My box o’ comic Hellboy action figures arrived this week and I am one happy toy collector right now! Mezco delivered one of the best comic-inspired action figure lines of all time with their short-lived Hellboy series. It’s a shame this line only went two waves. There was so much opportunity for awesomeness here. Oh well. I’ll just have to enjoy what we got! Expand the post to find out all about ‘em!

As I mentioned above, this line only lasted through two series, although there were also several variants and exclusives that broadened things out a bit.

Series 1 was Hellboy, Liz, Kriegaffe #10 and Lobster Johnson. Check out Mezco’s archive to see all the variants and the entire assortment.

Series 2 delivered Rocket Pack Hellboy, the Alien, Roger and Johann. You can see all of them in Mezco’s wave 2 Archive.

Now on to my reviews!

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SERIES 1 HELLBOY

Sculpt - The thing that sets these comic Hellboy figures apart from most other comic figures is the exceptional degree to which their sculpts capture the original artwork. If Mike Mignola were a sculptor himself I doubt even he could have produced a more authentic version of his creation than what Mezco has provided. From the big, blocky, angular torso to the disproportionate limbs to the tiny needle ankles, Hellboy is spot on to the source work. And the little divots and pock marks all over really add to his detail and help capture that comic book look even better. Amazing stuff here.

Paint - Mezco is kind of the master of the airbrush. They do a great job of detailing the musculature on their figs with subtle airbrushing down in the grooves. HB also has a black wash that pulls out this little pocks and divots. His belt has a lot of drybrushing and detail work, as do his boots.

Articulation - HB has a ball neck, ball torso joint, waist swivel, double-disk shoulders, single elbows, forearm cuts, wrist hinges, ball hips, thigh cuts, and single knees. He also has a couple POAs in his tail. The only thing he’s missing is any kind of ankle artic, but given how small his ankles are and how heavy he is, I doubt ankle artic would have worked out very well.

Accessories - Hellboy comes with his big gun (which fits nicely in his belt holster) as well as a horseshoe and a radio/walkie talkie. I gather the horseshoe is some significant relic of his from the comics.

Value - At 15 bucks, you’re getting a very well sculpted and detailed figure that is big and sturdy and quite poseable. If you’re a toy fan or a fan of HB comics, this guy is a must have.

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SERIES 1 LIZ SHERMAN

Sculpt - From a sculpt standpoint, Liz is every bit as awesome as Hellboy. Her jacket is big and thick and has lots of deep folds and ripples. Her gloves look great and her body overall has a pretty nice shape to it. But where Liz really shines is in her “goth” looking face sculpt. She seems so despondent and unhappy to be here. It’s awesome!

Paint - Liz really benefits from a nice paint job. From the detailing in her hair to the character in her eyes to the drybrushing on her coat and her boots and her backpack, there is no shortage of paint apps here. Everything is very nicely done.

Articulation - Boo! What is it with Mezco and short-changing their Liz figures on the artic? Liz has everything Hellboy has minus the mid-torso joint (which is fine, because that joint would have looked strange on a female figure) and … bicep cuts! Why no bicep cuts? Gah! This would have been a “figure of the year” contender if it just had those two POA. I mean, Liz comes with a cigarette accessory that she can’t bring anywhere near her face because her arms don’t bend in. Bummer.

Accessories - Liz gets two different flame effects that plug into her left hand, as well as a big BPRD backpack and the little fiery cigarette mentioned above. Pretty neat.

Value - The value on Liz is good. You won’t feel any buyer’s remorse if you pick this figure up but you probably will find yourself scratching your head as to why she has no bicep cuts…

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SERIES 1 LOBSTER JOHNSON

Sculpt - Heck yeah! Lobster Johnson is another outstanding sculpt from Mezco. From his “I mean business” facial expression to his trademark goggles and all the pockets, wrinkles, folds and zippers of his uniform, this one very well done figure!

Paint - The pain is also great. There are a couple of tones of orange shading in the lenses of his goggles that makes them almost seem to glow. He is drybrushed over his uniform to pull out the detail, and the fine work in his lobster logo and on the accessories on his belt is all tight and clean.

Articulation - LJ is very poseable. He has a double ball jointed neck, mid-torso joint, waist cut, ball shoulders, single elbows, bicep cuts, ball wrists, ball hips, thigh cuts, single knees, and ankle hinges. You couldn’t really ask for much more in terms of articulation.

Accessories - He gets his pistol (that fits very snugly in his holster) and a big green brain on a poseable wire-insert stem. I need to read more of the comics to figure out what that’s supposed to be.

Value - LJ is the resident clearance bin fodder from the HB Comic line so you should be able to pick him up for 8-10 bucks, and at that price he’s a steal!

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SERIES 2 JOHANN

Sculpt - Johann rules! I hope the pics captured this guy’s awesomeness. Johann himself is extremely detailed, with a great looking suit with a neat vest, lots of flaps and pockets, and really cool boots and gloves. But where he really sets himself apart is in his swappable ectoplasmic effects hands! One has the screaming face of a ghost sculpted in and the other is a long hand reaching out with crooked fingers. This guy looks great!

Paint - Johann’s uniform is drybrushed all over with a bluish grey, and it does the job of pulling out all the detail in his sculpt. The BPRD logo on the back of his vest is tight and crisp and he has gloss black on his boots and gloves to make them look shiny and rubbery. All good stuff!

Articulation - Johann has a ball neck, mid-torso joint, double-disk shoulders, single elbows, wrist twists, ball hips, single knees, and ankle hinges. The only thing he’s missing is thigh cuts, but the ball hips rotate around well and it’s nice to finally get a figure in this series with ankle artic, so that sort of makes up for it.

Accessories - Johann has those two awesome swappable hands I described above, and that’s it. But what else does he really need?!

Value - I love this figure. If you’re at all a fan of Hellboy then this guy should be at the top of your list to add to the collection!

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SERIES 2 ROGER

Sculpt - They just keep getting better! As much as I love Johann, I really think Roger is my favorite figure from this line. This guy just has way too much going on with his sculpt. I mean, look at that face! I tried to capture it from different angles. The emotion and character in his face sculpt is mind-blowing. And everything below that is good too. His body looks just like the naked rock guy that he is, with his clenched fist and big bare feet. His wooden block cod-piece is striated and splintered and looks just like an actual block of aged wood. This guy looks amazing in-hand.

Paint - Roger’s paint is simple but effective. He mostly has airbrushing on his body, with a subtle wash down in the pocks of his sculpt like Hellboy has. His accessories (his vest and book) have a lot of drybrushing to pull out their detail. And like Johann, the BPRD logo on the back of his vest is sharp and clean. No bleed or slop.

Articulation - Roger might be the most poseable figure in this series. He isn’t missing any key POAs. This guy poses really nicely.

Accessories - He just has his vest and book, but I can’t really think of anything else they could have included with him. The book itself was a nice touch.

Value - Like Johann, I consider this guy a must-have if you’re into the line. And Roger is actually the “cheapo” of the series. It’s pretty easy to find him on sale/clearance for around 10 bucks. He’s worth 15, but at 10 he’d be a steal.

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SDCC EXCLUSIVE HELLBOY w/ COAT

This is one of several exclusive versions of Hellboy that included a soft-goods hand-stitched coat. The figure itself is the exact same as the standard release shown above, so the real draw here is… the coat! This particular version also came with an assortment of floating heads, but those haven’t shown up in the mail yet. I’ll add them later.

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SDCC EXCLUSIVE ABE SAPIEN

Abe was Mezco’s 2007 SDCC exclusive and that was a nasty move, in my opinion. I hate it when companies make unique (and highly sought after!) character con exclusives. Nevertheless, Abe has a great sculpt with excellent paint detail and solid articulation. He comes with a removable vest and a spear/harpoon. To pick this guy up now you’re looking at paying at least 30 bucks for him. Tough to rate the value as particularly good when you’re paying double for him what you’d pay for his cohorts, but it’s Abe. If you love the books, you’re gonna have to have him.

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BPRD TEAM!

Tags: abe, hellboy, johann, liz, mezco, roger

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