In 2015 as the Marvel Legends line was just embracing the MCU figures within each wave, and not as standalone product, we hit the 2nd Avengers movie of Age of Ultron. From this film would spring the biggest volume of MCU figures to date and it all started in a Thanos BAF wave with the Age of Ultron Hulk alongside Captain America and Iron-Man.
Packaging 3/5
The first age of Ultron figures were badged under the Marvel Legends Infinite Series with the movie logo above the window and the Legends logo taking up the bulk of the space under the window. The front of the box was finished with abold red band carrying the character name of "Hulk", a Hasbro logo and an Avengers Initiative insert.
The side art was designed to look drawn and was presented in grey scale, leaving the image quite striking and contrasting to the rest of the black and red packaging colours. Round the back we had a picture of the figure alongside the briefest character text.
"Explosive rage bursts from Bruce Banner's veines and unleashes the Hulk!"
Beneath this is the pictorial checklist for the comic book Thanos BAF - Hulk being packed with Thanos' right arm. Hulk is somewhat squeezed into the box and is not fully visible in the window. He is accessed via the side flaps and comes inserted into an inner tray which itself sits in a cardboard grey tray that provides the backdrop for the figure in box. When Hulk is out of the way you can see this grey insert also carries the large Avengers "A" logo.
Paint & Sculpt 3/5
We are quite early on in the life of the MCU Legends and the likeness on Hulk is not particularly striking - most probably because of the angry grimace which doesn't quite match Hulk's facial expressions from the movie. The eyes are painted to look intense from beneath that brow and the exposed teeth and gum are well executed. The hair is less impressive, being quite grey and featureless.
The upper body is simply cast in green plastic. And while there is good muscular definition, it is lost without any kind of wash or defining paint application - it all looks too shiny and plasticy. The lower half is a little better with the dark blue stretchy pants with the red trim and Avengers decal logo round the side of each thigh.
While Hulk's height seems to vary in the MCU, most estimates have it at at just over 8 ft tall. Factoring that to the 8.5inch height of the figure, then this Hulk is about right and scales well with the other figures.
Accessories N/A
Hulk has no accessories - consistent with the character. While we could argue some alternative hands or head would be nice we have to concede this is very big figure squeezed into a general release. Nowadays this would be a BAF or a boxed release.
Articulation 3/5
For a big chap, Hulk has a good range of articulation and counts in with 18 points of articulation in total across his full frame.
Head : ball joint neck
Body : ball joint torso
Arms : ball joint shoulder, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows, pivot wrists
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double jointed knees, ankle pivots
Some of these joints are showing their age. The neck for example is just a ball joint without the more modern pivot. This leaves the head mobile but only within the confines of the ball, there is no ability to pivot said ball forward or back. The head is also quite loose on the ball and lolls around a bit at times.
The other key issue is the arms which are so big they wont hold flat against Hulk's sides. Considering most people will want Hulk in a Smash! pose of some kinds, this is not a huge issue in the long run.
Summary 3/5
Hasbro are yet to bring us a definitive MCU Hulk, and as one of the earliest this figure does show its age a little and some limitations around paint finish and articulation. The sculpt is good, and of course meant a lot of this figure was re-used for the 2018 Hulkbuster vs Hulk 2-pack figure.
As the figure starts to raise in price, decisions around which Hulk or Hulks to have in your MCU Legends collection will start to become more difficult. But if you can get this one at circa £25 or so, then he still holds his own in an Age of Ultron display with contemporary figures released at the same time.
I score the 2015 Age of Ultron Hulk a 3 out of 5.
