The White Ranger is another one of those very incredibly popular Rangers and of course this is also Tommy's suit in season 2 and 3 of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The suit never really fit in with the other suits for some reason, but I did get used to it. There's a lot to say about this costume especially with the sixth Ranger trends that it followed. I also got this figure for $5 at a closing Wal-Mart from about... 2 years ago? There's very few issues I have with this figure honestly.
Right off the bat, you can tell how different it is from the MMPR suits, no dinosaur helmet and very Chinese because it's actually Kibaranger from Super Sentai's 17th season, Gosei Sentai Dairanger. It followed a Chinese aesthetic and even the fighting styles were different kinds of Kung Fu.
This one in particular being the Tiger style of Kung Fu with a Chinese broadsword based on a white tiger. The belt doesn't have the Power Buckler, instead it has a common design used in Chinese artwork. It still has a "shield" with the Tiger Coin on the center.
The helmet is very cool, I love the way it's designed with the tiger stripes and the mouth plate.
The shield is made out of a harder material this time around for some reason, it's actually much harder than the plastic that they used for the arms and legs and it's a problem. The range of motion on the shoulders are hindered by the shoulder pads on the shield. The pose that he had in the box warped the legs so much it's very annoying so he has pronating knees and it makes mine hurt.
He does come with a single accessory, Saba the White Tiger Sword. In Japan he was named Byakkoshinken, which just means
White Tiger Sword. It's very nicely sculpted and it has all of the paint that needs to be there. You can clearly see all the details on it.
It fits in the hand perfectly and with the way the hands are articulated it's perfect for swordplay.
I do not like how the thigh swivel is cut, it does limit how far the legs go forward and back.
The plastic along the double elbows and knees are very soft and prone to warping. I tried using hot water for mine but it didn't really work so maybe I was just being impatient.
Between the Green Ranger and the White Ranger I have a hard time picking which one is my favorite.
If I had to pick I'd probably go White Ranger because of my love of Dairanger. The Green Ranger suit is very nostalgic, green and gold go well together but gold and white is just a better color combination.
From what I have heard and read, the White Ranger was picked out of all of the Dairangers because they weren't sure how changing the popular Dinosaur themed suits was going to go. They wanted to keep the Zyurangers suits but Zyuranger only had so many episodes.
They did get Toei to film more footage for them for a while and it worked but eventually they had to change. They compromised by bringing in the White Ranger and all of the Mecha from Dairanger.
There was an episode where the White Ranger and Green Ranger face off, it's pretty cool!
I do like this figure a lot, it uses the main base body with new boots, forearms, biceps and belt. The chest under the shield is actually the same, it still has the outline of the diamond that the Zyuranger suits had for some reason. Another thing that is different is the shoulders, they don't have that weird shoulder tip sculpted in which allows for more range of motion.
While not like the others, I've gotten used to seeing it with the other Zyuranger suits.
His retail price was about $20, or $19.99, since the figures are re-releasing you should be able to find him easily. Amazon and Walmart had them online for about $19.99, Walmart had them a little cheaper so check there first. GameStop should carry them online and in store for $22.99 which is pretty pricey but better get them while they're hot y'know. Good luck!
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