I do my best to plan my collecting budget for the year around the estimated release dates that Hot Toys gives us for their various Marvel Movie Masterpiece Series figures, as those tend to be the most expensive figures I buy each year (Bowen and Sideshow statues not included). But, well–sometimes you need to be flexible, and this is apparently going to be one of those times! Even though the Avengers Hot Toys Bruce Banner and Hulk set pre-order still estimates the set shipping in September 2014, prepare your wallets for a smashing–the Hot Toys Hulk and Bruce Banner figures set has now been released overseas!

The good news is that I did not order the Hulk and Bruce Banner Hot Toys set. I already have the Hulk figure, and I didn’t feel compelled enough to sell it and buy Hot Toys Hulk again just to get a couple of new accessories with my Bruce Banner figure.

The bad news is that a lot of collectors did order the Hot Toys Banner/Hulk set, and they’re probably not expecting Hot Toys to unleash the set on their credit cards a half a year early. Even though the two-pack has just been released in Japan, it’ll almost certainly be billed and shipped in America by the end of April 2014.

Wow, Banner really is a puny human next to Hulk, isn’t he…? Hot Toys made a lot of fans who missed out on the initial Hot Toys Avengers Hulk sixth scale figure happy when they announced that Hulk would be reissued as part of a combo pack set with the Bruce Banner figure. And to entice collectors who may already own Hulk but have to have everything, the combo set includes an additional base and a couple pieces of debris not available with just Hot Toys Banner or Hulk alone.

If you’re like me and already own the 2013 Hot Toys Hulk MMS, Hot Toys made a Hot Toys MMS 229 Bruce Banner sixth scale figure available by himself, and that figure is also now released overseas.

As you might anticipate, the MMS229 Bruce Banner Hot Toys 1/6 figure doesn’t come with a ton of accessories. He has his glasses, a display stand, a couple pairs of alternate hands and a Chitauri scepter (the same one the Hot Toys Loki came with). Outside of these, I really don’t know what accessories Hot Toys could have come up with to give Banner.

I was initially going to pass on even buying the Bruce Banner Hot Toys figure by his lonesome, but the final product photos have won me over. I’m still not convinced that this figure is a spot-on Mark Ruffalo from every angle, but he looks accurate enough from some perspectives that I think I’ll be able to cope with him. And hey–I own every other Hot Toys Avengers sixth scale figure, so I might as well own this one too, right…?

If you want a Hot Toys Avengers Bruce Banner and Hulk set, the pair is still available for order through Sideshow Collectibles. The combo set is exclusive to the Sideshow website in the United States, so you won’t be able to get Banner and Hulk as a set through other online retailers this time out. The Hot Toys Bruce Banner sixth scale figure is also available individually, although Hulk by himself is long since sold out.

Any Marvel collectors out there have this $500+ Hot Toys set on pre-order and are now trembling at the thought of their collecting budget plan being totally blown away within the next month?