RED HULK — BRAVE NEW WORLD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In the immortal words of Harrison Ford: “What’s a Red Hulk?”  Oh, wouldn’t that be bliss?  Maybe I’m being a bit too callous there.  The MCU’s been setting the stage for Red Hulk in some fashion pretty much its whole existence, including bringing back William Hurt as Thunderbolt Ross even after the rest of the Incredible Hulk cast got dropped.  Then William Hurt died, and that put using Ross again in sort of a questionable area.  But, we couldn’t *possibly* drop such an important and high-brow idea as Red Hulk, so they’ve recast Ross, with Harrison Ford taking up the part.  He’s certainly got the surly energy down.  So, of course, the best place to debut a Hulk villain is…in a Captain America movie.  Look, let’s not nitpick.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Red Hulk is the third of the three Deluxe-sized Marvel Legends that serve as the tie-in for Captain America: Brave New World.  It’s again pretty reasonable, given the sizing on this guy.  Speaking of sizing, the figure stands about 8 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Near as I can tell, this is an all-new mold, not sharing any parts in common with any of the Ruffalized Hulks.  He’s certainly got a similar ancestry, in particular feeling quite a bit like the Endgame Hulk Build-A-Figure, at least in terms of construction.  He’s obviously got the pinless joints, of course, which cleans things up, but other than that, it definitely feels like a solid, pretty by the numbers MCU-style Hulk sculpt.  There are two heads, one angry, and one less so.  They appear to be based on slightly earlier renders for the character, before the Harrison Ford resemblance got pushed up a bit more.  There are certainly elements of Ford in there, maybe a younger version, but it’s a bit more generic than it should be.  Paint it green, and I think it would look as much like Ruffalo as it does Ford.  In general, Red Hulk’s sculpt feels a touch more comic book-y than other MCU figures, something that might be further pushed by how little his design has changed between the two mediums.  In terms of color work, the figure is largely reliant on molded colors, which work well enough.  The face detailing’s clean enough, if a tad basic, and I do enjoy the chest hair as an accent, though I’m not sure how realistic it winds up being.  Red Hulk is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture.  It’s not a ton, but neither is it particularly lacking.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I largely got Red Hulk because I got the other two, and felt compelled to get the whole set.  I’m not much of a Red Hulk fan in the first place, and have always found the concept and execution rather shallow, and not really worth the time investment they tend to get.  I do like the idea of Ford as Ross, so I’m interested to see the direction they take him the movie.  The figure’s okay.  Can’t really say he’s all that thrilling or different, but he’s at the very least another way to get a Red Hulk.  For me, he’s the weakest of the set, but that’s more about personal preference, and the fact that the other two are just more technically impressive than this one.  Still, he’s solid.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.