Toy OTD: Asunarosya 3age Figure: Hulk

To celebrate the release of The Incredible Hulk this weekend, here's a neat figure that came out in late 2006. It's part of a series of super-deformed Marvel heroes, and they all turned out really great (at least, if you like that kind of stylization in the first place)!

The sculpts are very simple, ditto the paint job, but everything supports the basic, childlike idea just fine. There's almost no articulation or posing, but the symmetry is appropriate for the Hello Kitty approach that's been taken with these toys. Wisely, Asunarosya included a display stand with each figure, and showed collectors mercy by not making this a blind-boxed line.

These are tough to get now, but the Hulk is one of the more affordable characters. They originally cost eight to ten dollars each, but I'd expect to spend at least fifteen to twenty-five for this Hulk now. Crank up that eBay Favorite Search, and good luck!

PS - If you missed out last time, series three is on its way! Collectors who have series one and two might not bite, as the 'new' figures are all repaints of those characters. So the trade-off is: a more expensive Hulk with purple pants, or a cheaper one with pink pants! You make the call.

The Incredible Hulk Trailer Now Online!

A lot of the elements - Bruce on the run from the military, the cast, someone else using the same process to become the Abomination (so the Hulk can fight him, and be more of a hero), this interpretation of the character - look pretty good! I'm not too happy with the Abomination's design, but it's a tough character to adapt to film.

Anyway, I'll be checking it out, but you can see the trailer yourself at mtv.com.

Toy OTD: Toy Biz 13" Raging Hulk Figure (2003)

Let me say up front that I've never been a big fan of Toy Biz in general or the Marvel Legends line in particular. While I understand that fans enjoy the poseability, I've found the sculpts and paint work to be consistently wanting, and the abundance of joints winds up making the characters look more like robots than people. This figure, though, is a nice exception.

It was released in conjunction with the Hulk movie, and was left stranded on store shelves for months afterwards. Ironically, it's one of my favorite Toy Biz items. I like the sculpt, and the real cloth pants. The articulation isn't staggering, but you can pose it in a few different ways.

There were a few variants - two head sculpts (calm and raging), and the pants came in a bluish-purple, or redder like the comic. It was never terribly expensive, and I got it remaindered for about seven or eight dollars. The only places that I can find it for sale are at toybiz.com, who has it for $34.99 + shipping; and eBay, who has it for $22.95 + shipping. I'd say keep looking, considering how many of these there were around.