Don’t think I’ve forgotten – or haven’t updated the site just because there may not be a new post on the home page. I have added quite a few comics to the checklist on the COMICS page – also, I have added a couple more reviews of shops I found – but get ready after this weekend because I’m heading to NY and plan on hitting a few shops I’ve never been to! I’ve been working hard at putting together a really USEFUL but entertaining site here – hope everyone there appreciates and enjoys it!
Here is a cover for the ages – one that should be shown anytime any ya-hoo tries to claim the Hulk isn’t a “hero” but instead, a mindless, rage filled, child-like monster that only helps people by accident. Well, here is an image that you can show them and say “Without the Hulk your precious hero would be a pancake.” That’s right! A pancake! The Hulk held up a freakin’ mountain! A mountain! I just picked this issue up to add to my collection. It’s funny, as I was searching through my issues I realized that I never picked THIS specific issue up! How could I not have this issue? Well, as I stated above – I remedied that problem.
There are a few Hulk shirts that I have passed up – ones that I was fine with not owning – I do wear most of my Hulk shirts and proudly, I might add. I was thinking about letting this Hulk shirt go, I mean it has sort of pastel colors, I don’t do pastel, and it’s very… feminine. But it does have a Hulk image that is classic, amazing in fact. Props will go to the person who can identify which cover that image comes off of – a small hint, because this is an easy question already, but it’s not a Hulk comic. Anyways, this shirt may come out of the Hulk room someday – but my cat seems extra fond of it and as a bed right now (it’s laying on the couch) so I have a feeling it’s already been hijacked. I don’t mind giving things up for my cat though – cause he’s a bad ass! He’s taken down 3 mice and countless moths in the house – the least I can do is make him comfortable with a Hulk shirt.
Here comes more $1 items! That’s right! Get comfy – Cause there’s more! What we have here are 2 cubes, much like the cube that this Rubik guy once created. Have you ever seen those kids on T.V. figure out the Rubik’s Cube blindfolded? That’s like a super useless superpower – that I totally want! But I can’t even tie my shoes with my eyes closed… yet, never mind put a multicolored cube in order. I found these at the Dollar Tree – one is strictly Hulk while the other features a bevy of Marvel heroes. “Bevy” – who even uses that word? Anyways, the only down side to these are the fact that they are only 4 squares to each side. It’s like a toddler’s Rubik’s Cube. It’s almost insulting.
Remember those Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots? Well, in the later 90’s Marvel brought out their own version of those with the Heavy Hitters. Basically, you take the action figure provided and snap it into place on the joy stick. There are buttons that will make the Hulk punch, kick and give intimidating, dirty looks to your opponent. All of that is true… except the dirty looks part. When you are defeated the figure slumps over, like he just got kicked in the nuts or he’s had too much to drink and is praying to the porcelain gods. I had this figure glued to my dash board when I was younger. It made the girls go crazy. Or one girl. The one girl who would talk to me. Also known as my sister.
When I saw this thing many, many years ago I said it would be mine. Then, as in my everyday life, I forgot all about it. Hey, I have a lot of things on my WANT list – but I digress… So, my friend Corry, on a recent trip to Florida found this at a candy store down there. I was psyched! He snatched it right up for me and a little while later, when I got it home into the Hulk room, I was a bit disappointed. I’ll tell you why – the huge pez itself is awesome! The head sculpt is quite great, the novelty about this thing is just top-notch – but I thought it came with ginormous pez candy! What is this regular sized pez all about? Sure, you get more of it – but I’m calling shenanigans! I want HUGE PEZ!
Hulk sneering... but it spits out candy!Hulk Pez - out and about!
I'd be hiding too Surfer - you haven't got a chance here!
Alright folks – here it is! The latest Hulk Sideshow diorama (I’ll post more pictures tomorrow) now the last dio, I’ll be honest, I thought that the Hulk was a little out of scale. He was huge compared to Spiderman and while it was massive, it was my least favorite high end collectible. This dio is a totally different story! Inspired from the artwork to the cover of The Incredible Hulk #95 it showcases the match up between Hulk vs. Silver Surfer on the planet Sakaar. Here’s the issue right here:
Incredible Hulk #95This dio is freakin sweet!
The nice thing about this dio is that it comes in two pieces. This little feature makes it easier to display, not only that but this is the exclusive with a change -o- hand and a warrior helmet. I had him with just the closed fist like the cover – but the ax was just too cool not to have him holding it! I also chose to display without the helmet, mainly because the cover doesn’t have him wearing it – but it’s so beautifully sculpted I had to make it part of the display. I laid it at the Hulk’s feet.
Hulk's foot and helmet...
The exclusive has a run of 900 – mine is #189. I’m not really sure why the Surfer is wearing a loin cloth – it’s not like he has junk that will be exposed if he wasn’t wearing it. He’s been naked for YEARS in the comics – why is he being modest now? People have asked if it’s hard to display each character with the poses the way they are – Surfer hiding behind the surf board – but that’s why it was so crucial that they make each piece separate.
Surfer... Scared out of his mind!Surfer's butt cheekShield detail is awesome
I will post a few more pictures of the options tomorrow – but here’s one more:
Since I took last week off I didn’t have a chance to review the final issue of this mini-series. Out of the 2 Wolverine storyarcs I was reading – this was the least impressive. Old Man Logan was freakin’ badass! I was hoping the same for this finale – but it wasn’t as brutal as I thought. Still, it wasn’t bad either…
Logan shows up at Betty’s hotel and tells her to put the collar, that he made in the last issue, around her neck. “Or what?” she asks and Logan inform her “Or I kill your boyfriend” Well, the rest of the interaction goes as you’d expect with Betty Hulking out and sticking her thumb through Wolverine’s eye. Logan has the upperhand though ready to pop a claw through her liver. He tells her to put the collar on and then heads out to find Bruce.
Logan catches up with Bruce on the plane to Casablanca. He snaps the collar around his nech and tells Bruce that he wants the Hulk to die – but he wants him to die AS THE HULK. Bruce has other plans as he jumps out of the plane. Logan follows him out and catches up with Bruce as they plummet to the ground. Bruce gives him the option – Kill him or take the collar off so he can turn into the Hulk. Wolverine chooses the latter. When they hit the ground Bruce has Hulked out and is holding Wolverine as they are greeted by Fury.
Fury tell the boys that he has Betty locked away to try to revese what she did to herself and that the Hulk is free. He’s also welcomed to come work for them. The Hulk says he’d never work for Fury – Fury replies with “Hulk? Probably not. But there’s someone inside that disgusting green pile of twisted muscle that is deeply in love with the woman currently in my custody.” Hulk let’s go of Fury and he rides off. Wolverine and Hulk walk off together toward the next town. Logan says he’s still pissed that the Hulk ripped him in half and the Hulk basically says to talk to someone who cares – but not in those words – instead he tells him it’s good for the soul. Wolverine says his soul was ripped out long ago – and Hulk responds with “I thought you grew everything back” Wolverine has the last word in this comic – but your gonna have to read it yourself to find out what it was…
This issue wasn’t bad – just wasn’t the brawl I was hoping for. Grade B-
Koto Hulk StatueI look like this with my shirt off... holding a Hummer.
This statue was doomed from the beginning – starting with the fact that they chose to make half the statue a freakin’ hummer rather than a bigger Hulk. They also made this statue with a change-o-head feature that was disastrous from the very start. I mean, really, how are you supposed to hide the seam on a neck when the character doesn’t even wear a shirt? And the pose? How uncomfortable must he be holding that pose? His head is tilted, knees bent, holding a hummer… this looks just plain bad.
Are Hulk's gums bleeding?Base - shot 1Base - shot 2 - didn't get any better, did it?Did Hulk have an accident?
Let’s get to the base of this statue, shall we? Here we have the opportunity to make a decent street base – but instead it looks fake – it doesn’t even look like an actual road! The paint job is strange to say the least. There seems to be a “dirty” wash over his entire body. And don’t even get me started about the skin texture! Can someone introduce this guy to a pumice stone? So, here I am complaining about this statue yet I have it in my collection… why, why you ask? Well, it’s actually a simple story.
You can see the seam - can't you? I know I can
See, my LCS is a decent place to get some products – but without even asking they purchase Hulk items thinking I will just buy them. I am a maniac when it comes to the green Goliath – but I also have taste – which means that I refused to purchase this statue for full retail. Full retail, by the way, is $175. Crazy, right? It’s scale compared to other statues alone makes it undesirable – let alone paying $200 for it. But okay – when it was released and I was pressed to come up with a reasonable price that I would pay for it I said $50. I thought I was being generous with that amount. Well, this past week I went to my LCS and saw this guy in the clearance case with a big sign that said 65% off. Some quick calculations and I figured out that the statue would run about $60 – not far off my buying price – so I took the plunge.
Side viewBack
Funny enough I was close to buying the Koto Hulk movie bust at another store until the guy there told me the price – keep in mind it generally goes for $30 on ebay – yeah, well, this guy was asking $80. Without even thinking I laughed out loud when he told me the price – then I felt a little embarrassed… for him – and left store.
Koto Hulk vs SS LSBKoto Hulk vs. SS Green Scar
Let’s leave this post with a positive note. I’m glad I picked this piece up because I have something from the 2008 movie that I will display with my high end collectibles. Also – the scale isn’t far off of SS latest Hulk dio – but let’s remember, that comes with another whole figure. That’s about it.
Here is a poster that comic shops would get to try and advertise Marvel comics. This was acquired at Comically Speaking during my last visit – how could I not pick this up? I asked around and am pretty sure this was a piece cobbled together from different artists. For example, I’ve heard names thrown out there like John Buscema and Sinnot. The Hulk looks like Rich Buckler’s handy work – but the Spidey was argued to be a Romita – but then again could be Busema’s as well…
Close up of the Hulk - is this Buscema's or Buckler's?
All in all this was an amazing catch – one that will have a special place in the Hulk room because it’s just that freakin’ cool! Vintage finds like this will always be high on my list of greatest things ever – they just have such a quality that today’s items don’t have. Classic all the way!
Let’s start this week off with a big one – a must and a grail for all Hulk fans. If you are seeking out every Hulk appearance in comics there is 2 things you should know. #1) There is a TON of comics out there – get ready to find comics from every series that was ever created – especially the silver/bronze age stuff and #2) Get ready to spend some money. For the first 6 Hulk comics you’re looking at spending at least a couple hundred for poor copies – and the first issue would set you back an easy grand even in rough condition – now, also keep in mind that the Hulk appeared in so many key issues including FF #12, 25,26, Journey Into Mystery #112 and the first 5 Avengers you’re looking to spend a small fortune on all of them.
When I went into my LCS a month or so ago I saw this issue on the wall. The better comic shops out there will haggle a bit on the prices listed – and that’s what happened here the manager told me he could go 10% lower – I told him if he could go even lower I would take it. He asked me to pay cash and BAM! The issue was mine. Little helpful tip here – if you pay cash you are more likely to get a better deal. And, yes, this is a rough copy – but it’s complete and it’s all mine! This issue, with my Hulk #1 – 6 are absolute center pieces in my collection.
When you have these in your collection - you've reached another level!
I just recently read the first 5 issues of “The Avengers” and I have to say – I like how they formed this group – that being said, it’s interesting that writers would make the Hulk part of any group. What about him says team player? But still he was part of 2 of the greatest groups ever! True, he was part of the Avengers for a total of 2 issues, then he fought them all, but still – that to me just says the writers knew what they were doing! For anyone who doesn’t know I’ll go over the plots pretty quick.
In the first issue Loki, Thor’s half brother, used the Hulk to create all this chaos getting the attention of Iron Man, Giant Man, Wasp and Thor. As they came together to fight the Hulk they realized it was Loki and then joined forces to beat Loki and asked the Hulk to be part of the group. Then, in issue 2, they fight an alien whose power was taking over people’s bodies and one by one he took over the Avenger’s. They realize this and trick him back into the negative zone forever. But the Hulk, mad at the fact that his team mates were so quick to attack him, quit the team. Issue 3 had the former teammates against Hulk and his new ally – the Sub Mariner! The team up didn’t go as well as they thought it would and their battle shook loose a chunk of ice containing Captain America! This is now issue 4 – Cap joins the team and Rick Jones reminds Cap of Bucky – they fight off an alien that has turned the team into stone and Rick worries that the Hulk will be mad at him when he finds out about him and Cap working together. By the way – these issues are totally worth picking up in trade paperbacks. The 5th issue they fight a living rock – but Hulk’s there to help out too.
So, here’s the deal – it was a long weekend and my birthday is Thursday so… I will not be posting anything this week! But no worries! I will be back next week – keep your pants on! See you in June!
It’s like having my very own Skaar! Here’s her cute little face – the right side looks strange because the umbilical cord was blocking the view. Only a few months left!
How many hits can you get? I can do about… 1 & 1/2.
I wish I showed you all the value items I found – but I ran out of time this week – so I’ll have to show them off another time – I promised that I would spend the next week showcasing the new statues and rare items I got – so get ready and pumped for next week! Here comes the new SS dio, the Koto Hulk statue, a 70’s marvel poster – and more! Don’t forget – Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #6 next week!
Smash Ball on Hulk's Face! (That's what she said!)
Ratchet's Hulk Collection 