Dark Horse's Hell's Proprietor by Glenn Barr
with jager

If the toy Hell's Proprietor was real, maybe going to the "long burn" wouldn't be too bad. You see, this little guy is in charge of making sure that everyone in the underworld is comfortable and having an alright time. In fact, he's quite a "pleasant fellow" to be around. Glenn Barr's character is brought to life by Dark Horse and fans of the artist recognize this little bug-like guy from many of his artworks. The company did a great job transferring him to a 3-dimensional toy, retaining all his character and charm.

When I saw images of this guy, I didn't think he was a very large toy. Boy was I wrong! This is a hulking piece and looks great. The Proprietor measures in at 11 inches and the details are very subtle and clean. The sculpt is very fluid which really gives the toy life. His legs are slightly bent, but they have a nice cartoony curve to them rather than defined knee joints. I love his shoes with the heels and big toes. He sort of has a hunch to him like he's tired and leaning forward a bit. The details also are great in the stubble on his face being sculpted to points rather than just being painted on and he has a great nose! Also, the sculpting on the fire is a little more geometric with the sharp points but is also extra nice with the flames rippling from his hand. The paint applications are top notch, especially in the spray passes on the sides of the body and head. These add a lot to the toy giving it extra dimension and shading. This is also evident on the flame.

There is only one point of articulation in the left arm. This lets him raise his removable pitchfork to throwing position. It's a little disappointing that there isn't more posability in the toy, but it's understandable. He has such a large body to stand on the small legs that if they could move it wouldn't be very stable. Also, if the right arm turned, the flame wouldn't look right. Maybe a head twist would have been nice though. But the lack of articulation doesn't take away from the toy. It's a great character brought to life wonderfully by Dark Horse. The version reviewed here is the more common, brown colorway and is limited to 1000 pieces. But there is a smaller run of 500 on the blue version. Both look great, but I'm digging the OG more.

Dark Horse has started to make a name for itself in the Designer Toy market and it's easy to see why when you check out their biggest vinyl to date, Hell's Proprietor. Whether you're a collector of Glenn Barr's work, cartoony toys, or even evil vinyl this would look great in your collection. Mine stands in the back of my shelf with my Lueys and Deros showing that evil is a subjective term.

Check out Dark Horse's web site for news on their toys (and a great place to purchase them) and of course their bread and butter: comic books!

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