White Ranger
Review by JoshB
Power ranger figures have never been known or their articulation, detail or collectability. In fact, most collectors seem to ignore them in general. Since their debut in 199x, The actual Power ranger figures have been aimed squarely at kids, forgoing accuracy for play value. This is fine for kids, but collectors have never really pursued them.
Then a funny thing happened at Bandai America a few years ago. Someone in a board meeting must have realized that there is an untapped collector market, and slowly, quietly, Bandai rolled out the 15th anniversary red ranger series. Unfortunately, the line was terribly misguided, as these figures were ridiculously over-muscled, like some crazy he-man offspring. Its as if they never got the memo that the "extreme" Liefeld-ish look was out long ago.
I'm not sure what became of the line, but apparently, Bandai America learned their lesson. With the recent release of the Jungle Fury action figures, Bandai began packing in chase "Super Legends" figures, two per case, of classic Power Rangers characters.
I'm glad to say that they ALMOST got it right. The Super Legends are really good figures, but they fall just short of being "great" figures.
On the plus side, these figures have excellent, realistic proportions. The White ranger features removable armor and a very detailed, unique sculpt. The articulation is very good compared to the usual MMPR figure, but it misses some key points of articulation.
For example, the arms are articulated at the shoulder, elbow and wrist, but there is no swivel joint at the bicep. The legs have fantastic ball joints at the hips, and then a great swivel joint just below that in addition to the knee articulation. But there's no articulation at the ankles, and in an even more glaring omission, no waist joint.
Still, these are minor gripes - the White Ranger and the other Super Legends figures are the best Power Rangers figures to date.
Comments
16 comments postedthat red ranger's calf muscles are certainly "Liefeldian"
Haha...I love catching snippets of Josh's volcanic hatred of Rob Liefeld!
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Sanjeev
I'm thinking the ranger costume needs more POUCHES. lots and lots of pouches.
Hey at least the Red Ranger did not have wristbands! (heh-heh) Rob was notorious in his art for drawing wristbands on his characters to cover up his "shortcomings" as an artist. It is well known that the man did not know how to draw wrists among other things. :-)
"It is well known that the man did not know how to draw wrists among other things"
Like faces, feet, legs, torsos, arms, un-gloved hands...other that that the man's a master.
I don't blame Josh or anyone else one bit for despising Rob Liefeld; I'm right there with 'em. After all Liefeld is a guy who, years ago, did to comics what McFarland did to toys, and what Micheal Bay did (and continues to do) to cinema. Eff all of those guys.
"I don't blame Josh or anyone else one bit for despising Rob Liefeld; I'm right there with 'em. After all Liefeld is a guy who, years ago, did to comics what McFarland did to toys, and what Micheal Bay did (and continues to do) to cinema. Eff all of those guys."
Diyenn78: I like the way you think, for greats minds do think alike.
-R78
Thank you, kind sir. I generally try to keep it to myself when I hate on stuff, but I gotta say, the mere mention of that chuckle-head Liefeld's name sends me into a venomous rage. I don't want to be cruel to whoever is in charge of censoring expletives in the comments, so I'll stop here.
Awesome set of photos! Thanks for reminding me how much I wanted the this figure and the original Green Ranger figures... The sculpt on these looks really solid, but look, no ankle articulation! One question: Is the shield/chest armor a two-piece thing that snaps on around the body, or one piece that clips into place? I remember the shield on my original Green Ranger figure CONSTANTLY falling off as a kid.
It's funny you bring up Liefeld as well... I'm a big sucker for the style he attempts, with the gritty lines and heroic proportions, but Liefeld's own execution of that style just leaves alot to be desired :P
I got the White Ranger-and he's a good figure I don't buy Power Rangers/Sentai toys often, but I bought him mostly for the nostalgia. He has a lot of movement in his arms and legs, but it's a shame that his waste isn't moveable-so you can't fully utilize all the articulation.
Also, mine seems to have a few balancing problems, so I sometimes have trouble trying to execute some of the kung fu, martial arts style poses
There's also another line of SL figures-the Extreme super legends figures, with more detail added in.
And while we're on that subject: what would you guys say is better? The Extreme Green Ranger, or the Super Legends Green ranger. I'm having difficulty deciding what I want.
Ya he was a suckah' he drew all the faces the same including the female characters in his books. Can you recall how many times he restarted his failure of a comic Young Blood? Hey didn't the white ranger play a flute to call upon his Godzilla Megazoid... a regular pied piper. Ohhhh... Pink Ranger.
Larkin
The Green Ranger used his Dragon Dagger to summon the Dragonzord.
I got the Dlx. Dragonzord, but I always wanted a Dragon Dagger... -_-;
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CollectionDX Staff
At least you HAD a DX Dragonzord. All I had growing up was a motorized battery operated Dragonzord that my parents got my from some Chinese toy store.
I never had a DX Megazord either, closestet I ever had to one was one that didn't combine and I think had a rocket punch gimmick.
I got the green ranger. Finaly, we got a PR figure that look like the actor.
The shield is made of one part.
And does anyone got pictures of the extreme super legend version ?
And the Dragonzord rocked. Best. Zord. Ever.
"Awww man, that's one ugly zord..." Tommy about BA Drivemax Megazord.
I agree- the Dragonzord has always held a special place in my heart right from the start. Perhaps because it fits in the nostalgia I feel for MMPR now, had not one but two alternate forms meshing with the Megazord, was summoned by a simple flute, was the first Zord ever to have no pilot in a cockpit (except for one episode only), was the first "bad Zord" we ever saw, or was cooler than Godzilla, period. (FACT: the Dragon Caesar's design was indeed inspired by the Big G himself!) I can't say, but it was awesomeness to be sure.
Though this applies to other later [Super Sentai] designs as well, if I ever get the chance, I wanna see the stunt suit in-person if I happen to be in very close proximity.
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CollectionDX Staff
I gotta say that I prefer the SL figures using Jungle Fury molds as a template more so than those which used R.P.M. body sculpts like the Green Samurai Ranger (both normal and Super mode) and Lightspeed Titanium Ranger, It just felt right for me. BTW, the Jungle Fury Rangers figures all have feet articulation (but they can't swivel).