I’m not looking for props or anything (well, actually I am), but I totally called this one. When Diamond Select Toys announced back in January that there were only three Marvel Select Avengers Age of Ultron figures scheduled for release–and none of them were Hulkbuster Iron Man–I would have laid down money that it was because a comics-based Marvel Select Hulkbuster Iron Ma figure was in the works. Sadly, there’s nowhere to make such monetary bets, but I’m happy nonetheless–because the awesome Hulkbuster Iron Man Marvel Select figure is now up for order!

The absolute most-hyped Marvel character of 2015–hands down, no questions asked–is Hulkbuster Iron Man. Ever since we saw the first teasers for the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie released, the world of Marvel fandom has been abuzz with talk about the Iron Man Hulkbuster armor and the marquee collision set to occur between the Hulk and Hulkbuster Iron Man Mark 44 in Age of Ultron.

Now, Diamond Select Toys loves to release Iron Man figures–almost as much as they love releasing Hulk figures–so when the seemingly match-made-in-heaven Hulkbuster Iron Man Marvel Select figure wasn’t announced for the Avengers Age of Ultron Marvel Select line, all doubt was erased from my mind as to what one of this year’s comics-based releases was going to be.

And while I had to wait a while longer than I expected to confirm it, the result is the same: the Diamond Select Hulkbuster Iron Man will be bursting into our collections this summer!

While most Marvel Select figures are already rather large at a normal 7″ scale, Hulk Buster Iron Man is going to be even bigger than most, because he’ll clock in at over 8″ tall! I’m still not convinced that the armor will be big enough–it’ll certainly be in a scale far smaller than that of the movie Hulkbuster Iron Man–but there’s no denying that this is going to be one beefy beast of a figure, well worth its $24.99 MSRP!

Whereas Marvel Select figures cost more than the mass-release Hasbro Marvel Legends do, Hulkbuster is an instance where the better value may be purchasing the Marvel Select iteration instead of the Marvel Legends Hulkbuster Iron Man Build-A-Figure coming out this summer, as the Legends Hulkbuster will require purchasing six $20 figures (for $120+) in order to complete the BAF.

Of course, the Hasbro Hulkbuster Iron Man is movie-based and the DST Hulkbuster Iron Man is most definitely not (regardless of the “inspired by Iron Man’s appearance in Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron”) blurb that was put into the item description for the figure.

It’s also important to note that this figure will not be mass-released to comic book stores and online retailers such as EE and BBTS and such. It’s shocking for such a major character, but the Hulkbuster Select figure is actually going to be an exclusive release for the Marvel Store online and (eventually) the Disney Stores. I’m utterly stunned that such a hot character would get a limited release while a repaint of movie Thor gets released in mass, but that’s what’s happening.

While the shipments of the Marvel Select Hulk Buster Iron Man figure haven’t arrived just yet, the figure is scheduled to ship by July 1st at the latest. And given the popularity and exclusivity of this armor, I’d recommend per-ordering and locking one in now if you want HB Iron Man. This is going to be a hot figure when it hits and will sell out fast.

The Exclusive Marvel Select Iron Man Hulkbuster figure is now available for pre-order, and you can get free shipping through 5/3 by using code “ULTRON” at checkout. The Marvel Store/Disney Store shipping is otherwise quite expensive, so I was really psyched that they were nice enough to give us an opportunity for free shipping for this figure on the same day that it went up for order!

What do you think of the Diamond Select Toys Hulkbuster Iron Man, Marvel fans? Will this be your new small-scale Hulkbuster of choice, or do you prefer the more movie-inspired Hasbro Marvel Legends Hulkbuster Iron Man Build-A-Figure coming out this summer?