Avengers Comic Collection (Walmart Exclusive) - Hulk, Hawkeye, Iron Man & Loki

Up next in the unannounced exclusives department... a box full of repacks.  But they're good repacks.  And one is a repack of a figure who's first pack isn't even out yet.  Hulk confused.  Hulk click read more now.

Remember those unannounced Walmart exclusives we showed you a while back?  They're all starting to hit, including this boxed set of Marvel Universe repack figures.  Hasbro has been pretty crappy about their communication with the fans lately, and none of these exclusives were shown or announced at any of the past conventions or Toy Fair, so these are pretty out of left field.  I also find it amazing that we haven't yet seen a single Target exclusive for this line.  So far, all the exclusives have been bound for Walmart.  I hate Walmart exclusives.

Among the current stream of figures you want but will only be able to find at 1-out-of-5 Walmarts, this "Avengers Comic Collection" contains repacks of past Marvel Universe figures, plus a ...pre-pack of the brand spankin new Marvel Universe Hulk figure that is due to hit in the next wave, which was due to hit months ago but hasn't.  This new Hulk is easily the biggest part of the draw of this pack for many, but if you may have missed out on a couple of previous hard to get figures, this set also helps catch you up.

The packaging is decent... standard Avengers line look.  Nice window box display.  Cross sell with the other (less awesome) set on the back.  Not much more you can reasonably expect.

Lets get the junk out of the way.  Nobody is buying this set for the Iron Man.  While not a horrible figure, the classic armor Iron Man has been done to death in recent years.  This particular one is a repack of the pointy-mask version included in 2009's Walmart exclusive Gigantic Battles set (Goliath and Iron Man).  The only notable thing about this figure is that he comes with not one, but two energy blast effects.  Meh.

Loki is a repack of the Loki included in the Frost Giant Gigantic Battles set, also exclusive to Walmart.  Funny that these two figures were Wally World exclusives before and still continue to be.  This is the only comic version of Loki we've gotten in the 3.75" scale, and while he's not the greatest figure, he's not bad.  The buck he's based on is a few years old and the articulation is outdated compared to some newer MU sculpts, but hey, it still beats the Avengers line articulation.  This figure was difficult for some to come by when it was originally released last year, so this pack is a good opportunity for those that missed out.

Hawkeye is a repack of the figure that came in the Secret Wars comic pack, which was not exclusive to any store, but was apparently still hard to find, so if you missed out before, here's one more reason to grab this set. The figure is nicely articulated despite being on an older buck, and includes his bow, arrow, and quiver.  That's a pretty good accessory load-out by MU standards.  This is another solid figure.

But the real star of this set is the Hulk.  Hasbro first showed us this new sculpt of the green giant at last year's San Diego Comic Con.  It was due out in what was supposed to be Wave 1 of Marvel Universe this year, but here we are almost in June, and no sign of that wave...  It's also coming in an upcoming comic pack (albeit slightly repainted), and then repainted again as Red Hulk for a team pack.  So lots of upcoming releases for this mold, but the WM exclusive in Avengers packaging beat the others out the gate.

The figure itself rocks.  It's the most articulated 3.75" scale Hulk I've ever seen.  Ball hinged neck/head, shoulders, elbows, upper torso, hips, knees and ankles, and swivel biceps, wrists, waist and thighs.  The only thing I think this figure lacks in the articulation department is rocker ankles.  Those would be sweet on this guy.

The sculpt is badass, too.  It's clearly based on the same master sculpt as last year's World War Hulk figure, using the same right arm, torso, and upper legs, with the lower legs obviously being closely related.  I'd be willing to bet money that these two figures were developed side by side, and Hasbro just held onto this one for an extra year to space them out.  The level of detail in this sculpt is outstanding.  And, he has two punching fists! Just like Hulk should.  The cool part there though, is that his right hand is easily swapable with the WW Hulk, so you can give him a grasping hand when he needs to pummel Loki into the ground.

Paint on this guy is pretty simple, but looks good.  The green of the skin looks the way it should, and there are some nice shading effects with a dark paint wash.  The purple in the pants looks purple, just like Hulk's classic lounge-wear of choice.

My only gripe with this figure is that he's still too small next to the rest of the MU figures.  He's the same height as the WW Hulk figure, since he's basically the same sculpt.  I like my Hulk in the 8'-9' range.  This guy is taller than many figures in this scale, but not as tall as I think he should be.  He's kind of a short and stumpy Hulk.  But that's my minor complaint for what is otherwise an outstanding figure.  He still blows all the previous MU Hulks out of the water.

Overall, this set is a solid collection of mostly sought-after figures, and the obligatory Iron Man.  If you missed out on Loki and/or Hawkeye before, and you want the awesome new Hulk now, this set is worth its cost.  If you have Loki and Hawkeye already, and want to hold out for the single-carded Hulk, that's a great idea to save money, but who knows when that single figure will hit, and good luck saying no to it on the shelf.  I almost bought a second one last night just because of how awesome that Hulk is.  And really, if you're going to have duplicates of any figures, there are worse ones to be stuck with than Loki and Hawkeye.

Now here's some more awesome Hulk pr0n.