Time Force has not been represented again after Wes provided a mixed reception at best. While there will always be fans whining about how he doesn't have every single accessory, more legitimate complaints revolved around the butterfly joints disrupting the suit pattern as well as the helmet looking somewhat off in terms of proportions. It's not Lucas's turn to see if the Time Force team can continue being better or worse than the first release, especially now that he has the Vector Cycle.
Let's first cover the Time Force Blue Ranger in-hand. The figure looks noticeably skinnier than I initially expected, which may be a factor from future LC figures utilizing the updates of the double neck joint, drop-down hips, and pinless joints. He may be slightly skinnier than the base mold Wes has, though that might just be me. He generally has the same suit details one would expect from the Time Force team, including the matching chest and visor design, silver arm and leg guards, and a Chrono Morpher with belt buckle to boot. This also means that the butterfly joints disrupt the flow of the chest design. At least the logo isn't incorrectly Red's triangle like on the promo render...I already miss the Tom Whalen artwork.
His helmet is better than the Red Ranger's IMO, as the white helped the outline pop more while the proportions work better for this design compared to the silver on the Red Ranger. Since I haven't reviewed a Lightning Collection figure for a while, I'll go over the details right now for what is new: his neck trades in a ball peg with neck hinge in favor of a neck that has two ball joints, while the hips can drop down a la Spider-Man, but they aren't as good as Spidey's. Otherwise, the shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, butterfly joints, diaphragm joint, ab crunch, hips, thighs, knees, boots, and ankles work the same as before.
His accessory includes just about the same parts that Wes came with, only almost all of the red is replaced with blue as well as having the right head.
His display options are neat as always though I feel like the likeness to Lucas could be better. Not much else new to say other than the fact he is a rare instance of a Lightning Collection figure not including an effect piece! Why? No idea.
Now let's start getting to his main accessory...which requires assembling the handlebars, windshield, and cannons.
Now we have the Vector Cycle in-hand, and assembled as well. It looks pretty good for a ridable vehicle, and the paint apps are applied on pretty well. I like the gold on the sides to contrast the blue and white while the windshield has a bluish tint so it won't look too bland. The cannons, while made of slightly more flexible materials, are able to rotate at the barrels to simulate them shooting. And turning the pedals simulates steering the bike with the wheel turning left and right.
As for how the figure rides on it...I am happy to report that the joints didn't break on me, but I am concerned that the handlebars might have the wrong circumference because the hands flex a little more than I'd like if you wedge the hands onto them. Either the plastic quality is worse for this figure or the handles are a little thicker than normal. Ultimately, it needs some tweaks in order to be better done.
Here he is next to the Red Ranger. I chose not to go over comparisons for this guy since unlike Wes, he is underrepresented on top of there already being a close enough comparison with the Red Ranger and the basic figure. So as I said before, he does some things better than Red and some things worse. As for recommending the figure, I really can't if there are still quality control issues present. I'd say wait for it to go on sale, but it's still full price as of this moment.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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