Here we have the Biozords in-hand. I always loved the aesthetics of the Zords in Dino Thunder, from the perfect balance of mechanical designs and organic proportions, in addition to the higher variety we have rivaling almost that of Dino Charge and even Dino Fury's line-ups. Dino Thunder's Zords felt like proper Power Rangers designs, no doubt because they look badass and closer to actual dinosaurs compared to the more cartoony Dino Charge designs or the Dino Fury line-up having either decent Zord designs or blocks with shapes sculpted out of them. And as much as I respect PowerRangerTube/Gram, I disagree with his comment that these look too robotic when the MMPR designs, iconic as they are, felt blockier and man-made by comparison. While the Tricera and Pterazords are much smaller than the Tyrannozord, they still manage to stand out in their own right, between being 2/3rds of primary colors as well as the plethora of paint apps to match the design traits of the Tyrannozord. That being said, please excuse the chipped paint on some copies, notably the green diamonds that are supposed to be on the Pterazord. The scale also isn't as lopsided if you pair up the smaller Zords together compared to the Ninja Storm Hawk and Dolphin Zords.
The articulation of the Zords consist of opening jaws for the Tyranno and Tricerazords, two points at the tiny arms with specific indents for the Tyrannozord, three points at the legs for the larger zord, and a tail that can move up and down or rotate somewhat before it bumps into the rest of the dino parts. The Tricerazord's feet can hinge back halfway through if you want it to stand over a car for display options, though that's about it. The Pterazord has two points at the neck while the wings can swivel and hinge; the tiny feet can move back somewhat, though not all the way given the cheek guards are for the Megazord helmet.
For a brief moment in the show, the Thundersaurus Megazord functioned without the Pterazord, leaving it in an incomplete state without the helmet and chest plate. To compensate that, the tails of the two Zords can make a sword while the Tricerazord serves as a shield, not unlike the Mastodon Shield for the original Megazord. This happened only once, but you can tell that the designers did want to make the sword and shield configuration a thing as one of the many play features this Megazord can utilize. It could be argued that the MMPR homage is sort of there, but then again, the Elephant Zord from Wild Force did a similar trick (and Zyuranger, MMPR's Sentai counterpart, wasn't as impactful in Japan compared to the rest of the world).
For the Megazord proper, it's quite a simple process of straightening out the Tyranno legs before hinging the hip panels down to the shins (in addition to opening them from the top). The legs can also move in unison with what will be the crotch, allowing them to have a clip meant for the Pterazord, You get a bit of rotation at the waist before attaching the Tyranno head in place. The Tricerazord's legs fold away while the Pterazord becomes more compact while attaching onto the chest. The helmet clips in place with some spring-loaded nubbins on the Megazord head's ears, though it does make it shift to either side with how it's engineered. The resulting Thundersaurus Megazord looks awesome even with a few proportion oddities. Some will comment that the legs are spread rather far apart at the hips (shaddap) while the torso appears rather short because of how the Tyrannozord transforms. It's common to see Megazords not include the most anatomical of proportions, especially on three-piece offerings, though it does look fairly close to the proportions in the show. The main concerns would be making the legs closer to each other while finding the right spot for an elbow joint on that left arm. Speaking of arms, I find the whole dino head and tail combo very reminiscent of Beast Wars Megatron.
The head sculpt is rather tiny, and it doesn't help how the helmet practically swallows the face combined with the ring that holds the Tyranno head in place. If it was a larger scale, it'd at least make the proportions fairly even. I have seen some other versions of this design with better proportioned heads, though a lot of them are non-transforming. The articulation is the opposite of most Hasbro and recent Sentai offerings, with only rotation at the shoulders, outward arm movement for the left arm thanks to it being the tail, and slight leg movement that is rather hindered thanks to the panel system and the hips clashing with the folded-up Tyranno arms. At least you can use the tail as a drill a la the finisher. This figure has it in On, Off, and Try Me modes, with the former being all the way in the back while the latter utilizes a newly tooled button near the left side of the chest while the toy is in the box, letting consumers try out the tail feature before buying it; it can still be accessed in this mode by pressing on the wing, believe it or not.
The Pterazord can be removed and reconfigured into its zord mode as a Pterarang, though it's only resting between the horns and was rarely used in the show. Same goes for Radar Mode, where the aforementioned sword configuration now serves as a spear of sorts. It does reveal the Megazords' rather stumpy arms.
For a comparison with the Bandai Japan version, the molds are identical beyond the try me feature, but Abarenoh features paint apps not featured in the US version, a greenish shade of gold for their Tricerazord horns and Pterazord, the shins having gold chrome instead of painting them, gold paint for the hip triangles and heel claws, silver paint for the helmet and Tricera legs, and more silver paint for the bumps on the Tricera head. The differences are nothing too severe, as the Thundersaurus Megazord still looks complete as it is while keeping some of the chrome on the shoulders. Of note, there was a multipack that featured the Cephalazord along with some vinyl figures of the three Abarangers. Yes, I am interchanging the names between PR and Sentai versions, deal with it. Though I can't deal with there being two opportunities at getting Cephala while the rest of the world never got it.
As far as Japanese-exclusive reuses are concerned, there is the "Another" Abarenoh version representing the Biozords in their pre-tamed state, with a two-tone green deco and bronze combo adding a unique sense of uniformity that almost fits for a military camo. This was not used in the US toyline, but we did have a repaint for the 5-inch version known as the Triasaurus Megazord. I'll be honest and say that it felt like a vague memory given how rare it was while I stuck with my fully colored version...though I wish my brother and I each got a specific deco version of the 5-inch mold. Anyways, new to me after years of obsessing over this mold is a black and silver version of Abaranoh, likely included as part of a giveaway only in Japan or another Asian country that airs Sentai or renames it as Power Rangers.
Here is an interesting reuse that features actual retooling, consisting of Bakurenoh that was featured in a movie as well as one episode. We have a Carnotaur retooled from the Tyrannozord as well as a Chasmosaur from the Tricerazord, with a chilling dark blue, teal, purple, and white color combo that stands out from the primary colors of the original Thundersaurus tooling. Changing things even further are the retooled dino and Megazord heads, with frills that go into the sides of the Carnotaur head. Bakurenoh made a brief cameo in the show proper, which explains why we saw this so-called Replicantzord in Dino Thunder...though it doesn't explain why our Blizzard Force Megazord is redecoed inaccurately! It'd be one thing if we have fewer paint apps and no chrome whatsoever (despite the stock photos clearly showing chrome), but to replace any purple or teal with red while leaving the Carnotaur teeth in a decaying yellow? And what's the point of a green Pterazord if it was never included in the original version and has less to do with the arctic theme? There's nowhere for the helmet to go, and this would have been a great way to include the Cephalazord!
What is even stranger is that our Blizzard Force Megazord was accompanied by other versions of the design in smaller toy forms, with a non-transforming action figure that only had a sword and a light-up chest, while a Thunder Morphin version of the Red Ranger was retooled to turn into the Carnotaur, though it was called the G-Rex. What they meant by that, we'll never know. Same for why those toys have the proper colors and the Deluxe one couldn't. And as much as I'll love Dino Thunder as my favorite season ever, it's a shame the series never used the Abaranger movie or at least the Megazord fighr where the Tyrannodrill was briefly cut off and used by the evil retool for a double drill attack.
.jpg)
For a size comparison, here is the Thundersaurus Megazord with a Leader Class Transformer made 5 years after Dino Thunder ended (or 6 if you refer to Abaranger). Being a head shorter was a standard for some Megazords, though it depended on the season or year they came out. Some were taller than this design, others were not. But overall, these two have one thing in common, being part of my childhood as gaps that are now filled. The Thundersaurus Megazord may not have any alternatives such as ZAP or Soul of Chogokin, but the original version is worth getting for the arm-swapping gimmick, the chunkier plastics long lost through time, and the badass designs Dino Thunder was known for. I hope to get the other Auxiliary Zords as well as the Dino Stegazord and Mezodon Megazords. We'll see what can be done with the Brachio and Blizard Force offerings, though. Despite its limited articulation, the play features, especially that Tyranno drill, more than make up for it. That being said, make sure your copy has everything important included as well as there being no broken clips.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
No comments:
Post a Comment