9/17/09

Aaaahhhh - Rulk Out!


He looks a little like Shwarzeneggar, doesn't he? "Budgets make Governor ANGRY!"

Red Hulk aka "Rulk" is a new release from the 3 3/4" Marvel Universe figure line made by Hasbro. I really don't collect this line; don't get me wrong, it's nice, but a) I'm more of a DC guy b) it's a little pricey and c) when it comes to articulation my preferences fall somewhere between McFarlane and Marvel. You can have too little, and you can have too much; Marvel figures tend to have too much.


Even Rulk here has more than you would ever need in a muscle-head like him. Arms for smashing, head, torso maybe, but the leg movement is pretty much useless. I'd be fine with him if his legs were immobile like the old Kenner Doomsday, another guy who won't be needing to do the splits anytime soon.

But he's still an excellently sculpted figure and one I could not pass up twice (yes, I passed on him once, then regretted it, so I am glad and lucky he turned up again in my toy aisle meanderings.)

Red Hulk is a very bulky figure, which makes up some for the price of the Marvel Universe. This much plastic almost seems worth it. Another bonus is that even though I collect mainly DC, Red Hulk's scale is ambiguous enough for me to combine him with DCIH or other smaller figures. Unfortunately most Marvel Universe figures are a slightly larger scale than DCIH, so they don't usually combine well. If they did, I'd probably buy more.

I was reading the Red Hulk comic for a while - I love Ed McGuinness' work and if there's anyone in the comic universe he should be drawing it's the Hulk (whatever the color.) But it became too much of a slugfest and not enough of a story so I dropped it. Who is Red Hulk's alter ego? Damned if I know.

The Marvel Universe Green (and variant Grey) Hulks are kind of cool, and share the same body sculpt as Reddy, but their head sculpt doesn't look nearly as good as Red Hulk's. I hear a two-pack is coming out with a new headed green Hulk that looks similar to this one. I might pick it up, because now that I have a Red Hulk smashing my DCIH they don't stand a chance without Green Hulk's assistance.

All in all I am very glad I got Red Hulk. A solid, well built figure and a great looking sculpt. Of the three MU I do have (Green Goblin and Classic Iron Man) he is far and away the best, and better than any of the others I've seen as well.

6 comments:

  1. Lucky! I still haven't seen this one anywhere.

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  2. Great sculpt, but the face is a bit of a turn off. I know Hulk -- Rulk, whatever -- is an angry young lad, but I've always liked my figures to have a fairly neutral appearance. Maybe a hint of an expression, a little bit of a growl, but nothing so constantly, flat-out, super-duper enraged.

    It's the same reason I hated -- HATED -- that the original G.I. Joe Duke figure (the one you had to mail away for) with that big ol' grin on his face. How can you face off against a villainous group like Cobra with such a blithe expression? I mean, c'mon, that's just asking to get head-butted by Destro...

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  3. I'm pretty sure this is the first one to go from the shelves, Mario - good luck in your search, I'll keep my eyes peeled for another one for you.

    That's a great point, Doc - I never thought of face sculpts in that way lol!

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  4. Decent figure but i like the DC figures better.

    Have they said who the Red Hulk is yet? Am thinking some how it is DC's Snapper Carr who crossed over into the Marvel-Verse lol J/k.

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  5. That's a good guess jboy lol!

    I don't think they've said, and honestly I don't think they created him with any idea who he "is." I imagine they'll retcon him into someone someday, but I think the point is that he's a mystery, and sometimes that's better than knowing (coughcough Boba Fett coughcough)

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  6. Yeah Bubba I can see Marvel doing a whole..."Who is the Red Hulk" cross-over thing with various clues being left in the different comics with big climax revealing who the Red Hulk is and it will be someone/thing lame like Bruce Banner's Dad who is supposed to be dead or even worse a clone....Ugh! Clone Saga 2...Have they not learned from there mistakes with Spider-Man lol.

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