I've mentioned hereabouts in the past how I thought the Mighty Mite was one of the top tier super-heroes growing up, because he had his own cartoon and appeared on lots of swanky covers. What I didn't know was just how tiny the titan was in the popular consciousness, and how these early '80s moments were the last gasps of his Silver Age minor fame. He was forgotten in the '80s by the Super Powers Collection, in the '90s by Total Justice, and only finally got included amongst new century action figures because of the wildly liberal nature of lines like Justice League Unlimited.
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The 1970s were no more kind, which is why somebody had to make a custom Mego action figure for the Atom, since the Mego Corporation never bothered to. Here's he's paired with a custom Martian Manhunter, a character I would have thought less recognizable, but comparatively flush in action figures (with inclusion in every single toy line mentioned in the previous paragraph.) While the Alien Atlas feels a bit off in such simplistic packaging, given his rise to prominence in the flashier post-Crisis era, the Atom seems right at home kicking it old school. Where J'onn J'onzz is a coy toy with aloof standoffishness, Ray Palmer is positively begging to burst from his package for play. That dynamic costume with its blazing heroic colors do not hurt a bit. I wish I had one of these! Have to make due with the 1998 Hasbro JLA IV - The Atom Action Figure, I suppose.
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Ray also got the more interesting box art, which is obviously by the incomparable George Pérez, but from a source I'm not immediately familiar with. The inks make me think it's of a more recent vintage, but I'm not especially confident in that assumption. You can compare the two customs in action poses here, or see them both join a geektastic meeting on the JLA Satellite here.
More Mego Customs
- Aquaman 12-Inch figure & box @ The Aquaman Shrine
- Firestorm box @ Firestorm Fan
- Martian Manhunter figure & box @ The Idol-Head of Diabolu
- The Vixen & Steel figures @ Justice League Detroit
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