Most are limited editions, ranging from good-quality action figures that go for less than $50 to life-size replicas priced at $5,000 to $6,000.

It's tempting to think of pop art only in terms of Andy Warhol and the '60s. But now his work is considered fine art - four of Warhol's famous commercial shipping boxes (Brillo, anyone?) sold at Sotheby's May 14 for $2.8 million.

At the same auction, an 8-foot Japanese anime-inspired figure by Takashi Murakami in colorful acrylic brought a whopping $15.1 million. Displayed in the living room, that would be art, right?

What, then, is a life-size figure of the Terminator as Endoskeleton, or a shiny C-3PO from Star Wars? Definitely not toys, and priced beyond most collectibles, they may be art from another dimension.

Comic books and graphic novels are the root of characters such as Iron Man and the Hulk, Hellboy and Batman. But an iconic pop-culture figure that can be translated into good merchandise also draws inspiration from costume- and makeup-design teams and the actor who embodies the role.

For a good Hulk bust, you might go with a 61/2-inch-tall figure by Kotobukiya (www.kotous.com), which also makes Star Wars, Indiana Jones and other Marvel figures.

But Hellboy is a favorite of Scott Klauder, production manager at Sideshow Collectibles. Born and bred in Sharon Hill, Klauder got his job with the California firm after a stint in the Marines. Like Tom Hanks in Big, he says, "I've got the best job in the world."

"We have the best collectibles art team - they sculpt, fabricate, paint the prototypes," Klauder says. "It's my job to oversee the process after it leaves here in master form until it arrives at the customer's doorstep."

Sideshow's products replicate characters that appeal to more than just 25-year-old fanboys.

"We go back to the old Universal horror-film monsters - Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Dracula. We've done full-scale busts of those characters, and they've done very well," he says.

If you like TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the anime Ghost in the Shell, or niche movies like Shaun of the Dead, Sideshow makes collectible figures for you. But, as might be expected, the big-ticket products come out of movie blockbusters.

"Moviegoers are pretty picky nowadays," Klauder says. "Studios will sink a lot of money into a huge-budget flick that comes out, and people are just not moved by it. We try to stick with established characters."

For Hellboy II, Sideshow is doing one-to-one prop replicas of the big red hero's famous guns, the Samaritan and Big Baby - priced at $400 and $750, respectively.

"The larger items, we do them in tandem with the special-effects studios. [Hellboy II director] Guillermo del Toro is a big fan and friend of the company. We're working with Spectral Motion [which did the film's creature effects], and we're going to be doing some life-size busts," Klauder says.

Hellboy himself can be ordered now for $600, and the spooky Angel of Death is coming up.

If a company is making figures spawned by everything from the 1930s Dracula to Alien vs. Predator, who is the customer?

People with a connection to a certain set of characters.

"Star Wars fans might say, 'I'm going to collect everything Star Wars.' Terminator, Predator are iconic characters, so we know that there is a fan base," Klauder says.

"I've seen all types of people. Some collectors have an actual showroom inside their house to display their things. Anyone from your run-of-the-mill kind of person to IT guys, lawyers, doctors, stockbrokers."

Klauder tells a story about one enthusiast who ordered four life-size Terminators for his front lawn - at $5,950 each. It goes without saying, but he adds, "You have to figure out where you're going to put it."

Many of the more expensive figures are purchased for home theaters or commercial displays. Although limited-edition pieces typically are not resold at New York auctions, they can do a brisk business in online sales after production ceases.

"You're going to see the top auction dollar coming out on eBay," Klauder says.

The ex-Marine from Delaware County is in training for San Diego Comic Con, the most famous annual gathering for pop-culture buy-and-sell, which starts Wednesday.

"It's tough," he says, "but there's no other place I'd rather be."