Marvel Legends BAF Hulkbuster Iron Man figure review
Granted, I’m ohhh about two years late with this, but this is what happens when you let your reviews pile up. But in the case of the Marvel Legends Build A Figure Hulkbuster Iron Man, good things do come to those who take forever to open their figures. Or maybe I’m mixing my parables again? Either way, this is an amazing figure. Let’s take a look.
Packaging: Just like every other BAF there’s no package. Back in the day when they first restarted the line, Hasbro included a small leaflet going into a backstory of the BAF. That was a nice touch in lieu of dedicated packaging or a bio card. I’d love to see them revisit that in some form for 2017.
Likeness: The Hulkbuster vs. Hulk showdown was easily the most buzzed about moment in the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailers. That showdown didn’t disappoint in the film and that also holds true with the figure.
A lot of companies have tackled the Hulkbuster armor in various scales. Most of those are higher-end, limited run options. For a mass market price point, it’d be hard to top the Marvel Legends version. Hasbro’s sculptors did an outstanding job incorporating all the random details in the armor. There was some obvious dedicated attention to making the armor look fairly on-model to the movie version.
Scale: I’ve been collecting Marvel Legends long enough to recall the good ol days of massive BAFs like Giant Man and the Sentinels. They’ve largely been sized down now, but Hulkbuster is a great throwback. He looks appropriately like a walking tank.
This is a massive piece of armor for Iron Man and dwarfs every other regular sized Marvel Legends figure. I had a great feeling about it once I saw the legs were the same height as the standard figures. The armor is even taller and wider than the Face Off Hulk, which remains my default Hulk.
Paint: All of the expected colors are there. The reds, yellows and occasional metal parts all look sharp. There wasn’t much overspray or sloppy work through my figure. That’s especially impressive for a BAF. It’s not like all of the pieces came from one proofed and then split up figure.
The paint job is the biggest difference with the more expensive Hulkbuster figures, which can devote more resources to showing the armor wear and tear. Hasbro’s version is a bit too clean in that sense, but stays consistent with the overall line paint detailing.
Articulation: For a walking tank, I was pretty impressed with the articulation. This isn’t Iron Man’s highly maneuverable armor — it’s for battling Hulk on even terms. And this articulation scheme really ensures that will be a fun battle.
I was a little concerned about breaking the torso connector. It’s tight, but isn’t overly restrictive. The head naturally doesn’t have the same range, but that’s true to the overall armor design. The elbows don’t have the same range as most figures, but it still has more than respectable movement.
The figure has real heft so I appreciated Hasbro designed it to have a firm center of balance. I could achieve some surprising poses thanks to its stability. This armor is more secure than some of the female figures.
Hulkbuster Iron Man has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- bicep
- elbow
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Some of the later BAFs have come with a solid amount of accessories. They’re also much smaller in stature so you won’t hear me complaining here.
Worth it? The Hulkbuster wave was comprised of a lot of repaints. Presumably so the bulk of the budget could go to the BAF. In most waves, the figures have been so great the BAF was a nice bonus. This time, Hulkbuster was definitely the driving factor and he was well worth it. Right now you can get the set for about $140.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Where to get it? You can go the trickier route and try to find this wave at retailers like Walgreens or Gamestop, but I’d recommend grabbing the set online to avoid any hassle.
