Other toys utilized only a few colors painted in general areas (a singe flesh tone for the face, etc.) and were tacked to cardboard backs. They were notably different from the toys common on shelves at the time because of their level of detail in both sculpting and painting. The first line of Spawn toys ever produced was released in 1994 and consisted of six figures, the hero Spawn and his medieval counterpart (aptly named Medieval Spawn) with Tremor and the villains Violator, Overt-Kill, and Clown, as well as a Spawn Alley Playset, the Spawnmobile and the Violator Monster Rig. McFarlane has collaborated with artists like Clive Barker and H.R. The company has produced original works, giving a grotesque twist to fairy tale stories such as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and historical figures.
Other media such as story book characters from Where the Wild Things Are have been represented. Production began with action figures based upon Todd McFarlane's Spawn comic series and has since grown to feature a large number of licensed property lines including The Simpsons and "Movie Maniacs" (which features numerous famous horror icons such as Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, The Terminator, Leatherface, and The Thing), as well as other characters and lines like basketball and baseball legends, and characters from video games such as Soulcalibur, Onimusha, and Metal Gear Solid. Originally dubbed "Todd's Toys," the name was changed in 1995 following pressure from Mattel, who feared that the new company's name would be confused with that of Barbie's younger brother.
When the two could not decide on how to make the toys to McFarlane's satisfaction, he reclaimed the toy rights to his characters and started his own toy company. In 1994 Todd McFarlane was working with Mattel to produce action figures based on his comic book characters.