The Target exclusive Marvel Legends Hulk, which takes its cue from the 2008 film about the green goliath, is a rerelease of the ToyBiz Marvel Legends Series 1 Hulk from Toy Biz with a few paint variations (no purple pants for this dude) and a movie-esque new head. So let's start there -- with the head. I like the head. It's not an exact likeness of the movie Hulk, but it's pretty darn close when viewed from an angle and looks more like the film Hulk than any of the smaller toys. In any case, from what I've seen of the old head in online photos, the new head is definitely an improvement.
     The rest of the figure looked great to begin with, so why fix what ain't broken? Hulk is appropriately muscled, with all manner of bulges and striations and assorted veins decorating his ripped physique. His pants strain to contain his ginormous green legs, as evidenced by numerous sculpted wrinkles in the "stretched" fabric. Hulk does have these weird-looking muscular "wings" behind each shoulder -- I'm really not sure what purpose they serve or why they're separate pieces -- but they don't look that bad and are only obvious when viewing the figure from behind. Really, the only parts of the sculpt that don't look so great are the hands. The sculpt breaks when the wrist swivel is used (and lacks the dark coloring of the jeans to hide it) and the mid-hand hinge just looks awful. In addition to replacing the head, Hasbro should have replaced those hands as well.

Sculpt Score: 8 / 10

      Hulk is mostly cast in the appropriate colors -- a pale green for the skin, dark blue for the pants -- so there is not a lot of paint on this figure. The hair and facial details are painted, the pants on the lower legs are painted to match the upper legs, and some areas of the figure are sprayed with brown highlights. That's it. It mostly works, and what's here is pretty crisp -- the eyes and teeth look great, and the only problem with the black hair is that there's a random speck of bright green paint behind one ear. (You can kind of see it in the comic with Chun-Li, but it's surprisingly unobtrusive -- I didn't even spot it until after I'd taken these photos.) The blue on the pants is also fine and matches the blue of the plastic quite well.
     That said, there are also some shortcomings in this category -- namely the brown highlighting. While it's not exactly ugly, it does seem random and makes Hulk look as if he's been rolling around in filth and hasn't changed his pants in months. Yes, we all know that Hulk's a dirty boy... but if we couldn't have had a black wash and some well-placed drybrushing instead, I could've done without it the highlights altogether. Also, because so much of Hulk is bare plastic, he has a somewhat glossy appearance. Perhaps Hasbro wanted him to look like he's all sweaty and glistening? Better paint techniques and a matte finish would really have helped.

Paint Score: 6 / 10

      Hulk's jointage is a bit outdated by today's standards... which makes sense given that he was originally released in 2002. Granted, most of the articulation is akin to what you'd find on a current DC Universe figure, and the double-ball neck does make him quite versatile in terms of body language above the shoulders. The lack of any sort of bicep swivels, however, is a total downer, and those hinged hands are pretty useless unless Hulk is planning on taking sign language classes. Hulk's also only packing old school T-hips, though I was surprised at the number of poses the cut thighs, hinged knees, and exceedingly useful hinged rocker ankles allow him to pull off. Really, for a seven-year-old mold, this verdant vandal measures up fairly well -- the articulation could be better, but the absent bicep swivels are really the only real glaring limitation.

Articulation Score: 7 / 10

 

Fun Score: 8 / 10

    
      Hulk originally retailed at $12.99, which was a decent -- though not exceptional -- price. He's a fairly large, mostly sturdy figure, and while he has no accessories he is (or was) a Target exclusive. For the MOC crowd and folks who like to put their toys back inside their plastic prisons, this Hulk also comes in pretty swank and collector-friendly tube packaging. Despite those draws, apparently the figure wasn't all that popular and eventually went on clearance (if your Target still had any left, anyway; mine didn't) before showing up on eBay at overinflated prices. I'm going to score the figure based on the original price, since that's what I paid when I got it, but note that you'll likely pay at least twice that to get the figure on the secondary market.

Value Score: 7 / 10  

 

Summary

8 - Great new head on a seven-year-old sculpt, but the original was detailed and appropriately Hulked out to begin with; "wings" on back look weird; hand hinges are ugly.

6 - Few painted elements are well done; splotchy brownhighlights make Hulk look dirty; abundance of bare plastic makes Hulk look shiny.

7 - Outdated articulation, but poses surprisingly well due to thigh swivels and very useful rocker ankles; hand hinges are useless.

8 - He's Hulkerrific (!!!); great movie Hulk for your ML or 5" figure collections; somewhat wobbly waist and gummy hand hinges only flaws here.

7 - Large figure; store exclusive; nifty tube packaging for original price of $12.99. Watch out for secondary-market inflation.