Someone, somewhere, started the unsubstantiated rumor that Hot Toys would never make another 1/6 Hulk figure after the original Avengers movie version. I don’t know why, but that stigma stuck and spread, so a lot of collectors really thought that there wouldn’t be a Hot Toys Avengers Age of Ultron Hulk figure released. But surprise–! Not only is Hot Toys releasing a new AOU Hulk–they’ve got a second version in a Hot Toys Hulk Deluxe Set available for order as well!

The Hot Toys Hulk Deluxe Collectible set contains two pieces that aren’t available with the regular Avengers Age of Ultron Hot Toys Hulk sixth scale figure: an all-new head sculpt and an all-new upper torso.

Yes, that’s right, for what I believe is the first time ever, Hot Toys is packing a whole extra upper body–and it’s with a figure that’s nearly 18″ tall to begin with!

See, when the original Hot Toys Avengers Hulk figure came out, a lot of people pooped on it (metaphorically speaking) because of all of the joints that show on Hulk’s upper body. With Hulk going shirtless, there’s just no way to hide all his articulation without forgoing it entirely.

And so, that’s what Hot Toys decided to do. For collectors who just can’t stand seeing all the joints on their Hulk figure, now they won’t have to: a pre-posed, non-articulated interchangeable upper torso is included with the Hot Toys Deluxe Hulk MMS287 set.

The “Hulk Smash” pose is pretty iconic, and has appeared on everything from statues to chess pieces over the years. So if Hot Toys was going to pick one static pose for The MMS 287 Hulk to be stuck in? Yeah–this is the one.

I can see some hairline-small seams on the prototype of this Hot Toys Hulk Deluxe Set figure where his arms are attached to his body, but hopefully those won’t be present on the final figure. And even if they are, they’re still a thousand times more discrete than the joints on the original Hulk Hot Toys figure.

Meanwhile, the deluxe version of the Hot Toys Avengers 2 Hulk figure will contain one more exclusive item: a newly-sculpted angry Hulk head.

I think the likeness on this new head is a minor improvement, and because of the color difference between the Avengers Hulk figure and this one, buying this deluxe set will be the only way to get a matching closed-mouth Hulk Hot Toys head to stick on the new figure.

We won’t know until later today if the MMS 287 Hot Toys Hulk Deluxe set is exclusive to Sideshow Collectibles or not. It seems like the sort of item that would be a distributor-exclusive, but the Hot Toys official description doesn’t say anything indicating that it will be an exclusive.

The Avengers Age of Ultron Hot Toys MMS 287 Hulk figure is now up for order, with a scheduled shipping date in November 2015. I fully expected Hot Toys to nail us with a $400+ price-tag, so I’m a little shocked that we’re getting off “cheap” with a $374 price for this beast of a deluxe set!

What do you think of the Deluxe Hot Toys Hulk figure, Marvel collectors? Is this the version of Hulk from Age of Ultron that you want to snag from your collection, or are you opting for the regular version (or none at all)?