One good Hulk deserves another. And evidently, Sideshow thinks that three good Hulks deserve another, because after the enormous success of the three Premium Format Hulk statues they released last year, Sideshow has a new Avengers Age of Ultron Hulk Maquette going up for order this afternoon. But if you wanna add this big collectible to your collection, you’re gonna have a big bill to go with him…

I rarely start an article with a discussion of a price-tag, but this is an exception: $749.99.

Yikes. I wasn’t thrilled with the $549.99 price-tag on the Premium Format Red Hulk I got last year, but given rising production costs and the gargantuan bulk of that piece, I was willing to let it slide.

This $200 price hike a year later is, well… harder to get past. For that price this Sideshow Hulk Maquette would have to absolutely knock my socks off, and it just does not. You may like Hulk’s AOU spandex shorts look and bowling pose more than me, however.

The Avengers Hulk Maquette from a few years ago retailed for $499.99 and took years to sell out–and that was a piece that most collectors agree looks superior to the prototype of this new Avengers Age of Ultron Hulk. I suspect Sideshow is going to have a bit of a misfire on their hands with the sales of this piece at that lofty price-point.

Sculptor Martin Canale did a beautiful job with the sculpting detail on this Hulk, but with Sideshow literally not having released even one other Premium Format Figure or Maquette from the “Avengers: Age of Ultron” movie, this statue has limited appeal for my collection, personally.

This might be the best recreation of the Hulk’s shorts from the second Avengers movie that we’ve seen in toy form, but unfortunately, I’m not a fan of the shorts in the movie or in toy form. And as nice as the detailing on this maquette is, like I said–I just don’t like the awkward “gone bowling” pose chosen for Hulk this time.

One thing that’s a little unusual about this particular piece is that Sideshow still hasn’t released any of the specs for it, even though it will be going up for sale in just a few hours.

Presumably this is a quarter-scale statue and should be around 24″ tall (or taller), but we won’t know for sure until the product details are revealed. I’ll update this article once the specs are posted.

Now, Sideshow is wisely creating a limited exclusive edition for this maquette with a bonus accessory: a Hulk display nameplate that can sit in front of your AOU Hulk maquette (or  not, if you prefer).

This Hulk logo nameplate is certainly not an earth-shaking bonus, nor a true motivator to drop 750 bucks–but it is a fun little extra, so I would be getting the exclusive edition if I were buying this $750 statue (which I am not). The cost is the same for both the regular and exclusive versions of this Hulk Maquette, so if you’re going to get one, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be the version that comes with this nameplate.

The Sideshow Avengers Age of Ultron Hulk maquette goes up for order this afternoon, and is expected to be released in late 2016. I am very curious to see how this piece sells and the expediency with which it sells out (assuming that it does sell out). Maybe I’m totally off my rocker and this is going to be one of the hottest pieces of 2016, but I instincts and experience are telling me that that is not the case in this instance.

I’ve obviously been a little harsh on this statue, but what do you think of this latest Sideshow Hulk, Marvel collectors? Do you think that this piece warrants its $750 plus shipping price-tag, or are you as negative on that price as I am? Is anyone reading this planning to place a pre-order for this piece at the MSRP?