This one-off Incredible Hulk toy/sculpture is straight from the mind of XanderThurteen, an Auckland, New Zealand-based animator and artist who also runs the MukPuddy 2D animation studio with his wife, tattoo artist Karla Hansen.Xander has done a number of these hand-painted, boxy wooden toys. Previous toys include Papa Smurf, Fred Flinstone and one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (who I believe is Raphael, but that’s only if the red headband indicates the right turtle). Who isn’t going to marvel and this boxy Marvel hero? For those of you who may not be up on your trivia The Incredible Hulk premired in 1962 as a kind of Jekyll-and-Hyde-ish character who got big and green and angry in a hurry.
Maybe it makes sense that this Hulk toy is from New Zealand – with its lush green vistas and craggy mountains, but I digress. Either way, you can contact Xander through his website – who knows what the import/export tax is on super heroes? It might not be that bad. The Hulk Smash toy/sculpture is almost as cool as the crocheted dolls of the Hulk and the Thing from a while back, and definitely cooler than the papercraft Marvel heroes that are neither as cuddly as the crocheted dolls nor as durable as the Hulk Smash toy. The selection of wood toys is pretty amazing, but I’d also suggest checking out some of the Ren and Stimpy-ish animation on the MukPuddy website at MukPuddy.com. Any geek worth his salt (especially those of us that grew up on Sunday morning cartoons) will enjoy these bits and pieces.
On the upside, if you decide to “Smash!” this little guy would probably hold up, while not setting out on his own to destroy any of your antique China or expensive crystal. I do wish, however, that this little guy spun around Rubik’s-cube like to turn into his alter-ego Dr Bruce Banner. I mean, really, is any Hulk toy really complete if it only paints one side of the picture (no pun intended). Maybe it’s just me trying to overcomplicate an already cool toy, but there’s so much potential for really cool toys like this. Then again it could be my short attention span that’s getting in the way. Look! a bunny!
