I
have found that my own personal case of Hulkamania has been creeping
back over the past few years.
Not
for the present day Hulk Hogan - the one that wears black jeans and
has douchey tattoos and makes me sad when he shows up in WWE because
his spirit is absolutely gone. Also not for WCW Hulk Hogan, who
coasted along for two years before catching fire again as Hollywood
Hulk Hogan after horning his way in on the nWo gimmick.
No,
I’m reliving my childhood love of the Hulkster of the WWF Rock N’
Wrestling era. The irresistible force that told me to say my prayers,
eat my vitamins, and believe in myself. The golden superman that
might get knocked down, but always got back up. The head Hulkamaniac
that ignored his doctor’s advice and defended his WWF Championship
against King Kong Bundy in the STEEL CAGE at WrestleMania II, despite
(or perhaps because
of) the
broken ribs that Bundy had inflicted just a month before.
What’s
gotten me thinking about Hulkamania again is the wonderful
combination of pageantry and virtue that Hogan presented. He was a
showman and a badass and also a role model. Like, a great
role model. There aren’t many of those around today, particularly
in professional wrestling. I like that and I admire it.
Hogan
may not have had the most amazing moveset, but his matches were
electric and powerful. He had a presence that nobody else can compete
with, not even Stone Cold or Cena. There’s just something about
watching Hogan back in the day (on the WWE Network – only $9.99!)
that is magical.
First
Glance
In
an odd way that magic carries over into this figure. Just seeing the
classic wrestling look of high boots and trunks in Hogan’s
signature yellow and red is exciting. Add a great likeness and that
big, gold belt around his waist and this is a heck of a striking
action figure.
Packaging
Of
course, the magnificent packaging helps.
Mattel
really pulled out all the stops for this Defining Moments series of
figures. This box is a beauty; almost more of a display case than
just a package. The figure stands on a raised platform, with windows
on the front and back. It’s a nice, subtle touch that on Hogan’s
box the back is cut to resemble his t-shirt. There’s a window on
top, too, to let light in to highlight the figure even more.
The
graphics are straight out of WWE’s Classic program. The belt plate
designs look great and the pictures of Hogan are great. This looks
like it should be sitting in a physical Hall of Fame somewhere.
The
back features not a bio, but a description of the “defining moment”
that this particular figure represents. This particular moment is
from WrestleMania 3 where Andre the Giant passed the torch to Hogan
in front of over 93,000 fans. A defining moment, indeed.
Looks
I
believe the expression on this figure’s face was taken directly
from the moment of the iconic staredown that started the match.
Probably a better choice than whatever Hogan’s face looked like
when he was picking the Giant up for the body slam.
The
likeness is unmistakable. There isn’t one part of Hogan’s head
that isn’t iconic – the cleft chin, the blonde hair and handlebar
mustache, those baby blue eyes… wait. What? I would’ve bet money
that Hogan had blue eyes. And I would’ve lost that money. But
Mattel nailed it. The eyes and everything else are perfect, signature
Hogan.
This
figure has a big, thick frame. There’s a massive chest and the
Pythons are a scale 24” (that would be 2” around).
I’m
kidding. I have no idea how big around the figure’s arms are, but
they sure do look right. All of the proportions are very Hogan-esque,
right down to the slightly too-long legs, although most of the Elite
series figures feature those (due to the double-jointed knees).
Hogan’s are just slightly too-longer. I think the tall boots help
make the difference.
The
boots match the yellow of the trunks perfectly. They are both molded
out of yellow plastic rather than painted, so the look is shiny and
vibrant. The white soles and laces are solid. I also dig the red
kneepads. They’re small, like they should be. The longer kneepads
of other figures just wouldn’t have worked on this guy.
Side
Note: Since I’ve gotten more into these figures lately, I have
discovered that the kneepads are flexible enough and slide around
enough that you can make use of the knee joints better than I
previously thought. It’s especially true of Hogan’s.
The
paint is all spot-on, from the head to the soles of the boots. It’s
all precisely applied with no blotches or bleeding. The excellent
paint job makes this look like a collector figure. Not that I’ve
seen any Elite figures with bad paint, but Hogan just seems even
cleaner and more precise than the rest. The fact that Mattel used
colored plastic in as many places as possible helps. If I had one
complaint it would be that the wristbands are painted on with no
sculpt. It’s not a big deal, but I notice these things.
Accessories
Hogan
comes with a Hulkamania t-shirt, a Hulkamania headband, a necklace,
and the WWF World Heavyweight Championship belt.
The
shirt is a soft rubber and is easy to remove from the figure and put
back on. The front is cut to simulate Hogan’s trademark move of
ripping it open. It needs the title belt to stay closed properly, but
I can’t really complain about that. The seam never goes away, but
it’s such a neat gimmick I don’t mind. A non-tearing shirt would
have been disappointing.
The
headband slides into some subtle holes in either side of the
Hulkster’s hair. Once there it stays put quite nicely.
The
necklace is fine. It’s nicely detailed and molded from a gold
plastic. It could stand to be a little less rigid, but it looks okay.
The
title belt is so
shiny. The strap is a soft but durable plastic with a leather grain
texture. It looks great. The plates are an extremely shiny gold. The
front plate is excellent, with blue, gray, and black paint on the
details. The side plates are lacking paint that they should have, but
overall the belt still looks great.
It
fastens around the figure using snaps rather than the zip-tie system
of the JAKKS titles and it looks so much better for that. Even at its
smallest closure setting the end doesn’t stick out and look all
goofy.
Fun
Mattel
is giving us great figures with their Elite series. Since we’re
kicking off a week of wrestling figures (and other wrestling-related
articles; two a day, possibly), I’ll run down the articulation on
this guy.
Neck
– ball joint
Shoulders
– hinge/pin
Biceps
– swivel
Elbows
– hinge
Wrists
– swivel/hinge
Abdomen
– hinge
Waist
– swivel
Hips
– hinge/pin
Thighs
– swivel
Knees
– double hinge
Boot
tops – swivel
Ankles
– hinge/swivel
That’s
a whole lot of articulation. The hips don’t have quite the range
I’d like, but everything else is great. I’ve noticed that the
ankle hinges on these tend to be stuck, so be extra careful when
loosening those. Use a hairdryer or hot water if necessary.
This
figure can achieve most
of the iconic poses we associate with Hulk Hogan. It can’t really
listen to the crowd chanting “HOGAN”
and it can’t do the finger pointing. I’d like to imagine that
someday we’ll get an Ultimate Hulk with interchangeable hands.
Otherwise
Hogan is a lot of fun. He can pick other figures up, slam them, do
the leg drop, and just generally be a big ol’ Hulkster. The
accessories add a lot , as well. Having this many items that the
figure can interact with adds all kinds of play value and a number of
different looks.
Overall
This
is an excellent Hulk Hogan action figure. The colors are vibrant, the
sculpt is great, and the accessories are tons of fun. If you’re a
Hulkamaniac, you must
get one of these.
This
figure has left me hoping for more Hogans, particularly a Hollywood
version.
5
out of 5
Buy
one now, brother!:
I saw this puppy in Target and was tempted to buy it despite not being much of a Hogan fan because it's just such a good looking figure. It will be hard to top this level of quality for the Hulkster.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great figure. I was shocked to see twelve on the shelf at Walmart the other morning. I have a feeling the upcoming Razor Ramon won't get quite the same distribution.
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