Spawn fans have the chance to bring a remastered version of the iconic Medieval Spawn into their collection with Todd McFarlane's new Kickstarter. The original Medieval Spawn figure and comic was released via Kickstarter in 1995 with explosive fan . The new Medieval Spawn action figure comes in three color variations; Classic Blue, Bold Black, and a Primer Gray Artist's Prototype, with more intricate details and articulation points.

McFarlane has announced tons of free bonus accessories as the current Kickstarter has been active, along with a remastered cover for the comic to go with the new action figure. McFarlane has mastered the art of fast shipping with Kickstarters, with many of the Medieval Spawn figures expected to ship out as early as this holiday season. Spawn has only grown in popularity over the years with new comics and a King Spawn movie on the horizon.

Screen Rant caught up with Todd McFarlane to talk about his ongoing Medieval Spawn Kickstarter. He revealed why he wanted to return to Medieval Spawn years later and remastering the comic cover. McFarlane also reflects on his long-time success in the comic and toy industries as well as the intricacies of the Medieval Spawn action figure.

Todd McFarlane Explains Why He Wanted To Revisit Medieval Spawn

"I was just wondering whether we could bring that level of detail to an action figure."

Screen Rant: Congratulations on the incredible success of the Medieval Spawn Kickstarter campaign. First question I have right out the gate, what inspired you to revisit and reinvent the Medieval Spawn character for this campaign?

Todd McFarlane: Well, we went back to, I mean, the first one I did, I went back to Spawn in the very first series we ever did, way back in 1994, 1995. And so the original thought was maybe I just redo the whole first line. And so we did Spawn. I mean, this is Medieval Spawn. This is the one from 30 years ago.

I own that.

Todd McFarlane: Yeah, and again, here's the figures that were on there, right? I don't know that Overkill or Tremor necessarily deserve the next in line. I think we've got in the last 30 years, a bunch of characters that have risen up in status, if you will, but I just thought Medieval Spawn, he looks good. I knew we had done a statue of him years ago that I thought was super cool, and I was just wondering whether we could bring that level of detail to an action figure and not just a resin.

This campaign achieved record breaking results, including being fully funded in just two minutes and raising a million dollars in five hours. Did you anticipate the level of enthusiasms from the fan base?

Todd McFarlane: Well, I mean, we did really well. Matter of fact, we did a record in of backers and money that was pledged on the first one that we did in 2020, right? We did that one just as the pandemic was hitting in March of 2020. So I knew that at worst we could do half of what the first one did, and if we could do half, then we'd be in good shape and hopefully we'll do better than half. I don't think we will do the same numbers for a couple of reasons.

One, it was a pandemic. Everybody was sort of locked and shut down. You couldn't spend your money anywhere else other than on the internet. I also gave a lot more options on that first one, and then be careful what you wish for. It was so successful, and I had to sign so many plates that I just went, whoa, I got to figure out a simpler way to not make this get out of control.

So arguably, we probably could have made a run at the record, but I just go, man, I don't know if I want to sign that many plates. So the pack, because before you could order whatever you wanted, and if you wanted them all signed, I'd sign every one of 'em.

But this go around, we limited to only 700 that you could get every one of your figures signed, and then you either had to buy a single or buy the three pack, and you only get one autograph instead of three. So I could cut it down. And still with that, I'm still going to do probably over 10,000 signatures anyways. Right? It's just that if you let it get out of control, that number can double real quickly.

Todd McFarlane Breaks Down The 3 Medieval Spawn Figures

"Those permutations of being able to mix and match will hopefully grow even bigger."

I want to talk about this for a second because you have the three figures that sold out within like 45 minutes. What features and accessories can fans expect from those three figures? We got classic, classic blue, bold black and primer gray? God, those look so beautiful.

Todd McFarlane: Yeah, so that's a black, that was the blue right here. And the primer gray, although I'll give you a bit of a hint, Joseph, I've been talking to the factory to see if we can't do a bit of a surprise on the primer one for everybody. So anyway, they're supposed to be getting back to me, and if they tell me what I think they can tell me and keep it at a reasonable price, then I may be able to throw in another upgrade beyond some of the other ones I hope to be able to give away,

Man, this is what I love about McFarland Toys, baby. You get the bang for your buck. If you go to my garage right now, you will see nothing but a wave of McFarland Toys that I have yet to unbox because I still think they look so beautiful just in the box. However, there are some that I took out and I display proudly because they're such great figures. You mentioned plans to unlock more free bonus accessories for every backer as the campaign continues. Can you give us a hint about what new bonus backers might expect in this campaign progress?

Todd McFarlane: Well, I mean, for the most part, you can break 'em into three categories, right? More heads, you can put those in a bucket. Way more weapons, you can put those in a bucket and then more armaments, right? Things that actually go on him. We have different amounts of each one of them.

And so as I've been do 'em out, I've been trying to kind of balance it out so that whatever is there right now, even if we stop and we didn't give any more away, you could still take, let's say your blue one, take whatever you get at classic, then take your black one, given that I've given you two extra heads now, you can swap out the heads. I've given you a new chest plate. You could swap out the chest plate, you can swap out one of the arms, you can swap out the shield, and you can swap out the sword.

So even if you just did that and you put the two of 'em together, there should be a fairly separating difference between the two of 'em that you just go, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's not the same guy. But as I add more free stuff, then those permutations of being able to mix and match will hopefully grow even bigger so that people can just have as much fun with them as they see fit.

Todd McFarlane Reveals His Secret To Shipping Kickstarter Figures Quickly

It's like you continue to get new figures with these new accessories, which is so cool for a collector. You can display those pieces and change the look, which I think is absolutely fantastic. Now, one of the key highlights to your campaign is the commitment to fast turnaround times and breaking records for fast shipping on Kickstarter in any toy category, which I find extremely impressive. How do you manage to streamline production in the fulfillment process?

Todd McFarlane: There's only one way. You don't wait for the money to come in and start beginning baking your cookies, whatever item you're doing on any crowdfunding. Which again, most people, they have the idea, great ideas what they're lacking is the money to move forward with it. So they do the crowdfund, they have to wait their 30 days, get their money, then begin the process of finding people that can make it for them.

As you can imagine, time starts ticking by, and especially depending on what it is that you happen to be crowdfunding. If it's something that's complicated and there's some engineering and mechanisms to go with it, all that's going to get stretched out. I mean, if you're making a hat or if you're making a T-shirt or something, you can do that a lot faster. Print something, you can do that a lot faster.

But given that toys, making an action figure, is a lot more complicated than all of that. I had to make my decisions on what I wanted the potential figures to be, what I wanted the freebies to be, and then I had to assume in advance that I was going to make all of it because I had to have molds for all of it. And so we sent all that off to the factory way in advance.

Because it can take up to like 45 days just to cut steel for the mold, just 45 days just for that. And then you have to then refine the mold and make sure that the ts, once they give you a sample, the ts are good, and there's a lot of sort of boring technical stuff that people don't see before you actually start painting and packaging them out.

The team made our decisions way in advance and told the factories to start baking at least the parts. You can't really paint them because you don't know how many of each color is going to be there, but just start making a bunch of arms and a bunch of heads and a bunch of legs. I'll use 'em. Whatever you make, I'll use 'em. Here's some packaging.

I'm going to be using this packaging, so start printing some of the packages, like let's just get it going. As a matter of fact, I still don't think they understand because they sent me an email last night goin,. So exactly how many are we making again? And it's like, I keep telling you, I don't know until the campaign's over, right? There's going to be a mad rush. But if we can get, that's why I keep saying that we're going to try and ship out some, right? Not all.

I can't say that for all of 'em because I don't know what the final number's going to be, but they can make very fast. Let's say a unsigned blue figure, let's say the basic one, right? As long as they've got all the accessories there, then I just phone them up and say, well, here's the ones you're putting in the package. Put it in.

I mean, I can do that literally the day after the campaign ends, they could start going, oh, okay. And maybe within days they're already packing out the toys within days for that simple one, which basically means they can basically start sending it out to Hong Kong. And again, some of the people that live in that area, if they happen to buy a blue Spawn and live in Hong Kong, we could get it to 'em maybe within a month.

I keep saying, I think we're going to be shipping a bunch out within two months from the factory and some of the stuff internationally. And then I'm going to try and get as many as I can as fast as I can here to North America so that we can, as soon as they hit, send them out, send them out, send them out, send them out.

Todd McFarlane Talks Remastering The Medieval Spawn Comic Cover

Now each figure comes with a comic featuring new original cover by you. What can you share with some of the insight into the creative process behind these new covers?

Todd McFarlane: I dunno that I'd call it a new cover per se. I called it a remastered. So I did what essentially I did with the first one, which is I just took the original artwork and whatever that was, and then I updated it to the skills that I have today, not what I had 30 years ago, so that hopefully I can add more detail.

Just like, I mean, this toy was pretty good, and the comic book behind it was pretty good. But hopefully once you open it up, you'll see that the toy and the comic book cover are way more detail oriented. So on that level, it's a remastered cover, not necessarily a wholly new drawing for it.

This campaign ends in September 19th, so fans have until then to back it. What are your hopes and expectations for the final outcome of this campaign?

Todd McFarlane: Well, I mean, again, there's a lot for me to still give away. So between now and then, I think that's going to grow. Usually what happens in the Kickstarter campaign is you get a third of your money at the beginning, a third in the middle, which is 28 days, and then a third on the last day, right? Not exact, but it's kind of like that, whatever that rush was on day one, you get the same rush on the last day.

Part of it is because there's a bunch of people, and there's even some in the comments section who haven't pledged yet because they want to get as fully educated as possible as to what they're buying. And so at the beginning, the people who came in and super excited, they were just super loyal, and they were like, yeah, I'll take it, Todd. I heard the first Kickstarter did really well.

The people on the backend are the ones who go, okay, let me just sit here maybe for the price. I'm sitting on the fence. Let me see what they're going to add for value to get me maybe mentally across the line. And then there's just a bunch of people that are trained in Kickstarter just come the last couple of days anyways, when they get a notice from Kickstarter saying, Hey, this is about the end and we think you might be interested.

Then they come in and they go, wow, I get that, and that and that and that and that as well as that. And it's the same price as it was 30 days ago, man, that seemed like a screaming deal. Let's go. And so what does that mean? My guess, I don't know. I think we're over 1.6 million. My guess is we will end up in to the 2.4 range or something like that, right?

Again, a step down from the first one, but still the second biggest toy Kickstarter ever behind the Spawn. So we'll hold the number one spot and the number two spot. But like I said, I didn't give as many options to grow this thing as big as it could have because like I said, I didn't want it to get complicated at the factory and I didn't want to have to sign a gazillion plates.

Todd McFarlane's Philosophy Has Never Steered Him Wrong, In The World Of Spawn Or Otherwise

"Give as much quality as you can for as fair price as possible, and be as transparent as you can."

I've always A, respected your work ethic, but B, your innovation, your skills as a businessman and your creativity. Reflecting on your journey from the original Spawn action figure campaign to now, what lessons have you learned and how have you influenced your approach to this campaign?

Todd McFarlane: I don't think a lot in of the generic rule. I think they all apply. Give as much quality as you can for as fair price as possible, and be as transparent as you can. If you're going to give something away or shipping's going to delay or you're not going to do this or you're going to do it, just be honest with the customer.

Why? Because then they have as much knowledge as they possibly can have to see whether it's an item that they personally want to consume. I mean, that's all you ever really can do, just give them all the information. Here's what it looks like. Here's the price and here's when it comes up. If any of that's appealing to you, then you can do something about it. If it's not your cup of tea, then walk by and go find something else that basically you personally enjoy more.

My job isn't to overly convince anybody to buy anything that I do. My job is to just say, here it is. Here's the level of quality that we're giving you. You can see it. I mean, so you either like it or you don't. I'm going to do a bunch of videos and here's the price, and here's when it's going to come. That's all I can do. I am not going to alter it.

Especially given the way that we're doing it where we're making some of the items in advance kind of, I can't alter it, right? I had a little more flex on the first one. I hadn't started making things, but if I want to deliver these as fast as I keep saying, I don't have the time to now go back to the factory and say, Hey, let's add three more things and let's make another mold,

Because that will delay it. Just that if I add one more knife that will delay three months, just that one little tiny piece. And it's like, guys, I don't know. Do you want one extra knife or do you want it 90 days sooner? I don't know. Most people like to get their product as soon as possible on Kickstarter.

Crowdfunding isn't known for speed, and I just want to show people that there's that possibility for some of us who already have a career. We're not trying to build our career. The career has already been built, so we don't have to play by the exact same role.

Todd McFarlane Shares What Excites Him About Medieval Spawn As A Collector

The Medieval Spawn figure looks beautiful and it has over 30 points of articulation. For you personally, what are some of the features or accessory that stand out to you that you're excited about seeing as a collector yourself?

Todd McFarlane: Well, a couple. Some of them are just silly, right? This one's got a little chain on it and you could wiggle it around. So I don't think I've given this one away yet. I need to do that here pretty quick because it's kind of sweet. I was thinking the other day, I phoned the factory and going, is there any way you could put blood splatter on that or something?

So I'm going to be talking to them about that. So things that just are toy-etic I think are kind of fun. There's also one helmet, I've got it here someplace. There's one helmet that actually lifts up and then you actually see the head underneath. To me, that's kind of a fun thing. Like, oh, there he is. And then we did one where we've got, and it fits two heads, but it fits one way better.

There's two what we call hamburger head, the burnt face, and then we've got a soft helmet that goes over it. The reason for it to be soft is because if you make it plastic, then the thickness of it throws everything out of whack. And either you have a normal head and then you've got a big helmet, or you have a good sized helmet and you have to put a pea head underneath it so that it fits the thickness.

And so our solution, and it may not be everybody's cup of tea, was if we make it thin we can or make it flexible, we can make it thin. If we make it thin, then we can actually have a sort of right sized head and a right sized helmet, and I don't have to compromise either one of 'em, and it comes off fairly easy, off on, off.

Again, who doesn't want to put helmets on? That was one of the things at the beginning. I go, I got to at least have one helmet that goes on and off. Why not? And then I got to at least have one that opens and shuts just because that's what knights are in my brain. We got to do it. So again, this one is fixed. It doesn't move nothing. I mean, the head move. But the mask doesn't come off.

But there's another head that comes. I've got it here in the, so maybe I can pull it out while we're talking. Got it. In one of the boxes. The packaging is cool, man. Packaging is super cool. So on both sides, you've got the foil and stuff. And again, I don't even know if the factory, some of the things we do at the factory, if it's boring the people, but when you open the box and you've got the sort of the black on black and whatever, but what they want to do when you open it, they don't want all the pieces to fall out.

So we've got this clamshell. You can take it on and off, but they're finding, this one was a little bit loose. They created one now that has a tongue at the top and a tongue at the bottom. So you bend it and then you shove it down into the box so it will stay in place. So again, instead of it being flat, there's now a piece that comes up here, it bends and then you push it into the foam, and so it stays in place.

Again, just sort of silly stuff that the engineers and we sort of talk about all the time, because again, you don't want it to open. I've told them, I don't know if it's that big of an issue. I got to tell you that they did such a good job with the foam. Even if I turn it upside down, nothing falls out.

Todd McFarlane Breaks Down Thought Process For Certain Details Including The Helmet

Yeah, that's really good. That's a great display piece, just like that. And I almost don't even want to take it out of the box. It looks so beautiful.

Todd McFarlane: But I'm saying is that to me, you can take the plastic off and show it off a lot better than having the plastic on it, because when you push the pieces into the foam, there's a friction and it holds it right. But again, the factors are just being super, super careful. Their engineers are always overthinking it.

Here's the head I was talking about. So again, it looks good. I like eyeless helmets because you're going, how are they doing it? But this is the one that if you open it up, then you get. I dunno if I got that light there, I could put it over here in the light a little bit. So the head, right, this pivots up and down.

Who doesn't want, I mean, again, it's a fun, goofy piece. And then the soft helmet. Can you see how thin it is? So that's why I'm saying that I need something so that then I can do the right size head. And then when you put it on, then it goes on bam, right?

And the scale is still perfect with the body.

Todd McFarlane: I don't have to mess with too much stuff. Anyway. It's sort of silly stuff. And again, people making comments and will ask for things that I didn't think of or they had better ideas than me or whatever. But I can't, like I said, I can't slow down the train given that part of the goal, matter of fact, I argue the biggest goal is to get it in your hands, asap. I want to start pushing stuff out as much as possible during that Christmas time.

Todd McFarlane Reflects On 40 Years Of Success

I got to get that in my hand as soon as possible. I do have one last question for you. Finally, as a creator, what is the overwhelming from your backers mean to you personally and professionally? Oh, come on, Todd. You're giving us too much. I love it.

Todd McFarlane: I try not to have a single day go by where I take my fans and my career for granted. I know how lucky and charmed of a life I've had. Especially as I get older and I now meet the next generation coming up that want to break into comics that want to break into toy, that are trying to find their footing, that are trying to either just get in the business, but if you get in the business, then be able to do it as a living.

And then if you do it as a living, then basically have some notoriety so that people pay attention to you. And then you can extend that career a long time. Because I was doing it. I wasn't really paying attention. My head was down, I was working. But now I see that in hindsight, I got some lucky breaks and I got very fortunate.

I would argue my biggest break is that I got discovered before the internet because the internet now allows everybody on the world to show off their artwork. And it is staggering the amount of talent that is out there. I don't know if Todd McFarland at the skill level he was when he broke in, when I broke in at Marvel when I was a kid, I wouldn't have got discovered.

I'd be nowhere near the quality that you need just to get in the door, to get your foot in the door. So that people of have not only responded to what I've done with some of the art and our team has done at some of my companies, not for a year or two years. I'm now pushing almost 40 years in the business. And I think my first contract I signed in 1984, so I'm 40 years into it, four decades, right?

So every time I meet a fan, every time I interact with a fan, even if the fan isn't really being overly nice or in the comments pages or whatever. I never try to shout back or whatever. I try to just say, Hey, if you don't like it, you should go and spend your money elsewhere and find things that you like. But I usually try to respond mostly to the people who are acting like adults and not necessarily nice, but acting like adult.

And if you don't engage, I found over the decades with people who are grumpy, then you call sort of a faithful following that is very mindful and very kind and try to help each other and try to spread whatever news that I may have tried to spread. They go, Hey, no, no, Todd said this before. If you've got any other questions, I can help you out.

I am always amazed at how little blowback I've got. In all honesty, Joseph, maybe I'm just not going to the right places and reading the right ones or whatever else. I don't really read a lot of comments in all honesty. But the comments on the Medieval Swan are me more giving information, right? Again, that's the transparency part.

So I'm not here to go, oh man, thanks for being so cool and saying such nice stuff. It's mostly like, here's what you're going to get. Here's what you're not going to get. Here's when I think this is going to happen. Here's how big it is. That's a good idea. Maybe we'll have to wait for that next time, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But just giving the factual information so the expectation levels are grounded and that they're getting literally the information straight from the horse's mouth.

About The Medieval Spawn Kickstarter

In 1992, the first SPAWN comic broke sales records, and by 1995, the Spawn action figure set new standards in the toy industry. Now, Todd McFarlane is bringing a remastered version of the original 1995 MEDIEVAL SPAWN figure and comic through Kickstarter. Backers can choose from three color variations–– Classic Blue, Bold Black, and a Primer Gray Artist's Prototype. Autographed figures, which you can choose from the single Autographed Classic Blue Medieval Spawn, with additional autographed Black Edition and autographed Artist's Prototype figures available exclusively (only) in the limited 3-PACK. Both STANDARD and the limited 3-PACKS will feature all three figures and include an exclusive accessory–– the large sword, a remastered version of the original 1995 Medieval Spawn Sword. The 3-Pack will be limited to 700 units. Campaign goals (TBA) may also unlock up to 14 FREE Bonus Accessories!

Check out our previous interviews with Todd McFarlane here:

• Todd McFarlane Teases Spawn Movie At SDCC 2024
• Todd McFarlane Tackles Spawn #350
• Todd McFarlane Hypes Latest WhatNot Auction

You can the Medieval Spawn Kickstarter now and it ends September 19.

Source: Screen Rant Plus