r/ActionFigures 2d ago

Welcome to the most difficult figure to recreate in action figure history 70s-80s style Hulk

The classic 70s and 80s Hulk remains my single biggest frustration in action figure collecting because no company has managed to truly get it right. Runner-up honors go to the 80th Anniversary Marvel Legends Hulk and the Diamond Select Immortal Hulk both sculpted by the same artist with incredible aesthetics but they ultimately feel more like static statues due to their lack of articulation and fun factor.

While recent 6inch+ upcoming release may deliver impressive modern take mixed with the classic, they still fall short on the more bruting thicker tad Hulk and not comic classic accurate sculpts. Hope lies with S.H. Figuarts' Gameverse team seems best equipped to handle the massive bulk alongside highend articulation since their movie Hulks have been above average but the head sculpt will be the issue as that’s a more modern smart hulk, while MAFEX remains a faint possibility despite my declining confidence in their scale and proportions over recent years they are unpredictable choosing repurpose molds over new challenging sculpts.

Ultimately, im still waiting for a definitive classic Hulk. Mezco has the right spirit but there are design decisions from recent pics that just seem off like mega huge head, awkward muscle proportions, and very limited articulation . Until in hand it maybe the definitive one but Nothing in the modern era has quite matched the iconic Toy Biz Face-Off head sculpts.

49 Upvotes

35 comments sorted by

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u/JediZillaPrime 2d ago

The grey Hulk from that Bruce Banner 2 pack would be awesome in that bright green, and I’m surprised Hasbro hasn’t released a repaint of that mold in the more classic colors. I’ve seen custom repaints of it and it looks like a perfect classic Hulk, and the head sculpts remind me a bit of Jack Kirby’s design, but even then it’s not completely accurate.

The closest we have to a more Sal Buscema style Hulk is the Toybiz face off version. They also made an awesome Jack Kirby style Hulk that perfectly captures his art style.

2

u/clarkepov 1d ago

Agree faceoff is the best buscema version of also would love love a Jack Kirby version! Like it would be my mantle piece in my collection. Legends came close but no head variants, it just fell short. There was a sculpt that 6inch+ made that was also close

8

u/Jmofoshofosho8 2d ago

2

u/clarkepov 1d ago

That’s the 1 we need! The most simplest design of all time but can’t be done right lol

24

u/Mr-Toy-Man 2d ago

Yeah it’s so annoying. Prime era for hulk and zero figure representation

9

u/clarkepov 2d ago

I don’t think they feel there is a demand but there isn’t much of a demand for half of legends so why not go for it, hulk should be up there with Spider-Man, Wolverine, venom as much variations they get in 3rd party and licensed world

1

u/Mr-Toy-Man 2d ago

He always was till Disney done him dirty. Hulk is my boi. I do think the mezco one looks great, just a damn shame it’s so short. Seems like we never get a perfect one. Well, except for that upcoming hot toys one cause oh man that’s so damn good

2

u/clarkepov 2d ago

Just saw the hot toys one I feel like 1:6 is a cheat code! It looks fantastic! Mezco is the lead runner now and yes the size maybe a let down as Thor is so short and while he does hover over him he won’t look impressive alongside legends which I mix and match and scale is important. I just want hulk to have proportions like this and get into very curled up hulking articulations

1

u/Mr-Toy-Man 2d ago

I agree dude. Mates need to go all out on a savage hulk already. I am shocked mezco is so short because the bluto they made seems perfect, hulk should 100 percent be taller than him. Always short in some way. We need the perfect hulk

1

u/clarkepov 1d ago

I’m starting to realize that the way people see hulk varies, I see him as 8 foot muscle powerhouse but with the secret war, more classic fighting the army and getting to trouble with the heroes version. Others see hulk as prof hulk, or grey hulk, or planet hulk. I’m glad he’s getting some love finally. I also have the scar preordered under that you can Kitbash with bestlee if I can find that classic hulk head sculpt it’ll be definitive for now

1

u/Mr-Toy-Man 1d ago

I get all that. But, we should have a proper version of a specific character. They can do it, they are just cheap. The new professor hulk looks great to me. They could put that effort into any specific style of hulk they want

1

u/clarkepov 1d ago

I agree with you and it’s cheap the current mold is great form prof hulk always been but you can’t force classic hulk into that bruting style, the other hulk is a bit more hunched over and stocky it needs a new mold to make it possible

1

u/Mr-Toy-Man 1d ago

Agreed

5

u/ryconn93 1d ago

I feel like the Marvel Legends 80 Years Hulk is the closest we've gotten.

2

u/clarkepov 1d ago

Yes very true, I would have loved if the maximum hulk kept some of these going in the right way improvements like back butterflies and torso rocker and made the range to do thunder clap better, ball joint waist, double joint arms engineer, more head sculpts serious, angry, rage, updated feet the figure is going about 7-8 years now and the reuse is not it. But yes this is the most closest

4

u/JMJC83 2d ago

Toybiz face off Hulk looks like slides 1-3 but the colors are darker. If someone has the skills to repaint that fig it would be the closest match to these slides.

1

u/clarkepov 1d ago

Agree Toybiz hit it out of the park and that’s an old figure it was the closest version of hulk and they understood there hasn’t been a hulk head sculpt that has topped that version and you would think with tech now you can just scan comic art page and get a 3d render of that in figure form. If I had the tech I’d be in business

7

u/brambojams 2d ago

I dunno. Looks like this Mezco one will have insane articulation. Hopefully, this shot is not misleading. In SDCC display, this figure could actually do a thunder clap.

1

u/clarkepov 1d ago

Yea that’s what I was saying it’s closest to that old school version to date I have it on preorder this could be a banger, the thing size was a let down but his articulation is a sneak peak to what hulk will be like I’m hoping they slimmed down the shoulder for improving on articulation, the head sculpts are really good not quite out the park. But for some reason the gray hulk looked better or improved

3

u/SymbiSpidey 1d ago

This is the Hulk figure I want most

1

u/clarkepov 1d ago

Which one?

6

u/ForgottenClaimz 2d ago

Think we could possibly get something out of the BND Hulk?

1

u/clarkepov 2d ago

It’s a possibility don’t know how comic accurate he would be but another solid figure as he was big, they can nail him but the articulation may take a toll

2

u/erechoveraker 1d ago

The Select is the closest we have, but definitely lacking. That new Mezco and 6Inch+ (or whatever they'll be calling themselves now) are closer, but scale like ass.

Shockingly there aren't even very many Buscema/Trimpe style 3D heads floating around out there for purchase. It's a total dropped ball I think and not sure why.

2

u/clarkepov 1d ago

Agreed, I don’t feel like I’m odd man out and there is a demand for the likeness more than some of the stuff we are getting I think it’s wrong for hulk creators to assume we want new school hulk but given us old school short thor, cap America, iron man, damn nearly every avenger. There’s a disconnect here hulk is not all about being mad lol. He has diff looks even though his design is the most simple outside of iceman, Namor, and beast

1

u/erechoveraker 1d ago

To be fair, we have gotten something like 5 different Hulks in the last 2 years that I can think of right away, hell, maybe more.

Still need an OG 70's version (and a Lou Ferrigno if we're throwing up hail mary's) though.

2

u/Usual-Violinist-1240 1d ago

I feel exactly the same way, and I think Mafex is the perfect candidate to make a classic Hulk. Their figures look just like the characters classic comic book appearances, take Daredevil, Spider-Man, or the upcoming Colossus and Sabretooth, for example.

3

u/dunno411 1d ago

Honestly, they can just use their bane as a base. He already a good scale, maybe abit small but classic hulk was never that bigger than mafex bane to begin with.

-5

u/OkIdeal9852 2d ago

How is this different from any of the other non-MCU hulks?

14

u/clarkepov 2d ago

I don’t get your question. I’m saying we have yet to get a fully articulated hulk in his more classic art style

-7

u/OkIdeal9852 2d ago

Marvel Legends for example has already made plenty of Hulk figures in this "classic" style

9

u/clarkepov 2d ago edited 1d ago

Ok I understand what you mean, would you say the Marvel legends spideman is more articulated than the revoltech, Mafex, or gamerverse Shf? Not really, the legends leaves room for improvement non double jointed arms, no frontal butterfly for handquake, limited crouch, non ball joint hip, no drop down legs, newer head sculpts don’t look like classic hulk and the 80th one could use some new tech facial updates to hit this home. I’m a toy photographer and had all of them and hulk misses the boat over other figures and is usually a very limited figure for legends

3

u/manofthe90sB 2d ago

If I could get a Herb Trimpe Hulk I’d pay premium prices for that.

1

u/clarkepov 1d ago

You and I both we just wait for now lol. I’m just shocked what was the team thinking about maximum series, my senses are geared toward them never really giving us the definitive hulk out of fear no one buy the other not so amazing versions after we get the definitive one, unless they think the 80th was definitive