“That’s the best Hulk you ever bought”
Mrs. JAWS 1/18/2015
That is what my wife said after I got my King Hulk all set up and I have to say that I might agree with her. Doing reviews for SSC pieces is not always easy. I try to view them with a critical eye and yet I am most likely going to like the piece unless I get a broken one. I mean something about the product got me to drop several hundred dollars on it. So chances are the review will be positive one. Add that to the fact that I feel more inclined to write about a piece I love rather than a disappointment (I’m looking at you New Spider-man Comiquette). I also find that I go back and look at reviews and find that I would score them differently. Sometimes the score would be for the better, sometimes for the worse. Anyways my point is, reviewing these things is harder then it seems, at least when the piece is new.
So while I don’t want to seem over excited about this new King Hulk… I am going to have trouble doing so. There are just so many factors that make me excited about this new statue. The main on being is that I love this incarnation of Hulk. It is Hulk at his most powerful. It is Hulk returning to earth to bring punishment to those that sent him away to the distant planet of Sakaar. It’s a mean and never been angrier Hulk. It is World War Hulk!
In all honesty I was not all that excited about this piece coming in. I already owned the very nice Gladiator Hulk and as we all know these pieces are basically the same sculpt with some changes here and there. I was also frustrated and let down by the initial reveal of the King. I thought he looked awkward and I thought charging fans twice for the same basic sculpt was BS. I was not going to get it. I was happy with Gladiator Hulk. Perhaps Gladiator Hulk was not my favorite incarnation but he came from my favorite Hulk story so Gladiator was going to have to do. Well as time went by I found myself warming up to the look of King Hulk and I ordered him. Boy I am glad I did.
Sculpt body/face and pose – All 5 out of 5 – One of the main issues people had with the original Gladiator Hulk was that it had that Huge shield covering much of the sculpt. That is not the case here. You can see the beautiful sculpt done by the talented artist at SSC in all of its glorie. I gave Gladiator Hulk a 9.5 out of 10 and the lack of Peck muscle size was the reason. Well it’s the same sculpt here but yet due to the slight change in look it seems to make an improvement. Perhaps it’s because he pectoral muscle looks slightly flexed holding that giant ax. I don’t know. All I know is that this sculpt to me is perfect. It looks great from every angle. While the lack of a shield shows off much more of the sculpt, so does the lack of helmet and change in “skirt” I Love how the face sculpt looks now. It was great in Gladiator Hulk but now you can see it all and it’s just fantastic. Hulk is about to lay a serious smack down on someone. It is also a slightly different head sculpt as King Hulks nose is broader than Gladiator’s. I also like the new loin cloth Hulk has. It’s Just another way to see more of this perfect sculpt.
The Battle Ax and sword are both Huge and fit this piece so well. I think it is apparent that this sculpt was made for King Hulk and that Gladiator Hulk may have been an afterthought. I don’t know. But the SSC preview that we saw before either of these were announced leads me to believe I am right.
The Base is also slightly different with a NY city base as opposed to the Planet Sakaar base. I prefer the base on this piece also. This statue comes with some pipes that you can stick in the back and just gives it that extra something. I like that it has a sewage vent on the other side also. Perhaps it’s because these things are more familiar then a Planet Sakaar base thus it gives it a more realistic look.
Paint – 5 out of 5 – I really love the paint apps on this piece. He is a bit darker then Gladiator Hulk and it looks fantastic. There is not a single flaw to complain about. His arm Armor is shinny and realistic looking. This is the best painted hulk since the original PF.
Clothing – 5 out of 5 – The loin cloth seems to be made out of real leather. At least it smells real, either way it’s better than the Gladiator Skirt. Just like Gladiator the rest of the clothing is sculpted but you really can’t tell.
Overall – 5 out of 5– It’s like they took all the minor problems of Gladiator and perfected them. If you already have Gladiator and have been on the fence with this one then I say go for it. Both look different enough that if you have them set up at slightly different angles they look very different. If you are trying to decide between the two then I say go for King. I honestly can’t see anyone being disappointed in this.
