2024 is a drought for Power Rangers content, which is a blessing for our wallets yet a curse for both fans wanting more content after 2023 felt small AND Hasbro depending on licensees with their side products (and we don't even know if they'll make their own toys as Playmates is collaborating). It made me want to focus on the Remastered line of figures (as well as Rita Repulsa), a subline of updated MMPR characters that seem neat to have yet do feel as if they could have been handled better. Are they worth getting in spite of the difficulty that grew from obtaining Red, Green, and Rita? Let's find out as we take a look at this set.
Let's begin in morphing order, starting with the Green Ranger. Since there have been countless reviews at this rate covering other Lightning Collection figures, I'll be pretty brief over the alterations and comparisons. The base mold is replaced with the updated male tooling first seen on I believe Yellow Ranger Jason, meaning the shoulders are somewhat broader, the hips are.able to shift downwards, and the elbow and knee joints are pinned. All of them come with their respective hands and Power Morphers to posed them when it's morphin' time, complete with aura effect pieces comparable to the ones from Dragonball Z Figuarts, al beit somewhat warped out of the box. All 6 Rangers come with the dual black trims for the belt, which are thankfully not too thick and distracting. Tommy's new head looks great, but some will ask why he has no Dragon Shield nor arm bands? Or why he has three versions of the Blade Blaster? The reason is because it represents his loss of powers during the Green with Evil arc. Said candle is bent slightly. Tommy at least has an updated helmet that looks better than the previous versions, but is it too much to ask for the teeth to be picked out?
The high accessory count is used often times by current Hasbro to justify the $33.99 price tag seen in some Deluxe releases. Given the way the toys are packaged and how this guy is missing the Dragon Shield, I don't think the price itself is justifiable. Had they rectify those issues I had, this would be easier to stomach.
And here we have the Black Ranger. We've just had an updated MMPR Black Ranger that came with an Adam head and a squirt gun, so that could have been used for another Ranger like Beast Morphers Silver or Triassic Ranger. The new Zack head is better than the old version, but I don't think Hasbro truly nailed the look of 1993 Walter Jones quite yet. Annoyingly, his Power Axe is still missing the gold paint for the Mastodon coin, and the handle is still too thick for axe mode. Having this be an SDCC exclusive is a weird choice given how he's still s vanilla form for the suit design rather than if there was a variant that came with the Dragon Shield and some other MMPR accessory. He has the same updated helmet as Black (Ranger) Adam so that spot could have been saved for another Ranger to not make interlap with that and this release.
Up next, we have the Pink Ranger. She's given a slightly tweaked female buck that adds double-jointed elbows and pinned joints overall. Her head sculpt is better than the previous Kimberly head, al beit she looks more serious than usual. At least here, there wasn't as much MMPR Pink overlap like with the Kat 2-pack, Metallic, and the ugly cel-shaded version. I wish she had her arrow painted, though.
And this is the Blue Ranger. Billy's head sculpt is not too great-looking, I'm afraid. On the plus side, he still has both modes for the Power Lance. Ik people complained that they can't be done in the style like the Bandai versions where they peg in, but some will complain that they did just that if it happened. At least the coins are gold.
I do like that the glasses are optional, so you can have Season 1 and 2 versions of Billy. However, the likeness is even less life-like than it should be.
And here we have the Yellow Ranger, who has the most glaring issues of the set in my collection. Functionally the same as Pink but without a skirt, and her likeness to Thuy Thing is more or less similar to the previous Trini head. However, she annoyingly has two left-gripping hands and two right katate hands.
Now, I try not to be "Hasbro bad reeeeee" like the fandom has been of late, but when you're charging $34 for a figure that has shitty packaging standards and has repeated hands, then it's stupid as hell, especially without the window that we used to have.
As for the Red Ranger, look at the first photo. There is no alternate head for Jason! Some have speculated that this was due to the legal issues that ASJ went through, and not helping some of the dumbass shit he said about Hitler shirts, but it doesn't mean an alternate head being excluded is excusable. At least the Power Sword is nicely painted, and better than the old version (I hope no paint chipping occurs). The Dragon Shield comes included with Jason, which is cool in theory, especially given how it's actually removable this time, but it does sting how you have to get this set if you want a complete Tommy. Would it hurt Hasbro to give the shield to Tommy, OR KEEP THEM IN STOCK?!
Let's now go over Rita Repulsa. She isn't a Remastered figure according to the box, but she is still worth getting in some respects. The 2020 version of Rita was fine, but the better paint apps on her magic wand, the alternate face plates that capture her actress Machiko Soga and/or Carla Perez, and the better-designed dress she has make her more of a worthwhile purchase if you never got the Silver Wedding version but do have regular Zedd. She could use more accessories to justify the price, though.
The Ranger's weapons can combine like with the regular versions. So far, they're staying in place with their clips no problem, but I'm sure they'll be less sturdy overtime (though thankfully no breakage issues from what I've seen).
Now for my thoughts on the Remastered wave...I'm somewhat mixed on how they turned out. On one hand, they're great to get for anyone who never got the regular MMPR team and wants to obtain them in a single swoop. The alternate heads and accessories they come with are nice, but you run into issues such as the the way parts may be incorrect like with Yellow, some joints feeling loose, and the overall weird approach with Red having the shield yet no Jason head while Green doesn't have the shield at all. Obtaining these is also no easy task given the scalper prices on Red and Green, Rita's limited distribution, and the fact that they got barder to get by the time the Lightning Collection either went on hiatus or is dead. This set feels like Star Fox Adventures, where there are things to like about it but other things to dislike. If you want these, good luck. Otherwise, stick with what you got.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
No comments:
Post a Comment