Power Rangers Beast Morphers Beast Chopper Zord review

There tends to be at least one Zord that gets shafted somewhat in terms of size, aesthetic, or practicality. Sure, they might be vital as a head or chest piece at times, but their presence can get unnoticed compared to the rest of the Megazord. This tends to happen on some 5-piece Megazords and especially on 3-piece ones, where examples include the tiny Red Hawk of Ninja Storm or the Yellow Pterazord in Dino Thunder. Now that we have another 3-piece Megazord, does the line manage to do the Yellow Ranger's Jackrabbit enough justice despite its size? Let's discuss in my review of the Beast Chopper Zord.

Here is its helicopter mode, which is a pretty good rendition of what it looks like in the show (even if the altmode does look a bit more Lego-esque than most helicopter Zords are in Power ). I like the rotor blades, the attempt to implement some of the rabbit parts in this mode, and the little paint apps on what would become the toes to further convince the look of this altmode. Also notice the red piece on the bottom; that serves as the back of the Beast-X Megazord's head when combined.

While the Japanese version may not seem to have many differences with the American version, I have to give massive props to the Chopper Zord for not having the awful lack of a cockpit that RH-03 has. Apparently, the hands having brown on them totally makes them a cockpit, even though it looks more like a Lego model that's missing the canopy. Like the other Gobusters mecha, a Buddyroid is included with the Japanese version, and its name is Usada Lettuce, or Jax the Beastbot in the US. I'm glad we traded the little robot in favor of a proper cockpit.

Here it is with the head attached. It does a bit of a flare compared to the initial mode due to the sleeker front section.

Here is a comparison with all the other Zords with their heads attached. I feel that the Chopper Zord and Wheeler Zord have decent sizes with their heads in correlation with the rest of their altmodes. And honestly, it's nice that it doesn't feel immediately dwarfed by the guys' Zords (at least in the vehicle modes).

Here is the Chopper Zord in rabbit mode. It's conversion is relatively simple, though the helmet pieces for the Megazord have to be relocated (mainly the front of it being the tail) while the front of the helicopter is now attached higher than before and the rotor blades becoming ears. For a first attempt ever at being a Zord that resembles a rabbit, it's pretty solid.

While the paint apps are generally well-applied, I feel the yellow paint on the turbines and tips of the helicopter blades don't match up with the yellow plastic. Sadly, there's not much else to do with this Zord. It's not entirely poseable, and while it did roll in helicopter mode, it's stationary here.

The prototype images had a lemon yellow rather than the standard yellow found on the likes of the Sabertooth Tiger from MMPR or the Mystic Garuda from Mystic Force. While the yellow is brighter than it normally is, the silver is pretty nice on this figure. I'm happy enough with the final version since the Japanese version is not too different from it in terms of colors.

Here are all the beasts together. I mentioned that the gorilla and cheetah remind me of Beast Wars, but the rabbit can be reminiscent of Beast Wars II's Moon or Neo's Stampy, both of which are Japanese-original characters. I know the size makes sense with the rabbit being small, but the smaller scale of the Chopper Zord in animal mode doesn't really seem worth the $32 price it's going for.

Here it is with the basic Yellow Ranger and Beastbot Jax, both of which have a noticeable different shade of yellow compared to the Chopper Zord (I can sort of excuse it for the Ranger, but Jax should have been gold). Yes, I'll cover Jax along with Roxy and Steel (if I ever see him) later on. Overall, this Zord isn't a terrible toy, but it does scream for its other Zords to complete the package for at least the Beast-X Megazord. While it does a bit more than auxiliaries like the ones from Samurai to Super Ninja Steel by having two modes and not just be an animal/dinosaur/vehicle that works best as a replacement extremity, the price it's going for doesn't go well with this Zord and the other Dual Changers as much as it does with the Triple Changers. I'd prefer if the Dual Changers were priced at $19.99 instead to ease the lack of size or an additional mode. If you can get it on clearance like I did (I paid $18 for both this and Studio Series Hightower), then I'd recommend it more. But there is one thing left to discuss in the next review...

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐