Review of 76031 The Hulk Buster Smash and 76104 The Hulkbuster Smash Up

'The end is near.' 
Are you excited to see Thanos destroy half the universe this April? I am! So let's snap our fingers and start this new combo review of mine. 
Six sets to collect is quite heavy to my pocket so I start with this much sought after set, plus a combo with the previous Hulkbuster set as a comparison. 
Is it too much to hope for a support set (UCS Hulkbuster) from LEGO for me to review? Hmm...
'I hope they remember you' 

Introduction

Tony keeps making new suits for himself and Hulkbusters with Banner to contain Hulk that lose control. Here we got Hulkbuster Mark I from Age of Ultron and Mark II from Infinity War LEGO sets. The main build of these two sets are the Hulkbusters itself and a small build of the partial Hulk cage and a ball shooter piloted by Proxima midnight and outriders.

Let's start. Oh, spoiler alert, the soul stone is here!

Overview

Name: 76031 The Hulk Buster Smash
Year: 2015
Pieces: 248
Minifigures: 4
Price: £29.99 / $29.99 / 34.99€

Name: 76104 The Hulkbuster Smash-Up
Year: 2018
Pieces: 375
Minifigures: 4
Price: £29.99 / $29.99 / 34.99€

The Box

The front of the boxes featured the Hulkbusters in action and the minifigures included. The size of both sets are the same but the 2018 version is with 375 pieces at the same price. No wonder it had become a hard to find item in my place. 

At the back of the box you can see Bruce jumped out of the Hulkbuster and grab the soul stone. I thought he is supposed to Hulk out? The outrider looks scared and ran away, quite weird of what's happening here. The old box features scarlet witch and ultron in the battle but in the movie, the fight is only focused on Hulk and the huge iron man. So is it telling us that the new box art is not that accurate to the movie? I guess we'll know this 25th of April. 

Proxima Midnight and Iron Man Mark 43 in actual size. I think the super jumper (minifig leg destroyer) is not being included anymore. 

The Content

The comic book is very nicely printed and I'm glad that sticker sheet is so small. Hulk is still in the plastic and three numbered bags.

In 76104 we get four numbered bags with a sticker sheet. bag one, bag two, bag three, and bag four. We get four infinity stones in bag one still attached to the sprue. 

The Build

These are the small builds in the sets. I didn't pay much attention to them as I'm very excited to proceed to the Hulkbusters! The turret shoots a ball by pressing the serrated arm. The center of the arm is flexible enabled it to squeeze out the ball. For 76031, the cage for the Hulk is built with a trans clear bar to make scarlet witch fly above the Hulk. 

There is a compartment storing the soul stone at the back of the turret. So the stone is with the outrider all these times? How confusing! 

Here you go. I love the trans orange new part for the infinity stones. Can't wait to get Thanos and the gauntlet along with all the stones!

The Minifigures

Iron Man Mark 43. He is with a round chest piece and the gold red prints. The torso is very detailed as usual and Tony's face is similar to most of other LEGO iron mans. 

A comparison with a later version of iron man in civil war. Mark 46. Tony added blue lights all over the torso and covered part of the chest circle. The helmet is pretty much the same.

Blue lights at the back too. You can check all previous versions of iron man here. 

Scarlet Witch. This is a younger version of her that serves Ultron to avenge her parents. I like the dark red jacket here but why her power is blue instead of pink?

The civil war Wanda has longer hair, a skirt and a more matured look. The faces and red eyes are the same, but the torso changed. But where did the leg printings go?

Hulk! Now you are outnumbered. We have two Hulkbusters. This is the angrier version of Hulk affected by Wanda's magic. Seriously, what did she showed Banner made him so furious? 

Compared to previous versions, this one actually have a line at the collar bone area indicating that the head is shaped by new mold just to make his hair like this. But it is not separable from the torso. The skin tone is similar to the Ragnarok version. Only the pants changed color after two years in Sakaar. Pollution maybe?

Ultron Prime. This is the Ultron which amputated Klaue's left hand. I like the overall printings on his head and torso and legs. The red lights also looked glowing like fluid flowing through his body.

Bruce Banner. We have another Banner in human form after Ragnarok. All things similar but there are some dirt on his shirt in my copy. 

Can anyone clarify? Or is it a minute difference that makes him exclusive to this set?

Falcon. He is another highlight in this set who had a new brick-built wings. They are attached to him with the trans clear 1x2 rounded edge plate. Underneath the plate the printings also resembles a closed wing as a backpack. 

The brick built wings are actually quite heavy for him as a minifigure, but the trans red cone fire gave quite a good support for him. The wings are awesome as it is flexible in horizontal way! It can now folded in front of him to block bullets.

Thanos does give the Avengers some level of stress making Falcon's suit darker than the civil war version. He is in Wakanda in the trailer with Cap, does that means that the wings got vibranium upgrades too? No more carbon fibre? I think the brick built wings are so much nicer than the previous one.

Proxima Midnight. One of the Black Order of Thanos. She gets a bright blue hair treatment in LEGO form and a sweet smiley face. However, you won't like when she is angry and holding her spear. 

Pearl gold arm and the white colored arm is very nicely matched with the armor printed torso. Do you think the grandmaster would show up in Infinity War? Hmm..His melt stick would be a great weapon against the mad titan, no?

Thanos's new minions, outriders. He has the other four arm attached to this new part that attached to him like a backpack. I love the black and gold color combination here. He does look like spider from the side.

The back also printed very well underneath the four armed backpack. 

Bad guys army. 

The head does look like an eye, right?

Go get the Avengers!

The Highlights of these two sets.

Are you ready for some Hulkbusting? 

Let's start with the most exclusive part in the set. The dome shaped head with gold color printings. Mark II have more lines and the eyes looks angrier than the previous version.

Side by side. Wow, just wow. Both are very fine build of the robot but I prefer the Infinity War version as it looks bulkier and detailed compared to the skinnier version. Mark II also looks 'complete' with the stickers applied.

Let's open up. The first version is with a brown 2x4 tile inside, looks primitive. Mark II looks more technologically advanced as it got a interconnected gear inside the pilot's seat.

Spoiler alert. It's a bit late for this spoiler though. Now everybody knows Banner is the one piloting the latest version of hulkbuster. I like the fit of a minifigure inside the space. Just nice rather than spacious in the first version.
 

Sideways. Mark I have a straighter posture. Mark II kind of lean forward but both are very stable. I really love the trans blue knob that turns his right arm 360 degrees creating a hurling action. It can be locked just by clutching in the knob.

Mark I is using the bionicle shoulder pad while Mark II has a shinier buildable figure era shoulder pads. The back looks nice too as the antistuds are quite covered up.

Sitting position. Mark I has a better articulation at the hip area enables him to sit more properly than Mark II. Mark II kind of lack one angle at the hip area. Some modifications are needed to help him sit.

Comparison of LEGO buildable figures. Mark II is taller than Mark I and quite similar height with Giant man. Sadly I don't have the UCS version to compare here. Tree beard and K2SO are way taller than them. 

The sole of their foot is quite wide enabled them to stand with one leg and dance off!

Conclusion

Both sets are so nice and I can't find a reason not to have them in my collection. The Hulkbusters are so nicely built and they looked great standing next to each other.

Review Summary
Playability: 9/10 - They are very nice to play with especially the posability of both Hulkbusters.
Design / Building Experience: 8/10 - The design is very nice but not really movie accurate. They look quite different from the movie and still very skinny even for Mark II.
Minifigures:  9/10 - Great minifigures! All the printings and the details are marvelous! Except for Proxima who looks a little bit cartoonish. 
Overall: 9/10 - These two sets are must buy for hulkbuster fans like me. They are really nice to pose and play and photograph with! They do make me kind of ignored the existence of the minifigures in the sets. Haha.

Hope you enjoy the review, do share your thoughts in the comments! 

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