Super Heroes Marvel

The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition

A gorgeous dark red giant that looks better than it moves.

Brick Rated Score

3.7/5

Set 76105 · 2018

Pieces1,363

Minifigs1

Year2018

Set number76105

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The verdict

This one is all about that dark red and pearl gold armour, and honestly it photographs like a dream on a shelf.

The catch is the legs barely move, so you get exactly two poses and that's it. If you want a big bruising display piece and you already love the Age of Ultron look, you'll be happy. If you want an articulated mech you can pose and fiddle with, this will frustrate you.

Best for: MCU fans who want a big display Hulkbuster and don't need it to pose

The full review

What it is

Here's the thing about the Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition, it's a big, brawny slab of a LEGO® set that leans hard into looking the part. Standing over 25cm tall on its own and nearer 28cm on the display base, this is the armour Tony Stark climbs into to go toe to toe with a rampaging Hulk, and LEGO clearly wanted it to feel that heavy and imposing. The colour work is the star. Deep dark red panels layered over pearl gold detailing, curved slopes everywhere, and a build that keeps handing you satisfying chunks of bodywork to clip into place. When it's done and sitting on a shelf, it really does have presence. This was released in March 2018 as part of the celebration of ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so it was always meant to be a showpiece rather than a fidget toy.

The catch

Now for the honest bits, and there are a few. The articulation is where most builders got let down. There's no knee joint and no forward or backward movement in the legs, so your posing options are basically stand up straight or stand with the legs apart. The arms move, and there's a fun jackhammer arm you can swap in with a punching action, plus a light brick in the chest you trigger with a button on the back. But the lower half stays stiff, which makes dynamic poses impossible and knocks it down as an accurate display of the film character. Reviewers were pretty split at launch too. The Brothers Brick summed up the common gripe well, saying it tries to do a little bit of display and a little bit of play and doesn't do either brilliantly, especially at the original 120 dollar price. Brickset builders landed it around 4.2 out of 5, so plenty of people still love it, but go in knowing it's more statue than action figure.

Who it's for

So who should grab this one? If you're a Marvel MCU fan who wants a big, good looking Hulkbuster to sit on a shelf and you don't care whether it can strike a pose, you'll get exactly what you came for, and that exclusive Mark 43 Iron Man is a nice bonus. It's also a brilliant dark red parts pack if you like customising, because plenty of people have modified this exact set to add better joints. Skip it if you were hoping for a poseable mech you can play with, or if the price on the aftermarket puts you off, since it retired in December 2019 and now trades well above its original tag. Eyes open, it's a handsome, flawed set that rewards the right kind of fan.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build comes in nine numbered bags plus one unnumbered bag of larger base parts, guided by a single chunky 183-page booklet. You start with that flat display platform, which has a flip-up Hulkbuster information plate and eight attachment points for two posable robotic construction arms and a little desk, so there's some scene setting before you even reach the mech. Then it's into the legs and torso, and this is where the pace picks up, because you're constantly cladding a sturdy inner frame with big curved dark red panels. It's a rhythmic, panel-after-panel kind of build that feels weighty in a good way, and the arms with the swappable jackhammer attachment give you a bit of mechanical fun near the end.

On pieces, the headline is dark red. This set is a genuine goldmine of dark red curved slopes and bricks, which is why so many customisers snap it up as a parts pack. The pearl gold accents dotted through the armour add that premium sheen, and the light brick tucked in the chest is a nice functional inclusion. The single minifigure is the exclusive Iron Man Mark 43, new for March 2018 and unique to this set, with a printed design that nods to the suit being folded into the Hulkbuster armour. At 1,363 pieces for a 120 dollar launch price the per-part value was only okay rather than great, which fed some of the price grumbles, but if you value big specialised panels and a rare minifig over raw brick count, the mix makes more sense.

Fun facts

01The set launched in March 2018 as part of LEGO's celebration of the first ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
02The included Iron Man Mark 43 minifigure is exclusive to this set, its printing inspired by how the suit integrates with the Hulkbuster armour.
03It comes with two interchangeable left arms, and the jackhammer swap recreates a specific punch from the Hulk fight in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
04It retired in December 2019 and has climbed well past its original 120 dollar RRP, with sealed copies trading around 175 dollars.