I’ve collected action figures my entire life, and one of the true constants of that collection has been Marvel’s Incredible Hulk. From Mego to ToyBiz and finally Hasbro, (with some notable stops in between) ol’ Greenskin has been a featured player on my toy shelves for four decades — that’s a lot of gamma radiation to soak up! So grab your harmonica, hop into the jalopy, and head on down to the Gamma bomb-testing site — it’s time to Hulk-out!
Hulk was a featured player on store shelves years before Anthill was even born. He preceded my entry into this world when he was released as one of Marx’s Marvel Super Heroes statues. Issued in a variety of colors, these unpainted plastic figurines were sold cheaply at drug and hardware stores throughout the 1960s. Not sure what the Hulk is trying to convey here — maybe the Chicken Dance? While primitive by today’s standards, this representation hews closer to the character’s comic origins, looking far more bestial and savage than future incarnations.
Action figures were still in their infancy when the Hulk made his comics debut. While G.I. Joe and other soldiers cleared the battlefield for future generations of articulated action heroes, fans of the Hulk had to make do with static representations like the Marx statue, or this 1/12th scale Aurora model. While surviving specimens of the era often feature crude assembly and rough paint jobs, they are also the forerunner of the action figure customizing hobby that thrives today. 
Mego first produced their 8-inch Hulk action figure in 1975, but the it sold poorly until the debut of the 1978 Incredible Hulk television show. The show’s popularity propelled the gamma-spawned giant to the top of the pop culture heap, and soon everyone wanted in on the action. Hulk toys were produced by Remco, Ideal, and many other companies who liked the sight of all of that easy green.
Not content to let their competition scoop them, Mego rushed their own plethora of Hulk product into stores. Hulk saw release as a Pocket Hero, a 12-inch “Fly Away” figure, even a Stretch Armstrong knockoff! At the time it must have seen like the Hulk was a license to print money. Well, at least until Mego was sued for stealing corporate secrets pertaining to how the Stretch Armstrong figures were manufactured! Funny how a company can produce representations of morally upright heroes without following their example.
There was more to collecting Hulk than action figures. Inexpensive rack toys put Marvel super heroes within easy reach of tiny hands, and small but industrious companies scrambled to find ways to creatively market their limited range of product. 
Funstuf’s Spider-Man web-shooter proved popular enough that the Jade Giant was issued his own version. The Incredible Hulk Flying Fist may have been the same old thing in a new package, but that didn’t stop young Anthill from buying one. Hell, over the course of one summer I bought at least four. Hey, if it was good enough for Web-head, it was good enough for Hulk! Now pull that dart out of your eye and go play!
If ripping-off Spider-Man’s web shooter is fair game, can Batman’s utility belt be far behind? Featuring items Hulk would never use and designed for a waistline in the single digits, even the most ardent fan could be forgiven for skipping this one. It doesn’t even hold your pants up! That said, it does come with a “Gamma Radiation Detector” so Hulk can find his hooptie at the mall.
If a van ever screamed “stranger danger” it’s this one. Seriously, how far do you think the Hulk would get in this before a cop pulled him over? The only thing “incredible” about it was he thought he could get away with it!
“Hey, kid, you wanna meet the Hulk?”
“Wow! Sure!”
“Well, just climb up into this windowless van…”
For the more artistically inclined, Presto-Magix provided Hulk rub-on transfer sets. I was pretty taken by these — the opportunity to “create my own comic” using art by Marvel greats like John Romita Sr and John Buscema was irresistible. The fact these sets were sold in drug stores alongside coloring books made them a cheap and easy form of entertainment in the Anthill.
As fun as creative play was, sometimes a kid just wanted to Hulk-out and smash something. Here, Remco makes a promise it couldn’t possibly keep with their Incredible Hulk Instant Muscles:
You had me at “Hello,” Remco. Now make with the goods!
Sigh. I begged, I pleaded for these — I wasted a week’s worth of good behavior on this crap! All they did was make young Anthill slightly more buoyant. I couldn’t even drown myself in shame…
This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as vintage Hulk collectibles go, but you get the idea. So what is it about the Hulk that makes the character so compelling? If I had to sum it all up, I’d say it was thanks to his uncomplicated nature. It a world of armor-clad industrialists, shield-slinging super-soldiers and hammer-wielding gods, I think that the Hulk comes the closest to a normal everyday Joe. The perfect analogue is that cranky old man down the block who just wants the neighborhood kids to stay off his lawn — he’s not a bad guy, he’s just misunderstood. Thanks to the interconnectivity of social media and the Internet, it’s harder than ever to simply be left alone. In a world where even misunderstood mutants divide up into nice little teams, Hulk remains a solitary being, a man truly on the outside. I guess that’s why we can all relate to him.
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Jason R Mink is the Man in the Anthill!
