Review of The Hulk - Avengers sixth scale action figure

Introduction

Anyone who has been paying any attention to Hot Toys over the last couple years knows we'll be getting plenty of additional Avengers (and Avengers 2) releases. Let's face it - SDCC for Hot Toys was pretty much Iron Man and more Iron Man.

But the team still wasn't quite complete...we lacked the biggest of the brood. The Hulk wasn't just another team member in the Avengers, he was finally done the right way for the first time on film.

It's taken an awfully long time, but the Hulk has finally started shipping to the U.S., and there has been much rejoicing.

He's a big boy with a price tag to match - around $300 at most retailers. They sold pretty quickly at that price though, and online prices have been on the rise.

Packaging - ***
The package is large, but very basic stuff. There's a shot of the Hulk on the cover, and the basic design team information on the box, but no other descriptive text. There's an inner tray with a plastic cover that holds the figure and the extra hands, and it's all collector friendly of course. But it's still more basic than I'd like at this price point.

Sculpting - ***
This figure is huge - perhaps too huge. He comes in just under 18" tall, but that seems just a little too big compared to some stills from the film. I'm not going to complain though, since far too often figures are undersized. The one time a figure ends up too big - slightly - I'm going to let it go.

The Hulk likeness is great, capturing the screen look and also adding the necessary realism. The teeth and gums are downright scary real, and the wrinkles and texture over the entire body look great. The hairy chest is sculpted, not just painted, and the veins and musculature look amazing.

The eyes are very deep set in the snarling expression, making the includes of PERS eyes more than slightly unnecessary. I did take a shot with him looking upward into the light so you could see that yes, the eyes are there.

I did drop the score slightly though because of the very PERS system I just mentioned. The hair is supposed to sit down over the back of the head and forehead, held in place with two magnets. However, the fit is poor, especially around the forehead, where there's a noticeable gap.

There's also some gaping at the shoulders in some poses, although with a little tweaking you can make it look decent. That's really only an issue at the shoulders - the ankles and wrists are a much tighter fit.

The elbows aren't an issue, at least in terms of gaping or seeing a joint, because the arms are covered in a rubbery skin. Instead of seeing the joint, you end up with a weird folding and bubbling of the skin when you bend the arm. Six to one, half a dozen to the other.

The torso is covered in that same rubber skin, hiding the neck joint as well.

Paint - ***1/2
Hot Toys and paint go together like Oreos and a big glass of milk. And they're almost as tasty.

We all know the Hulk is green - at least this incarnation is - but the subtle variations in the skin tone give him a life-like appearance that you wouldn't expect considering the color.

The lips, eyebrows and eyes are amazing, but you've come to expect that. The chest hair looks good, although the black doesn't always line up perfectly with every hair.

Articulation - ***
There's decent articulation overall, allowing the Hulk to take reasonable fighting poses.

He has the double ball jointed neck, with a decent range of movement. The ball shoulders work well too - other than the aforementioned gaping - and the pin elbows allow for some decent arm poses, even with the rubber skin.

The wrists and ankles are ball joints too, and the hands swap pretty easily. The joints are a tight fit though, which means that there's not a lot of tilt or rocker action in either joint.

The ball hips and knees also have a clicky action to them, allowing them to stay in specific spots under the extreme weight of the figure. That's a smart move, and allows the Hulk to maintain deeper stances.

As I mentioned, the figure sports movable eyes, similar to the PERS eyes we've seen with deluxe figures. The design is different though, and is less likely to break.

Each eye has it's own 'stalk' that controls it, left, right, up, and down. Each eye can be moved independently, which I much prefer. You can get them in just the right spot quite easily, and they stay that way.

While I like this design over the single joystick design with other Hot Toys figures, I suspect the only reason it's possible here is the very large skull of the Hulk. And since the eyes are almost impossible to see in most circumstances, it seems like the inclusion of moving eyes was pretty much a waste.

Accessories - **
He only comes with the extra set of open hands - not even a display base for consistency. He really needed something here to make the price seem right.

The hands have four bendy fingers, which work well enough, but I can't help think that simply sculpting them in a grasping pose would have been fine - and cheaper.

Outfit - ***
He doesn't have much, but there is a little bit of a cloth outfit. The outer pants have ripped in the traditional manner, and the fit across the hips is very tight. They are held closed with a Velcro fly and one snap. Thankfully, the snap appears to be the sturdy metal kind, not the cheaper plastic versions we've seen them use on occasion.

Under the ripped pants are a pair of Lycra stretchy underwear in basic black.  Since it appears that the Hulk is packing some serious hardware, the fact that his pants always seem to survive the transition is most appreciated.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
Most Hot Toys figures would end up broken within about 5 minutes in the hands of a 10 year old, but that's not the case here. The figure is VERY solid and sturdy, with little chance for damage. And for the collector, the posability and bulk are going to add up to plenty of fun posing him on the shelf for display with the rest of the team.

Value - *1/2
Three hundred dollars is a lot of green for a lot of green.  And that was the initial price, which is getting hard to find now that they've started to ship.

My problem is that this is, for all intents and purposes, a quarter scale action figure. A very nice one, no doubt, with the usual level of Hot Toys likeness, but there are some very, very nice quarter scale figures coming from NECA as well, and they run closer to $100.

I don't expect this guy to be $100 - the license, lower production run, and the simple fact that it's Hot Toys (the Ferrari of action figures) makes that pretty much impossible. But $200 - $250 seems far more in line. They needed to throw in a couple more items to get me on board with the cost.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing - even the PERS design is pretty impossible to damage. The hands swapped without issue as well.

Overall - ***
I can't help but wonder what difference in cost - or what other accessories we might have gotten - had they dropped the moving eyes and the bendy fingers. I don't know about you, but they are other sacrifices I'd have been happy to make.

I almost dropped this score another half star. The saving grace is the paint and sculpt, but even so, I'm not happy with the ill fit on the hair. Add in some big bucks for what doesn't seem to amount to enough to warrant the cost, and you have a reviewer who's less pleased than usual.

But the reality is that this is the Avengers Hulk, a figure that's pretty much necessary to fill out the team. Let's face it...we'll get plenty of versions of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. But when will we see another Hulk? Maybe with the release of Avengers 2, but it's anybodies guess.

So even with his small warts, this is one green dude that I'm very happy to have on the shelf, and I'm very happy that I pre-ordered early to avoid getting even further gouged.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***
Accessories - **
Outfit - ***
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - *1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Sideshow had him at $300, but is now sold out. You can always jump on the wait list.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Hot Toys team members and Marvel characters include Agent Coulson,  Black Widow and Loki. Other key Hot Toys Marvel figures include the recent Iron Monger, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, the Mark V, the Secret Project version, the MKVI, the very cool War Machine, another Black Widow, Whiplash, the Mark III figure, Mark II figure, Mark I figure, and additional Tony Stark men's suit. There are also guest reviews of the Battle Damaged Iron Man and Mech Suit Tony Stark.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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