Toy Stories: Welcome to Hell(boy)

So DC Comics and Marvel Comics both have 3.75-inch action figure lines now, which is awesome. They can interact with Luke Skywalker, Snake-Eyes, and Indiana Jones any time I want. But those are not the only two comic book universes out there, and as much as I love many of the independent characters, and as profitable as some of them are in the toy market, I doubted I would get them in the 3.75 scale. Until I stumbled across the following four-pack:

Liz Sherman, Hellboy, Johann Krauss & Wink

These four figures are based on the movie Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and frankly, are some of the best-made figures I’ve yet seen since I returned to the 3.75-inch scale. I love the Infinite Heroes line, but the figures have little articulation. Marvel Universe, on the other hand, often has SO much articulation that the figure feels cheap and fragile. These four toys look great and have just enough articulation to be fun.

Here we get Liz Sherman, Hellboy himself, the vaporous Johann Krauss, and the big ol’ monster called Wink. The designs are very good, although Liz doesn’t really resemble actress Selma Blair… of course, how often do 3.75-inch figures ever look like the actor in question? There is an issue with the accessories, though. Toys should have accessories, I love accessories, but if the figure can’t hold the accessory, it’s just a teeny bit that will get lost as soon as the cat decides to attack the carefully-planned war for domination of the kitchen table between the forces of good and evil of multiple Earths, not that I have ever witnesses such a thing personally.

Liz, for instance, has a gun and a burst of flame. The gun fits in her hand just fine, but the fire doesn’t connect at all. The two bursts of mist that come with Johann, similarly, are totally incompatible with his hands, and as far as Wink’s mace, all I can do is drape the chain (which is highly cool, by the way) over his arm. He can’t actually hold it. Only Hellboy, with his gun, actually manages to interact properly with his accessory.

I really do like these figures, and I really hope to see more figures based on other comic book universes. I’d love to get my hands on a 3.75-inch Madman, Invincible, Shadowhawk, or the team from the Perhapanauts. I know that this four-pack has absolutely nothing to do with the possibility of lines featuring any of these characters, but I wanted to mention it anyway.