#SPAWN Series 23 Mutations

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"...MALEBOLGIA IS RESTORED IN FORM AND INCREASED IN POWER. WHAT DID NOT KILL HIM ONLY MADE HIM STRONGER."

PIC(S) INFO: Part 2 of 2 -- Mega spotlight on action figure photography for the Malebolgia six inch action figure, part of Spawn Series 23: "Mutations," released by McFarlane Toys in May 2003. 📸: "0rc4" (via Flickr).

BRAND: Spawn

GENRE: Comics

PRODUCT TYPE: Action Figure

SERIES: Spawn Series 23

Source: www.flickr.com/photos/50945561@N07/6845313531 (Flickr 3x).

[screamingreek]

McFarlane's Spawn Mutations - Series 23, 2003

FOR SALE!!! FIND THIS ITEM AND MORE AT screaming-greek.com or check out the link in my bio... McFarlane's Spawn Mutations - Series 23, 2003 Loose, Chains Intact, Excellent Condition Read the full article

[commandermanifesto]

The Birth of Commander and the Death of Casual Vintage

Commander has a long and storied past. Its resonant core appeal and the changing landscape of Magic has propelled it to a position of preeminence among casual formats. In order to understand how this has occurred, we must look at the road we have taken to get here.

Elder Dragon Highlander, as Commander was formerly known, began as a mutation of Highlander. Highlander was an eternal singleton format which derived its name from the tagline of the eponymous 1986 film, “there can be only one”. The defining feature of Highlander was an eternal card pool combined with a singleton deckbuilding restriction. Speaking from personal experience, Highlander, in one form or another, had an audience as early as the first few years of the new millennium. The variety of play offered by the deckbuilding restriction carried as much appeal for players then as it does for us today, and another popular offshoot of this venerable format can be seen in Canadian Highlander, which is still relatively popular today. (1)

Many years ago, according to popular wisdom, a group of entrenched Magic players in Alaska developed a personalized take on Highlander. (2) The format this playgroup developed had many features we would recognize today: a one hundred card singleton deck featuring a “general”, or commander; a heightened starting life total; and the implementation of the twenty-one Commander damage rule. (2) At first, the Elder Dragons from Legends were the only generals which were used. (2) Eventually, the format expanded, players began experimenting with other legendary creatures, and sometime around 2004 the format received a surge of interest from a broader player base. (2) Recognizing the popularity of the format, in 2011, Wizards of the Coast released the first in the series of Commander preconstructed products. (2)

Commander is far and away the most popular casual format in Magic’s history. The casual contemporaries of the first few games of Elder Dragon Highlander, formats like Vanguard and Prismatic, are essentially consigned to footnotes, buried in archives of old articles. (3) Commander is enshrined in the comprehensive rulebook alongside the likes of Conspiracy, Emperor, Archenemy, Two-Headed Giant, and Planechase. (4) It has four times the product support of any of these aforementioned formats. (1) It has spawned a number of popular spinoff formats, such as Tiny Leaders and Oathbreaker. (5) One of these variants, Brawl, is the flagship casual format for new players, the onramp into casual Magic, and one of a small number of formats which has been incorporated into Magic: the Gathering Arena to be enjoyed by a generation of digital Magic players.

In the early 2000s, casual Magic was widely understood to play by the banned and restricted list of Vintage (then called “Type 1”). Articles which appeared on the mothership site would frequently post decklists for casual games and multiplayer formats, such as Emperor, which utilized cards from throughout Magic’s then-short history. (6) Pickup games at local game stores, in playgrounds, and at kitchen tables would pit Standard decks from seasons past against Extended and Legacy brews. If you were not playing Magic in a tournament setting, you were probably playing Vintage, whether you were aware of that reality or not.

The casual landscape looks very different today, at least among those members of our community who engage with players beyond the kitchen table. If you were to approach someone at your local game store seeking a “casual” game, you would discuss the format beforehand. Chances are, you would land on Commander. The reasons are manifold. As mentioned above, Wizards has released a Commander preconstructed product nearly annually for the last eight years. (1) As a result, many players are introduced to Magic through the format. Furthermore, most new players who spend any time at their local game store quickly become aware of the choice that awaits them upon the rotation of their first Standard deck: move on to a tournament format with a longer memory, like Modern or Legacy, or retire to the multiplayer, “there can be only one” elephant graveyard that is Commander. The format has become part of the culture of Magic, and indeed definitional of what it means to play the game for a great many players.

The vast array of new cards Magic has seen in the past twenty years have only augmented this transition. Since Commander’s inception, the number of printed cards has more than tripled. (7) The selection of legendary creatures has increased in both depth of design and sheer volume. Strategies which formerly required a playset of a particular card have largely seen enough redundant effects printed to populate a library twice the size while maintaining an equal proportion. Those strategies which have not had the benefit of redundancy, but which are still compelling, have slowly but surely been supplied the legendary creatures they need to make the transition to Commander.

Going forward, I will take it as a premise that the confluence of a resonant format premise, changing LGS culture, and an evolving card pool have all but slain casual Vintage as a way of playing Magic. The market appears simply unable to sustain the bandwidth for a contender, let alone a contender without Commander’s compelling hook.

This reality is a mixed blessing, to be sure, but it is no less a reality for that fact. In the future, I will explore the tremendous repercussions this has for those cards which do not have a home in our format, and the incredibly weighty responsibilities it places on the voices which dominate the conversation.

(1)   https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Commander_series

(2)   https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/ways-play/godfathers-casual-2016-02-23

(3)   See, e.g., https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/serious-fun/bands-lieutenants-2003-12-02

(4)   See Rule 903 of the Comprehensive Rules, available at https://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/rules-and-formats/rules

(5)   See https://oathbreaker.edhrec.com/

(6)   See https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/serious-fun/exactly-whos-charge-here-2003-09-09

(7)   See generally https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Default.aspx

Originally posted on November 5, 2019

[fovcomicfigure]

^+^ Spawn Mutations: Kin Action Figure (2003) McFarlane Toys New Series 23 https://ift.tt/2ZNuL1q

[documentaryoncinema]

Inside  Ciencia ficción

'Ciencia ficción. Mito o realidad' ('Monsters from the Id'), Dave Gargani, 2009, VE.

'The sci-fi boys', Paul Davids, 2006, VO.

'El cine de ciencia ficción: Evolución', VE.

'Fantastic voyage. The evolution of sci-fi', History Channel, 2002, VE.

'El cine en 10 géneros: Ciencia ficción', TCM, 2008, VE.

'H. G. Wells, el padre de la ciencia ficción', BBC, 2005, VOSE.

'H. G. Wells. Biografía', VE.

'La verdadera historia de la ciencia ficción' ('The real history of science fiction'), Andy Mosse, BBC America, 2014, VO.

Miniserie de TV dividida en cuatro capítulos en la que directores, guionistas, actores y artistas gráficos comparten sus experiencias alrededor de cuatro conceptos recurrentes en la ciencia ficción, uno de los géneros más vivos y estimulantes en la cultura popular a través de su impacto en el cine, televisión y literatura. 

Narrada por Steven Moffat, guionista de 'Doctor Who', y Mark Gatiss, cocreador de 'Doctor Who' y 'Sherlock', cuenta con los testimonios de los grandes pioneros cuya imaginación y obsesión les han llevado hacia lo desconocido, habiendo explorado el futuro, el pasado, universos paralelos y galaxias lejanas, ahora están dispuestos a contar sus experiencias.

Con la presencia del actor Rutger Hauer, el replicante Roy Batty en 'Blade Runner', Kenny Baker y Anthony Daniels, robots R2D2 y C3PO en 'Una nueva esperanza', Peter Coyote, agente Keys en 'E.T. El extraterrestre', William Shatner, Capitán Kirk en 'Star Trek', Edward James Olmos, 'Blade Runner', Zoe Saldana, 'Avatar', 'Star Trek', Veronica Cartwright, 'Alien. El 8º pasajero', Nichelle Nichols, teniente Uhura en 'Star Trek' y que tras el estreno de la serie participó en un proyecto especial de la NASA para reclutar minorías y personal femenino, Douglas Trumbull, responsable de los efectos visuales en '2001: Una odisea del espacio', 'Blade Runner' y 'Encuentros en la Tercera Fase', autores como Ursula K. Le Guin, la primera mujer galardonada con el título de Gran Maestra por la Asociación de escritores de ciencia ficción y fantasía de Estados Unidos, y cineastas como John Landis, Joe Dante y John Carpenter entre otros.

Episodio 1. Robots. Vídeo.

Episodio 2. Espacio. Vídeo.

Episodio 3. Invasión. Vídeo.

Episodio 4. Tiempo.

'Sci-Fi days of fear and wonder', BFI, 2014, tráiler, VO.

'Science Fiction: A Supercut (Glitch Mob remix "Monday")', TheXanderLegacy, 2012, VO.

‘Un siglo de ciencia ficción’ (’A century of science fiction’), Ted Newsom, 1996, VE.

En proceso.

Serie, parcial, de TV que trata sobre películas de ciencia ficción, y algunas de fantasía y terror, a lo largo de 100 años de historia del cine. Los episodios en la serie original son los siguientes.

01. Sexy sci-fi.

02. Sci-fi heroes.

03. The serials.

04. Time travellers.

05. Mutations.

06. End of the world.

07. Alien life forms.

08. After the end.

09. Spawn of the atom.

10. Dinosaurs.

11. Mad scientists.

12. Ray Harryhausen.

13. UFOs.

14. HG Wells.

15. Jules Verne.

16. Future worlds.

17. Power of the mind.

18. Artificial intelligence.

19. Robots.

20. Final frontier.

21. Weird worlds.

22. Strange invaders.

23. Lost world.

24. Amazing inventions.

25. Queen's of sci-fi.

26. Sci-fi stars.

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"CONSUMING THE FOUL FLESH OF THE PHLEBIACS TO RECONSTRUCT HIS BODY, MALEBOLGIA IS RESTORED IN FORM..."

PIC(S) INFO: Part 1 of 2 -- Mega spotlight on a promotional, plus the clamshell version of the Malebolgia six inch action figure, part of Spawn Series 23: "Mutations," released by McFarlane Toys in May 2003.

BRAND: Spawn

GENRE: Comics

PRODUCT TYPE: Action Figure

SERIES: Spawn Series 23

MINI-BIO: "Mortally wounded, the dying ruler of Hell makes a final desperate attempt to save his reign. Rushing to their master’s aid, the Phlebiac Brothers fall prey to Malebolgia’s wicked jaws. Consuming the foul flesh of the Phlebiacs to reconstruct his body, Malebolgia is restored in form and increased in power. What did not kill him only made him stronger."

-- MCFARLANE TOYS, c. spring 2003

Sources: https://mcfarlane.com/toys/malebolgia-2, eBay, various, etc...

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"…CREATING A ZOMBIE SOLDIER TO STALK THE MORTAL WORLD ABOVE."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on promotional shots of Al Simmons, reborn as a zombie soldier, six inch action figure from "Spawn Series 23: Mutations," released by McFarlaneToys in May, 2003.

"In a dark twist, Malebolgia breathes undead life into the charred corpse of Al Simmons, creating a zombie soldier to stalk the mortal world above. This shambling beast is set to strike at all those who would aid the traitorous Hellspawn, collecting pieces of his victims as trophies to instill fear and goad Spawn deeper into demonic despair."

-- MCFARLANE TOYS, c. spring 2003

Sources: www.pinterest.com/pin/429319776970342711 & McFarlane Toys (official).

[fovcomicfigure]

^+^ Spawn Mutations Series 23 Warrior Lilith Action Figure McFarlane Toy Collectible https://ift.tt/3g6YLdZ

[fovcomicfigure]

^+^ New McFarlane Toys Spawn Mutations Series 23 Al Simmons Action Figure https://ift.tt/2UivqEZ

[fovcomicfigure]

^+^ New McFarlane Toys Spawn Mutations Series 23 Kin Action Figure https://ift.tt/3eZax9s

[fovcomicfigure]

^+^ Spawn Series 23 Mutations 2 Spawn 6" Action Figure by McFarlane Toys 2003 https://ift.tt/3dGJlMC

[fovcomicfigure]

^+^ NEW SPAWN MUTATIONS SERIES 23 SPAWN ACTION FIGURE 2003 MCFARLANE TOYS NISB https://ift.tt/2WDyHAs

[fovcomicfigure]

^+^ Spawn Mutations Series 23 Spawn Action Figure McFarlane Toys MIB NEW https://ift.tt/2Wo0lBv

[fovcomicfigure]

^+^ Spawn Mutations Malebolgia Series 23 Deluxe 8" Action Figure McFarlane Toys 2003 https://ift.tt/2S0uWkO

[fovcomicfigure]

^+^ McFarlane Toys 2003 Spawn Mutations Series 23 Kin Action Figure NEW https://ift.tt/2vdampE