King Hulk

One of the common complaints about Hasbro's Marvel Legends Hulk series is that they're forcing you to buy figures you already have. Well, that's not actually true, but the culprits people point to are Grey Hulk, She-Hulk and today's subject, King Hulk. The Red King is dead and Sakaar is, at long last, at peace. The Green Scar sits the throne, with the Oldstrong Queen at his right hand, and the Spikes, allies on his left. Though many have suffered and much has been lost, those who have seen the Green Scar believe a golden age is at hand. Even so, there is much work to be done. What the Red King and his Death's Heads destroyed must be rebuilt. Treaties must be made with the Wildebots out in the wastes, and the Spikes must be returned to their home among the stars. One thing, however, is certain; the world is safe, encircled by the mighty arms of Holku, and nothing will ever again threaten the peace of Sakaar. Yeah, that seems likely. Because nothing makes a good story hook for serial fiction like "they lived happily ever after." When the audience of a piece knows something the characters don't, that's called "dramatic irony," and whoever wrote that bio copy was laying it on heavy. The figure people equate this one to is Planet Hulk, but that's not accurate. That figure depicted Hulk when he first arrived on Sakaar and was forced to be a gladiator; this one is later, when he's been declared king. The entire costume is different, even if some of the sculpt is re-used. Yes, King Hulk's hips, torso and right arm are the same seen for both Planet Hulk and War Hulk, but it's a good sculpt, so re-using it isn't terrible. The left arm, both hands and both legs are completely new, to accommodae all the raised costume elements - no painted silver arm here! Hulk's face is very square, doing its best to duplicate the artwork of Carlo Pagulayan, the guy in charge of this period in the comics. Hulk has beady little and a huge brow, and his nose and ears are purposely small, to help make him look bigger overall. He's wearing his delicate little tiara (which would probably be a thighband on anyone else), and if his haircut is any indication, the top of his head is flatter than day-old soda. The paint shows a definite improvement by Hasbro standards. His green is vibrant, and airbrushed with darker shadows in the deep parts of his musculature. However, the silver on his crown is sloppy and the underside of his hair isn't painted properly. Little good, little bad, eh? The silver of his left arm... armor... thing is the molded color, with no extra paint to bring out all the small sculpted nicks and dings. Similarly, the leather is flat brown, though the edges between the colors are painted (fairly) well. The figure is a good 7½" tall, a true monster among the ranks of recent ML figures. He has balljoints at the head, shoulders, wrists, torso, and ankles, swivel biceps, waist and thighs, and hinges for the elbows and knees. Everything moves easily, and the finger joints, present on the two previous uses of this mold, are not missed at all. Hulk is armed with a sword and an axe, both of which are sculpted and painted well, and because his hands are solid, he grips them tightly. Like all eight figures in this two-part Hulk Legends series, King Hulk comes with a Fin Fang Foom BAF part. Since he's so big, his part is fairly small: the tip of Foom's tail. Of course this "small tip" is more than 7" long and detailed with three kinds of scales and fins, so everything's relative. King Hulk is one of the best figures in this series. He's big, detailed, painted pretty well and has good accessories. This isn't a figure we've had before, in any shape or form, so getting him now is most welcome.

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