Even though he was neither announced not even teased to debut at the show, the single most-anticipated Hot Toys figure going into San Diego Comic-Con 2017 was the new Gladiator Hulk Movie Masterpiece Series figure. And I have to say: Hot Toys did not disappoint with this massive, incredibly detailed Hulk action figure. Response to the figure was super-positive at SDCC, and now HT is ready to claim their just reward: the Hot Toys Gladiator Hulk sixth scale figure is now up for order!

Although he’s among the absolute most popular characters in the MCU, we’ve had fewer Hot Toys figures of Hulk released than any other original core Marvel movie Avengers team member (and even Scarlet Witch has more releases than the poor Jade Giant!).

Hulk has only appeared in his own movie and the two Avengers films, and his look doesn’t change all that much in those, so there really hasn’t been much opportunity for HT to release variants. But that changes this fall when the new Thor Ragnarok movie arrives, bringing with it a radically different-looking Hulk from any we’ve seen before in the MCU!

Drawing heavily from Hulk’s Gladiator appearance during “Planet Hulk”, the Hot Toys Gladiator Hulk Movie Masterpiece Series figure is the largest and most detailed figure of this iteration of the character announced by any company. He absolutely towers over the 1/6 Gladiator Thor figure, just the way the Green Guy should!

I’m spoiled rotten when it comes to the number of Hot Toys figures I’ve acquired over the years, but this version of Hulk is going to be in the upper echelon of even my quite large collection.

The real fur mohawk on the removable gladiator helmet looks tremendous, and I’m very excited to hear that an alternate non-screaming angry head is going to be included with the figure (although it hasn’t been approved to be shown just yet).

While he’s not exactly “packed” with goodies in the way that many Movie Masterpiece Series figures are, Hulk will include two interchangeable heads, his huge war hammer and battle axe, a removable helmet and six interchangeable hands. No figure stand seems to come with the Gladiator Hulk MMS, as, well… he’s too big for a stand (what with being 16.5″ tall and super-wide). Heh.

The figure is retailing for $355, which is more than I had hoped it was going to be priced, but not a terrible value either. I had really hoped Hot Toys would price this behemoth at $299-$329, but it looks like we’re going to be paying dearly for the awesomeness that is this Hulk.

Gladiator Hulk Hot Toys is now up for pre-order, and is scheduled to ship out in Q2 2018. That’s under a year, which is faster than I was expecting for a Hot Toys figure of this size. Gonna be a long wait, but I’m satisfied with the length of it compared to the two-plus years we’ve been waiting for Hulkbuster Iron Man.

Hands up, Marvel collectors! Are you willing to drop 350 smackers for Hot Toys’ best Hulk figure ever, or are you opting for one of the smaller, (far) less expensive versions of Hulk coming from Mezco, Hasbro, or Diamond Select Toys?