Here are the keys that the figures come with. The Gold and Silver keys, despite being based on beetles, are now designed to resemble their respective mantis and scarab insects that they're based off. Gold's looks more like a weird version of the rabbit key, and Silver's looks like an odd beast that doesn't even look insect-based. Speaking of not looking like their proper animals, the Red Fury Mode key is more four-eyed bird than cheetah. At least Drilltron and Evox have keys that would fit them hypothetically.
You can also flip their blades if you like, though it is dumb that we have matching baby blue and green blades in pairs. A grayish blade for silver and a more translucent red for the Fury Mode key would go better. Drilltron could have a dark blue key while Evox should have a toxic green.
The keys can be clipped on their arms if you so wish, even though Drilltron can have his on the left arm than the right arm.
Now let's get the sounds out of the way.
Gold Ranger: "Gold Ranger Power!" "Phenomenal!"
These voice clips sort of sound like Nate, though with less excitement than when he first became a Ranger.
Silver Ranger: "I'm half-human, half-robot, and totally awesome!" "Beast Morphers, let's go!"
This is obviously nothing like Steel, and it's even weird how Steel's voice clips aren't the robotic ones.
Red Fury Mode: "Unreal!" "Yeah, we clocked it!"
These voice clips still sound nothing like Devon.
Drilltron: "Haha! Prepare to lose, Rangers!" "Ha! I'll drill right through ya!"
As far as I remember, Drilltron sounded a bit more like Waspinator than he does here.
Evox: "Nothing can stop me!"
Yup. That's it. Just one voice clip, and much like the secondary villain voice clips that are heard whenever a villain's Morph-X key is inserted, this doesn't sound like Evox.
Much like with the previous figures, we get painted weapons...well, some of them are, at least. We have two colors for most of the weapons, those being the Striker Saber, Striker Morpher, Cheetah Blade, and Cheetah Claw. The Silver Ranger's melee weapon (which has yet to appear in the series) is not painted, and I was personally hoping there'd be some metallic light blue added onto the blades, but I guess not. The Cheetah Blade could go for a black handle, but the claws are fine. While I didn't have much of a high expectation for Drilltron's weapon, I did with Evox given how his staff was painted in the Toy Fair showings. More on that later.
Here we have the Gold Ranger, the first of the two brothers to appear in the show and the first of the two to morph. This figure looks pretty good overall, what with the nice mix of gold, black, and bits of silver here and there. I also like how the gold has a nice shine to it rather than having a dull shade in comparison to the Bandai Gold Rangers. There should be a zipper for the suit, and there should be some silver and gold for the transporter, but the rest of the figure looks great.
The helmet sculpt looks pretty solid, what with the visor paint and the silver used for the mouthplate, and I do like how the rest of the toy looks when it comes to the insect-based details, though some of the paint apps are slightly off, and there is a bit of a molding flash from the horn.
The articulation is just the same as with all Ranger figures that can move the most in the line. Ball-jointed neck, shoulders that move front and back as well as in and out, elbow bends and swivels at the elbows, (slightly loose) hips that move front and back as well as in and out. The knees bend and swivel above the knees. He can hold his Striker Saber and Blaster in his hands, and they work great overall. However...
I should point out that at least my Gold Ranger's fingers looked messed up, which is likely a one-off QC thing with Hasbro.
Here he is with the Lightning Collection version, and I'm quite surprised that the basic Hasbro figure is actually taller by a margin, which is something you wouldn't expect for a $10 figure. The figure also comes with a better shoulder vest than the Hasbro version, what with the darker coloring.
It's neat to have both versions come with painted weapons, but while the LC versions are better painted, the basic figure's weapons are slightly bigger. The figure itself has a slightly messed up right hand and slightly loose hips, along with few nicks for the paint apps, but it's still a nicely done basic toy all around. Definitely get it, but be careful with the quality control.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Here we have the Silver Ranger, one of the rare examples of non-human Rangers. His suit details are similar to that of Gold's, but his are mirrored to the left, his shoulder vest is different, he has boots more similar to the core team, he has blades on his forearms, and he uses metallic cyan for parts of the suit, including the visor.
This helmet sculpt is also done well, though there are a few noticeable paint blemishes than I'd like. It is still nice that the silver added on the figure doesn't look dull like it would be on most Bandai figures from the past.
While the articulation is the same as with Gold, this guy's hip movement is so tight it's starting to warp the joint. I think using a hairdryer might help. His weapons are the Striker Morpher and a new claw weapon that is unpainted and replaces the Striker Saber. The clay type weapon is based on the stag beetle than a scarab, which is weird since Hasbro made the name change.
For a size comparison, here he is with Steel and the Gold Ranger. He should look taller as Steel as he was in the show, but he looks good with his brother, the Gold Ranger.
While you can't really pull it off, you can pose them to sort of recreate a scene where Steel tried to take the shots while getting in Nate's way. Might work better in the Lightning Collection once we get Silver.
Here we have the five Rangers of the team, and it's so nice to have a complete team of Beast Morphers in the same scale, which is something that couldn't be said about Go-Busters. I hope it's something we can also complete with the Lightning Collection.
The suits used in Go-Beasters are so iconic in terms of how they look compared to what we got before, what with the matching visors, leather materials, and the added details of silver and black. Of course, team Time Force team, Dino Thunder White, Robo Knight, and Super Megaforce Silver had colored visors, but these visors complete the look, as they end up looking incomplete as seen with the Japanese Dobutsu versions. Even if we've gotten the primary colors along with gold and silver in PR/Sentai, it's neat to have versions of these characters in one line.
It's also neat to have seven Rangers within the start of the Hasbro era, even if two of them are bad guys.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Here we have Red Ranger in his fury mode. Getting this form was pretty neat since it was an American exclusive, and it was also made before Beast-X Mode ever got to be introduced. It's neat to have all the details there, though I have to admit that there are some things I dislike about it. I do wish that the thigh pads are not painted with a single layer of red since they look darker than the rest of the red. The boots could be a bit shinier than they are right now, but otherwise, this figure looks good.
That is until you take a look at the helmet, which is the same as with regular Red, yet the paint apps are not applied properly. That mouthplate looks crooked without the rest of the filled-in portion, and parts of the paint are a bit sloppier than I'd like. This is certainly an issue that Bandai didn't have, even in recent years.
Articulation is the same as before, though the armor might limit the shoulders by a bit. The weapons he comes with are the Cheetah Claw, just the one, and the toy-only Cheetah Blade. I do like the look of the blade, even if it is in two-colors, but there should be two claws like in the show. It's also interesting how the right hand is closed up more than the left hand, but that might have to do with the claw being more prominent in the show.
Here he is with his regular self. Obviously, one has better paint apps than the other, though I do appreciate that we have both forms of the Red Ranger, and with new tooling for the forearms and legs to go along with the chest armor. It's neat to own, though I have to admit that the figure doesn't have the same nice quality control that the Red Ranger's regular form got, both with the joint tightness and the helmet.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Next up, we have a monster of the week, or rather, Robotron, that being Drilltron. It is pretty odd that we have Robotrons since they're not as common as what Bandai made with their monsters in Dino Charge and Ninja Steel. I have a feeling Slicertron and Burnertron should show up in the future, especially given their voice clips in the Beast-X Morpher. This guy looks close to how he does in the show, even with a slightly lighter shade of blue than normal. Most of the paint apps are present, yet the right arm should be coated in silver, especially to help make the gold highlights stand out a bit more. The drill points look stubby, but I think they were like that in the show.
Head sculpt looks alright, even if it is just a few paint apps added onto a robot with a drill-forehead that almost looks like an eye while the four eye paint apps and the not too prominent silver highlights.
Articulation is what you would expect from a villain figure, which is almost on the line of the Rangers with limited hip articulation. Villains like the Robotrons don't really need the extra leg articulation, and it could sort of apply to Evox, but Blaze, Roxy, etc should go for the extra legs.
His one accessory is the multiple drills attached to each other, which simply clips onto her left arm like with the Morph X keys. This can somewhat spin on the forearm, but it should be painted in silver like with the right arm should. I mainly recommend this figure if you want to complete the line or if you want to get the keys. Otherwise, this is a so-so figure.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Here is the main villain of the series, that being Evox. Initially seen as a virtual cobra, he now has a physical form and is now taking over the body of Mayer Daniels, father of Devon Daniels. This figure sadly doesn't quite do him justice like what we initially saw of the character in his robot form debut. The sad thing is that Evox is supposed to have a metallic look to his body that makes him look a lot more complex, and he should have metallic paint on him, yet the solid highlighter arms and legs make him look like a balding man with a weird dog cone who has his shoulders and thighs exposed. Maybe if you painted the figure to have more details on him, it will certainly work. At least there is some silver paint on him, especially on the butt flap. He even has some dreads, though they pale in comparison to what next wave's Vargoyle will have.
Head sculpt is okay, but it could certainly go for the extra mile in getting more paint than it currently has. It should help make the face pop more than look like a blob with red highlights.
Articulation is the same as with Drilltron, though the legs are more limited thanks to the skirt armor. His staff is the worst offender when it comes to unpainted weapons because it clearly has some extra paint that was shown off at Toy Fair. Now it looks more like a dull fly swatter.
This is what the figure looked like at Toy Fair 2019. Its got the metallic paint for the upper arms and thighs, the red highlights look sharp, and the staff is painted to resemble what it should look like. It even came with an extra accessory not seen on the basic figure. If this figure looked like this in the series, this would have been recommended more. As it stands, Evox is in a situation almost as bad as what the Bandai Legacy Collection Gold Ranger got.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Evox, along with Gold and Silver, were included in a three-pack with the main trio of Beast Rangers. The only accessories related to them that are included are the staff of Evox, the Striker Saber, the Striker Morpher, and Silver's toy-only claw weapon. They don't come with their keys, but they make for a nice way to get all 6 characters.
These figures are a bit of a mixed bag. The Gold and Silver Rangers pretty good overall, even if there are a few nitpicks that I need to mention. Red Fury Mode could go for better paint apps and tighter leg joints, Evox should have gone for the extra paint apps, and Drilltron's okay. Gold and Silver are available with Wave 4, but your stores may have the other three figures if they're peg warming. Still, the villains are better recommended if you can get them for less than 10 dollars, which is fine for Drilltron but a sad thing for Evox.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐.4 out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐.4 out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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