Atom Smasher is definitely a big figure for the DCUC line, but I’m not sure what they were trying to achieve with his size. At his standard height, he should be somewhere around 7 and a half feet tall, or 7.5 to 8 inches tall as a figure. This guy is almost 9 inches, meaning he’s roughly 9 feet tall, not big enough to be supersized Atom Smasher, and not small enough to be normal sized Atom Smasher. Of course going with a 40 inch version wasn’t going to work, and I’m sure they wanted to offer as big a figure as possible, so we’re stuck with an ambiguous “mid-growth” fellow. That’s a weakness to me, but you may see things much differently, especially since he's almost right and they erred on the side of giving us more. Otherwise his proportions all look perfect, as expected with the great Four Horsemen at his helm. Muscle groups look naturally buff, his feet and hands are the right sizes, and even the back of the figure gets full attention. It’s always nice to see a new body being used in this line, and even if Atom Smasher is essentially just using a standard buff male buck upsized a bit, it still works to great effect; he just looks good in a lot of poses from multiple angles.
     There aren’t a lot of details to look at, since he does have a pretty simple costume design. They did work in some crisp plates and rivets and his boots and bracelets, that come off appropriately metallic. The straight grooves on the inside of his boots look amazing, as do the lowered lines in his belt. His hands seem more wrinkle-laden (in a good way), and he also sports popping veins that most figures don’t get. It’s a nice touch. His face is totally masked, but they did a great job hinting at the shape of his mouth and nose. The cloth comes to his eyes naturally as well, but it’s unrealistically tight around his eyebrows, just to make sure we know he’s angry. I think it was a necessary choice, but it kind of looks goofy, this super-skin-tight face-hugger cloth.

Sculpt Score: 9 / 10

      As good as Atom Smasher’s sculpt is, I’m amazed how badly they botched his paint. Every DCUC Collect & Connect figure I’ve gotten so far has looked nearly flawless in both sculpt and paint, but Atom Smasher isn’t in that same league. I just hope this isn’t the beginning of a downward trend in quality applications. The most obvious issue are the lines where the blue and red sections of his costumes meet. They’re absolutely horrendous;  they’re rarely straight, some spots have thick gobs of paint running over the edge into the other color, other places are just supremely blurry, so much that it looks purple. It’s just really messy with slop everywhere you look. Random blue and red streaks across areas they don’t belong. It looks like some crazy modern painter got hold of ol’ Atom Smasher and turned him into a “masterpiece”
      I really appreciate the slate gray color they used on his bracelets and boots, but there is a filthy black wash, that looks decent on his wrists, but ridiculous on his boots (well, at least one of them). One boot is perfect, with a subtle wash that matches his wrists, but the other is waaay over-washed. It has gross black streaks and smears all across the boot. Maybe if both looked that way I’d be almost okay with the style, but since they don’t match, it’s a total disappointment. I don’t know if this is a common problem or not, because I haven’t been keeping up with reviews/pics of this line too well, but mine looks pretty poor. The collar around his neck is a nice color, but that paint is very thick, with a funny blotted texture that looks wonky. On the good side of things, all of the colors are almost perfect in conjunction with one another, including the bronze belt. There is also a surprisingly well-done wash on his arms and shoulders that gives him a nice realistic skin tone and brings out the details of his muscles. There is one final problem, and that is the shoddy work on his chest emblem, which is fading in spots and just generally fuzzy. All these issues add up to a really underachieving paintjob, making Atom Smasher stand out in a bad way from his C&C ancestors. 

Paint Score: 4 / 10 

      Atom Smasher's articulation is in the standard DCUC style, which means a couple things. It looks sleek when combined with his sculpt, and it's almost enough to pose him anyway you would like to. To get a little more specific, he has the following points (also shown in the image above): ball style shoulders and neck; swivels at the biceps, wrists, thighs, and waist; hinges at the abs, elbows, knees, and ankles; and finally the DCUC classic swivel/hinge combination hip that has similar range of motion to a normal ball joint. Each of these points functions buttery smooth, although still properly avoiding any looseness yet. The only spot with limited movement options is the cut waist, which is somewhat restricted by his thick belt at about 30 degrees to either side. You can force him to turn all the way around at the waist, but it puts stress on the belt when doing so. This is the first C&C since Metamorpho [actually, Metallo too] that has had trouble keeping limbs on. His right arm and leg both fall off with the gentlest effort, some modification/glue may be necessary there.

Articulation Score: 8 / 10

 

Fun Score: 7 / 10

     It's extremely hard to assess and collect & connect figure's value in a fair and realistic way. While you would technically need to spend $85 to $100 to complete Atom Smasher, he's really more like a free bonus, because DCUC figures are relatively cheap anyway. The deciding factor here is if you're buying figures just to get Atom Smasher, then he's much less valuable. If you see him as an extra for buying the figures you wanted anyway (like me), then he's obviously a great deal. As far as the actual toy goes, he's big and sturdy, so I think he'll last a while. Being strong enough to handle play is great, because he is a playable figure. Although his paint turned out terrible from the factory, it is still evident that someone spent a lot of design time on this guy. There are no accessories, pack-ins, or packaging, but Atom Smasher is a solid figure that feels somewhat worth your time and energy. Just think, he'll add some much needed height diversity to your display. If you can find him after-market at a reasonable price, then he's a good, valuable action figure, but determining that "reasonable" price is up to the individual. 

 

Value Score: 7 / 10  

Summary

9 - Nice overall look, has good proportions and muscle-work, scale is questionable but he's big, some nice details in costume accessories, face is mostly great. 

4 - Colors are all magnificent choices; terrible lines at color changes; messy paint globs everywhere you look; wash doesn't match across boots; cool wash on arms; chest emblem is poor.

8 - Has enough points to play or display effectively; everything works smoothly; nothing is too tight or too loose; looks good with his sculpt; leg/arm pop off way too easily; could always have a few more points.

7 - Not a well-known, or much-loved character; doesn't include any sort of accessory or action feature; visuals aren't that exciting; is a big, hulking figure compared to rest of line; limbs falling off is super frustrating.  

7 - Difficult to assess price; sturdy and durable figure; lots of plastic on this fellow; some great design ideas, but poorly executed paint lower perceptions of worth; no accessories included to up value.  

 

 

Overall Score: 71 / 100 - This is a Good Toy

Atom Smasher is the most disappointing DCUC collect & connect figure I've reviewed yet, but that doesn't make him a bad figure. He's actually pretty good across the board, except when it comes to his terrible showing in paint application quality. 

P.S. This could be the figure I'm giving away this month, just leave a comment for a chance to win (if it's the one).

-The Articulated One