Sabretooth Tiger [Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Re-Ignition/Combinable Dinozord]

Getting back to out look at Playmates take on the Dino Megazord from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (or Daizyuzin from Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger if your more Super Sentai leaning) is the Yellow Sabretooth Tiger. Playmates made some really good Voltron sets that I liked a whole lot. Which is why I was anticipating this set so much. It's funny, because on it's own, the Sabretooth Tiger feels like a Voltron lion.

Like the other Zords so far, this is a pleasantly big blocky robot toy with old school DNA in abundance. Some may complain about the limited leg articulation... and that's fair. I wanted more movement in the legs themselves and all there is basic joints. Like the Triceratops, it's very obvious that this toy is part of a combiner team. Also like the Triceratops is a firing rocket in the tail that's easy to accidentally shoot. Be careful to not loose it. Transformation to leg mode is easy, just fold the legs and tail into position. The head folds up to form a foot... be sure to fold the teeth up and out of the way.

There's working wheels for Dinotanker mode, which I assumed the Megazord had... but saw nothing regarding. It's a silly mode, but I've always liked it. Once again the Bandai origins shin through and I'm happy so far with this set. Now it's just time to wait for the other members of the team to form the Megazord. We're halfway there... and hopefully they'll be out soon. There's tons of monsters around Zone Base and we need all the help we can get!

Triceratops [Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Re-Ignition/Combinable Dinozord]

One problem with combiner teams is that there is compromises in the individual members to create the combined form. The Triceratops is a pretty good example of that, it's usually a giant brick. A cool brick, but a brick non-the-less. Fortunately, that works in it's favor. The Triceratops is essentially a tank that also becomes a leg, Playmates did just that. It's a simple toy, but pleasant.

The dino head has a decent range of movement which will come in hand for the combined Megazord. The tail features the double laser tip that doubles as a firing missile. It folds flush into the dino body during conversion, but I'd be careful. Loosing a missile sucks as is, but when the missile is part of the the toys visual aesthetic... ugh. Like I said, it may be a brick... but it's a cool brick. The simple styling and colors look great. There's a timeless quality to some of these old robots. Just a good looking robot tank dinosaur that becomes a leg.

Tyrannosaurus [Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Re-Ignition/Combinable Dinozord]

It's odd. Feels just like the other day I was welcoming Hasbro's Power Ranger toys with open arms only to be doing that now for Playmates take on the teenagers with attitude. It's an odd change, but one of the steps we're seeing of Hasbro being more of an IP owner than a toy manufacturer. I don't know how far this walk will end up being, but it's fascinating to watch. Regardless, it's good news because Playmates makes GREAT toys. Power Rangers goes in line with their Monsterverse Kaiju action figures and so far they seem to be on a pretty positive path.

My main focal point with their MMPR output for the time being is their Dinozords. Next year they have a pretty interesting mini line coming that I want to get my hands on... but that's next year. This current set of Zords are a combinable team that once completed will form the Dino Megazord from the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Or for you Super Sentai fans, Daizyuzin from Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. I'm not 100% sure, but it feels like the same design team that made Playmates Voltron were behind this set. I liked their Voltron toys, so that's a positive. Like those Lions, these are big chunky bots that are very similar to the Bandai designs that came before them. There's obviously some differences, but that original DNA is still here.

Today we'll be taking a look at the Tyrannosaurus. The Tyrannosaurus is a Deluxe figure from the assortment with the Deluxe classification owing to it's size. It and the Mastodon are larger toys. All the Dinozords cost $23.98 at my local Walmart, so I'm not sure if deluxes are intended to cost more or not. There's probably some tariff offsetting in that pricing to be fair. Still, $120 for all five isn't bad. Considering the size (they're BIG), I'm not complaining. Tyrannosaurus is a nice hefty dino full of big chonky robot vibes. There's a decent amount of articulation in his legs that clicks satisfyingly when moved. Earlier I said the Bandai DNA is present and it really is. This feels 100% like holding a big ass Gobot and I fucking love it. They did a great job and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the set and building the Megazord.

King Sphinx Is A Pretty Fly Guy

 

With a little Christmas gift card money, I picked up the MMPR Lightening Collection version of King Sphinx. I had completely forgotten this toy was coming out, but jumped on him immediately. King Sphinx has always been one of my favorite monsters from MMPR. He was heavily featured on merchandising in the series since he was in the unaired pilot. However they called him Fly Guy in that pilot and frankly, I don't 100% hate that.

In Zyuranger he was known as Dora Sphinx. The differences from Super Sentai to Power Rangers is really clear in these episodes. King Sphinx is a big threat for the Rangers, but an even harder obstacle in Zyuranger. I'm not saying one is better than the other, that's up to personal tastes. I find the differences very neat.

Despite being all over the place merchandise wise, he's only in his particular episode and I've always been a little let down by that. King Sphinx is just so cool looking, I've always wanted him to be a regular character. He's paired with Goldar during the big fight of his episode and they make a good team.

This figure is pretty nice like most Lightening Collection figures are. He has articulation in ways that never would have occurred to me before. The arms just don't rotate or swivel and the shoulder, but they also move outwards. Fancy figures with a billion points of articulation are hardly a new thing, but I'm still a little amazed by them sometimes. 

You've probably noticed just how good looking this figure is from the pics. Or you're looking at my living room closet door. We keep our jackets in there. King Sphinx is better sculpted and painted than the actual costume used to portray him in his episode. I said what I said. The paint job is downright immaculate and I'm still blown away by the details. The toy is around $30 at Target, but looks like it should have cost way more.

King Sphinx comes with his scepter and one of those special effect thingies. The special effect represents his magic spell and fits over the scepter nicely. It has question marks which work well to represent his riddles. I literally have nothing bad to say about this figure. It's freaking awesome.

Zyu what?

During the holiday weekend, I spent a few hours watching Zyuranger. My wife, asked me why I was watching it since I regularly watch Power Rangers on Netflix already and have really already seen it all multiple times. Aside from the 'I like it', I told her it was a different show. Which, it is. Thinking about it, I don't think that's well established. It's not completely common knowledge that Power Rangers is made from Super Sentai shows, but known well enough that most people do understand that it's made from other footage. Most folks assume that it's basically the same show with just the non action sequences swapped out. Which isn't exactly true.

Dino Charge-Trick or Treating Safety

I'm not even kidding about just how concerned I am about everyone's safety Halloween Night.

Well, I need to grab a copy.