[ABadMnky]

Last night I was fortunate enough to be out with my girlfriend and spot the Original (out of print) Spyke Munchkin Vinyl Figure. He comes with a special card that reads:

Hireling Spyke
Place Spyke on the table. At the start of your turn you may rotate Spyke to face any opponent. This opponent may not play any cards that affect you while Spyke has his Eyes on Them.

Obviously the one Hireling in play at a time rule would apply but I can't fight the instinct that there should be something special for this figure/card (and the figure's owner) considering the owner spent the money to obtain it just like anyone who receives a boon from the iOS/Android App.

However there are specific sidebars in the Munchkin rules that stipulate that use of those Level Counter Apps is not cheating... its using the rules.

Given that the investment for a Level Counter app is about $5 and the investment for any of the Vinyls currently in print is $20 is feels like Spyke (and any other figure) should be the sole property of the person who invested in him... a true hireling in a sense.

I've combed every rules pdf (Spyke did not come with his own rules) and the errata and found nothing to suggest Spyke should be treated any differently than any other hireling but like I said it feels counter intuitive for me to have spent the money on him to in turn see him used by an opponent fortunate enough to have drawn my card from the door pile.

I have seen one suggestion that you treat Spyke like a promo and his owner can replace one door in his hand with the Spyke Door Card on the initial deal of the cards.

The logical point is that many Munchkin accessories come with cards, but that doesn't mean the purchaser is entitled to hoard those cards only because they bought them. Plus, having a card as powerful as Hireling Spyke at the beginning of the game as a guarantee, especially in games with few players, would be pretty unbalanced.

That said... Munchkin has never been about balance. Its has, in my experience been about getting away with what you can get away with (like masking more than 5 cards in your hand to avoid charity). I'd like to see something that provides at least a minimal benefit to the owner of the figure like:

Until Hireling Spyke is put into play by the use of his card, the original owner of the figure may use Hireling Spyke once to run away and sacrifice him to avoid bad stuff automatically. This action cannot be chosen after a run away dice roll has been cast.

Just looking for thoughts or guidance here and some sort of official ruling. I can't be the only one who sees a figure going totally unused (most of the time) in the event that several expansions are in play due to their being a single card for Spyke in the deck along with the limited frustration of investing $20 to have your buddy use your figure against you. No one thinks you should have to put the temporary tattoos in a pile and draw for them.