Hulk
The Hulk is brilliant. Not the smart one. Not the dude with the magic shiny thing or the tyrannical thunder god. He’s the guy who gets so mad he smashes things and it’s satisfying as hell to watch him do that, whatever your age. Whether you’re shopping for that kid who just got into him via the movies or your thirty year old Hulk virgin hiding behind the Justice League onesies, it’s the same appeal. Unbridled, rampaging POWER painted the most ridiculous shade of green and a personality ranging from horrifically awful to hilariously comic.
The problem is that figuring out what to get someone who loves the Hulk is surprisingly difficult. Figurines and merch all over the place are so cheaply made with awful paint jobs and are designed by people who don’t actually care about him. We sorted through that nonsense so you don’t have to. What you’re left with is things we would sincerely give as gifts ourselves. Figurines that actually feel weighty, and we mean that literately and figuratively.
We’ve included stuff for serious collectors right down to ones your kid can pick up without breaking anything. Some of it you’d display, literally; pieces that are going to sit proudly on a shelf rather than being tossed into a toybox never to be seen again. Some of it you’ll actually use every day; mugs, t-shirts, backpacks, stuff like that where the Hulk theme isn’t tacked on as an afterthought but fits naturally with the design. We put some thought into who these gifts would be for because Hulk newbie or not, a seven year old and a Marvel nerd who’s been collecting since Mickey’s first appearance are going to want wildly different stuff. Both are valid, and both should be treated as such.
Speaking of treating correctly, every single piece in here we liked because it was good. Not because it was easy to find, not because we needed to hit an arbitrary number, but we looked at it and said “Yep. That’s the shit.” The Hulk made his first appearance back in 1962 and people are still debating if Bruce is better seen as a tragedy or an ultimate triumph. That’s the kind of legacy you earn by getting lots of cool gifts.