ruce Banner began life with an adoring mother, Rebecca, and abusive scientist father, Brian Banner. His alcoholic father, believing his son's intelligence to be a mutation, hated the boy's relationship with his mother. During an attempt to flee with her son, Rebecca Banner was killed by Dr. Banner. Bruce's murderous father was institutionalized, and Bruce, raised by an aunt, devoted his life to science.
While he was working for the Defense Department in New Mexico, a civilian wandered into the testing ground for a new gamma bomb. Bruce ran to rescue the civilian, leaving an undercover Soviet agent in charge of shutting down the blast. The impostor did nothing, hoping the death of Banner and the civilian would halt progress on the device. Banner was irradiated with radioactive particles and transformed into a large, gray creature that has enormous strength and intelligence but is easily enraged.
The much-anticipated new Ang Lee film has brought this character's story to the fore again, having been relegated to the position of a lesser hero in the Marvel library, behind the X-Men and Spider-Man. But the Hulk has a large, faithful following, and the character has been featured in numerous comic series, even spawning a beloved television series starring Bill Bixby as Bruce Banner and Lou Ferrigno as his alter ego, the Hulk.
With the coming film, starring Eric Bana, comes a new merchandising blitz. Currently there can be found many different action figures based on the huge green monster, with varying degrees of accuracy and desirability. But standing out from the ordinary merchandise are Toy Biz's Electronic Hulk Hands with Smash'n'Bash Sound Effects. These huge green foam fists are packaged in an open-faced box, and are quite conspicuous on any toy shelf. Each fist measures 8 inches by 7 inches by 11 inches.
Molded in detail from soft spongy foam, these fists are designed to fit over the wearer's hands. Inside each fist is a bar to hold and a hollow contour for the hands, which is a little small for adults but just right for kids. At the inside wrists are several small holes for speakers, as the fists emit sound samples when hit. At the cross-section of the arm is the easily accessed battery cover.
The samples range from loud crunches, crashing noises and roars to the fan favorite "Hulk smash!"
Hulk's Electronic Fists are not intended as protective devices for the hands. They take 4 AAA batteries, two for each fist.
Foam fists of guilty fun
It was a little shocking at first to see this toy on shelves at all. In an age when guns and violent toys are shunned by overprotective parents, it seems almost a defiance that Toy Biz would produce a toy whose apparent purpose is to hit things. Yet the reaction in the aisles of kids and adults alike has been universal. I watched several people pass these on shelves, and consistently they picked them up and immediately began tapping other people and things to hear the sound effects. And the smiles were immediate.
As with Sockem Boppers, those inflated beach-ball-like fist covers used to mimic a pillow fight, the urge to use these as cathartic, harmless boxing gloves is overwhelming, and despite the fact that the box clearly and repeatedly states they are not to be used to hit people or objects, there are very few other uses for these fists.
It is possible they will be used as intended—for fantasy dress-up—but for the most part these will be used to whack people in mock battles that will be noisy but essentially harmless, and as fun as an actual pillow fight without the blizzard of feathers.
Unlike Sockem Boppers, these massive sponge fists are detailed, with actual skinlike wrinkles, bulging veins, even ridged fingernails. While the mold joins are quite obvious, so too is the attention to detail, despite the medium used—sponge foam—which often reduces detail. These really do look like immensely clenched fists, with all the muscles bulging in all the right places.
Be warned if you shop online that the most often-used publicity photo shows black spray-painted highlights that must have been used on the prototype but did not make it to production. The detail on the finished product is entirely in the molding. There is no paint or extra color added—just the green foam rubber. And that is all that's needed.
Like the Jekyll-Hyde story that is the basis of the Hulk's premise, these toys can cause an immediate love-hate feeling, almost a guilt that we're enjoying hitting things and having the visceral auditory reaction to the impacts.
But whatever your opinion is of violence in toys these days, these are truly harmless and fun if used properly. These are quite soft, and the sound mechanism is quite sensitive to any sudden movement or impact.
I think that once you get going, you'll find you can't put them down—at least without making a large racket.
