Review: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Lightning Collection Lord Zedd

While they took the White Ranger suit as well as the villains, mecha and some weapons from the 17th Season of Super Sentai, Gosei Sentai Dairanger from Japan, there was one new creation that was exclusive to Power Rangers. Lord Zedd who ended up taking over the role of big bad from Rita Repulsa. He had a pretty amazing design, intimidating and something completely different from Power Rangers and Super Sentai. He reminded me a little bit of Bane because of the tubes that he had around his body. I always liked the fleshy red color that they used for the skin. I was surprised to see that Hasbro was going to release him in wave one! We've had Lord Zedd figures before but none like this. It's a good addition to a line of figures that has had too many Rangers and not enough villains for them to fight against.

The box is fairly simple but it works and I love it. You get a picture of the character with a window that shows most, if not all of the accessories. The back shows the figure in a pose.

You get some art of Lord Zedd on the sides but if you look on the right side of the box you can see that the artwork goes from the front of the box to the side.

Right out of the box, he looks amazing. Most of him is painted, the only parts that I can see that weren't were the fingers and fingertips which should have been painted silver. Admittedly, the silver they used could have been much much shinier but I can't complain, at least it's metallic and not dull gray with marbling. The base body has a lot of muscular detail with good color variation on the skin.

The metal "skeleton looks great, a lot of it are separate pieces that are glued onto the body and it works. Especially on the thighs, the silver part is not attached to the upper thigh. It's completely independent from the thigh cut. Unfortunately because of the way the "metal" piece extrudes from the leg it can get in the way of the articulation. I've had no problems with the tubes, they're a translucent blue plastic that don't get in the way.

The head is amazing, unfortunately for me the visor has some scratches that bother me if I notice them. Besides that, the sculpt is amazing! The exposed brain has a different shade from the body and the visor. A little more dry brushing could let the detail pop a little more. The plastic on the Z for the "crown" is made out of a soft plastic that won't break easily but I'd still be careful with it.

You get a couple accessories, one of them is his signature Z staff that he uses. Unfortunately it's a solid piece of gray plastic with no paint. The same metallic paint would have worked here. The good part about this piece is that it's made out of a hard plastic. That makes it easy to break but it won't warp! So you can pose it however you want without it losing its shape. Of course you get a grabby hand but only on the right side, not on the left which is weird because he holds it on the left quite often.

You get a pair of relaxed hands, well kind of, the left hand is made so it can hold another accessory.

The growth bomb, which actually comes from Dairanger, is made to fit on the left hand perfectly.

It's one whole piece and nicely detailed. We don't have any villains to turn giant yet but soon!

I'm afraid if I leave it in for too long the left hand will lose its grip.

You also get a closed fist that doesn't do much but looks cool for evil gestures!

The last accessory is the lightning piece that doesn't really stay in place. At first it did but it got floppier and floppier. From what I can see it's a completely new piece not used in Marvel Legends figures. Since it's floppy I have to be careful with how I position it or it'll fall off.

It's a great figure and it uses the same articulation as the White Ranger.

The ball joint and hinge on the head give it a lot of character and it isn't limited due to the sculpt.

And if you want he can even hold the staff with the "relaxed" hand on the left side and the right with a loose grip.

I do like that the butterfly shoulders are included in this sculpt, it's pretty surprising since the body is wider and more muscular than the others. But then again Beast from the Caliban wave has a wider body and butterfly joints... what excuse do other figures have?

The elbows and knees are double jointed. Bicep and thigh cut give him a good swivel.

There isn't a boot cut so you don't get that swivel. The rocker ankle and the hinge give it good range but the hinge on mine is a little too tight and it clicks on an awkward point which make him hard to stand.

The hands are all on a hinge and since they pop in through a peg (which is very long and thin and incredibly fragile, seriously, handle with care or they will break!) they have a good swivel. 
Compared to the Lightning Collection White Ranger it is perfectly in scale, just a bit taller not counting the crest.

 A little shorter than the Legacy Collection White Ranger so they'll fit well together in my opinion.

 Just a bit taller than the Marvel Legends Power & Glory Captain America and The Black Series 70  Han Solo (Bespin).

Okay so, new figure, at Wal-Mart you'll find him for $18.95. Target and Amazon will have him for $19.99. At GameStop you'll find him for $22.99 so pick your poison. It's incredible and I'm in love with these figures. At first I was very skeptical and didn't know how to feel about Saban selling the franchise to Hasbro. That of course meant that Bandai would no longer make Power Rangers figures but Bandai Japan would keep going as is. Hasbro, a company with Marvel Legends and Star Wars The Black Series would have another franchise. Wasn't confident with the Black Panther Marvel Legends I got at first because of the way certain points of articulation worked. But I'm glad to say that I am thoroughly impressed and excited to see what they have in store for the Lightning Collection Line especially with that SDCC Exclusive 2-Pack, although the Red Ranger helmet looks a little odd, no one seems to get that right. Happy Hunting!