Review: 76312 The Hulk Truck vs. Thanos
Posted by CapnRex101,
Though the Hulk rarely drives vehicles, I think a monster truck suits the character's tremendous size and strength. In addition, these trucks have typically been excellent toys, so 76312 The Hulk Truck vs. Thanos has considerable potential too.
This model bears a close resemblance to 76174 Spider-Man's Monster Truck vs. Mysterio, including a similar suspension mechanism. I think that should work in its favour because the previous set was certainly appealing for play, so I anticipate equal play value here.
Summary
76312 The Hulk Truck vs. Thanos, 229 pieces.
£24.99 / $34.99 / €29.99 | 10.9p/15.3c/13.1c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Hulk's monster truck is fairly unremarkable on the whole, but appealing for play
- Tactile and fun for play
- New Thanos minifigure
- Suspension could look better
- Hulk lacks dual-moulded legs
- Overpriced in the US
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
Bigfig versions of the Hulk tend to be preferable for play, though a minifigure obviously has an easier time interacting with vehicles. This design originates from 76287 Iron Man with Bike and the Hulk and features plenty of detail on the torso and double-sided head, including hints of hair. The purple legs are disappointing though, relative to the dual-moulded legs used previously.
Thanos actually includes a new torso, which is a nice bonus, but arguably unnecessary when the minifigure from 76242 Thanos Mech Armour would suffice. Nevertheless, I like the metallic gold chest armour and its transition to the golden shoulder armour piece on top, plus the lighter blue accents on the torso. Thanos' head also looks excellent, competing with the Hulk for who seems angrier.
I find it funny that Hulk believes it necessary to wear a crash helmet into battle against Thanos, but I am glad he is taking safety seriously! Thanos wears a golden glove, introduced in Legends of Chima, as the Infinity Gauntlet and carries the Tesseract, represented by a trans-light blue Minecraft head.
The Completed Model
There are plenty of LEGO monster trucks and vehicles of roughly this size are common. The model is particularly reminiscent of 76174 Spider-Man's Monster Truck vs. Mysterio, which is hardly surprising because both sets were designed by Adam Grabowski. The idea of a Spider-Man monster truck was criticised back in 2021, but the actual design was satisfying, so I see little reason for a dramatic overhaul.
The truck's proportions look very much like a standard pickup truck body mounted on a much bigger chassis, which is how monster trucks were built historically. I appreciate that traditional style, although the suspension is quite visible underneath and includes a few unsightly colours, such as blue Technic pins.
Similarly, a couple of yellow bricks can be seen beneath the wheel arches, which look strange against the lime green bodywork. This is a great colour choice for the Hulk and I like the many trans-green lights as well. Furthermore, a sticker on the bonnet provides some detail, although using the hairstyle from the Hulk's recent bigfigs instead of the included minifigure is odd.
Two more stickers are applied on the sides. Part of me wonders whether these stickers could have been avoided, but the model would probably look bland without them. There is space for the Hulk inside, seated behind a basic steering wheel.
Unusually, the back of the cab is open, with trans-clear panels reinforcing the sides. I like the light bluish grey stanchions supporting the light bar, although more could arguably have been done with the truck bed, which is totally empty. I suppose the storage is helpful though, should Hulk recover the Tesseract.
The suspension mechanism is near-identical to 76174 Spider-Man's Monster Truck vs. Mysterio, incorporating rubber Technic beams as shock absorbers, which allow the axles to rock back and forth in relation to the truck body. Ideally, there would be vertical compression too, but that would probably require proper springs.
As ever, functional suspension is brilliant for play and the vehicle can traverse obstacles quite easily. I think the suspension's appearance could be better though, as the only real details are some grey 1x1 round bricks. On the other hand, the purple wheel hubs are attractive and really emphasise the Hulk theming.
Overall
76312 The Hulk Truck vs. Thanos is very much a pure play set, which is hardly surprising for a Hulk-themed monster truck! The suspension functions nicely and I like the bold colour scheme, other than those dashes of yellow above the wheels. Moreover, the minifigures are reasonable, but certainly not essential for collectors.
The prices of £24.99 or €29.99 in Europe feel about right to me, but $34.99 in the US is much too expensive, compared with equivalent Marvel sets. Obviously, this is not a set designed for teenage and adult fans, but for younger children, it definitely does its job.
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37 comments on this article
Hulk DRIVE!!!
Good review as always.
That yellow helmet hasn't been seen in a regular retail set since 2003! (it was also used in a 2009 minifigure pack, but that wasn't widely available as it was only sold from August to November of that year)
"Though the Hulk rarely drives vehicles, I think a monster truck suits the character's tremendous size and strength." I can't help but think about the Hulk Transformers: https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Hulk None of those were monster trucks, though.
Thanos doesn't stand a chance now!
Quibble: the minifigure gloves were first introduced in Legends of Chima, a year before Ultra Agents.
(I inagine they could have been developed for Ultra Agents, but debuted in Chima if Ultra Agents was delayed.)
It's really shame that one of coolest Monstertrucks lego made is in such overpriced set
That Hulk smiling face and yellow helmet would make a great little Martian figure with right torso.
While not as bad as the US price, I still feel €30 is rather much for a single, not particularly large vehicle with two simple minifigs....
@560heliport said:
"Quibble: the minifigure gloves were first introduced in Legends of Chima, a year before Ultra Agents.
(I inagine they could have been developed for Ultra Agents, but debuted in Chima if Ultra Agents was delayed.) "
Thanks, I was not aware of that and have updated the article accordingly.
Even looking at it from the eyes of a kid, I'm amazed that toys from the infinity saga are still selling.
Why would Hulk ever need a truck? He can just jump his way anywhere and beat the traffic! A set with Hulk and a bunch of crushed cars he just jumped on or smashed would have made more sense to me, and would have looked much cooler!
It feels like we keep getting sets of super heroes in vehicles vs. a minifig-sized Thanos…
Come on Lego, balance the scales and give us the Thanoscopter, you cowards!
@bricks4everyone said:
"Why would Hulk ever need a truck? He can just jump his way anywhere and beat the traffic! A set with Hulk and a bunch of crushed cars he just jumped on or smashed would have made more sense to me, and would have looked much cooler!"
Easy to do; just dump the pieces from this set right in the ground and don’t build them, boom, instant car wreckage!
Hulk stay safe. Hulk wear helmet.
Seems like the set would be a kid pleaser. Parents may never get past the price however.
This set is clearly from the type of superhero media that doesn't take itself seriously.
If only Thanos had a vehicle of some sort he could chase the Hulk's truck with. Perhaps some sort of aircraft. Maybe, to pull an example from the air, a helicopter?
There's a pair of elements that provides a similar rocker suspension, but limited to 4-wide vehicles. I'm wondering if this larger version was cribbed off of that design.
And regarding the odd colors in the chassis, when you start getting into high end car parts, you want people to know that you've got the good stuff, and the company who produced them wants everyone to know that you specifically chose their stuff. I remember the first time I saw bright red brake calipers through a fairly open wheel design, I though it looked really weird because the brakes did not match the body color at all. Since then, I know I've also seen bright yellow calipers. So it's pretty realistic that there would be some odd-colored parts visible in the exposed chassis.
@elangab:
Marvel's kind of having a bit of a, "Remember when we did the Infinity Saga?" moment lately. It's not so much that it still sells, but that nothing new really does. Or if it would, it's off-limits for toy companies.
Neither of these characters would need a vehicle in a fight. Or maybe they do, because they've shrunk!
Thanos: "I have an army."
Hulk: "We have a truck."
I'm okay with Hulk having a monster truck, but I can't quite come to terms with Hulk needing to wear a crash-helmet. That's where this gets weird, for me.
@Zordboy said:
"I'm okay with Hulk having a monster truck, but I can't quite come to terms with Hulk needing to wear a crash-helmet. That's where this gets weird, for me. "
"Hulk puny minifig now! Hulk cannot ignore safety!"
Would've been better to have the Hulk as a big-fig and Thanos drives the truck with a pearl gold crash helmet.
Is this not based off a real life monster truck?
@Emmafofemma said:
"Is this not based off a real life monster truck?"
Nope. Totally fictional.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Zordboy said:
"I'm okay with Hulk having a monster truck, but I can't quite come to terms with Hulk needing to wear a crash-helmet. That's where this gets weird, for me. "
"Hulk puny minifig now! Hulk cannot ignore
safety!""
“HULK GOOD EXAMPLE TO KIDS! KIDS NOT AS STRONG AS HULK! KIDS NEED HELMETS!”
@legoDad42 said:
"Would've been better to have the Hulk as a big-fig and Thanos drives the truck with a pearl gold crash helmet."
Would have been better to have Deadpool driving a taco truck and...nope. That's it. Just Deadpool and tacos.
@PurpleDave said:
" @legoDad42 said:
"Would've been better to have the Hulk as a big-fig and Thanos drives the truck with a pearl gold crash helmet."
Would have been better to have Deadpool driving a taco truck and...nope. That's it. Just Deadpool and tacos."
Tacos? Don't you mean chimichangas?
@TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @legoDad42 said:
"Would've been better to have the Hulk as a big-fig and Thanos drives the truck with a pearl gold crash helmet."
Would have been better to have Deadpool driving a taco truck and...nope. That's it. Just Deadpool and tacos."
Tacos? Don't you mean chimichangas?"
Deadpool goes both ways. Besides, who ever heard of a chimichanga truck? No, seriously, while he is frequently associated with chimichangas, I've seen several toys and at least one piece of artwork depicting Deadpool operating a taco truck.
This looked cool when announced, and looks great in promotional stock images, but the actual build left me feeling disappointed and deflated. It really is quite a bland and boring set to build, especially the first bag.
The choice of Lime Green instead of Bright Green was odd, and looks wrong in my opinion. Another example of LEGO forcing this ugly colour on us, which is over-used (likewise with the orange). Random yellow parts that are visible also look odd on the undercarriage. The lack of proper doors also looks wrong, as does the lack of a proper floor or even a chair inside for Hulk to sit in. The inclusion of a helmet feels a bit off and wrong for the character, so into the spares box that goes.
The suspension is disappointing, and makes the vehicle feel very strange to play with. The body of the vehicle tends to lean one way or the other, but rarely stays upright. I would have preferred proper suspension, or something similar to other LEGO monster trucks. The overall feel of the vehicle feels odd, with the top half rocking from side to side.
Also, the price seemed a bit over-priced for so few parts, considering Speed Champions cars have more parts for less money. I suppose the inclusion of two character minifigs bumps up the price considerably though.
Look, what probably should be a 20 USD set...
Easy pass for me, but our younger friends may enjoy playing with their Hulk and Thanos figures.
@Gemini_Phoenix, regarding lime green: I thought it worked well on 8991. But then, I'd already built a Bionicle MOC with that color scheme that was supposed to be an evil Toa when that set came out.
This looks like a great set!
@Ridgeheart said:
" @PixelTheDragon said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @Zordboy said:
"I'm okay with Hulk having a monster truck, but I can't quite come to terms with Hulk needing to wear a crash-helmet. That's where this gets weird, for me. "
"Hulk puny minifig now! Hulk cannot ignore
safety!""
“HULK GOOD EXAMPLE TO KIDS! KIDS NOT AS STRONG AS HULK! KIDS NEED HELMETS!”"
I remember a comic where the Hulk was so fed up with Banner that he asked Doctor Doom to excise that part of his brain with an adamantium chainsaw. I'm guessing that incident took place AFTER this scene, where the Credible Hulk strictly adheres to roadside-safety regulations.
Don't worry, Puny Banner! Credible Hulk protect soft, mushy scientist with crash-helmet when Hulk CRASH. Now, where Puny Planner? Hulk have doctor's appointment to make."
That run was so disappointing.
Hulk having a monster truck is such a ridiculous idea that I love it! The set looks great
@bricks4everyone said:
"Why would Hulk ever need a truck? He can just jump his way anywhere and beat the traffic! A set with Hulk and a bunch of crushed cars he just jumped on or smashed would have made more sense to me, and would have looked much cooler!"
It's clearly not the hulk. They are just fans at a fan expo. This explains why the tesseract is not in the gauntlet.. why carry the stone when you have a glove that holds them for you..?
Clearly, the Hulk in this set is just someone who painted themselves green. Also, why he's not a big fig. Will look great in my Comic Con display.