Here is something I’ve had for a while – and due to one of the constant visitors here – the one and only, Gammapup. Yes, Mike was decent enough to offer me his extra, as this one was slightly damaged while he was getting work done at his house. You can’t see it very well, but there are some scratches on the knuckles where the paint has completely scraped off. That is fine though, as I am looking into getting this repainted. I was thinking about making this a Grey Hulk wall Statue – but I don’t know, the green really pops! I still have to find a decent painter – preferably one in the MA area.
There is not very much information on this piece on the web – which is part of the reason why it took me so long to post this. What I can tell you is that 5000 of these puppies were made – this is #271 – and it was part of Ilusive Concepts. I think it came out in 1997 – but it might have been later. I am amazed there isn’t more information on the web about this guy – and truth be told I’ve seen a total of 3 pop up on ebay but they were all local pick up. Why? Because this guy is HUGE!
It’s certainly isn’t 1:1 – maybe 1:2 – but it’s still huge! I love the look on the Hulk’s face but overall the paint job is very 90’s collectibles. If you’ve ever owned this piece then you know what I am talking about. Thank you Mike, this is one of the most generous things anyone has ever given me! Maybe you can even provide some of the missing information – what did this guy retail for? What year did it come out? Anyways, coming up next: reviews!
Ratchet's Hulk Collection 
That’s really cool! If you DO get it re-painted, I don’t think you should do grey Hulk – but perhaps you could do a slightly more olive green. I mean, it’s your decision, but I just think Grey would make him blend into the rubble. Other than that I love this plaque!
Still not convinced that they actually made 5000 of these. You hardly ever see them up for sale. With 5000, you think you would see them at least periodically on the ‘bay.
Hi Ryan-Merry Christmas!!! I’m really happy that I found a home for this piece,and to someone who appreciates it-I really can’t tell you any more then already seem to know-1997 sounds about right -I picked this piece up (your piece) at a “Spencers” type store can’t remember the name-it was going of of business so everything was 1/2 off so I grabbed it ,it was the stores display so no box it retailed for $350 so I got it for 1/2 of that,so now I had two of these-I purchased my first one a couple of months before(I believe at $350 plus s/h)…so I hung this one at my Summer house in South Jersey but we decided to renovate the house ,and the HULK was voted out-but during the renovation HULK’s knuckles got a bit scrapped-up-I hope you can find someone to touch it up, and I think you should keep him GREEN…and as far as paper work on this piece I don’t think that there was any but I will look again I’m glad you like this piece-Happy New Year to you and your family…Mike
I got the scoop on this one … at least this is what I heard:
As I understand (meaning that I could be wrong) there were nowhere near 5000 of these made, probably less than 500. They were made at a time that Marvel was ramping up on a restaurant concept similar to Hard Rock Cafe. Can you imagine that? … Eating dinner surrounded by all kinds of Marvel goodness?!?!?!? I would eat there all the time! These would hang on the walls at the restaurant and I imagine would be available for sale as well. The restaurant concept was scrapped before the ES on this was completed and the ones that were made were sold as statues through various Marvel product outlets. I have one of these in great shape and the number is in the low hundreds (I have not seen one higher than 500 from my recollection). It is a great piece and is designed for a green Hulk IMO. I agree that grey would get lost in the wall if you went that route Ratch. Funny you should post this as I was just looking at a spot on the wall today to hang mine up. Great score on this!
Less than 500??!?!? Wow – that only makes me MORE curious! I wonder who has the answers to this…
If you ever see this on ebay or something again let me know….I would love to have this on my wall.
Yeah, there is NO way there are 5,000 of these out there. I have #344. I’ve only seen one in person (other than mine) and it was in Mid-Town Comics in New York City. They have a picture of it on their web site: http://www.midtowncomics.com/info.asp?tour=times-square
These have got to be rare. They’ve only popped up on eBay a handful of times. Very interesting story, Dave, about the restaurants. I think they actually tried the concept in Canada once (near Niagra Falls, I believe), but it was short-lived and has since closed. (And I think there was a Hulk dark-ride there, too.) Anyway, this piece is *SO* heavy, so if you hang it, make sure you got that baby secure! Here are a couple pics of mine: http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/422/relief03501.jpg
It’s amazing how far away from the wall it sticks out: http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/223/relief039.jpg
Yes, there were less than 500. I remember when this came out, I wanted it but it was retailing at 500 dollars. I’ve seen the one at midtown and remember when they got it in…they wanted 500. I was lucky enough to sit out and wait and got mine unused and undisplayed for 75 on ebay. One of the best things I ever got.
I recently came into ownership of one of these bad boys. I won’t be able access where it’s mounted anytime soon to inspect for additional information, but I just wanted the universe to know one more of these is accounted for!