Last year, it was announced that Saban had sold the rights to Power Rangers to Hasbro. This was very surprising and out of the blue. I was already excited about announced Legacy Collection figures like the Ninja Steel team that never occured. I went out to buy a Marvel Legend to see what we'd be getting and I wasn't disappointed, my first figure was the Black Panther from the movie. I was very excited to see what they could come up with and eventually I got into the Black Series figures which got me even more pumped! Still, it was a long road ahead until we got this new figure and it was actually the first figure to be announced and have a prototype. At first it looked a little strange but in person it looks amazing. I'm surprised Bandai wasn't able to make a figure like this. The S.H. Figuarts are at a different level but they're still articulated well and have accessories for an affordable price. Let's get to it.
Right off the bat I love the box design, the back is a little too plain, I wish it had a bio like the Black Series and Marvel Legends figures do.
You can see the helmet design on the front and at the sides. Box displays the contents nicely, I do think the box could be a lot smaller considering what's in it.
Out of the box, and I was pretty much speechless, the quality of this figure for $20 is amazing.
The body isn't too skinny or too muscular, it's in the sweet spot and it looks like the character. I was a little skeptical about how these would come out. When I saw the prototype I felt a little weird because Hasbro of all of the companies was going to make new Power Ranger's toys. The shield is really impressive because it's made out of a very soft material which is great! It doesn't get in the way of the arms and it's soft so it has pretty good give.
The suit design is simple, white jumpsuit with short sleeves. Gold cuffs and a black and gold shield. The belt is the nice and simple belt design and the sword just slides in there easily. The most exciting part for me was the seam in the back with the wrinkles throughout the uniform. The gloves even have all the seams in the palm and the padding on the knuckles.
The helmet is amazing, I was worried about how they would make the helmets and I was impressed! The design looks almost identical to the one in the show, it has a nice gold paint with a shiny black visor.
Of course it has that amazing range of motion, the hips are ball jointed and they go out pretty far. He comes with a pair of first and it's easy to take them out but hard to put back in. The peg is very long it's actually fragile which is a shame because it discourages me from actually trying to use this figure.
He comes with one grabby hand on the left side. It has a pretty good grasp on Saba.
He also comes with a palm for you choppy actions.
The most important accessory is Saba of course, painted silver and gold.. Saba's head is unfortunately silver but it does have the gold on the sides and the dark stripes along the silver back.
He can hold it both ways, regular grip or reverse grip. I wish the hands were on ball joints, they'd get much more range is they did.
Just with the basic accessories it give you so many display possibilities.
You're able to recreate many great scenes from the show, I do wish he came with two grabby hands and two palms but what can you do?
If that wasn't already enough he comes with this effect piece that I can't really put my finger on.
I did watch all of Gosei Sentai Dairanger and season 2 of Mighty Morphin I can't remember him ever using an attack that looked like this.
Either way, it looks great and it's easy to use. All you have to do is attach it at the tip of the blade.
And even then we're not done! He comes with a Tommy Oliver head that does resemble Jason David Frank pretty well. It's not perfect by any means but it does look like him. He even has the pony tail.
I do think it's a little small but it does it's job. It's easy to change them back and forth but he just looks better with the helmet. I'm excited about this line, you get alternate hands, weapon accessories, and a civilian head. The first wave is out and I cannot way to see what they'll do with this line.
Articulation is: Hinge and ball joint at the neck, butterfly joints at the shoulders, swivel and hinge at the hips and shoulders. Bicep and thigh swivel, double jointed knees and elbows. Swivel and hinge at the wrists on all of the hands. Ankle sivel and hinge. Boot swivel which is great and allows for even better movement. Ab crunch and my favorite, the ball joint at the diaphragm. All of that combined, it's almost a perfect figure. It's so much fun and with the really soft shield, you can get a lot of poses without having to worry about the shoulder pads getting in the way.
Tamashii did release the S.H. Figuarts White Ranger with Tommy Oliver head, it sold for about $65. Almost the same amount of accessories but better quality and detail. There are things that the S.H. Figuarts does better than the Lightning Collection figure and vice versa. As you can see it's also a head taller.
The Figuarts has earings and the long hair, it looks like that scene where he was introduced. I do think the paint or print on the face looks leagues better of the Hasbro figure. I could go on for hours comparing these two figures but at the end of the day, both of them do their job and the Hasbro figure is a lot cheaper.
I will patiently wait until more Power Rangers are out, mainly Red Rangers and villains. I do hope to see Super Sentai characters at some point but that doesn't look very likely unfortunately.
Again, this is really close to being perfect, there are a couple things I would change such as the way they articulate the wrist but as it is, it's one of my favorite figures at the moment.
It captures the essence of the suit with the wrinkles and little details that didn't need to be there and other figure have left out. I like the accurate proportions, not too muscular and not incredibly skinny.
The lack of hands does bother me but again, for a $20 figure it's more than enough.
Size wize, it's a little under 6", smaller than the Legacy Collection and Taller than the Figuarts. And way more proportionate compared to the Armored Might Ranger which I still really like.
Compared to other Hasbro figures, it's about the same height as your average Marvel Legends and Black Series, just a hair shorter. I just love to look at it, oof.
Since they're fresh, you should be able to find them in multiple websites such as Amazon, Bigbadtoystore, Wal-Mart, GameStop, Target etc... same as in store, they're trickling in and there's plenty of White Rangers to go around, however they aren't selling as well as I want them to, I hope the line doesn't tank. Wal-Mart, Target, and GameStop carry them, the prices are $18.95, $19.99, and $22.99 respectively. Good luck and happy hunting!
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