Packaging -  ***
The box is about the right size, without a lot of wasted space.  It shows off the figure fairly well, although quite a bit of him is blocked off.  It's also very sturdy, so will have no trouble standing up to shelf wear.  It's mighty white, without a lot of color though, and might blend in a little too much to grab your attention.

There are a fair number of twisties, and one weird one that runs around his upper body.  I didn't even notice it at first (and you can see it in the photo with the other figures if you look close), but I'm assuming it keeps the cape right where it is supposed to stay.

Sculpt - ***1/2
The sculpt matches the cover art nicely, which is the main focus of the overall series.  It has a ton of detail as well, particularly in the cape, where some heavy texturing gives a nice weathered, rough appearance.

The wide stance is probably going to be problematic, because the rubber cape is so heavy.  I noticed it already putting a lot of strain on the legs, particularly the non-booted left ankle.  I'm not sure he'll stay standing long term, but for the moment, he has no issues keeping upright on his own.

If you have the smaller version of this figure, from Spawn series 25, then there are very few surprises here.  It's pretty much the same figure, scaled up double the size.

Paint - ***
The paint is fairly clean and neat, but they pull a stunt here that seems all too prevalent these days, and that I just complained about last week with the Cult Classics series 2 - too much wash.  This is particularly true on the cape, where they went pretty nuts with the dark wash to weather and shadow the rubber cape.  It's a technique that can work great when done with some restraint, but often appears like a scene from a Paint Girls Gone Wild.

The small detail work is great, particularly on the skulls and sculpted chains.  These are like the ones on the bicep, because of course the chains hanging from his body are actual metal.

Articulation - **
He actually turned out more articulated than I had expected, but most of the articulation is extremely restricted.

There's a cut neck, cut shoulders, cut bicep on the left arm, cuts at the top of the gloves, cut waist, cut hips and cut ankles.  That sounds like a lot, but it's really all just there to get him in that sweet spot to stand, and give him a couple arm poses at most.  The large, heavy cape restricts much of anything else.

Accessories - Bupkis
I wasn't particularly expecting anything, but it's worth noting in case you were.  The smaller versions at least had the bases and the small version of the comic cover, but here you get bupkis.

Fun Factor - **
These aren't intended as 'toys', but rather action figures for fans of the comic to pose on a shelf, occasionally dust, and throw at the cat.  Uh, don't do that last one.  Unless the cat makes you.

Articulation isn't really necessary for kids to have fun with a figure though, but this one can't even take a very good fighting stance or throw a punch with a stiff arm all that well.  Scale hurts a little too, since while he's 12" tall, he seems smaller overall than most sixth scale products.

Value - **1/2
You shouldn't pay more than $30 for this guy if you shop around.  At that price he's pretty average, simply considering the amount of plastic going into him.  This isn't a rotocast figure, but a completely injected molded piece, and those always tend to have a pretty high unit cost to manufacture.  If you can get him down closer to $25 through some miracle, you'd be getting a real deal.

Things to watch out for - 
Not a single problem here!

Overall -  ***
This figure sports the usual amazing Mctoys sculpting.  Had they gone a little easier on the wash for the cape, he might have scored a tad higher, but he suffers from a problem that the smaller version also suffered from - we've seen Spawn in this basic look so many times now, that it takes something pretty amazing to make us stand up and take notice.  While this figure is a solid representation, it won't be bringing you to attention.

SCORE RECAP:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - ***1/2
Paint - ***
Articulation - **
Accessories - Bupkis
Fun Factor - **
Value - **1/2
Overall -  ***

Where to Buy -
You can pick these up at brick and mortar stores like Toys R Us very soon, or there are online options like:

- Amazing Toyz has him for $30.

- CornerStoreComics has him for $30.

- Clark Toys doesn't have this guy, but they do have a ton of the 12" sports guys from Mcfarlane.

Related Links -
The most related link is the review of the smaller figure, as part of the overall Spawn series 25.