Review – Hellboy Soft Vinyl Statue

Many years ago when I visited the Dark Horse offices I was given this impressive vinyl statue that was made by Kotobukiya (official page at Dark Horse). I’ve had this with me for about nine years now, displaying it at the home and the office at various times and moving it around a couple of times. The box may be long gone (notice the dings on the horn and a few other spots), but the statue looks as awesome today as it did when I first unboxed it nearly a decade ago.

It’s Huge!

Over 12-inches tall and over 12-inches from the tip of his horn to the tip of his flowing trench coat this is one massive chunk of vinyl statue. Years ago when I first got this statue I didn’t understand how plastics and manufacturing work or I would have studied the statue a lot more closely than I did. All I knew at the time was that it looked great in my office and I really appreciated the fact that the guys at Dark Horse gave it to me.

A Chiseled, Tight Sculpt

I’ve shot a few close shots of the statue to give you a better idea of just how amazing the sculpt it. Sharp angels and a more realistic look than Mignola’s character design, there’s nothing I don’t love about the look of this statue. And look closely at the base: yes, that’s a giant monster head that Hellboy is smashing with his fist. Take a second look at the base and you’ll notice the monster’s tongue sticking out as he gets whacked a good one. A fun detail that I didn’t notice the first time that I held the statue; I was too busy staring at Hellboy to even glance at the base.

Paint

Gorgeous! The washes over Hellboy’s body help pull out all of the details of the sculpt, but I’m likely biased since I’ve owned this for so long and since it was a gift. But I think it’s fair to say that this is an excellent example of Kotobukiya’s work and a good reason that the company has grown as large as it has since this statue was first released over a decade ago.

Closing Thoughts

It is very hard to be objective and reasoned about a piece that has been in your collection for as long as I’ve owned this Hellboy statue. What’s truly funny to me is that even as I slowly started looking closer at statues and picking up a piece here and there I never once thought about this Hellboy statue that was sitting on the shelf the entire time. It has been near me for so long that it’s part of the background; but I’m changing that since this is getting transferred to my new office as soon as the work is finished.

A very, very nice statue and I’m glad that it has stayed with me all this time.

Philip Reed should dig through his collection and post reviews of other toys and bits that he has had for years. It’s always fun to revisit the past.