Review – Iron Man Legends Hulkbuster
![](https://www.battlegrip.com/images/reviews/03-11/hulkbuster/hulkbust_reviewheader.jpg)
“Tony Stark is always thinking ahead about how to best protect the Earth. One of the dangers that has preoccupied him for years is the one posed by the Hulk. Stark built the Hulkbuster Iron Man armor, an immensely powerful suit designed specifically to take down the Hulk and prevent him from threatening the planet.”
— from the back of the card
This is a painful review to write. After so many times writing about the Hulkbuster armor in its various forms — Iron Man 2 Hulkbuster (review here, Iron Man Hulkbuster Mini-Bust (review here), and Marvel Legends Hulk Buster Iron Man (review here) — it’s not an easy thing to tell you that this latest Hulkbuster action figure is a disappointment. But it is, so go ahead and skip this review if you’re already planning to leave rude and abusive comments. I can do without another round of that.
![Hulkbuster Click to expand the image in a new window.](https://www.battlegrip.com/images/reviews/03-11/hulkbuster/p01_s.jpg)
This is Not the Hulkbuster Armor
My first complaint with this action figure is that it is simply not the classic Hulkbuster armor. What we get here is a semi-Hulkbuster suit of armor that has some similarities to the actual armor but is too thin and small and sports the wrong details. No, this is actually more like a movie-style Mark IV suit of armor with some bits tacked on to bulk it up. Now I’m not so obsessive that I couldn’t have seen this as another style of Hulkbuster suit . . . if the action figure had actually been well crafted. But it wasn’t.
![Hulkbuster Click to expand the photo in a new window.](https://www.battlegrip.com/images/reviews/03-11/hulkbuster/hb01_s.jpg)
An Articulated Nightmare
It’s not that large, bulky action figures cannot sport decent articulation — my own Marvel Legends Hulk Buster review demonstrates that an even larger figure than this can have good articulation — no, it’s that this particular toy has major articulation issues. It’s not the number of joints or even types of joints that are a problem, but more the way in which the sculpt restricts the movement of those joints. The feet are restricted, the shoulders have even more of a restriction than we’ve seen before with those flappy shoulder pad pieces, and the worst offender is the ball/hinge hips that just refuse to rotate into a position that allows Hulkbuster to bend his legs forward. And those vinyl pieces at the hips aren’t helping the leg movement.
I did a little searching for another review of this toy to see if my articulation problems are an isolated event — some of the joints feel really tight, almost like paint sealed them — but I had no luck finding any other reviews of the toy.
![Hulkbuster Click to expand the image in a new window.](https://www.battlegrip.com/images/reviews/03-11/hulkbuster/hb02_s.jpg)
Sculpt
I haven’t been grabbing the 6-inch movie Iron Man action figures so I cannot say how much of this toy is old, but looking at him I strongly suspect that the upper arms, upper legs, abdomen, and the head under the helmet are all reused parts. And maybe even the lower legs, since it looks like the armored bits over the lower legs are glued on. In general the sculpt is good, with the lines sharp and the entire package looking exactly like it belongs in Iron Man’s armory. I would have rather seen the triangular pattern on the chest than the circle, but as a sculpted addition to my collection of Iron Man action figures and statues this is an acceptable piece.
![Hulkbuster Click to expand the photo in a new window.](https://www.battlegrip.com/images/reviews/03-11/hulkbuster/hb04_s.jpg)
Adequate Paint
The red and gold color are an improvement over the 3.75-inch scale Iron Man 2 Hulkbuster coloring (review here), but the quality of the paintwork is no better than we get on those smaller figures. Why have larger figures if the sculpt and paint are not any better than smaller figures? And at $18 I expected a better job than we got; basically, this action figure feels over-priced for the quality of the work.
![Hulkbuster Click to expand the image in a new window.](https://www.battlegrip.com/images/reviews/03-11/hulkbuster/hb05_s.jpg)
Closing Thoughts
I am seriously disappointed in this Iron Man Legends Hulkbuster action figure. Too small, the wrong look, simply adequate paint, and terrible articulation all come together to make me ask why Hasbro couldn’t have simply re-issued the older Marvel Legends Hulk Buster action figure. Even at $35 or so that older toy would have been a much better buy than this design.
I have to say that the poor quality of this toy has me rethinking buying any other pieces in the line. As it is the 6-inch scale isn’t one of my favorite sizes — as is possibly noticeable by the reviews that I post — and there’s nothing about this toy that makes me want to grab more in the series.
![Hulkbuster Click to expand the photo in a new window.](https://www.battlegrip.com/images/reviews/03-11/hulkbuster/hb07_s.jpg)
Sad. I wanted to love this action figure, but he just doesn’t stand up (not really, the toy stands just fine) and is not at all worth what ToysRUs is asking for him. I suggest you skip this figure.
Philip Reed stills wants that massive Hulkbuster statue. The disappointment he feels for this action figure didn’t at all ruin his love for the basic Iron Man suit or for the real Hulkbuster design.
This is just the Heavy Artillery Iron Man from the tail-end of the first film line with a new add-on Hulkbuster helmet. It was also used as the Arctic Crusader suit in a 3-pack with a new weapon. I’m surprised you dislike it so much, because I thought it was a fun, bulky sculpt. I guess maybe looking at it as a long-range fighter puts you in a different mindset for poses than an up-close brawler. The ankles aren’t great, but most mass market figures have terrible ankles.
Nice review either way!
For some reason, the helmet design reminds me less of a Hulkbuster Iron Man, and more of the Right, a batch of armored mutant-haters from old New Mutants and X-Factor comics. They had an evil sort of smiley-face on their masks; but that’s about all I remember about them.
Disappointing, but I’m glad you reviewed it!
I thought that Hasbro was just trying to emulate this version of the hlkbuster armor, featud in one of he Iron Man video games:
http://www.thebitbag.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/im_hulkbuster2.jpg
However, but reusing the figure molds as another commentor pointed out. While it was odd that they removed the articulation in the inside head, its nice to see this figures mold made more accessible. The first version of it was unicorn-level rare, and the arctic crusader version was partof a multi pack exclusive somewhere.
While it cant touch the origional Toy Biz hulkbuster in terms of heft and quality,its still oneof my favorite movie series IM figures.
Blayne
Why is Iron Man dressed up as himself? …ohhh.
(Don’t forget the use of this design as the Subterranean Armor, minus pack plus drill.)
Ben and akum6n are right. This action figure is the Subterranean Armor/Arctic Crusader/Heavy Artillery Armor Iron Man. What I’d like to know is whether or not this figure retains its major flaw: the lower half of the right leg being bent askew from the upper half.
If ever I do buy this figure, I’ll wait until it appears in the “semi-black market” for toys here.
I’m pretty much disappointed in all of these 6″ figures. However, if you never got the 6″ War Machine from Walmart, I highly recommend that figure (although you might want to wait until he starts popping up at other stores besides TRU).
@Ben – I don’t have the older uses of the mold, but considering my dislike for the first movie Satellite Armor Iron Man I can’t say I’m shocked this guy is a rerelease with tweaks. Something about that Satellite Armor bugs me; I love the look but really dislike the toy.
@Blayne – “While it cant touch the origional Toy Biz hulkbuster in terms of heft and quality,its still oneof my favorite movie series IM figures.”
And the problem may be that I was expecting something like that Toy Biz Hulkbuster. That thing is gorgeous!
@googum – “Disappointing, but I’m glad you reviewed it!”
I figured that I had to get this guy online ASAP because I knew others would want to hear about him.