View All
Man of Steel Figures
Green Lantern Life Sized Bust Preview
Clones Approaching
Today we are excited to present an insider’s look into the sculpting of our Incredible Hulk Premium Format Figure – direct from sculptor Andy Bergholtz!
Anyone that knows me knows what a huge fan I am of The Incredible Hulk, so it was a great pleasure to be able to work on Sideshow’s Premium Format rendition of the character. This project was unique for me, because it’s one of the ultra-rare instances where I was given the freedom to design the piece from the ground up.
My favorite depiciton of the Hulk has always been the “classic” silver-age era Hulk, as portrayed by legends such as Jack Kirby and Sal Buscema. This era of the Hulk’s history has been captured very seldom in toys & collectibles however, which is one of the reasons I felt so strongly that Sideshow’s 1:4 scale beast should reflect a more classic design.
The Hulk has been depicted many times in sculpture, most often shown in some variation of immense anger and rage, etc. Of course I love that side of the monster (who doesn’t?), but one of my favorite things about the Hulk has always been Stan Lee’s original concept of the character being sort of a cross between Frankenstein and Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde. I’ve always loved the slow-witted, lumbering brute that was often portrayed in the earlier comics and felt this was a perfect opportunity to bring that persona to life in 3D. The creative group at Sideshow was completely on board, and after a few rounds of concept sketches we finally agreed on a pose. 
I tried to maintain a certain level of realism in the anatomy and details, constantly fighting the urge to push the musculature over the edge into ‘vein-popping roid-rage’ territory. The concept of ‘restraining’ the musculature on a Hulk sculpture sounds a little silly, but it was a crucial part of staying true to the silver-age look we were aiming for (as opposed to the more tight, zero-body-fat, ‘ripped’ depictions of the 80′s and 90′s, etc). 
We’re all very happy with the end result, and I think we’ve created one of the most unique (and biggest!) Hulk collectibles on the market. 
Email this page to a friend:
Sculpting the Incredible Hulk…
response
Sculpting the Incredible Hulk…
Monday, August 28th, 2006 at 7:09 pm
You could win by commenting! Learn how
News Archives
Browse past Sideshow news stories by time period. Use the drop-down to select the past month/year you'd like to view.
News Categories
Find Sideshow news stories for a specific category. Use the drop-down to select the category of news you'd like to view.
Wow. This just freaking blows me away. I’ve been an illustrator for many years and have taken up sculpting in classes recently, so I know how hard it is to make something like this work from all angles and look like something in existence (the Kirby version) already…and only 2d existence at that! I am not gonna put anyone else down (I had a similarly flabbergasted reaction to the Shiflett bros), just say the attention to detail and dynamic posting is just incredible!
Wow thats amazing, very nicly done. good work =)
Stunning detail, the muscles in the back are amazing.
Mike, to call it an exact copy is insane. Their arms are posed similarly and they are both the Hulk, but the similarities end there. Different face, stance, anatomy… pretty much everything. Artists tend to take it very personally if you accuse them of copying someone else’s work, so you shouldn’t throw out baseless accusations like that. At most, I’d say it was inspired by the Shiflett Brothers’ Hulk, or maybe they were both inspired by the same drawing. Either way, stop being a troll and recognize that this is a thing of creative beauty.
Stunning work…One of the best Hulks…if not the best ever!
He looks pretty pissed off about having that pole up his…
;P
Amazing work!
I must say, this is one of the most outstanding sculpts I have ever seen. Not only did you choose to model it from the greatest version of the Hulk, but the detail, composition, and overall gesture is excellent. A masterpiece, sir, and I am proud to say you have earned yet another fan. Absolutely astonishing.
These are amazing!
seriously… that Shiflett Brothers thing is’nt even half as good as this. Bad anatomy, bad pose. this sculpt is miles ahead of it. this is the one I’ve been waiting for!
Wow. Wow. WOW! I cannot believe that I’m inclined to use the words “perfect” and “beautiful” to describe a sculpture of a comic book character, but … wow. The artistry and skill evident in this work make me swoon. If I had the cash and the space to display this gorgeous item, I’d purchase it without hesitation. Perhaps I’ll start saving for it anyway. I’m sure I’ll find someplace to put it!
I’m happy to say I have been able to preorder this beautiful sculpture. I was slightly disappointed though, to see real cloth trousers on the production version instead of the tattered sculpted version shown here in the production blog. The nicest piece of sculpture I’ve seen in a long while. Can’t wait to get mine!
Alan
Come to think of it. All of the detail is amazing. – Well done!
The details of the hands are amazing – simply amazing.
awesome work andy. good choice not to go overboard on the musculature, he looks much more realistic like this. and i must say his muscles are awesome looking. too bad there isn’t a “pantless” version,the “bare”sculpt ispretty cool, love those gluets!
Yours is the most logical, realistic and perfect depiction of the jolly grey-green giant and that is why I have chosen you to sculpt the premium format Creature From The Black Lagoon. Hint. Hint.
Andy… thanks for the behind the scenes on this awesome sculpt. One of the best Hulk Representations I have ever seen.. genius work.
i think this work is amazing. you lot got the best job in the world. what type of clay do u use, and what advise would u give to some one starting off who is making his own models.
Now then……..Sideshow Collectibles is one of my most favorite companies out there. I intend to visit next year and try to take a tour…………having said that…….I am so suprised that your Hulk passed legal as it is an exact copy of the earlier release from the Shiflett Brothers. While the talents of Mr. Bergholtz are not to be denied, certainly his creativity must be challenged here, as all this sculpt is, is an exact duplicate of an earlier sculpt. Come on, I expect more creativity out of SideShow rather than to copy someone elses work.
Awsome!, Just down right awsome! So glad to see that you hired the right person to sculp the Hulk, with the best of his artistic ability. You can see the love of the character, truly incredible! Thanks to Mr. Andy Bergholtz, for creating a great representation of how big a Hulk fan I, and many others are! Nice!
You might want to consider the sales potential of the original pants-free test model. Someone once asked why everything ripped off the Hulk except his pants, and I said “There are some things woman was not meant to know.”
Money and space. Those are the two things that are stopping me from snapping one of these up huge suckers.
The work on his hands alone are amazing, or should I say…incredible.
LUV the hulk figure, it really shows how great things are achieved when you consider the artists feelings behind the characters they do.I’m sure this will be a fast sell out! Keep up the excellent work!
You can count me in as a fan.
Hulking the incredable sculpt
has a nice ring!
That looks absolutely incredible. I’m curious as to how you acheived the skin texturing.
I really want one of these now.
Andy B is the best toy sculpt I know…..
wow!