The Incredible Hulk, As An Action Figure
The Incredible Hulk has been around since 1962, one of the many many many creations of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby : the epic story of a man trapped inside of a green monster, or vice versa. These dueling personalities have given rise to a wide array of personalities through the course of the comic, and have made many friends and enemies.
This cast of characters, of course, means action figures. In 2003, ToyBiz released eight Hulk-related figures in a line that they called ‘Hulk Classics‘, which coincided with their ongoing ‘Marvel Legends’ property. While the set of eight was comprised of six very diverse incarnations of The Hulk himself, the two villains (Absorbing Man and Abomination) proved very difficult to find, and now reach prices of over $100.
More recently, Hasbro has released a line simply called ‘Hulk‘, a figure line that focuses on the Hulk comic rather than the current movie, and spans another eight characters as a kind of informal continuation of the ol’ Hulk Classics line. Because of the large size of most Hulk figures, the included bonus pieces of a buildable Fin Fang Foom, and the skyrocketing price of plastics and cost of transporting them, each figure costs about $15 at retail – an all time high price for a domestic action figure of this scale. So, are they worth it?
Let’s start with the Savage She-Hulk, as the smallest and rarest of the bunch. Hasbro’s previous She-Hulk figure remains one of my favorite Marvel Legends figures of all time, so there’s definitely a prejudice. This new Savage She-Hulk stands a full head shorter than her taller predecessor (which is acceptable, due to the nature of the Hulk family’s size-changing abilities), and is the only figure to include a fabric costume piece. I’m not a fan of mixing cloth and plastic on this small scale, because something never syncs up, and while the tattery white undershirt that she wears serves to allow for full movement, it doesn’t seem to be an accessory that will last long. Of course, action figure purists and weirdos alike can display her sans shirt, as Hasbro conveniently sculpted underthings onto her form. The angry face and messy hair belies her ‘Savage’ nature – something that she learned to control, subsequently joined the Fantastic Four for a little while and became a successful lawyer. I’m up for any She-Hulk, so I’m a fan.
Doc Samson is the next figure of the group, and also my favorite. Maybe it’s just something iconic about a guy with a lightning bolt on his chest, but it’ll always sucker me in. Madman, Captain Marvel, The Flash – all visually appealing guys. Doc is a great figure, cast in the soft plastics that allow for soft, sturdy movement, very simple in execution and just neat looking. He has the double-jointed knees that are rarely seen anymore (but were once responsible for making Marvel Legends a revolutionary force), and the points of articulation in his ball-jointed hips are cleverly masked by the stripes in his pants. If nothing else, he’s a classic Marvel character who we’ve not seen in this scale yet, and he’s a pretty great basic body for customizers who are interested in making him into different guys. Captain Hammer, anyone?
Absorbing Man is probably the disappointment of the set, and not really worth picking up (except for the Foom piece) – even as a stand-in for the excellent but rare Absorbing Man that ToyBiz made in 2003. While the ‘leg-made-of-brick’ is a pretty neat aesthetic choice, and the gentle transformation of his body from flesh to stone is well done, it doesn’t feel like enough. Carl Creel is a guy who once beat a teammate to death using the dead body of another teammate, so never in his life has he appeared as placid and pensive as he does here. Not only that, but the guy can turn into diamond, water, denim – hell, the guy could turn into a delicious buffet if he wanted to – so why limit him to a little bit of stone? As one of the most violent, insane characters in the Marvel universe, Hasbro’s recent penchant for bizarrely narrow heads and simplicity doesn’t match up with the character.
Wendigo is the largest figure of the line, and probably a figure I’d dig more if I enjoyed the character. He’s a big furry monster- what’s not to adore? Well, we already got a similar Wendigo in this scale a few years back, and I don’t feel the desire for another when we could have had something like Zzzax or Valkyrie (who was originally scheduled for this line), or even Psyklop. Yes, Psyklop. Regardless, this extra Wendigo is well made, and even features an uncommon ‘paint wash’ to bring out the details of the sculpt. Hasbro’s kinda eschewed the whole paint wash thing lately – mostly because it takes a little longer to produce, and thus, more expensive.
Skaar, or ‘Son of Hulk‘, is a very recent addition to the Marvel universe, and not one I’ve caught up with yet. As we get into these larger characters, the plastic become slightly harder and less yielding, as parts are cast hollow to save on plastic, and they also become so muscled that they can’t really put their arms down at their sides anymore. As a result, they’ve always got that ‘chafed pits’ stance. Skaar has this cloudy-green paint scheme that seems to drift across his body at random, not really adding any definition, but instead serving to confuse the sculpture of the toy. He comes with a sword, a sheathed dagger that loosely pins to his loincloth, and hair sculpted in front of his eyes. Whenever I see the whole ‘hair sculpted in front of eyes’ thing, I just want to scream ‘JUST TUCK IT BEHIND YOUR EARS!’, because the last thing we need is an angry, orphaned, cross-eyed Hulk baby running around.
The last three figures of the set are all incarnations of The Hulk. First, we have the Savage Grey Hulk. This is how The Hulk first appeared (even though that was already covered in a previous ‘First Appearance Hulk’ figure), and the form that he sometimes reverts to when the ‘monster’ personality dominates the ‘Bruce Banner’ personality. He’s about standard size for a Hulk toy – a little above average in height and girth when compared to Spider-Man and the like, but he really doesn’t offer that much more than the previous Grey Hulk, or even Grey Hulk’s gangster personality, Mr. Fixit. That guy came with a hat – the best of all possible toy accessories – not to mention a trenchcoat and a classic mobster gat.
‘The End’ Hulk depicts him as the last survivor on a dead world, almost unable to die (even as Bruce Banner dies inside of him) because of his regenerative powers. As a result, he’s something of a zombie figure, skin all tearing and hair falling out. As with these larger figures, he’s all hard plastics, and the paint and sculpt are simpler than they absolutely need to be, but as a new interpretation of The Hulk, I enjoy it enough.
The final Hulk is ‘King Hulk‘, another recent incarnation of the character from the ‘World War Hulk’ storyline. It’s a very similar character to the previous ‘Planet Hulk’ figure, and even re-uses the same torso. Ultimately, the newer figure drops a bit of the previous articulation, again simplifies the paint, and adds a few new details specific to the slightly-different character. Again, I’d just like to throw Psyklop out there. Just sayin’. Cyclops represent.
The scaling back of detail is an acceptable loss, because a more ‘cartoon’ aesthetic does lend itself towards seeing them as comic figures, instead of ‘comic figures trying to look realistic’, but I can’t say that the cutting back in articulation really aids in anything. Bring back the double-joints, Hasbro. Drop us a few paint washes. With recent reports that you’re going to be raising prices on everything anyhow, give us something to drool over so that the hobby doesn’t collapse upon itself like comics did in the 90s. We can’t afford to be moving backwards, financially or aesthetically. Were it not for the giant Fin Fang Foom made from collecting all eight, I could have passed on six of these eight. Damn you and your space dragons, Hasbro.
Collectors, buy these guys for the Fin Fang Foom, but don’t expect all that much from the figures themselves. The whole set will be available as a boxed set at San Diego Comic Con 2008, complete with all 8 figures and the assembled Foom – but it’ll be a heck of a task to try to ship that thing home. The set just might make an appearance on Hasbro’s website, but until then, keep hunting!
