ComicMix at Toy Fair ’08: A Bulk of ‘Incredible Hulk’
Hulk and Iron Man have had their share of dust-ups throughout Marvel history, from the days of the old gray armor to the recent "World War Hulk" story arc. More often than not, though, the Green Goliath whips Tony Stark’s pampered playboy butt.
With both characters expecting big things from live-action films this year, Toy Fair 2008 was shaping up to be another battle of epic proportions — at least on the licensing front.
Unfortunately, this battle between the two Marvel heavyweights ended up more lop-sided than most, with Incredible Hulk products popping up in just about every other booth at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center while the guy in the metal suit was yesterday’s news.
Along with yo-yos and radio-controlled planes (Why would Hulk have a plane? Because he can, puny human.) the big green guy was also spotted on puzzles, bop-bags and — my personal favorite — a puffy backpack that allows you to walk around all day with hulk’s massive arms wrapped around your neck in a gamma-fueled sleeper hold.
First, this Incredible Hulk promotional poster was attached to the side of the Kid Designs booth. They weren’t allowing anyone to peek inside the walled-off product room, so you can only guess at what other types of Hulk merchandise they were hiding.
Iron Man found his way onto a bunch of yo-yos and foam dart guns over at the Power Products booth…
… but Hulk did the ol’ "I shake my fist at you" routine and muscled his way into most of the shelf space.
Over at the Inter Active Designs booth, the dominance of The Incredible Hulk was on display once again, with the green guy edging out Iron Man in the promotion of character-licensed, radio-controlled airplanes — which, when you think about it, is where Tony Stark and Co. really should have had their best showing.
Before you think it was an all-green affair, however, check out the display of Designer Toys’ Marvel figures. Iron Man’s there (as well as Wolverine, Spider-Man and… Ghost Rider?), but no Hulk!
The green guy was apparantly saving his best for last, though.
Here he is, folks — He’s mad, he’s bad and he’s GOING TO SQUEEZE YOU UNTIL YOU TURN BLUE, PUNY HUMAN!
Actually, he’s pretty soft and probably won’t cut off your oxygen, so don’t hold my tendency for over-exaggeration against the nice folks at Comic Images and their "Backpack Buddies" line of character-inspired backpacks. They also have versions of the backpacks with Spider-Man and several Star Wars characters (including Chewbacca!) — but the scowling green midget in purple shorts was my favorite of the bunch.
Remember, ComicMix will be at Toy Fair all week, so keep checking back for more coverage of the show!
hulk Incredible 2008