Several of the companies I mentioned are no longer in business. The toy
industry is a cutthroat market that is very unforgiving. Many smaller
independent companies failed due to making one or two poor business
decisions regarding a major toy line and that was it – bankruptcy! Another
major factor over the last few years has been the dwindling number of brick
and mortar retailers to carry their collectors' specialty market targeted
products. Online retailers are now becoming the major venue for collector
action figures and it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon.
Actually, with the rising cost of gasoline, I have decided to just bite the
bullet and order my action figure fixes online. So far I have been quite
pleased and if I gang-up my orders, I can realize some definite savings when
it comes to shipping.
My latest acquisition via mail order is the first series of 7" scale
action figures based on characters from the son to be release Hellboy II:
the Golden Army by Mezco Toyz. One of the very first action figure reviews I
ever did was for the first line of Hellboy figures that Mez did for the
original Hellboy movie way back in 2004. As such, I feel compelled to review
these as well. Instead of single reviews as I have done in the past, I am
going to review these in groups of three ala Captain Toy hisself, Michael
Crawford.
First up for review will be Hellboy, Liz Sherman and Johann Kraus – or
"Krauss" as it is spelled on the packaging. I'm not sure if this is a typo
or just another example of director Guillermo Del Toro putting his personal
stamp on one of Mike Mignola's characters. The spelling is consistent across
all of the packaging, so your guess is as good as mine. That being said,
let's move onto the review portion of our program…
Packaging: **1/2
Once again, clamshells are the order of the day for Hellboy, but these are
quite different from the style we saw for the earlier Mez co movie and comic
book lines – heck, even the Gentle Giant Animated and movie figure sported
the same clamshell design. These are definitely a step towards a slimmer,
more environmentally friendly clamshell. There is very little wasted space;
this is especially true of the larger figures such as Hellboy and those that
come with larger accessories like Johann. Liz has quite a bit of extra room
in her clamshell, but hey, she is a girl, you know. Now don't give me that
crap about a girl accessorizing! When you have a quirky pyrotechnic ability
like Liz's you probably make it a point not to get too attached to material
possessions, let alone family members and friends.
The graphics are rather nice, with a nice close-up of HB's crimson mug and
the BPRD logo as the backer card art. The backside of the card is generic to
all 6 figures in the series with zippo character specific info – just a
paragraph of text describing the basic setting and plot of the movie and the
character names. There is the mandatory "collect them all" photos of all six
figures from series 1 as well…nothing to set the world afire here.
The one curiosity here is the lack of the full Hellboy II Logo and no
mention of the Golden Army. Only the initials HB and the roman number II (2)
appear. I can only guess that this was done to accommodate the smaller
package or as compliance to a request from Toys 'R Us to keep the word HELL
from screaming off of their toy pegs. I was pleased to hear that TRU was
going to be carrying this line at the mass-market level, but I had no
illusions about being able to get a Wink or Liz figure at either of the two
close to me here in Kansas City. The scalpers are dug in so deep at those
two stores; they might as well be management.
All in all, I am very glad we got the clamshell packaging even if the
graphics are somewhat uninspired. 2 ½ stars.
Sculpt: Hellboy: ** 1/2 Liz: *** Johann: ***1/2
The sculpting for this line is quite good and I would probably give Hellboy
higher marks if he weren't just a somewhat retooled version of the same
figure we got back in 2004. The real bummer for me is that I got the cigar
smoking version of Ol' Red instead of the one of him with his pie hole open
and big ol' pearly-white dentures hangin' out. You know, the one that we've
seen in all of the promotional and convention shots of this figure. This is
one of the downfalls of buying figures online. If there are any common head
variants, you might just get the one you don't want. As a matter of fact I
believe that the odds are dead on that you will get the wrong one. I'm
batting 1000 in this area!
My only other area of complaint with HB's sculpt is his upper right arm.
This may belong in the articulation part of the review, but I'm going to
address it here. I had really hoped that Mez would give us a articulated
right elbow in this version of trench coat Hellboy, but once again, even
thought this right arm is a new sculpt, it still lacks elbow articulation.
This time, the right arm is bent at a permanent right angle to help
accommodate Hellboy holding the Big Baby shotgun he comes packaged with
(shotgun? It looks more like a rotary grenade launcher to me). It just looks
damn weird when he posed without the shotgun. He kind reminds me of former
Senator Bob Dole when I met him in person. Senator Dole has a paralyzed
right arm that he got back in WWII that is kinda crooked the same way. All I
need to do is give HB a pen to hold in that big ol' Right mitt of his and
he'll be ready to be Ron Paul's running mate. This and the basic refurbing
of an old sculpt cause a major loss for HB in the sculpting category. ** 1/2
Stars
Liz is better, but not enough to get her anything more than 3 stars. I think
the face sculpt does indeed look something like Selma Blair, but the paint
apps on her eyes are just not working and pretty much hides what might be a
genuinely goo facial sculpt of Selma as Liz. This paint killing sculpt issue
seems to hold true for the Claire Bennet figure from Mez's Heroes line. The
rest of the figure is nicely detailed and looks to capture all the
proportions of Selma's petite body. *** Stars
Johann comes out on top so far as sculpt is concerned. He is quite a
visually interesting character and was definitely inspired by Del Toro's
love of all things Steam Punk. This figure has great potential for being
used to make 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea custom aquanaut figures with
little to no effort on the part of the customizer. All that is really needed
is the helmet and tank/harness assembly. Maybe Mez will do an exclusive
Capt. Nemo in diving gear based off of this figure – one can always hope!
*** ½ Stars
Paint: **1/2
I'm really scratching my head over this one. The paint on all of Mez's
Hellboy figures has been above par for the most part, but these figures
aren't up to Mez's usual standard. My guess is that it may be a cheaper
vendor and there may have been some paint apps dropped due to cost
considerations. The overall application just isn't as nice as the previous
lines as well. On my set of figures it appears that the majority of them
were packaged before the paint could really dry/cure completely. As such
there was quite a bit of paint that stuck to the blister tray or onto other
parts of the figure that was in contact with the uncured paint. This was
especially true of Hellboy's rubbery trench coat
There are paint color consistency issues across parts of all three figures.
Color breaks are not nearly as clean as they were on previous lines and
Liz's facial paints really do a disservice to the facial sculpt, making the
figure looking very generic as opposed to Selma Blair. The washes that were
applied to Johann's containment suit are quite heavy handed with obvious
brush strokes. It looks like something from Toy Biz's earlier days. Hellboy
has some odd applications of a high gloss lacquer being applied to his
coat's leather collar and his gun holster. The lacquer is way too glossy and
makes the leather look slimy instead of polished. Eeewwwww!
Articulation - Hellboy: *** Liz & Johann: **
Here's the articulation break out:
Hellboy: 26 points by my count and they are as follows:
Neck: Ball joint = 1
Shoulders: ML style ball joint = 4
Biceps: Swivel = 2
Left Elbow: Single pin = 1
Left Wrist: Cut swivel = 1
Right Hand of Doom: Forearm swivel & ball jointed wrist = 2
Chest: Ball joint = 1
Waist: Cut swivel = 1
Hips: Marvel Legends Showdown ball-in-socket type = 4
Knees: Single pin = 2
Ankles: Single pin with side to side pivot = 4
Tail: Cut joints = 3
Liz: 18 points by my count and they are as follows:
Neck: Ball joint = 1
Shoulders: Pin and swivel ball joint = 4
Elbows: Single pin = 2
Forearms: Cut swivels = 2
Waist: Cut swivel = 1
Hips: Ball-in-socket type = 2
Knees: Single pin = 2
Ankles: Single pin with side to side pivot = 4
Johann: 16 points by my count and they are as follows:
Neck: Ball joint = 1
Shoulders: Pin and swivel ball joint = 4
Elbows: Single pin = 2
Wrists: Cut swivels = 2
Waist: Cut swivel = 1
Hips: Ball-in-socket type = 2
Knees: Single pin = 2
Ankles: Single pin = 2
Articulation…it is the love of as many action figure collectors as it is the
bane of others. There appears to be two camps when it comes to the issue of
articulation: Posability and Sculpt. As many of you already know Guido falls
into the ranks of the Posability Camp. There has been many a finely sculpted
action figure that has come down the pike that I've left on the peg due to
its lack of articulation. Nerd Hummels are just not my bag. I love a great
sculpt, but I like "action" in my action figures and I'm pleased to say that
Mez's Hellboy figures continue to be a terrific blend of both posability and
sculpt, making them an appealing compromise to members of both camps.
However, there is also a trend here that Guido finds alarming. The trend I
speak of is what I like to call Action Figure Devolution or "AFD" for short.
AFD is the systematic reduction of articulation points in direct contrast to
an ever-increasing price point. The prime example of this devolution is
Hasbro's version of Marvel Legends and Marvel related movie figures. I don't
know of a single ML collector on the boards that can say that the Marvel
license is better off under the 'Bro than it was under Toy Biz. I'll take
Toy Biz's products with their screwy case mixes and 19th century
distribution system over the craptastic plastic that Hasbro brings to market
any day.
Devolution appears to be spreading from the mass market and into the
specialty market. This has happened to a number of the figures in this first
series of Hellboy figures from Mezco. Liz and Johann are victims of AFD.
Both figures are missing bicep cuts and thigh swivels that quite frankly are
to be expected in a line like this and at the price point Mez is asking.
$15.00 a pop for these is a 50% rise in the price point of the original
movie figures and yet, we are getting less and less articulation for our
hard-earned coinage. I blame OPEC, the U.S. Congress and the likes of AlGore
more than I do Mez and company - though I'll never give the 'Bro such a
pass.
The good news is that Hellboy retained the majority of his articulation
points from the first movie's figure. I'm still p.o.ed about the crappy lack
of right elbow articulation that I mentioned up in the sculpt section, but
then again the original trench coat Hellboy was sans this articulation point
as well.
The only real change for Hellboy this time around is the type of hip joints
that were used. This is a plus and a minus. The plus is that his hips have a
greater range of motion that the previous ML style ball joints, but he
suffers from the same problems as ML Showdowns and Takara Microman figures:
hip dislocation. Simply put, his stinkin' legs pop off every time I go to
pose him. This new joint system is really loose and the legs pop off way too
easy. This is problem exists across all of the figures in the series. This
type of joint may be cheaper to manufacture and offer a little more range of
motion, but I like my figures to not fall apart every time I move there
legs. Guido thinks Mez needs to sit down with his manufacturing vendor and
see what can be done to put less "pop" into these hip joints - either that
or promote the joints on the package as an "Easy Dismemberment" action
feature.
All told, due to severe cases of AFD and the Easy Dismemberment action
feature, everybody takes a hit in the articulation department. Liz and
Johann lose 2 stars whilst Hellboy loses 1.
Accessories: Hellboy: ***1/2 Johann: *** Liz: *
Ah, accessories…something that is becoming more and more of a rarity in 6 inch
and up scale figures. Damn you, OPEC! I am happy to say that the Hellboy
figures buck this trend by actually giving us some cool accessories with out
figures. Hellboy comes with his trusty Samaritan pistol and a new weapon,
the Big Baby shotgun. The Samaritan is the same one that came with the
figures from the first movie and retains the hinged breach that was
oh-so-cool the first time around. Mez didn't skimp on Big Baby either. It
has an opening breach too so you can pose HB in process of reloading it.
These accessories are nice, but I still wish we had got some of HB's boogum
fighting equipment and talismans to sling on his belt. The funky boogum
finder goggles he's wearing in the previews would've been cool as well.
Maybe those will make it into series 2 along with another removable pleather
coat Hellboy with an even better facial sculpt of Ron Perlman as Ol' Red. 3
½ stars
Johann comes with a set of interchangeable hands with protoplasmic clouds of
goo squirting out of his fingertips as well as an interchangeable busted
dome for his noggin. Though the misty goo looks better this time around than
the snotty slime that cane with the comic book version of Johann, it doesn't
look so much like a protoplasmic apparition as it does puffs of steam or
foam. Once they're attached, Johann looks like his steam punk inspired suit
has sprung a leak or that he's trying to put out a grease fire during his
stint as a night manager for Wendy's. The cracked dome is a nice touch, but
I doubt I will use it much. Perhaps if I dig up some of my old Kenner Aliens
face huggers…By the way, you may want to forego swapping the domes
altogether as my dome was pretty well stuck to the neck piece's paint and I
had to work it loose to get it off. Now it is kind of loose and I am a bit
concerned about losing it over the long haul. 3 Stars.
Liz comes with a lone set of interchangeable hands. Normally, I would be
just jake with this, but Mez went ahead and committed a cardinal sin: a
molded gun hand!!! GAAAAAHHHHH!!!! I hate it when toy companies do this! I
want my weapons to be stand-alone accessories – NOT MOLDED as part of the
figure's mitt! I don't mind the molded flame hand so much, but the gun hand
is completely unacceptable – especially when the existing right hand appears
to be molded to accommodate holding a pistol. GAAAAAHHHHH!!!
I am giving Mez only one lonely star here because of this indiscretion. I
would give him bupkis, but he did at least include something with Liz. 1
Star.
Fun factor- ***
All complaints and nit-picks aside, these are fairly fun figures with plenty
of play value regardless of the package saying that the figures are for kids
ages 15 and up I think that kids would have a lot of fun with these. I would
suggest permanently gluing Johann's noggin dome on though to avoid it being
quickly lost by a youngster. Hellboy's gun and the Big Baby are somewhat
fragile and would probably break unless they were glued shut as well.
Value: ***
At $15.00 a pop U.S. these are pretty much an average value for a specialty
market figure. I really miss the days of the $9.95 original Hellboy movie
figures – now those were a great value!
Things to Watch Out For -
Check the paint out on these, as the quality isn't up to Mez's usual
standards.
Overall: ***
What it comes down to is happiness. Am I happy that I own these figures and
have added them to the ever-growing heap of toys cluttering up my basement
and adding to my wife's chagrin? I would have to say a most definite "yes"!
I really like the 6" and 7" scale for action figures. It is the best
compromise between 3.75", which I feel are a tad small, and 12" figures that
are just too big and expensive for the amount of room that I have to display
them and the amount of room I have in my budget to purchase them. I think we
can all relate to the last point. There is plenty of rumbling going on in
the industry that 3.75" figures are the way of the future for mass market
action figures and I would have to agree. Mom and Dad are having a hard time
justifying dropping a Hamilton so that little Billy can have that Iron Man
figure. Prices are going through the roof for everything due to the cost of
oil. I don't know about you folks, but I didn't get a 35% raise last year to
keep up with inflationary trends and it doesn't look too promising for the
future either. Man, if the Iraq war was all about getting cheap oil, why am
I paying $60+ at the pump to fill up my gas guzzler? Some analysts are
predicting $7.00 a gallon for gasoline within the next 18 months. If that
happens, the last thing I'm going to be concerned with is collecting action
figures. But for now, I am happy to have HB and the gang under my roof,
though I may be force to burn them for firewood a couple of winters from
now.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ** 1/2
Sculpt - Hellboy: ** 1/2 Liz: *** Johann: ***1/2
Paint - Hellboy, Liz and Johann: **1/2
Articulation - Hellboy: *** Liz & Johann: **
Accessories - Hellboy: ***1/2 Johann: *** Liz: *
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ***
Overall - ***
Where to Buy -
Lots of Sponsor options:
- CornerStoreComics has
the set of six for $83, or the singles for $16 each.
- Things From Another World
doesn't have all six in stock right now, but they have a great price on the
singles they do have at just $13.50 each.
- Alter Ego Comics has the
set of six for $92.
- Urban Collector has a case
for $174.
-
YouBuyNow has the singles at $17 each, or the set for $93 for the set of
6.
- for the UK collectors, you can find them at
Forbidden Planet for 12 pounds a piece
- for Australians, you can search
Shopping.com (an ebay family
site).
- or search ebay using MyAuctionLinks.com.
KEEP SCROLLING DOWN FOR MORE PHOTOS!
|