Review: Hot Toys Hulk 1/6th Scale Collectible Figure! (The Avengers!)

So after fourteen long months of assembling, I finally have my complete Hot Toys Avengers team together, thanks to today's arrival of the gigantic Hulk. His box looked like it should have had a refrigerator in it.

I hope this photo isn't too dark. I was scared to adjust the gamma. HAHAHAHAbecauseBruceBannerwasaffectedbygammaraysandthat'saphotoshopjokeand... forget it.

I hadn't been looking forward to the prospect of paying a premium for a huge, green near-naked action figure with very few accessories, but the completist in me meant that Hot Toys had me over a barrel with this one. I was worried that he'd look and feel like one of those big rotocast rubbery toys that you find in a Kmart on the release of a new Hulk movie. So consider me very pleasantly surprised.

ME LIKE HULK! HULK BIG AWESOME! YOU LEARN WHY... after the jump!

Okay this box is at least 50% bigger than all the others. It's massive, and it needs to be to support Hulk's unwieldy grimace-like-you're-shitting visage... 

Every other Avenger has been packed in a window box shielded by an outer sleeve. This one is just a straight up box and inside, instead of graphics, is a ridiculously big and sturdy styrofoam tray. Why? Because Hulk is frighteningly heavy. No hollow rubber here...

And the weight is essential, because he's far too big for a figure stand. But he's so hefty (and his feet are so big) that he really has zero trouble standing steadily by himself. You'll also note that there aren't really any accessories. All he has is one extra set of opened, outstretched hand with rubber fingers that are designed to be posed. I did pop one on him but decided he looked far better with the fists, so I didn't photograph the other hands. This is largely because his arm articulation is quite limited (especially at the elbows) so there weren't many poses where the outstretched hands looked right to me.

So here he is straight out of the box...

What impresses me the most is the level of detail and texture on the skin, which goes a long way towards preventing him from looking like a cheaper toy. There's a lot of definition, they've sculpted in all the pores, and hair, (and nipples) and he's got a bit of shine to him so he catches the light quite well. 

And you can really see the more gorilla-like qualities they gave to the character when viewed from the side...

The joints are very tight and secure but they make a horrendous squeaking sound when you rotate his arms. It made me frightened to pose them to be honest, so I've left him pretty neutral for the most part. He's got good knees though and they're solid enough to allow him to shift his weight, and the joints are mostly hidden by his unfeasibly generous ripped up purple pants. 

But Hot Toys are best known for their head sculpts, so let's give ourselves a few nightmares with this one...

The best thing about this is the various finishes they've given to different parts of his face. His teeth are especially realistic (and gross) and have a real gloss to them which makes them stand out from the skin. Plus he looks CRAZY sweaty...

His eyes are also separate sculpts that reside inside his head. They use Hot Toys PERS (parallel eye rolling system) (I think?) which is usually reserved for the deluxe DX releases. This is going to freak you out, but you can remove his hair to reveal two levers that will allow you to move his eyes independently... 

It's a cool addition but his eyes are far too small for you to really notice it. It's nowhere near as effective as it was on previous figures like the Joker.

They've definitely captured that Mark Ruffalo look, though. You can really see him in there. I love how the eyes, nose and ears stay quite small but everything around them is grotesquely exaggerated...

Although this is about as far as I can pose him...

And the other issue? Where the hell am I going to display him? He's far too tall (and probably heavy) to go in one of my IKEA Detolf glass cabinets where I have all the other ones. I could put him on a bookcase or something but I don't especially want to expose these guys to my lack of dusting - I would feel better if they were behind glass. If anyone has any alternative suggestions then I'd love to hear them.

Because exactly how big is he? Well, here he is next to Black Widow...

They certainly haven't skimped on the size. He's pretty much to scale, which is commendable. Hot Toys rarely cut corners.

And here's the moment I've been waiting for! Let's finally assemble these mofos...

Wait... We can do better than that, right? Looks to be a couple of folks missing...

So I'm done! At least until Avengers 2 when I have to buy Ultron, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and whoever else they add to the team. Oh, and Thanos and all the Guardians of the Galaxy. And... shit.

I've often told you to pre-order and our pals at Sideshow have sold out! But there is a waitlist, so if you're late to the party, try your luck here:

Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Series Hulk Sixth Scale Figure - The Avengers

ME THINK HULK GREAT! HULK FRIEND!