“There are things that go bump in the night.
We are the ones who bump back.”
Near the end of the great 90′s comic book boom/bust, Mike Mignola released a groundbreaking comic series about a demon destined to destroy the world, who instead became mankind’s chief defense against mystical monsters and otherworldly creepy crawlys and his buddies in the Beureau of Paranormal Research and Defense.
The series finally gained mainstream notariaty with 2 major motion pictures released in the new millenium. The most recent, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, opened in 2008 to big money, favorable reviews, and brought us our first set of 1/18th scale Hellboy figures courtesy of Mezco! Today we’re gonna take a look at the titular hero Hellboy!
Mezco released 4 figures in Wave 1 of their Hellboy II figures: Hellboy, Liz Sherman, Wink the Troll, and Johann Kraus. These figures were available in a 4 pack and also available packaged as single figures at retail. In addition, Mezco released an exclusive SDCC variant Hellboy that featured a new head, shirted torso, and “Big Baby” accessory. We’re gonna be takin’ a look at the SDCC Hellboy today.
First off, Mezco did a fantastic job capturing the feel of the movie version of Hellboy in this figure. The base body is fairly simple featuring black pants and shirt with approriately chunky engineer styled boots. The arms are molded to appear like jacket sleeves and look very nice. Personally, I’m not a big fan of 1/18th scale cloth soft goods, since they never seem to capture the motion and look of cloth at normal scale. The flip side is that plastic is often rigid and hampers movement. I’m happy to report that the duster is made of a soft plastic/vinyl and moves extremely well, while maintaining a very authentic cloth look. His tail fits perfectly through the “tails” of the duster.
There are 2 key items in any Hellboy sculpt: The Head and The Right Hand of Doom. Now heads, especially 1/18th scale replica heads, can be a mixed bag. Some come out reasonably well, others not so much. Thankfully, Mezco comes through with a dead on representation of Ron Perlman’s Hellboy. From the slightly narrow deep set eyes, to the unmistakable chin and nearly lipless mouth, the headsculpt is near perfect. Now granted, it’s easier to mask inperfections on a almost cartoon like demon visage as opposed to say . . . an actual human face, but Mezco has done something really special here. From the samurai top knot to the sanded down horns to his signature soul patch, there is no mistaking who this is. The SDCC variant features a head sporting one of Hellboy’s trademark cigars with a slight grimmace.
The detailing continues with the famous (infamous?) Right Hand of Doom. The movie version of Hellboy took the basic design of the comic hand and embellishes it with all sorts of arcane imagery in the form of spirals and swirls to go along with the rocky-cracky exterior. Mezco does a superb job of recreating that in 1/18th scale. A slightly darker shade or red than the rest of the body combined with a black wash really accentuate the detailing on the hand.
Accessories are sparse although very well done. The SDCC Helboy comes with a round stand with a BPRD symbol on it (sticker), his ‘Samaritan’ pistol, and ‘Big Baby’ – uh – shotgun thingy. The stand is pretty non-descript and doesn’t really do too much to help the figure stand. A slightly longer foot peg might have been in order. Hellboy’s big feet make it not too big of a problem – unlike with Liz and Johann. His Samaritan pistol is solid and fits the holster very well. It also fits his hand perfectly and securely. The exclusive piece is the ‘Big Baby’ gun featured prominently during one scene of the movie. Think a cross between a shotgun, gatling gun, and grenade launcher and you get the idea. It features 2 really cool gimmicks. One is that it actually opens like a breech loader should. The second is the superbly done sling, made of the same material as the duster and actual metal rings. The ‘wood’ handle also features the ‘Big Baby’ pin up style art, as seen in the movie. Really the only thing I would say is missing would be a spare Right Hand of Doom molded in a fist to recreate those fight scenes, but that can be remedied if you purchase the normal release Hellboy. Speaking of which . . .
As you can see, the only real difference between the two is the headsculpt, the shirtless torso, and the right hands.
So, now the real question when it comes to 1/18th figs . . . how’s the articulation? Well, it ain’t microman levels of insane articulation, but all in all Hellboy doesn’t disappoint. He features:
Ball Joint Neck
Ball Joint Shoulders
Bicep Swivels
Left Arm Elbow Hinge
Left Wrist Swivel
Right Wrist Ball Joint
Hip Ball Joints
Hinge Knees
Hinge Ankles
Tail with 2 Cut Joints
The only real point of missed articulation is with the right elbow. While I understand why it would have been difficult to include it there because of the Right Hand of Doom, it is none the less missed all the same. Joints are the appropriate level of tightness – loose enough to move without fear of breaking the joint, stiff enough to hold the position.
As we all know, there is 1/18th scale, and then there is 1/18th scale. Not all figures are scaled the same. So how does ol’ Red stack up to other figs? Well, I’d say alright. He looks about the same size as say a GI Joe 25th Anniversary styled figure – which is to say he might actually be slightly underscaled. To me, Hellboy ought to be a hulking brute of a fig, so he actually seems just a triffle short. Thankfully his muscularity and overall bulkiness offsets this a bit and he blends in fairly well with most 1/18th scale figs. He’s definately a welcome addition to the 1/18th world of toys.
”Demon Cowboy Samurai . . . I trump anything you got pal.”
“I’ll talk to him . . . but I don’t think Guierrmo needs any robots for the Hobbit.”
“What kinda name is Snake Eyes? You seem more like a Sally.”
All in all, this is one of the best looking 1/18th scale toys you can own. Accents like the detailing on the boots, the belt and working holster, the multiple layers to the duster, and really accurate fabric “wrinkling” make this a superb sculpt. Paint is crisp and subdued without being boring. Articulation, while not all-atar status, is certainly in line with what is expected for a 1/18th scale toy by today’s standards. Hellboy, and specifically the SDCC Exclusive, gets 14.53 Yo Hos! out of a possible 17.38 . In other words, get off your rear and track this fig down if you don’t have one yet!
Popularity: 14% [?]
