Comics Series # 30 – Mark XVIII Hulkbuster
In the hall of Iron Man armors, I have a couple favorites. The aforementioned War Machine, the Modular Armor, and its best module – the Hulkbuster armor (named precisely for why it exists, to bust a rampaging Hulk). There have been a couple imitations over the years, namely the Thorbuster and the Hulkbusterbuster (what was that WWHulk brick called again?), but none have been as a cool a design as the original Hulkbuster. That may have raised my expectations a bit for this figure because I’m a bit let down by it.
The sculpt looks pretty good, enough to get me excited in the preview images. I love the detailing that can be found just about everywhere on this figure. The problem for me is the size. I don’t know how big the Hulkbuster armor should be, but it just doesn’t feel right at this size. He’s shorter than War Machine! A few pics below, in the group shot, you can see that the Hulkbuster doesn’t stand out. That’s just not right. The other problem with the sculpt is the fixed, hard plastic shoulder pads. I’ve been a big fan of the hinged pads throughout this line, but for some reason Hasbro went a different way here. Ironically, the shin and forearm guards are flexible, but that school of thought didn’t extend to the shoulders. The good thing is they’re up and out of way for the shoulder movement, but they don’t look so hot up there when the arms are down.
The figure still has a high level of detail with vents and panels throughout, so he looks great. The shoulders are a minor annoyance, and the size is only noticeable when in a group. By himself, he has a great sculpt and I could see myself learning to be happy with the figure.
I have great paint on my Hulkbuster. The gold areas are crisp and the white details are similarly sharp. The only issue this figure has is that the body and limbs are cast in two different shades of red. The red on the torso is what I’d like to see throughout. It’s more vibrant, while the softer limbs are a duller, flatter shade. Sometimes I look at the figure and it doesn’t really bother me, while other times it’s distracting. The pictures here make it seem particularly different, but in the soft light of my collection room, it blends in a bit better. It’s something each of us will just have to look at and judge for ourselves.
Despite the original figure the articulation is not much different that most IM2 figures: ball joints in the shoulders, elbows, hips, and ankles; swivels at the head, wrists, and thighs; double hinged knees, and the chest pivot. The main issues here are the previously mentioned lack of articulation in the shoulder pads and that they block the arms from going up and that the wrists are swivels. I think this armor would have really benefitted from ball wrists. The head is purposefully a swivel cut only, but that’s a good choice for this armor. I’d expected there to be no movement at all and the slight head turns here enhance the posing.
Hulkbuster included no accessories aside from this base and three armor cards.
All figures include the standard grey base with three interchangeable armor cards. The cards are a neat accessory, but aren’t terribly exciting (though there is some fun mixing the Hulkbuster armor cards with the other armors). Since the movie’s been out for awhile and there’s still no support at ironmancards.com, that may be a feature we never see.
Overall, this was a strange wave to pick up. The one I didn’t want turned out to be fun and the one I really wanted was a bit of a letdown. Nitpicks on the Hulkbuster aside, I still had a fun time with all the figures. The level of detail and articulation is great for this scale and the figures are fun to pose and play with (Iron Monger and Hulkbuster duking it out on my desk or finding that HB pick up the Red Hulk and still stand makes the different shades of red seem particularly unimportant).
The Iron Man 2 line continues to be one of great new lines of 2010. I’ve bought fourteen so far (Iron Monger is on loan, I’m waiting for the blue comic one) when I wasn’t planning on buying any. I’m caught up with the ones I wanted right now, so I’m back in a holding pattern. I’ve enjoyed being able to hunt at stores and keep up with a line of good figures. Buying mostly Mattel product means getting most of my stuff online. Hopefully, Hasbro will be quick to release the next assortments because I’m ready to hunt for the next batch.
Why did they make Hulkbuster undersized. It makes no sense to me. All the MU big figures are actually bigger than the others. This just doesn’t make any sense. I do like the look of titanium man A LOT!!!!
The sad thing is that just a half inch would make a world of difference…
When will we see more toy runs? Those were awesome
I really want to do some more, but it’s been sparse at my stores lately! I’ve been hunting for the IM2 figures, but short of the TS3 deluge, I haven’t seen much of anything to report back on.
But that article is one of the most fun to do – heck, just snapping pics in the stores is fun – and it will be back when we see an opportunity!
Glad to see some more Iron Man reviews! New stuff on this toy line is getting sparse.
It’s all on eBay! LOL
I don’t add things to the list until their officially announced, but there are a handful of items out there that are presumably coming.
I’ve seen…
The air assault drone carded
The weapons assault drone carded
Ground Assault Drone in a 4pk with an IM and Nick Fury
A 3pk of Movie Hulkbuster (Monger), Holographic Armor (clear blue), and another green WM.
And I feel like I’m forgetting something.
Anyway, one month: SDCC and Fall will be revealed. I’m gonna be way busy that week. LOL
I would have rather gotten the oversized version of the Titanium Man, but it still looks like a really great figure.
Me too.
This is a decent line and I’m looking forward to in getting a few more waves under its belt. I’m tired of wading through the same dozen figures over and over.
My stores here are pretty thin. I think Hasbro is holding back because of the Joe flood, but the stores could use more product this time (at least here).
Nice review, Noisy. It’s a shame about the Hulkbuster’s size because he looks great in your other pics. The one with him punching the Monger in the back ground is a cool pic, btw.
Thanks, Tom!
I want to skip this line so bad, but the comic figures are really starting to get to me.
I was going to, but I couldn’t. It’s fun.
These are all well and good, but where is Arno Stark??
He’s in the MU line. 🙁 Hopefully, they’ll get him a better IM2 figure.
I really enjoyed your review. This line has been fantastic so far except for the paint apps, but I’ve come to expect that for Hasbro movie releases. I hope the paint will get better on future waves. The drones on eBay look fantastic and I can’t wait for them to come out.
Thanks. I’m not sure what do about the drones. I’ve been trying to buy the comic stuff and I’m excited for Monger, Arctic, and the Centurion armors, but a few of those movie figures will likely still grab me.
That HB is woefully undersized. He’s supposed to be HUGE! He should easily be as tall as the Monger, and wider/thicker to boot. Call me old fashioned, but the companion pic, ML to MU, says pretty much everything i need to read. The only edge new HB has is some of the detail in the sculpting, but frankly, given that they sold at the same price point, is does not sweeten the pot for the little guy one iota.
I left it commentless because I can go either way on it. I went with War Machine as the 2nd figure because the new one beats the ML.
I don’t remember how much I bought ML9 for, but I don’t think it was $6.49 though. 😉
Glad to see this review. The Iron Man 2 toylove is starting to die off now that the movies been out. I hope Hasbro keeps it going. It’s their better Marvel line right now.
They have a lot of plans. It’s just the month prior to SDCC. To quote Mattel’s mascot, “stay tuned!”
Great refernce to the Guardsman cover! You know your Iron Man better than you say.
It’s a shame that Hulkbuster isn’t oversized. That does make the upcoming movie Hulkbuster a bit more appealing at least.
Great review Noisy, I always love your comic panels, they’re funny as hell! (hell is funny?)
Anyways, Hasbro’s IM2 figs have been great this year, they’re finally digging into the comic book stuff that many fans have been clamoring for, hopefully one day they’ll give the same treatment to the 6-inch line ‘coz the Wally wave was pretty good!!
Great reviews on some great looking figures!
Finally found these at Wal-Mart today. I passed on all three because each has a flaw be it height, style, or armor choice. Hopefully, wave three of the comic stuff will turn out better.
I was lucky to find each of these at Walmart (GA), which of course I picked up. Almost passed over the Hulkbuster simply because all of the one’s that I looked at the paint jobs were horrible. Glad I found one that was flawless, well at least to me. This wave has been the best yet.