by Ken Tuccio

I made it pretty clear to anyone who asked that I was really looking forward to the most recent Incredible Hulk movie, and for the record, it didn’t disappoint.

I'm one of the rare few who didn’t hate the previous Ang Lee-directed flick, but this movie had much more appeal to me than the first one did, mainly because of who was involved. I’ve long been a fan of the Hulk character, and I’ve always been a big fan of Edward Norton as well, so a combination of the two seemed like a cinematic version of peanut butter and jelly; meaning it seemed perfect in every way.

Obviously, as with any summer blockbuster, the stores were swamped with Incredible Hulk related merchandise. I was proud of myself however, because as much as I wanted to swipe up ever green item in the toy section, I kept my cool and only purchased one action figure. It was tough to do that though, as there was so much awesome Incredible Hulk merchandise that I wanted to throw in my cart.

Seriously, there were Hulk figures in every shape and size. I saw Hulk motorcycles, Hulk footballs, and even a rerelease of the Hulk fists. Of all the Hulk related products that I saw, there was one that always stood out to me, one that I desperately wanted to take home but never did …

Hulkey Pokey Hulk.

As soon as I saw Hulkey Pokey Hulk I wanted to take him home. It’s obvious why; just look at this guy. He’s the cutest result of a radioactive accident I’ve ever seen.

Come on, look at this face and tell me you wouldn’t want to take it home with you …

The problem was, Hulkey Pokey Hulk was insanely expensive. When I first saw this on the shelves it was close to $40, and in no way could I justify spending that much on a toy aimed at 2 year olds; no matter how cute it was.

After a few weeks I saw the toy drop in price to $30, but that was still a little bit more than I was willing to spend. This past week, however, when walking through Target I saw a few Hulkey Pokey Hulks in the clearance isle; I almost fainted near the Kung Fu Panda toys when I saw the price …

ONLY $7.48 !!!

As soon as I saw the low price I purchased Hulkey Pokey Hulk faster than a perverted old man purchases tickets to the Little League World Series.

Now that I have Hulkey Pokey Hulk in my possession, and have had the time to examine it, it’s just as awesome as I imagined.

This toy is not directly associated with the Incredible Hulk movie, as it’s developed in correlation with the Spider-Man and Friends line from Marvel.

The concept for the toy is rather simple, taking a cue from it's battery-operated dancing predecessors such as Tickle Me Elmo, Singing Pizza Elmo, and Chicken Dance Elmo, Hulkey Pokey Hulk shakes his groove thing to two different songs.

Oh, but he doesn’t simply shake it, as the box indicates, “I smash, spin, and dance” …

Lets see Elmo do that.

The back of the box does a great job in illustrating just how awesome this toy is, as these two kids look to be having a Hulkified blast …

The box also describes the two songs Hulk shakes his groove thing to.

The first song is the title track, "The Hulkey Pokey", which I believe is a cover to Semi Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind. The second song is titled "I’m A Friendly Hulk Hero", and the lyrics are more tear jerking than My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion …

I’ve long waited to hear a song that talks about being Super Gamma charged while also discussing lifting up cars, which means right now I’m a happy Ken.

Outside of the box, Hulkey Pokey Hulk doesn’t lose one ounce of cuteness …

Since there are a lot of electronic gizmos going on inside of Hulkey Pokey Hulk, he’s not the most cuddle friendly toy on the market, but he doesn’t have to be, because as this video shows, he can dance with the best of them …

Seriously, with moves like that, it doesn’t matter if Hulk is as soft as an oak tree, anyone who can take his right fist in and out like that is tops on my list, and would definitely get a call if I ever decided to head out to a dance club.

Would I have wanted to pay $40 for this thing? Absolutely not, but for a mere $7.48 I’m proud to have him in my possession.

Not only is he the cutest version of Bruce Banner’s alter-ego I’ve ever seen, but he also does the hokey pokey, and from what people tell me, that’s what it’s all about.