Iron Man 2 Comic Series Hulkbuster Iron Man
Technically, this is the Hulkbuster II armor as it appeared in Iron Man Vol IV, 12 (Nov, 2006)
This is one of the remotely piloted Argonaut Drones and not an upgrade to the Modular Armor like the ToyBiz Hulkbuster was (Hulkbuster MkI) nor is it the box-type Hulkbuster MkII which was used in World War Hulk.
The sculpt isn't even comic accurate: it has the movie-style silver ribs, some extra panel lines, and none of the hydraulics that can be seen underneath the armor plates. Surprisingly, the figure has all the same articulation pints as other figures, expect for the head which only swivels left and right due to its design. Unfortunately, the helmet hatch does not open like the old Legends figure.
The figure is molded in a deep metallic red or maroon much like the other recent Comic Series releases and is quite similar to the movie Stealth Armor's colors. The gold is also more of a dull brass. None of the panel lines are painted in, but other details like the ribs, bicep ports, and back thrusters are painted in gun metal. The eye slits, cheek vents, and unibeam are painted glowing white.
The biggest controversy about this figure is its size: it's tiny. I lined up a regular figure (Coffeepot armor) at the crotch, which is where I believe a normal human would fall if he were inside the this armor, and it shows that the head would be higher or equal to the Hulkbuster's head and the arms would not line up perfectly and proves that this figure is underscaled. Even the underscaled Iron Monger figure is larger than this figure. The Marvel Universe Hulks are also much larger.
It's just strange that Hasbro can make a HUGE single carded figure like the recently released Marvel Universe Juggernaut, but make this Hulkbuster shorter than War Machine despite having no accessories and yet sell both figures for the same price.
- JM