I’ve been doing an awful lot of talking about Hulk toys this week, so I think maybe it’s time to switch gears and do some Hulk-busting! The most talked-about and in-demand Hasbro Marvel Legends figure of the year is the Hulkbuster Iron Man Build-A-Figure. You have to buy all seven Marvel Legends Avengers Wave 3 figures to build him, but is the Marvel Legends Hulkbuster Iron Man worth it…? In two words: “Awwwww. Yeah.”

The Right:

I just haven’t had the spare time to photograph and fully review every single Hasbro Marvel Legends figure coming out this year, as there are just way too many Infinite Series 6″ figures shipping out in 2015.

But I’ve had quite a few readers ask me for a Marvel Legends Hulkbuster review, and since it essentially costs $140 worth of purchases to get all the parts to build HB Iron Man, I figured it was probably worth writing up a review for the big (and I do mean big) iron lug.

Unlike most recent Hasbro Marvel Legends Build-A-Figures, Hulkbuster Iron Man’s pieces are spread out as pack-ins across seven figures in a series–not four, five, or even six figures (which tends to be the limit).

This isn’t a case of Hasbro ripping fans off, though: the Hulkbuster Marvel Legends figure is an absolute monster size-wise. The BAF leg piece that came with the Avengers Legends Doctor Strange figure is nearly as big as Doctor Strange himself is! And this Build-A-Figure isn’t just huge–he’s heavy!

When I see a big action figure and hoist it up, only to discover that the figure is actually all light and hollow inside, it always makes my heart a little sad. But make no mistake–this Hulkbuster Marvel Legends figure ain’t no rotocast!

This Build-A-Figure has some serious heft to him, and according to my scale he weighs a monstrous one pound fifteen ounces! I’m pretty sure that if you hit someone in the head hard enough with this Hasbro Hulkbuster, you could kill them. Now that’s quality!

Size-wise, HB Iron Man stands a gargantuan over 9″ tall and over 7″ wide. That may not sound like a lot, but he towers over every virtually every Marvel Legends 6″ figure that Hasbro has ever released. He also looks right at home matching up with the Marvel Select AOU Hulk and the Kotobukiya Rampaging Hulk statue that I previously reviewed.

The sculpt on this figure is top-notch, in my opinion. Is it as detailed and movie-accurate as the Hot Toys Hulkbuster Iron Man? Uhh… no. But this also isn’t an $800+ 21 inch tall action figure. For a figure that is free for all intents and purposes when buying other popular characters, I think Hasbro did a killer job with proportions and various sculpted details on this Build-A-Figure.

Hasbro has been known to cheap out sometimes with larger toys–particularly with the 12″ Titan Hero series, which feature zero paint apps on the back side of each figure. But rest assured, that is not the case here: while the paint on this BAF isn’t as hyper-detailed as I would like (more on that in a bit), it is still a fully-painted figures, front and back.

And as usual, Hasbro went all-out with the articulation on their Build-A-Figure Hulkbuster Iron Man. He’s got a ball-jointed head with hinge with a surprisingly wide range-of-motion.

In addition, this 9″ figure features ball-hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, swivel-hinge elbows, ball-hinge wrists, an upper torso ab crunch, ball-jointed hips, swivel thighs, double-jointed knees and ball-hinge feet with ankle rockers. 

And for those wondering about floppy joints and sturdiness, well–I think this photo of ML Hulk Buster Iron Man doing a karate kick and balancing on one leg should assuage your fears about any looseness on this toy. He’s made of some pretty solid stuff!

In short, this is the most super-articulated Hulkbuster Iron Man toy ever released to this point, and an amazing feat of engineering.

The Wrong:

If this Hulkbuster BAF has a shortcoming, then there’s not much doubt as to what it is: the paint applications. Hasbro paint apps are almost universally the weak point of their 6″ Marvel Legends line, and while I still think he looks great, the ML Hulkbuster Iron Man is no exception to that rule.

All of the main areas of this action figure have been painted in their proper colors, but it’s a very basic paint job in just four colors (over glossy red plastic): gold, black, white and silver.

There’s no weathering or paint wash of any kind, so this figure looks like it’s fresh off the assembly line–which is pretty glaring considering how large this toy is. This armor sure doesn’t look like it’s been through a hellacious battle with the Jade Giant!

If you want this Hulk Buster Iron Man to look authentically battle-worn when tussling with the Hulk, you’re going to have to do some custom paint mods on this figure yourself. That’s not necessarily a deal breaker, but the fact that this figure needs to be modded to look its best is a clear drawback to an otherwise remarkable piece of plastic.

Overall: While I certainly would have preferred a super-detailed paint job on this figure, I’m not willing to tank the overall score in this Marvel Legends Hulkbuster review because of that one drawback. I don’t think anyone would have faulted Hasbro much if they’d said it was too expensive to develop a Marvel Legends-style version of this Iron Man and not released one at all.

But instead, Hasbro has developed a fantastic super-articulated, humongous, heavy and well-sculpted figure, and they deserve mad props for it. This is easily the all-around best Build-A-Figure Hasbro has ever released, and an absolute must-buy for Marvel Legends collectors. Outstanding.

GRADE: A-