collection, Violator 3, from the Spawn Classics, Series 20 from McFarlane Toys.

In America, I could find one of those really kewl, really playable Movie Editions with ease, and it wouldn't set me back more than $10. But in Australia, I've battled to try and get my hands on one with no success. And it's really annoying, since it's the ultimate, 13", good sculpt, high playability demon figure with light up eyes that's every demon collectors dream. But to order one from America includes a postage cost so high Bill Gates would mess his pants. So, I thought Violator 3 would make a cheaper alternative, being far more available and also much hyped.

I was wrong.

Some background information: from the Spawn comic, Violator is one of the demons from Hell, disguised as Clown as an agent from Maelbogia (one of the Devils) to bring the main character, Spawn, to the 'dark side'. Clown can become him whenever he needs, and he's battled Spawn on many occasions, becoming a huge monsterous demon who looks plenty cool.

The card Violator is on depicts an image of Violator from the comic; very bright and colorful. The back has pictures of the other characters in the series, and some background information. It's pretty kewl. The figure inside the package is, instead, completely ridiculous. His pose is... bizarre to say the least. He looks less than menacing, not a good thing for a scary ole' demon. Out of the package, he isn't much different.

Violator 3 is about 6 1/2 inches tall, with a decent sculpt that matches the comic and a good amount of articulation. He has shoulders, elbows, hands, midsection (ball-jointed), legs, mouth, and one finger. Unfortunately, thanks to cut corners, none of these work half as well as they should. The shoulders desperately need ball-joints over the regular cut joints, so that his arms have free movement. In his current state, the arms moving up and down is ludicrous. The ball-jointed midsection is cheaply done and just doesn't work- it doesn't give him any more posability than if it was just cut jointed. The elbow joints are uniquely done, using plastic rubber over the joints inside to hide the pegs, which would be great - if the bastards hadn't already broken before I opened the toy. Grrrrrrr. To fix them, I'll have to cut open the rubber, and that would ruin the arms anyway. Lousy. Life just isn't fair.

On the upper hand, he stands well, especially for his goofy pose. He's like a combination of a drunk anorexic hunchback, and an annoyed camel, and it doesn't look demonic in the least. His limbs are all kinds of crazy, and it's a surprise that he balanced well enough to stand. He comes with a human heart accesory, which is actually quite cool, and he can even hold it, but it's not as good as the one that came with my Buffy Gentleman figures. His mouth is articulated well enough, but closing it makes him look stupider than ever- it's known that the Spawn demons all have tragic overbites, but this guy just looks inane.

The paint is pretty good, not applied sloppily. The highlights on his claws and horns are nice, and his teeth, mouth and other details are great - if only they weren't totally ignored because of all of his other stupid aspects. Very annoying.

On the whole, I don't like this toy much. I wish I could take it back and buy the Overtkill III boxed set for this series, which looks good in the box, so even if it turns out as ghastly as this abomination it still looks nice posed. Despite having a good demonic design, I really can't say much to like about Violator 3. At least he'll look kind of nice posed with some Spawn figures, where he can collect dust. Still, it's a purchase I wish I hadn't made. Not recommended.

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 10
Type of Toy: Action Figure