So let's start things off with the Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger! This guy ticks all of the MMPR details covered previously with the Red Ranger, from the solid paint apps applied to the Morpher feeling a little too small and the details being somewhat botched. It's not a killer, but I do want to mention it. The blue is a nice shade of blue; maybe a little too bright for some, but I think it works well for him overall.
The helmet looks like how it should, though I feel the outline on the top isn't really accurate. Depends on the shot, I guess. Also, the trim of the mouthpiece is pretty much missing the rest of the silver paint, making it look a little incomplete and small compared to the rest of the helmet. As always, the articulation is the same, with a ball joint at the head and a neck hinge, shoulders that move front and back as well as in and out, bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows, and wrists that swivel and hinge in and out. The torso has butterfly joints on the arms, a diaphragm joint, and an ab crunch; the legs move front and back as well as in and out, they swivel at the thigh, double bend at the knee, swivel at the boot, and hinge as well as pivot at the ankles.
Here are all of his accessories, consisting of a complete Power Lance, a split version of the Power Lance, two open hands for holding accessories, a lightning effect piece, an alternate civilian head for Billy Cranston, and a Blade Blaster.
I think he looks good with these display options. The civilian likeness isn't quite perfect, though it may look a little better without the glasses (something Hasbro may do if we either get Metallic Armor or 1995 Movie suits). The Blade Blaster's the same as always, and while it's weird that the Power Lance comes in either form, it's not a bad thing to do if Hasbro feared that the connection pieces with the material durability won't be as effective as the Bandai Legacy 5 inch version.
And speaking of which, now it's time for a comparison with the other versions of the Blue Ranger! The only other one I own is the Legacy version, but I do have pictures of the S.H.Figuarts version and the previous Legacy 5-inch Action Hero from 2014. The Legacy version wasn't terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't like how ugly the shoulders and the hips look with those cuts on the sculpt; the physique also looks fairly stiff, and he's almost looking like a Titan Hero type of toy compared to the Lightning Collection one is fairly proportionate (though his arms should move down a little). The Figuarts version wasn't awful, but it's pretty skinny and has some ugly joint cuts on the shoulders, stomach, and elbows. The Bandai Legacy 5 inch Action Hero was a decent toy to own, but finding it was hard initially in 2014 (thankfully, we got rereleases found at Walmart and I think Gamestop, though I'm good with the Hasbro figures).
One thing worth talking about is the way the Power Lances were executed. Their details are mostly the same, though the Hasbro version trades in the gold paint in favor of the silver trim around the barrels.
They both look good with their lances, no doubt, and their articulation is at least good for each one so they can hold it with both hands.
Now we get to the crazy part of the review: Hasbro's version comes with a proper Blade Blaster...which is unfair for the Bandai version because I got mine loose and thus it lacked a Blade Blaster and holster. Not like it matters because it doesn't have a gun mode.
His lance may not split in two, but he does have both versions of it should he want to dual-wield the two parts.
Now we have the Blue Ranger with the rest of the MMPR team. Do note that my Red Ranger has the inaccurate helmet that he initially came with and not the accurate Triple Dino pack version's helmet since this pic was taken before the review was made. I have the Black Ranger in the front with the Dragon Shield on to homage that pic Hasbro made showing support for the Black community (something PR does a better job at than both the fans and other companies). But yeah, it is nice to have an MMPR team that looks good with each other though I do plan to complete Blue's trim for the mouthpiece.
Fans who missed out on the SDCC 2019 Jason 2-pack will be happy to know that their Power Weapons can form into the Power Blaster. The connections are more or less the same as the Figuarts and Legacy Action Hero versions, but it's a neat surprise for anyone that was tormented by the non-combining Legacy Collection's metallic weapons.
Zack gets to wield it for now, and it's a pretty nice scene to have overall. Honestly, I think any of the other team-mates can wield the Power Blaster, right? But the Blue Ranger himself is a nice addition to any Power Rangers collection, and one I'm very happy to own myself! He's got everything you need, and if you own the other Rangers up until his release, you already own a version of Mighty Morphin! Pretty friggin sweet if you ask me!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Up next, we have the Gold Zeo Ranger! This guy is a re-release of the SDCC 2019 figure that came in a two-pack with the Armored Red Ranger. The difference is, he doesn't come with one of the Jason heads and he also comes with a hybrid of the Golden Power Staff, which may upset some people yet I don't mind it. I like how this guy looks overall. Sure, the gold may be a little inaccurate to the show (because it's a shinier look), but it fits well for this guy. The armor is proportionate to him, it overall looks complete in terms of looks. Some may find parts of the gold to be inconsistent, but it's still better than for everything to lack gold. Plus, I love the black outlining for the armor.
Helmet looks like how it should, though the visor does extend a little from the helmet more than I remember it being. Was it supposed to be this pronounced? Some Gold Rangers have the visor slightly embossed and others don't. Either way, how does he see from the unique visor shape? Articulation is the same as always, though his armor's a little inhibitive towards his shoulders but not as badly as other Bandai versions were.
Here are the accessories he comes with., consisting of the Golden Power Staff with the open top and a raised bottom part, the lightning effect piece, a Trey of Triforia civilian head, and two holding hands.
Once again, the display options make him look great, but once again, my memory is failing me if Trey actually took his helmet off; I know Jason did, but I don't remember Trey actually removing his helmet in the show. Either way, he looks great with the Golden Power Staff, though he could use a tiny bit more paint for the bottom part and for the lights.
Let's compare him with his prior counterparts. The Bandai Legacy Collection version was infamous for outright lacking the gold paint that was shown at convention pics and on stock images. It's one thing to use airbrushed images, but when you have the prototype look this nice and then we have the incomplete Gold Ranger, you know you messed up. The other two figures had better gold shades, and I don't think they really used paint. The Super Legends Chaser figure released during Jungle Fury was a nicer looking figure by comparison, and it'd actually look decent next to the Lightning Collection despite the scale issues and aesthetics. The Action Hero released from Super Megaforce was another decent figure, which makes me wonder what the fuck happened to Bandai during the Legacy Collection days.
Here he is next to Zeo Ranger III Blue. These two may not see much interaction between each other (unless it's Jason we're talking about), but they both look nice together. While we did get the Bandai versions of these two, I'm excited to complete Hasbro's take on the team since they're getting halfway there with the previously released Zeo Ranger V Red now coming up for in review of mine.
While we're on it, you can display Jason's head as the Gold Zeo Ranger, or display Billy's head! Billy was a candidate for the Gold Ranger Powers, and he looks quite good wearing it if you ask me, though even better without the glasses (his character abandoned them midway in MMPR).
And here they are together. I could almost fake owning the SDCC version of MMPR Red if I gave him a Dragon shield from a spare Green Ranger. Either way, what a display (again my MMPR Red is supposed to have the new helmet after these pics were taken).
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Third up on the list is the Red Time Force Ranger! This figure is one of two really new characters in the line, as MMPR Blue was carrying the same points mentioned for Red while Gold was a retail release of the SDCC guy with changes of his own. The details are the same as expected on any Time Force Red figure, though I'm not a fan of the way the butterfly joints break up the white on the chest and make the triangle look smaller than it should be. It seems a little weird, and it bothers me more than his helmet does.
Helmet isn't as sharp as it's supposed to be, yet it at least has all of the details I expected it to have. Many like to complain about the silver visor outlines, but I think it fits Time Force Red easily, and I like how the black paint makes it look like it's kind of translucent, almost like the helmet cranium can light up somewhat like in the show! Since the articulation is the same as always, all I can say is that he gives it a thumbs up.
And here are the accessories he comes with, which are a Chrono Blaster, his civilian head, a lightning effect piece, two weapon-holding hands, and two Chrono Sabers.
I'm definitely in love with how this guy turned out in terms of the display options, though seeing the Wes face be from his younger days is kind of a deja vu as I've almost expected him to have his current age head seen in Super Megaforce/Ninja Steel.
Here he is next to the only other versions of Time Force Red. While this guy's chest details are a little od, I still think he's the best version of the character and Ranger design. Still, I think the Super Megaforce one is a decent toy for what it is.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
And last, but certainly not least, we have the Ranger Slayer! Before we begin, I want to mention that she has a cape that can come off. She kind of made me laugh when I took it off her because of how awkward she is without it. The cape adds to her more ruthless appearance in the Boom Studios comics, as much like Lord Drakkon, this is a twisted, evil version of Kimberly in that dimension. Design-wise, she carries over the same mindset Drakkon has of being a different take on the Ranger powers she's known for, yet she was only a Pink Ranger while Drakkon was a badass combination of the Green and White Ranger powers. Here, Kimberly has a black suit with pink accents, a helmet visor with different aesthetics than the original, and a strange pattern on her arms, which is white and has pink stripes on it. She also has thigh and knee guards and almost looks like a femme fatale in a skin-tight suit, though Power Rangers has nothing to worry about when their suits are more comfortable.
Her helmet sculpt is certainly different from MMPR Pink, as previously mentioned. It's got some weird paint apps that make it feel a little rushed, though it's mainly from far away. Her articulation is mostly the same as the males, except her elbows have a single bend as well as a swivel at the same joint. Unlike the female Rangers we've covered (both of which are from Mighty Morphin'), her ankles swivel since she has no boot swivels. I remember someone saying this was Hasbro cutting costs on figures and since they're females then it's bad, but nope, she retains the ankle pivots while making sure her leg details aren't broken up easily.
Here are the accessories she comes with. She has a folded up Blade Blaster in black (the first time it's ever been used for a retail figure, as the armored Red Ranger once had it), two weapon-holding hands, the Bow of Despair, a triple arrow, and an effect piece arrow.
While the Blade Blaster does nothing for me, I'm fine with her using her bow and arrow(s) against her enemies. One problem that I do have with the toy is the lack of a civilian head. I can excuse it for Goldar and Zedd for obvious reasons. It doesn't bother me with the Magna Defender. But why can't we have an evil Kimberly head or her to use? Sure, Drakkon had one only because he had a live-action reference, but would it have been hard to do the same with Kimberly?
Since she had no other toy version of herself, here she is next to the original Pink Ranger. You can certainly tell how different they each are in terms of appearance, with the noticeable aspects to me being the color, design choices, and the addition of a cape. It takes the once-goodie two-shoe Pink Ranger into a murderous counterpart in a striking manner, especially more so than with Drakkon!
Despite their differences, they make for two interesting takes on the character, with one being the more iconic and heroic Pink Ranger and the other being a ruthless murderer as seen in the comics. Still wish she had a civilian head. Thinking about it, is it weird to call her alternate head a civilian head if she ever had one?
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Now it's time to sum things up with this line! This was a neat selection of characters, as the Gold Ranger makes for a nice re-release of a convention toy and also has some differences of his own thanks to his alternate head and staff! The Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger is another step to completing MMPR's team, and both the Ranger Slayer and Time Force Red Ranger are sweet additions to the line itself, with one being from the comics and the other being from a fan-favorite season.
I love the heads we got, though of the three, Trey's looks the closest to the actor (still ironic that he has a head yet never took his helmet off, and no I'm not complaining). I still wish Ranger Slayer had an alternate head of her own.
Also funny how 3/4ths of the Rangers have guns. Well, two of them have effective guns as Ranger Slayer likely doesn't need one thanks to her bow. The same could be said for the Gold Zeo Ranger, who's got a kickass staff.
Regardless, they're great inclusions for any Lightning Collection line. I love having more Ranger power on my display, and I will gladly add more characters until the line consists of re-releases only.
I feel bad for not getting these out in time, so maybe these five will use their effect pieces on me as I make sure more PR reviews get uploaded. I promise.
Overall ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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