Here we have the Fighting Spirit Green Ranger in-hand, and straight away, there might be a few details that will get some of those MMPR normies confused, or pissed off, and maybe even nitpicky as hell. This figure is based on the Fighting Spirit version of the Green Ranger, which appeared in Dino Thunder and was known for the use of a less flimsy Dragon Shield, a white holster, the use of an old Power Morpher toy (including the stickers from Bandai America), and the silver stripe on his head. I'm going to say that the Green Ranger does look pretty neat with the stripe on his head, especially as it further distinguishes this character from the rest of the team. Plus, it matches the silver on the face of the Dragonzord, and it kind of goes well with Kimberly's helmet having pink on the front and white on the back. I personally wouldn't have the holster be white or leave the Morpher silver, but the stripe goes nicely with this figure and kind of shows a "redeemed" version of the Green Ranger after the hell the powers went through in Season 1 and parts of Season 2. That said, I don't like how the Morpher is actually white instead of silver. While the rest of the Morpher is painted, the white Morpher plates make the thing look as though it's unfinished. I'll give Hasbro credit for making the triangle "teeth" details the proper designs instead of the diamonds (as the Green Ranger's gloves and boots are different from the rest of the Rangers), though the way they are done could be a little better. The gold cuffs around the gloves and boots being painted on instead of being newly molded are kind of distracting. at least the armbands are newly molded, and the Dragon Shield is nicely painted.
The helmet looks the part for the Green Ranger, even with the minor paint app discrepancies. I'm pretty happy that the visor outline is white and the teeth are white, which kind of makes me wish Hasbro would do the same with the Red Ranger (even if Red's visor teeth are smaller). Also nice is that the red diamond is left intact, even with the silver stripe. As for the articulation, it's the same as with every Lightning Collection figure with this body mold, though the Dragon Shield does hinder the neck and arm movement (thankfully it's a little easier due to its flexibility). Some say the neck should be a little more prominent, but I think it's not the necks that are the problem, but instead how the shield just works as a limitation that can't really be fixed with toys unless the shield isn't there or if the shield sat down a little lower.
Here are the accessories of the Green Ranger, consisting of the lightning effect piece in matching color, the Sword of Darkness (our fourth one in toy form, third one done by an American toy company, and the first one by Hasbro), a Dragon Dagger, a reused civilian head of Tommy Oliver (from the White Ranger), and two alternate hands; one for the Dragon Dagger, and the other for any karate poses.
The civilian head being reused does bum me out since I was hoping we'd get a different hairstyle for Tommy (even if the Fighting Spirit Green Ranger never took his helmet off), but it's nice that his Dragon Dagger looks beautifully painted (also came from the SDCC Armored Red and later used for Drakkon) and can be held as though he was playing the tune (in this case, it's a more orchestral version heard in Dino Thunder). He didn't use the Sword of Darkness in Dino Thunder, but he still looks great wielding it nonetheless.
For a silver stripe themed comparison, here he is next to the Bandai America Legacy Collection and 5-inch Legacy figure incarnations. The Legacy Collection figure comes from a metallic 3-pack with similarly themed versions of the White Ranger and Zeo Ranger V Red, so that's why he has a bit more light bouncing off him. The 5-inch figure has a better-painted shield and Dagger as well as armbands and a silver Morpher but is otherwise about the same as the regular figure. Their Silver Stripes look pretty nice, though the shades of silver are kind of apparent between Bandai and Hasbro. And in case anyone's wondering, this will only be a comparison for who wore their Fighting Spirit getup the best, and I guess it's a tie with the stripes while Bandai's wins for the silver Morpher and Hasbro wins for the shade of green. I'll make a proper Green Ranger comparison some other time, though it's obvious Hasbro's version is the best in terms of proportions.
Here is the Green Ranger with fellow Fighting Spirit character, the White Ranger. These two look great together, though I do hope we get Zeo Ranger V Red so we can get the Fighting Spirit trio, as well as a growing Zeo team and a growing Forever Red display. Of course, don't expect these two to be friendly when I get the regular Green Ranger for a Return of the Green Ranger reference.
This won't be an in-depth comparison with the Black Ranger, but I wanted to talk about the Dragon Shield that comes with the Black Ranger. Their shades of gold are different from one another, with the Green Ranger having a less vibrant yet more regal shade while the Black Ranger has bit of a yellow hint to the shield; think of it as almost like a more metallic version of the Bandai Gold Ranger's shield, but nowhere near as lackluster. I think I like the Green Ranger's shield a little more, what with the more believable shade of gold that doesn't feel a little cheap. I'm guessing the SDCC Red Ranger has the same shade of gold as the Black Ranger's shield.
Next up, here we have the Putty Patroller. The inclusion of this guy's a little odd, as the Putty never showed up in Fighting Spirit whatsoever and is more suitable for a regular release. Still, I like the fact that we get a Putty that scales nicely with the rest of the Lightning Collection team, and I'm also happy that even with the basic as hell suit design, Hasbro doesn't try to be cheap with this toy. We have the boots contrasting the lighter gray by simply having a darker gray, while the belt has a nice use of black paint that doesn't look too messy on the star, and the hands are probably my favorite part, as they have a nice amount of sculpted detail applied, but they're painted to look as if they were made from rock rather than be flat plastic. Very nice touch, Hasbro!
The head sculpt is very accurate to the Putty design, though the face could use a little bit of a wash to let these details look a little more prominent. Otherwise, the black mouth and red eyes are nicely applied. As for the articulation, it's a lot freer than the Green Ranger in terms of range, though you don't have any wrist hinges due to a peculiar method of swapping the hands.
Here are the alternate hands of the Putty Patroller, which include a left hand with a blade (which sort of reminds me of Optimus Prime's arm blades in the movies and Prime), a small effect piece meant for said hand, and a right hand with a ball attached.
These hands are fairly hard to swap because of how tight the hands are, so I suggest moving the wrist around before you remove them (even if the squeaking noise is a little worrying). Anyways, here it is with the original Putty figure from 1993 and the 2010 4 inch version. Yeah, I think we all know who the winner is, right?
Before we go to the final verdict, I want to share my thoughts on this upcoming two-pack for the Putties, exclusive to Hasbro Pulse. Each figure has a varied bit of chest deco while they have a red version of the effect piece that came with the set I'm reviewing and the chest effect piece that goes on one of them. I won't cover these in a review of their own since they're pretty much similar to this Putty I own (same will go for the normal Green Ranger only if it's not in a normal wave).
And that covers my look at this two-pack. I'm finally happy to get this set after not seeing it easily at Gamestop and struggling to find it at any other shop. Then I struggled with having it kept at a Best Buy due to the quarantine lockdown, forcing me to request a refund and later buy it on Hasbro Pulse. Now that I own this set, it's great to own a version of the Green Ranger and a good Putty. Still, the fact that a regular Putty is included with a version of the Green Ranger that never fought a single Putty is odd. I get that we'd get more accessible versions of these characters at any other point, which is the case for the Putty's two-pack and will be a thing for the Green Ranger, but it feels like one of those things where Hasbro releases a version of a figure that preludes to the "better" version. Think of all the times Hasbro tends to make premolds in Transformers, where they release more bankable versions of a character and later release the mold intended for another character (Titans Return Optimus Prime and Megatron are both great examples, as their design cues and choice of altmodes are clearly meant for Octane and Blitzwing, respectively).
This set's still one to get for Lightning Collection fans, even if we're bound to get the Putty set and the regular Green Ranger. I still don't like the white Power Morpher not being silver and the way the gloves and boots don't have any raised cuffs to go with the gold paint. As for finding this set, try going for Hasbro Pulse or Best Buy, because Gamestop has not restocked this pack to my knowledge.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
No comments:
Post a Comment