The initial wave of figures included everyone's favorite bad guy, Kroenen. But it was a normal Kroenen, or at least as normal as this guy gets. What the fans were clamoring for was a version in his Nazi uniform, the way he was seen early in the film.

Sideshow finally listened, providing a 12" version as a convention exclusive last summer. But we were still without an 8" version to go with the exceptional 8" Hellboy from Mezco. That is until now!

The second set of Hellboy figures from Mezco, actually called series 1.5 rather than 2, includes Mr. K in his full outfit. It also includes a battle damaged Abe Sapien, a re-release of the original Trenchcoat Hellboy (because he was so damn popular the first time around), the Anung Un Rama Hellboy with his crown of fire, 'stockade' or 'prisoner' Hellboy, and shirtless weightlifting Hellboy. Since I only felt the driving desire for Kroenen, that's who you get reviewed tonight, but the others looked pretty spiff as well.

The first series had a number of variants as well, but this time there is only the trench coat version with either closed mouth and closed hand or open mouth and open hand. That should make the completist's life much easier.

You should be able to find these at several brick and mortar stores, including Suncoast and Media Play, for around $10. I also have a number of online retailers at the end of the review who have them available.

And speaking of the People's Pick Awards, get in there and vote. I've been doing these awards for four years now, and the results are always fascinating. I'll have the final results, along with my own picks, up next month.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can always reach me at mwc@mwctoys.com. If you enjoy this review, take a minute to check out my other site at Michael's Review of the Week, and let me know what you think. Now on to the review!

"Officer Kroenen"

Okay, let's be honest - this is Nazi Kroenen, not 'officer' Kroenen. Nobody wants to say 'nazi'. Nazi, Nazi, Nazi. Why? Well, for starters I've just managed to get this page included on every skinhead search engine on the planet. Red flags are popping up on computers in secret back rooms at the C.I.A. and Homeland Security. And the next time I fly, I'll be forced to go through a full body cavity search before getting on the plane.

I'm sure that even retailers who knew they were selling this to the more adult collector's market didn't want the N word emblazoned across the front of the package. Plan-B Toys just took a hit for their Totenkopf figure, getting a ton of negative press. I'm sure that neither Mezco nor the retailers were really interested in being associated with the number one villains of all time.

And does it really matter what they call him? We know who he is. And he's a serious ripe bastard at that.

On a slightly different note, I reviewed the Hitler figure from Drastic Plastic a couple years ago, and after I noticed I was getting the occasional traffic from various white supremacist sites. Anytime I want to have serious trouble sleeping at night, I just envision some skinhead psycho-freak hunched over his Saran wrapped keyboard, drooling over this photo. *shudder*

Packaging - ***
Once again, Mezco goes with my favorite packaging, clamshells. The inserts are attractive, although I would have preferred a graphic (or at least a list) on the back of the figures in this wave. Also, all the Hellboys are simply called 'Hellboy' on the front, which is sure to be confusing to anyone buying these as a gift for someone else.

Sculpting - ***1/2
This is excellent work once again from Mezco, and follows the tradition of the first series of 8" figures from last winter. Kroenen's uniform has tons of detail in the wrinkles, insignia, and accoutrements, and is fairly faithful to what I can remember from the film.

Just like the trenchcoat Hellboy, they went with a cloth for his overcoat. Actually, it's a very thin pleather, and while I've heard some complaining, I think it both looks great and fits perfectly. It would have also looked very weird for Hellboy to wear a cloth coat, and Kroenen to not. Thankfully, Mez was paying attention. You can get the coat off, particularly after you pop the hands off, but I didn't give it a try. Getting it back on looked like it would have been more work than it was worth, and I have no intention of displaying him without his kick ass coat.

The head sculpt isn't quite as good as the body, at least in terms of his scarred visage. It is similar to the original version from Mezco, which seems to be too heavily flayed to me. I think Sideshow did a better job capturing the actual film appearance, but the Mezco version certainly gets the point across, and registers in the red on the gross out meter.

The mask fits tightly over the head, and looks very much like the film version. It's also tight enough that the cap isn't too oversized, a real problem when trying to create a figure that looks good both with the mask/hat on, and without.

The sculpt work on the legs is a tad wonky though, and the double jointed knees look outright bizarre in some positions. It's not a major issue, but one that takes a little getting used to. The wonky knees are another good reason to leave that coat on.

The blades sculpted on his hands (actually glued on as separate pieces) look fantastic, and are perhaps my favorite part of his entire appearance. They are just the right size, and are made from a very sturdy, solid plastic. There's no problem with wilting or bending, and they are also thick enough that they won't snap easily. And since you get an extra set of hands, you can swap them out if you want to vary the look.

Paint - **1/2
If there was one category that disappointed me on this figure, it was the paint application. There's a fair amount of slop, particularly for such Mezco.

The most obvious issues were on the hat, where the white is all over the place, bleeding into the black and in general making a nuisance of itself. The uniform is a little cleaner, and the black is fairly consistent, but some of the small detail work is still sloppier than I expect.

It's all not terrible though, and the ops on the face are particularly nice. I'm going to have mine covered though, since the mask/hat appearance was what this figure was all about. And if you're looking for swastikas and lightening bolts, you might want to get the magnifying glass. There is the Iron Cross of course, but the other symbols more often associated with the evil of the Third Reich are tougher to see. There is one swastika that's front and center on the uniform though, so it's clear that retailers weren't as afraid (or sharp eyed) over that.

Articulation - ***1/2
The amount of articulation is great, and again follows the expectations set by the first wave of figures. However, there are these funky hips...

One of the issues I had with the original Kroenen was his spindly legs, and that's still an issue here. The articulation highlights the skinny knees, making them appear pretty odd in certain poses.

There's no complaints on how much articulation there is though, with a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders, cut biceps, elbows, wrists, ball jointed hips, cut thighs, double jointed knees, cut foot and ankles.

The one joint that really bugged me was the hips. Even though the are ball jointed, getting the legs to come together is almost impossible. He's forced into a very wide stance, which doesn't look terrible, but shouldn't be our only choice.

One joint that I'm glad they skipped for this figure is the waist or chest. The clean lines of the jacket look great, and the joints would have had little value.

Accessories - ***
Kroenen comes with his hat, which we've already beat into the ground, a pistol, and an extra set of hands. The pistol is made from rather soft plastic, but fits nicely in his holster on his belt, and also into the extra right hand.

The extra left hand is a simple closed fist, and the hands pop off easily. The pegs are nice and thick though, so you'll have no worries about damaging them through repeated use.

Value - ***
At $12 - $13 each, this figure is a fairly average value. But I was pleasantly surprised to find him at Suncoast for just ten bucks.  If you end up paying the couple bucks more, you can drop this score by half a star.  Still not an awful value, but much more average. 

Things to Watch Out For
This is a new section I'm adding to my reviews, highlighting specific issues or problems you might want to watch out for.

With Kroenen, there's just a couple. Pay special attention to the paint ops on the one you have in your hands, since it seems to vary quite a bit from one figure to another. Also, when using the holster, don't pull on it too much. It's glued into the belt, and can be pulled out fairly easily.

Overall - ***1/2
This figure has some minor issues - paint bleed, knobby knees, weird hips - that hold it back from a four star rating. But it's an excellent version of Officer Kroenen nonetheless, and well worth the twelve bucks. If you've been looking forward to adding him to your display shelf, you won't be disappointed.

The rest of this series is pretty nice as well. I'll be picking up the others over time, with the exception of Trench Coat Hellboy which I grabbed in series 1. I know a lot of folks thought little of the battle damaged Abe, but he does look better than I had expected. It would be a tough call to pick out one new Hellboy as the best, although the Anung Un Rama is pretty damn cool.

Where to Buy -
I've seen these at both Suncoast and Media Play stores so far. On-line options include:

- Amazon.com has the individual figures, in stock, for just $13 each.

- CornerStoreComics has the individual figures for $14 each.

- Killer Toys has him for $15.

- Alter Ego doesn't have individual figures, but you can pick up a case of 12 for $144.