“Big Baby” 1:4 Scaled Replica [Products]

Product: “Big Baby” 1:4 Scaled Replica (Hellboy)

Company: Sideshow Collectibles

MSRP: $64.99

Review and Photos by: Eric Stuckart

When buying collectibles and novelty items from one’s favorite television, movie, comic or video game series, a number of criteria comes into play – the “cool” factor, craftsmanship and cost, among other things. While Sideshow Collectibles’ Hellboy “Big Baby” 1:4 Scaled Replica scores big points on the coolness scale, it loses on some other, more important factors.

What happens when a shotgun is crossed with a six shooter? A “Big Baby” happens. That’s what. This ‘Baby’ is a 1:4 scale replica of one of Hellboy’s weapons of choice in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. The coolness…er…cools off much more once seen in person, though. At 1:4 scale, the gun measures at 4 inches by 6 inches by 2½ inches, and weighs about 4 pounds. It’s almost too small for even my mortal hands.

Even still, it’s not the size that matters; it’s the quality, right? Well, unfortunately, that’s where “Big Baby” lets me down. The gun feels to be heavy plastic and dense metal, with magnets encased in both the cylinder and hammer parts of the gun, with fully functioning hinges like a top-break revolver. The cylinder spins and opens up to load small plastic shells, but not all of the ones on the gun I received were formed at the same specifications, as a couple of them get stuck in the chambers and it takes a little work to get them back out. The cylinder also seems to grind at one point where it spins.

Worst of all, though, is where the would-be hammer of the gun meets the grip it is extremely weak and broke with a minimal amount of jostling, making this a display-only gun for sure. It is most likely because the magnets keep the gun from popping open unexpectedly, and they are much heavier than the plastic that the rest of the gun is molded out of.

The stand for the “Big Baby” isn’t of the highest quality either, as one of the pegs was broken upon delivery. This was easily remedied with some model glue (as was the gun itself), but the stand doesn’t feel sturdy enough for the weight of what it’s holding up. I felt as though I had to step lightly when walking past it for fear of it falling off of its stand.

As far as detail goes, the gun does a commendable job of recreating the original’s vision, except at a smaller scale. The gun looks appropriately worn and beat up and full of scratches. Even the Big Baby decal found at the rear of the gun’s stock looks well worn. The gun has BPRD 333 engraved on the side, the markings of the agency that Hellboy works for, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.

The rest of the gun’s detail is as well done, with screws molded into the grip and frame, and a nicely formed hammer and trigger. While some of the screws are slightly lopsided, it doesn’t really draw too much attention away from the look of the gun. That only makes it a bit of a shame about the rest of the package.

And that brings us to the final factor – cost. Sideshow Collectibles is asking for $64.99 for the “Big Baby,” but I find it hard to justify the price when the stand was broken and the gun itself is too weak to sustain its own weight, thus making the Big Baby only necessary for the most diehard of Hellboy fans or thrifty shoppers who can find it on sale.