In a recent blog post about a Scarface action figure review that I wrote, I mentioned that Mezco Toyz isn't great at doing realistic action figures. I commented that they seem to be much better suited at churning out less realistic figures like their stylized Scarface action figures. I was quickly reprimanded by one of the readers of this site. In his opinion, the Mezco Hellboy action figures were some of the most realistic action figures on the market.

After taking a closer look at the Mezco Hellboy action figures for a Hellboy action figure review, I tend to agree... sort of. Mezco did an awesome job on their Hellboy figures, but the problem is that a character like Hellboy is already ideally suited to be an action figure. Hellboy has exaggerated features, weapons, and enough of a stylized look to directly convert into a toy. In contrast, a company like Mcfarlane Toys is known for their life-like action figures of real people. I don't think that an action figure like the Mezco Hellboy figure can be compared to figures of real people. Action figures don't get any more realistic than figures like the Mcfarlane sports figures. For example, the Mcfarlane NFL action figures are just like looking at a 3D model of a frozen moment in time. It seems like a different level of realism to me. What do you think?

I get questions all the time from action figure fans about different action figure lines, companies, and new figures. This is pretty standard in my line of work, but I do get one question that comes up over and over again... Can you manufacture an action figure or designer toy that I designed? My short answer is always "no" because I'm in the retail side of action figures, not manufacturing.

Because I get this question every couple weeks, I decided to do a little research. I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg on this topic, but I found an intersting concept that action figure and designer toy artists might like. I have seen this idea before with different t-shirt design companies, but never in the action figure industry.Patchtogether.com is a company that runs an on-going contest for vinyl figure artists. Designers can submit their action figure designs to their contest and people vote for different designs online. Whichever vinyl figure design wins gets produced by Patchtogether. Sweet! Design winners get a $500.00 prize and a 5% commission on any sales of the designer vinyl figure. Seems like it could be a great way to kick-start a company. What do you think?