TF Views

First I stopped off at the bookstores!

Teen Titans Vol. 10: Changing of the Guard
Negima! Vol. 24
Yozakura Quartet Vol. 5

Then I went to Wal-Mart hoping to find those new Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers toys.

I totally found those new Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers toys.

You guys know I'm not normally one for nostalgia, but MMPR holds a strangely long-lasting sway over me. I really don't know what it is; I'm sure if I sat down and watched the show now that it wouldn't hold up at all. But the base elements (Teenage heroes, color-coded super-groupings, transformation sequences) are all things I've come to really enjoy in similar fiction, and as far as I can tell, MMPR was the genesis of that in my childhood. So I still go totally ga-ga for anything cool and MMPR related. And boy howdy are these things cool. At first I only fully intended to get Tommy, the Green Ranger, but while I was there I decided that he needed someone to fight. At first I was totally gonna go for Goldar, but then I noticed how crappy he looked in the package. So I decided to get Tommy's other eternal nemesis: Jason, the Red Ranger.

The good news is that, for Bandai PR toys, these things are *really* good. They're done at the 3.75" scale, so they're a good size, and they only retail for about five bucks a pop, which is a good deal. The designs are really good. A little too muscular for Power Rangers for my tastes, but the proportions look right otherwise (save for the heads, which seem to be a little on the small side). There's really good sculpted detail on them, with visible folds and wrinkles on the boots and gloves, and even some slight wrinkling on Jason's costume at the shoulders. The diamonds/triangles on the gloves and boots are molded in too, a nice touch. Even the weapons, despite being done in soft, all-black plastic, are very nicely sculpted. Jason's sword actually has a tiny T-Rex coin molded into it, and Tommy's Dragon Dagger has all the flute elements it's supposed to. Articulation's good too. They've got universal shoulders and hips, plus swivel elbows and knees, and, here's the cool part, swivel joints *hidden* at the connection points of the boots and gloves. Brilliant! Those extra points do add a lot.

The bad news is that, even though they're really good for Bandai PR toys, they're still Bandai PR toys, so there's some concessions you have to accept. They're made out of that glossy, hard plastic that everyone but Bandai stopped using after the nineties. It doesn't look great, but at least it looks better for Power Rangers than it would for just about any other character. They also didn't totally think the articulation through. Tommy's got his iconic chest-shield, but it totally limits his arm movement. He's still got a ton of poseability, but putting his arms straight out in front of him is not gonna happen; there's no way you're getting him into a 'playing the Dragon Dagger' pose. I'd like to think there was another way they could've figured out how to do that. Also, his Dragon Dagger was a bit warped in package, which kinda made me sad. They've both also got searingly obvious rivets at all their swivel points. This really hurts at the shoulders, where the things are pointed right at you. The legs don't get off scott-free either though, they've got some bad looking gaps in the inner thigh due to how they did hip articulation.

Both toys come with an accessory besides their standard weapons: The Dino-Flyer. Now, maybe it's been way too long since I watched MMPR, but I cannot for the life of me remember this device showing up in the series at any point. It's cool enough though: a little robotic wingpack thing with claw attachments. The Rangers can either ride on top of the Flyer and hold the claws as weapons, or wear the pack on their back and use the claws as boot extensions. I kinda prefer the second arrangement, since you really have to cram the claws into their hands for the first one, and I don't want to leave them in there for too long, lest I warp the hands permanently. Jason also comes with the standard-issue Ranger Blaster, which can stow on his belt, which is awesome.

So despite the laundry list of Bandai-induced problems, these are still pretty cool toys of a show I just can't let go. They look mostly good and display well with all their articulation. The accessories are nice. I gotta say, between the price and just how available they are at my local Wal-Mart, the urge to get the rest of these guys is pretty strong. At least the other four Rangers, anyway, though having a Putty for them to fight would be nice, plus he comes with the combined weapon thingy, the sneaky bastards. I also want Zordon a bit more now that I've found out you can actually fill his tank with water. Goldar still looks like ass.

-BW "I can't believe I wrote that many words on Power Rangers toys. I must have issues." prowl

I just spent like four hours looking at those very same toys because you said they're hitting. Must own.

Are there Zords? O6 showed me the pretty average figures. I kinda like how Zordon looks like Kevin Spacey.

Anyhoo, I now own Borderlands on 360. Yeah, I bought a game. That's pretty unusual for me, but Borderlands is pretty awesome. It's like Diablo meets Half-Life.

Apparently Zords are forthcoming, but I've seen no photographs. Patience is a virtue.

I watched a friend play Fallout 3. If I had a 360, I would probably buy it.

So I was standing in Target earlier with a toy in each hand, trying to figure out just what to do.

"But I like this one's color's better, I'm goin' with it."

"On the other hand, this one's a non-movie character, so that's a good thing, right? Leaving with this."

"Okay, walked back to TF aisle, now I'm definitely going with this one instead. Haven't seen one for awhile."

"Oooh, but then again, the other's a mad scientist who huffs paint!"

Moral of the story? It is hard to choose between ROTF Sideswipe and Swerve. Eventually, like, after about ten minutes, of deliberation, I went with Swerve because, as I said, paint-huffing mad scientist. Plus, his alt. mode can be described by a Prince song.

That alt. mode's kinda funny, anyway. I guess Alternators set a precendent here. But is it a good idea for the character? And I don't mean in the "Would he want to turn into this?" kinda way. I mean, you get one of the Autobot's worst drivers, right? Now before, he was a lil' truck. Not too fast, probably fairly sturdy if he gets in a wreck. Which he will. Now, however, he's a sports car that's probably made of fiberglass, tinfoil, and hope, but he can go really fast. This is gonna work out well.

If you think ten minutes deciding on a toy seems like no big thing, picture a full-grown man standing in the toy aisle with what's essentially two versions of the same thing, and unable to put one or the other down for sure.

I put too much thought into this toy, and I haven't even opened it yet. Also, now I sorta want ROTF Gears just for contrast.

Skip Gears, he sucks, get Brawn instead. Gears looks awful.

Onslaught Six wrote:Skip Gears, he sucks, get Brawn instead. Gears looks awful.

Maybe. Of course, coming from you, it's hard to tell which toy you're saying is bad, here...

Oh ho ho, I see what you did there. No, really, Gears is bad, and this is from someone who liked Stockade. And I love the 'concept,' too, it's just that the execution blows.

My con haul:

-lotsa fast food, (which I am still digesting with varying degrees of success).
-TrU recolor Inferno (loose)
-a copy of "Everything I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned from Anime"


Scourge's story reminds me of the "Bad Rhino" debate I had in '97.

When the Transmetals first came out, I was among those who thought it was hilarious that TM Cheetor could be positioned as if whipping more or less any beast-mode character. The fact that TM Rhinox appeared to be grimacing in pain only made it funnier.

On day, I was in a store, and found a TM Cheetor. Buying this toy would put me that much closer to being able to set up "Bad Rhino" on my own. (As it was, I had a season 1 Rhinox.) But, the toy was $12 that I needed for other things like food.

Actually stood in the aisle, holding the toy in one hand, and my wallet in the other, balancing them like a scale.

-$12.

-Bad Rhino.

-$12.

-Bad Rhino.

-You are an adult.

-Bad Rhino.

-$12 you need for other things.

-Bad Rhino.

-...........

-Bad Rhino.

-Bad Rhino?

-Bad Rhino.

-Bad Rhino.

-Bad Rhino. Bad, bad Rhino.


Dom
-BAD RHINO!

So over the last few days I went back and grabbed the other four Power Rangers. At first I just got Black and Yellow, and was gonna leave the other two for next paycheck. But then just tonight I was back in Wal-Mart getting cups and plates for a barbecue I'm having and those were cheaper than I expected and oh look Wal-Mart still has Blue and Pink and God Dammit.

So I've got a full squad of Goddamn Power Rangers now. Damn they look nice altogether. Since they're all essentially the same as the two I reviewed before, here's some meager thoughts on the others:

Black- Oh sweet he can hold his ax in its gun configuration. Too bad he can barely hold it in its ax configuration. Still cool though. And now I kinda have a toy of Johnny Yong Bosch, which is pretty rad in and of itself. Yeah, I'm considering this one Adam, not Zack.

Yellow- The female Ranger mold is hot. Seriously, it's sexy. There, now that that's out of the way, it can also be said that, due to her slimmer body parts, Yellow has slightly more range of motion than the guys. And no big metal rivets in...anywhere! What the hell Bandai, why could you not do this for the guys too? The yellow paint apps on her gloves and boots don't quite match her yellow plastic, but it's not a big deal. One of her daggers was really warped in package, which really sucks. What's the trick to fix that? Dunk it in boiling water and bend it? I'll have to try it. Anyway, she's Aisha to me, since the girl who played Trini is dead, and owning a toy of a dead teen actress would kinda weird me out.

Blue- Goddamit, his lance can't separate into maces like it's supposed to do. At least he's got enough range of motion to be able to two-hand the thing effectively. I'm kind of afraid to break it though, since it's so thin. Aw well. I'd forgotten how cool I thought Billy's helmet design was.

Pink- Alas, poor Kimberly. Your gender has its way with you, once again. Yeah, the Pink Ranger's iconic skirt totally limits her hip articulation. Like, badly. She can spread her legs apart a bit, but that's about it. Otherwise the mold is every bit as good (and hot) as Yellow, but the leg limits really hurt it. What pushes her up a notch is that she holds her weapon better than any of the others. Seriously, the bow just clicks into her hand, it's perfect. And you can even get her into a decent firing pose, despite the leg problem. Still love the color contrast on her helmet.

I feel like I've fulfilled some previously-abandoned childhood dream by assembling all of these guys. No, no, the dream will be fulfilled when I get that Dragon Dagger they're putting out. And the fucking Megazord.