Power Rangers Lightning Collection Lord Drakkon EVO III review

Last time we took a look at the Lightning Collection was with the final wave as a whole back in 2023...though I had a backlog of other stuff to catch up with so they didn't get reviewed until 2024. I was hoping we would get more teams completed after the hiatus, but Playmates is making me realize otherwise. With that compromise in the way, I now have to look elsewhere for customs and fill ins until they miraculously remember that the Lightning Collection made the most money for their PR lines. Here is a rare Pulse exclusive that I didn't get initially because of me not choosing to buy it at the time, this time in the form of Lord Drakkon EVO III!

Here we have Drakkon without his cape, which leaves him looking a little more normal than his design allows. The original PVC cape pegged on three holes that are making me wonder if they were meant to come off for different cape display options. The figure is the same base Ranger body we've seen before, with the boots, forearms, boots, chest armor, and head being new. All of the suit details are paint apps, which was to be expected for the Lightning Collection and most PR lines as a whole.

His helmet is a powered up version of his already corrupted Evo I form, with black and gold being as prominent as the red for the visor. Thankfully, the red paint is more opaque in this figure and looks sharper than on the regular Drakkon. With his custom cape made by RangersForge, his articulation consists of a ball joint at one part of the neck and a hinge at the other, butterfly joints, shoulders that move front and back as well as in and out, swivel at the biceps and double-jointed elbows, wrist swivels, hands that hinge in and out, and both a diaphragm joint as well as an ab crunch. Hips move front and back as well as in and out, thighs swivel, knees bend at two points, boots swivel, and the feet hinge up and down as pivot at the ankles. The cape itself is wired at the sides and the bottom for some added dynamic posing potential not seen with the stock cape, though the material itself could be less see-through, and I worry that the wires could work their way out of the cloth materials they're sewn into. I will also say that the cape may be a bit oversized, which could make vanilla stances annoying to tackle compared to the McFarlane capes and the one that came with Jada Toys M Bison. Oh, and he has the option to remove Saba's head like in the comic.

The alternate head may be a reuse from the 2020 version, but it is still a great likeness for JDF in the Drakkon makeup, and one of the better representations of the character in this scale. He also comes with a display piece for the Ranger helmets, which are painted with cracks to represent battle damage. Saba can slide in there but he doesn't stay that securely. Oh and we have a ton of lightning pieces but no throne for him to sit on. Why couldn't he get one at the price you're paying him for? Says a lot when the Bandai version came with one, even with its own issues. 

Here he is with Evo I for a comparison. While they look great together, is it strange that Hasbro skipped II when you would think he would be an easy sell? As for this figure, it is pretty cool as a version of evil Tommy, but the lack of a throne and the price it went for sucks ass. I was lucky to get this at eBay for a reasonable price, even without packaging. I liked the Lightning Collection, but it was filled with missed opportunities, and I know that Playmates Reignition line will be another case of back-to-basics that hasn't been seen on a toyline-related scale since the 2010 line, though that was at least from an era where MMPR oversaturation was miniscule.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐