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In yesterday’s review of the highly enjoyable Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron, I promised a review of the limited-edition action figure included with certain editions of the DVD. A reader informed me that this particular figure is only available at Best Buy, and I note that they’re already going for grossly inflated prices on Amazon — so if you’re into action figure collecting (which I’m not, by the way), you’ll want to pick this up as soon as you can — because it rocks.

It’s true. I’m not much of an action figure collector. I have about ten or so lining my desk, mostly bought on impulse because I thought they “looked cool” — as good a reason as any to buy action figures, to be certain, but still, I’m hardly what you’d call hardcore. Thus, when I heard that the new Blood and Iron DVD would be including an action figure, I figured I’d probably skip it and go for the vanilla DVD. That all changed when I laid eyes on the figure itself, which — I’ll go ahead and say it — is utterly awesome.

Now, before I continue further, keep in mind that my last action figure review was basically a joke — I’m not used to actually critiquing these things seriously. (Should “seriously” be in quotes?) But I’ll do my best to fill The Reverend’s considerable shoes. Onward!

Aw, crap. Outta ammo!

Sculpt: This action figure is big. You just won’t believe how unbelievably big it is! Broad-shouldered and brawny, the figure is the very spitting image of the distinctive Hellboy Animated style. The figure is heavy and solid, giving it a durable feel — none of your crapulent Todd MacFarlane shatter-prone nonsense here. This figure is tough, in every sense of the word, except perhaps for the spindly legs. More on that later. But overall, the level of detail is incredible, right down to the hairline cracks in the Right Hand of Doom and the rough edges on Hellboy’s horns. It’s hard to imagine a better sculpt, frankly.

Paint: When it comes to this Hellboy figure, you’ve got the cherry red and the midnight blue. Sorry, that was lame. In all seriousness, the paint job on this figure is nothing short of brilliant. The body is a satisfying crimson, with subtle shadows in the muscles and articulation points and bold, solid colors on Hellboy’s kickin’ cargo shorts and utility belt. Even his pistol has a nice, brushed-metal gradient. Once again, top-flight stuff. My only complaint is that my figure had some chipped-off paint in the beard, showing the red plastic underneath.

What am I supposed to call you? Mini-Me?

Articulation: When trying to count the articulation points on this figure, I literally lost count and had to go back again. I got up to twenty-two before finally giving up in awe and despair. Overall, it’s easier to ask what isn’t articulated on this figure. The tail alone has three articulation points, as well as four in each leg, three in each arm, and a wonderfully expressive pivot point in the neck. He also bends at the waist, although, given his weight and shaky stand-upedness, this is generally not advisable, unless you just can’t resist the urge to simulate that Hellboy “Sunday morning hangover” moment. All the points are solid and hold their position well. The only thing remotely approaching a complaint are the arms, which are stiff and difficult to move, making it likely that you’ll send him flying when trying to move him around. But really, this is not a big deal.

Best of all, he passes the “shoot yourself in the head” articulation test, the true benchmark of action-figure greatness.

Hell naw! Hellboy is “all up in yo’ grill!”

Get Up, Stand Up: The standery-uppery is the only thing I’d even call a weak point in this figure, and even that’s kind of nitpicking. Because it’s wonderfully true to the Hellboy Animated design, Hellboy’s legs are tiny, atrophied spindles beneath his mighty barrel chest, making it impossible for the figure to stand up on its own. As such, Hellboy will only stand with the aid of a clear plastic tube shoved up his butt — which is fine, but even then, the weight of the figure makes him quite wobbly, and he’s likely to tip over or come loose with the slightest handling. On the up side, if you just pose him and leave him alone, he’ll stand up just fine.

Accessories: The Hellboy figure ships with a nice, beefy gun (the Samaritan), which fits in an attractive and functional hip holster. As previously established, it’s awesome. In addition, the figure comes with two spare “hands;” a variant closed-fist Right Hand of Doom, and a closed-fist left hand of… well, of being a normal hand, I suppose. It’s a bit of a struggle to swap these out, as they click very solidly into place, but that’s a good thing. High marks once again.

I said skin that smoke wagon and see what happens.

Overall: I frankly find it hard to believe this figure shipped with a DVD. It’s awesome in its own right, and if it had been sold separately, it still would have been a top-flight figure. If you have any interest in Blood and Iron at all, I highly recommend springing for the Best Buy deluxe set. The figure is very much worth it.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 at 2:16 pm and is filed under Men of Action, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.