In Search of the "Holy Grail" of Hulk
A fanatic's story
Page 3.

Over the next twelve years I collected comics every month and went to conventions from time to time picking up rare items and toys (always keeping my eye out for that stretch Hulk). I was now starting to amass a pretty big collection. When I moved out of my parents for school and an apartment, I would keep my collection in their attic. Every time I got new stuff I would drive to their house and put it away, so whatever it was wouldn't get ruined. During this period in my life I traveled around the country a lot with my band so my obsession waned (I also had to focus on bodybuilding and girls).
I settled in Worcester Mass for a while and worked for a big comic store (it was fun as hell). This is where I discovered a new website called Ebay. You could buy and bid on things that you just couldn't find anywhere else. It was like being at a universal yard sale/auction for hard to find Hulk toys. I went nuts and started to buy everything I saw (things were so much cheaper back then). I upgraded toys I already had and bought new ones (even those I remembered my mom wouldn't buy for me). I soon moved to Manchester New Hampshire, worked in a hospital and finally bought a computer of my own. My collecting went into overdrive now because I was buying so much superhero memorabilia on a daily basis that I needed an entire room to fit everything. As always I was on the lookout for that stretch Hulk. I knew that an auction for one had to show up someday and I was going to be ready.
It was the morning of June 2000. I turned on the computer, went to Ebay and did my daily search for a stretch Hulk. I logged it in and expected not to see any results and then…there it was a stretch Hulk!!!!!!!!! I almost fell out of my seat! It was so perfect and mint in the box and…What!! This was a totally different stretch Hulk. It wasn't the stretch figure made by Mego! It was made by a company called Denys Fisher! The box was yellow and this Hulk figure seemed to be a little slimmer than the one that I remembered. Then it hit me, OH MY GOD!!! THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT STRETCH HULKS IN THE WORLD!!! And I didn't know about it!! How could this be?
I needed some answers!
I spoke with collectors that I knew from over the years and eventually found out that this stretch Hulk was an extremely rare piece. Denys Fisher was a company in Europe licensed under Kenner; they produced the Stretch Armstrong and Stretch Monster figures overseas. This Hulk was sold only out of catalogs by an order form to stores and customers in Europe back in 1979.
Anyway, this new stretch Hulk that was in front of me on the computer screen was even harder to locate than the Mego Hulk that has escaped me for over twenty years! It was in such perfect shape; an absolute flawless box, the Hulk figure itself was like new (soft with great skin), the directions and black coffin with lid were also perfect. I later found out that the owner got it when he was a kid and his family took him on a vacation to Europe. He wasn't a big Hulk fan at the time but he thought that it looked cool. When he got the toy home, he just opened it once, looked at the figure and put it away for years forgetting about it. It amazes me even today how a kid could even resist to pull or tug at a stretch figure (I know I couldn't have resisted the temptation when I was five). All I knew now was that I had to get this toy at all costs!!
I put in my maximum bid in at 1,000 dollars, hoping it would be enough to scare off any potential collector threats. The auction was a week long and I sighed because I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep because of my crazy compulsion for this toy. The week dragged on and on, I drove myself crazy thinking that something would go wrong or someone would outbid me. I found myself waking up at in the middle of the night just staring at the computer screen and praying. If you asked me a question at this time, no matter what it was, my answer would always be…the Denys Fisher Stretch Hulk (I was totally gone from reality). Finally the time came for the end of the auction. I remember it was around 1:00 in the morning and I was wide awake staring at the screen. 5 minutes left and then the bids started to come. The price for this toy began at 300.00 and moved up to, 440.00 then 976.50, then 1,235.00 (oh my god, I was being over bid) my heart began to pound. With 5 seconds left I put in another maximum bid in at 10,000.00 and won the auction at 3,550.00!! The battle was finally over and I won the friggin' war!!!!!

I sent out my payment by Paypal for the stretch Hulk right after the auction ended, I wanted the package to be insured and delivered in overnight express. I've waited long enough for this toy and I wanted it now!!! The seller was such a professional and did everything right so I gave him 100.00 because he made me so happy. I also called into work the next day because I wanted to be home when the figure was getting dropped off by the mail man. Finally when the package did come on Tuesday at 10:34 AM I hugged the mail man and I gave him 20.00 because he dropped it off so early in the day. Once I closed the door behind me I put the package on the table and just stared at it. The stretch Hulk was in my apartment and finally came home to poppa, I fell to the floor and sobbed like a baby for at least 5 minutes. When I finally managed the strength to open the package and hold the stretch Hulk and box in my hands, I just couldn't believe how perfect it was.
The previous owner barely touched it and it really showed. I cried a little more before I placed it at the center of my collection. I called all my friends to tell them the news and most of them just didn't get it (my best friend Al responded by saying "Don't you already have that?"). But I didn't care, as long as I had this stretch Hulk I was doing fine. I knew this stretch Hulk was pretty rare but I didn't know just how rare. In the next few months I found out that only about an estimated 15-20 Hulks are left in existence in various conditions. One collector said that I had the "Holy Grail" of Hulk memorabilia. WOW!! I had a huge Hulk/vintage Marvel collection but I also had the most sought after Hulk toy in existence.
This has been proven true to this day because I was offered 7,000.00 for it in 2001 by a "big time" Hulk collector in California, the previous owner contacted me again and offered me 10,000.00 for it in 2002 (he said that he missed the toy and asked me if the "nostalgia" had worn off yet). For someone who loved the Hulk and stretch figures so much, it was only fitting that I got the finest stretch toy and Hulk piece around. Okay, I had the Denys Fisher Stretch Hulk in my collection, so how come I was still thinking of the Mego Elastic Hulk figure?
Over the next year as I became more obsessed, my collection got even bigger. I had the entire comic runs of the Hulk, Spider-man, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Thor and just about every key Marvel Silver and Bronze Age issue you could ever think of (I had about 25 long comic boxes). I had so much vintage 60's and 70's Marvel memorabilia, magazines, and art that I didn't know where to put everything.
Some of the key pieces to my collection was the 1967 Marx Marvel Tin Train (probably the most sought after 60's Marvel piece around), the original art for Journey into Mystery (vol.1) #112 page 1 by Jack Kirby and Chic Stone, the Amico 1979 Hulk stunt cycle mint in the box (the only one of two left in existence), the Mego Elastic Spider-man, Superman, Batman, and Plastic man all mint in the box (who would've thought I would get all the other stretch figures before I got the Hulk figure), a prototype of a Marvel 70's weeble wabble set that never saw the light of day (this was cute as hell), original Jim Steranko Hulk art from 1969, the box for a never made Hulk Atari video game from the early 80's, a 1967 mint in the box Captain Action Spider-man outfit from Ideal, a bunch of Marvel 60's t-shirts and sweatshirts, the Hulk pinball machine from 1979, the Grover Toys version of the Hulk Rage Cage from 1979 (this was a limited smaller version of the Hulk Rage Cage made by Fun stuff), the Spider-man and Thor inflatable pillow cases from the 60's (still in the package), the Mego "Comic Action Heroes" Green Goblin Mangler mint in the box from 1975 (very rare piece), a bunch of boxed and carded mint 8" Mego figures and accessories including Thor, Conan, Superman, Shazam, Iron man (even the mega-rare carded version), Hulk (boxed and all the carded versions including the Palitoy card, plus the 12"figure), Spider-man (plus 3 different carded and boxed versions of the 12" figure and the crazy rare 8" carded Fist Fighter from Europe), Captain America (also a boxed 12" figure), Batman (regular and removable cowl version), Aquaman vs the great white shark play set (super rare Mego toy), the Teen Titans (all carded and very, very rare), the list just goes on and on.
You could name just about any Hulk toy, action figure, game, ad, costume, puzzle, coloring book, poster, record, car, model, etc. from the 60's thru the 2000's and chances are that I had it and it was probably mint in the box!!! I turned down local newspapers and famous toy magazines for interviews and publication because I didn't want many people to know about the collection I had (it was now closing in on 5,000 pieces). I was a respected collector who rarely ever lost an auction on Ebay. And even after all this I still didn't have the Mego Elastic Hulk figure. But that was finally about to change.
I got a call from a friend of mine named Dana who worked for a toy dealer based on the internet. He said that his company was doing a major deal with an (extremely rich) psychiatrist that collected every single toy line from the mid 70's until the late 80's. Yes, you heard that right, this doctor (I'm keeping his name private) had just about every single toy from this time period! He would buy the toys in bulk and just store it away in his mansion and TWO warehouses (and I thought I had a big collection). You name it; Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Rainbow Bright, G.I. Joe, etc. this guy had it all.
Dana said to me that this guy may have a Mego Stretch Hulk somewhere in his collection. I wanted this guy's number right away but Dana couldn't give it to me because they had a confidentiality agreement, plus this guy was very private and did things very slowly. Dana told me he would keep in touch with me and if this guy ever came across the Hulk figure he would call me. What could I do? I knew Dana would've given me the number if he could but business was business and there was nothing that he could do.
I spoke with Dana a few times in the following months with no luck. This guy had so much stuff that he didn't know where anything was. He would just bring over boxes full of toys in a van and whatever he had at that given time was what they had to work with. About a month after this I gave Dana a call to check up on the Hulk situation and he told me that he had bad news. He told me that the doctor thought he was getting ripped off by the toy company and pulled out of their deal. Dana said that the guy was totally unreasonable, he wanted so much money for toys that had little to no value. When the doctor was told this, he pulled out right away. Dana said that he didn't have the heart to tell me because he knew how bad I wanted that stretch Hulk.
AAARRGGHH!! This was not going to happen to me again! If this psychiatrist had a Mego Elastic Hulk in mint condition, I had to have it. I begged Dana for his number and after an hour of pleading he finally gave it to me knowing that he could've gotten into trouble from his work (I'll always love you for that bro). I knew this doctor/toy collector was tough, but I had a plan.

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