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Manufacturer: Sideshow Toy, Inc. (www.sideshowtoy.com) |
Abe Sapien
Taking its cue from Hellboy's packaging, Abe Sapien again presents us with a
predominantly black box. The front features a very atmospheric, backlit image
of Hellboy's fishy friend and fellow B.P.R.D. operative, light shining through
the thin membranes between his fingers. The name "Abe Sapien" only appears in
small letters at the upper left (no actor credit this time, presumably because
his entire face is hidden under the fish-man mask), which might lead a casual
browser to think that the figure is actually called "Hellboy." The rest of
the box also follows Hellboy's lead, offering photographs of the Abe Sapien
figure and select images from the film, with a short paragraph detailing
Abe's origin and abilities. The inside of the front flap is identical to
Hellboy's.
Abe's accessory count is a little low. In fact, apart from the standard Sideshow stand, he's only got one - but it's a doozy. The figure actually comes with two different heads: Abe's normal visage and an alternate goggled, aqualung-collared noggin. They pop on and off the long neck via a strong ball-joint and can be swapped easily with the help of just a little force.
Abe uses the standard Sideshow body (cast in a very nice shade of turquoise,
which thankfully doesn't appear to have looseness issues) with the addition
of a few specialized parts. His forearms are entirely new, and are solid
pieces (no wrist joints) that excellently reproduce Abe's hands and skin
patterning. All the appropriate lines, wrinkles and mackerel stripes are
present, down to the pads and suckers on his palms. Although he has no real
accessories, Abe's left hand is sculpted to hold objects, but it also looks
fine on its own. What's really impressive here is that the parts are molded
in clear plastic, leaving the unpainted webs between Abe's fingers
translucent, just like in the movie. No fragility concerns with the thin
plastic here; the hands and forearms are soft and flexible.
Abe's lower legs also have painted stripes, and translucent fins have been added to the backs of his calves. They're excellently sculpted and painted with a color gradient so that light shining through illuminates the fish-like patterning. Wonderful stuff.
On to Head #1: Abe's normal face. In the movie, it's covered with a number of subtle patterns and colors, and Sideshow's designers have done an admirable job of capturing them. It's not 100% perfect - some of the lines are too solid where an airbrushing effect might have worked better, and the face could have been shinier - but it's very good, and the sheer number of different colors used is impressive. Even the little broken lines around Abe's amphibian-like pupils are there, and he once again has translucent parts in the form of his fan-like gills. The sculpting of the head is excellent, with fine pockmarks and wrinkles all over Abe's fishy head.
Head #2 exceeds even the first one. Abe's steampunk goggles and rebreather
collar are perfect, and the water chambers are a beautiful transparent blue.
The little antenna on the back of the collar is nice and flexible, so
there's no fear of breakage. Even the expression on the face (which has
all the same great colors and detailing as the first) is different:
whereas Abe's normal face is fairly neutral, this one's definitely looking
worried.
It was smart of Sideshow to go with Abe's diving outfit, since they didn't have to find a way to create the fins between his arms and ribs without killing his articulation. You might also think that it would be a convenient excuse to avoid adding Abe's torso details, since they'd be covered by his clothes, but in fact they've painted all the right stripes and color shading on his upper body. It's barely visible without removing the shirt, but it's there and it looks great.
Abe's diving suit is a two-piece outfit, with the top held down by an
elastic band around the crotch (ow). It looked like a pretty simple costume
in the movie, but once again Sideshow impresses with their eye for detail:
up close, the solid black outfit has lots of straps, buckles (nonfunctional)
and stitched detailing. There's also a heat-sealed B.P.R.D. symbol on the
left shoulder. Abe's shorts are basic but accurate, featuring belt loops
and an elastic band around the waist. Both shirt and pants are made of a
stretchy spandex-like material that works well for a form-fitting wetsuit.
The one downside is that it clings so well that the body's sunken hip
joints are highlighted, making Abe look a little emaciated in that area.
Fortunately, there's an easy solution thanks to the next item.
Like Hellboy, Abe wears what must be a standard-issue B.P.R.D. equipment belt. The belt itself is identical to Hellboy's, working buckle and all, but it lacks the holster and has a different complement of plastic pouches. The belt is meant to be low-slung on Abe, so it's perfect for covering up those pesky visible hip joints.
Finally we come to Abe's boots. They're designed for use in water as well as land, with an emphasis on traction and flexibility. There's nothing that disappoints here; the detailing is great, down to the interlocking teeth of the sculpted zippers, and there's room at the back for the leg-fins to enter. The downside to this kind of footwear is that the rounded soles can make balancing the figure a little tricky, but hey, that's what the stand is for.
Abe has less "stuff" to him than Hellboy, but he's remarkably low on negative
points (and he costs $5 less, too). With a simple but solid outfit and a
great paint scheme, plus the added fun and value of the extra head, he may
well be my favorite of the Hellboy figures. Now let's see the fish-guy get
some more screen time in the sequel!
Hellboy | Abe Sapien | Kroenen | Final Battle Kroenen | Nazi Kroenen
You can see all our pictures of Abe Sapien in our Gallery!