DCClassics.Com Review:
The Atom (Indigo Lantern)

Since he’s built with the standard buck and recession ankles, Atom’s articulation is what you’ve come to expect. One nice thing, and I think I forgot to mention it in my Hal review yesterday, is that both those figures and the Atom here have great neck articulation. All the figures can look up and be posed in some cool flying poses.

Unlike those pesky Hals yesterday, the Indigo Atom does include an accessory, his Indigo staff. I’m particularly happy to have it because the one I got with the DC Direct Indigo was completely wrong. The sculptor apparently only saw it from the front and so it looks wrong from the profile. DC Direct did correct it with their Indigo Atom, but I passed on that in favor of this figure. It’s cool to finally get a proper one.

Overall, this is a figure that tries really hard to make you love it. The costume is a great callback to an older era and the figure captures it well. Then you add in a great sculpt with solid paints apps and you get a figure that’s a lot cooler than it should’ve been. I can only hope that upcoming figures of characters I actually want are done this well.

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21 thoughts on “DCClassics.Com Review:
The Atom (Indigo Lantern)

  1. Question: is Indigo Atom meant to be shirtless? He appears to be lacking a couple of somethings… could have done with the Hawkman torso maybe?

    He looks really good though, with the tribal influences and sharp paint scheme.

    1. He appears to be lacking a couple of somethings…

      —They’re there, they’re in blue – I guess he’s cold! 😀

      1. LOL Great point! Or points? 😉

        You’re absolutely correct, Mattel should’ve used a nippled torso – I completely missed it. Maybe it’s like TSR says, the body paint is really thick. 😀

        1. It’s weird because Kamandi has nipples. B’wana Beast looks real odd standing next to him, nipple-less!

  2. I really agree with this review. While not thrilled with the selection in general (I’d rather have a straight Sword of the Atom myself), I do think this figure came out quite well. Also, I wish they’d take your statement to heart about the buck system and how this is the best way to use it. I know they try to save money using the buck system, but often times it just comes off as ridiculous. But the Atom here he really does show how it can be used with some minimal new pieces to really make an effective “different” looking and feeling character. If they are going to go the simpler route as they’ve done with Hal and Batman, I’d, personally, appreciate it if they found ways to do new characters even if they have a very similar look such as Dick Grayson as Batman and Wally West or even Bart Allen as the Flash.

    1. Agreed. Dick Grayson Batman is a belt and a headsculpt (and the leaner body, not sure why Batman gets the overmuscled one). Wally is just a head! And we can’t get those guys. It blows.

      You bring up Dick Grayson Batman and I kinda feel for other “flavor of the week” characters I do want. As we get further away from him, well a DCUC of him being less likely? Making these “current” looks into figures is problematic because the ones you don’t get to can really fade after the “iron” cools.

  3. I can’t wait until I find this guy in stores! I’m snatching him the hell up! Great job 4H on this one.

  4. I had heard this figure was based on the “Sword of the Atom” costume, so before I clicked on this review I wondered, “is there going to be a shot of Atom holding one of Spy Monkey’s swords?”

    I love not being disappointed.

  5. He looks visually distinctive and definitely looks like one of the highlights of the wave, but does anyone else think his head is like 12% smaller than it should be? You made a great point about them clearly being the same man, but it looks to be just the wrong size.

    Particularly in comparison to the body, he looks like a lab assistant from Bone transfigured to Hercules’s body without any changes to his face.

  6. This guy would make a pretty decent “mortal” shaman character of sorts to go with the MOTUC line.

    It’d be cool to see him with some of the 7K figures, too . . .

  7. I ordered an extra I-Atom just so I could customize him into his “Sword” look. Failing that, I’ll buy an extra w5 Atom and head swap! I know I need to switch the colors on the lower half, but that minor tweak made me like him 80% more. I don’t know why.

    Once again defense of DCD’s Indigo-1 –
    the sculptor had maybe three early/WiP sketches to create the figure from scratch with. The fact she had been tweaked in her first full appearance and even more as she became a player in BN should NOT be held as a poor reflection on something that was sculpted almost a year previous. I mean, we aren’t getting Superman toys in ballet slippers, are we? or that stylized yellow shield on his chest with a red “S”? NO, NOT the better known “diamond-S”, the SHIELD from Action #1.

    1. The lower half of Indigo Atom is already cast nude and painted red. I’m not sure if that effects what you’re doing, but I did find it odd.

      On DCD’s Indigo, I don’t blame the sculptor outright. For some of it I do – the figure has a few problems beyond inaccuracy, but it’s more about DCD not reigning their sculptors in and trying to get things right. The biggest problem with the figure is the paint though, if they’d just painted it like the solicit pics. Just a shame. All I really want from DCD is for them to include the tribal lantern (not the staff) somewhere and then a black version of the regular to finish off the set of nine.

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