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| S.H.Figuarts Power Rangers |
The only unique feature about the Rangers when we look at them individually are the colours (obviously), the helmets and the special weapons that they carry. The "male rangers" virtually have the same sculpt and body mold. All these guys have that lanky swimmer body-type physique, which I find- less accurate since Jason (the Red Ranger) is the tallest and more muscular of the three, but it's not really that a big deal. Pink and Yellow Ranger on the other hand are a bit shorter plus with the boobs protruding shyly over their chests. Now here's a fun fact!!- the reason why the Yellow Ranger doesn't wear a miniskirt like the Pink Ranger is because in the original Japanese Power Rangers (Super Sentai Rangers), Yellow is suppose to be a dude! They sort of brought that original outfit when it came to America albeit rather played by Thuy Trang. So that's an interesting fact there.
There's nothing really much to talk about each of their simplistic paint application. The way they are painted is all the same except that they have their traditional colours designated to each with "white" as the only common colour they all have. Their "Power Morphers" (or buckles) are all intricately painted to make it look more akin to the show even with its pebble-like size. Moreover and even more surprising, the "gold coins" for each of these Rangers are embossed with their own signature logos. Zooming your camera closer to Red Ranger's buckle, you will see his T-Rex showing slightly in the middle. A Mastodon embossment for the Black Ranger, a Triceratops embossment for the Blue Ranger and so forth can also be seen.
While it's probably needless to show you the way they are packaged, the point here is to get us oriented with the Japanese release versus the International release so that we would be able to recognize them. If you look at the packaging on the Japanese version of Red Ranger, there are no "MMPR" logo included in its artwork, instead you can see the name- "TyrannoRanger" which is originally the real codename of the Red Ranger!
Whether it's the Japanese version or the American version, the action figure you get is the same! The only reason why I purchased the Red Ranger from Japan are the bonus accessories they've added. All five Rangers got their own Thunder Slingers (complete assembly), and Blade Blasters (not fully transformed) that goes into each of the Rangers' own holsters. Also, all five of them have their own pair of "fisted hands" and gripping hands strictly for holding the Slingers and the Blasters. Now that we've discussed the accessories that they have in common, let's go right down to the "special ones".
Red Ranger: What's special about the Red Ranger (Japanese version) is that he comes with an interchangeable belt and neck that sings to the tune of America! Interesting bonus features for a Japanese release. While the Blade Blasters for these Rangers don't actually transform, Bandai included three (3) different transformations of the Blade Blaster and an incomplete assembly of the Thunder Slinger. Last but not the least, the Red Ranger got his personal main weapon- the Power Sword! By having him wield the sword, the Red Ranger needs to a have a special gripping hands for it. He also have a pair of "T-Rex claw attack" hands and another gripping hands (to which I don't know what it's for) for a total of five (5) interchangeable pairs of hands.
Pink Ranger: Her personal weapon is the Power Bow (with the arrow). Among the five Rangers, Kim is the only Power Ranger who has a weapon glued to her fingers, i.e. her arrow. She got a special gripping hand designed to hold her bow, and a pair of judo-chop hands with the a left hand that is partially curved and angled that all connect to a ball-hinged wrist.
Black Ranger: Now this is where it starts to get interesting. The Black Ranger comes with a Power Sword and the Blue Ranger's Power Lance that are designed to play a part in building the Power Blaster. The Black Ranger comes with none other than his infamous Power Axe that he can also use as a shotgun. He comes with two (2) pairs of special gripping hands (made only for the Black Ranger) for holding his weapon in "axe mode" and one for holding it in "shotgun mode". In addition, he got just the one gripping hand (without a pair) for some unknown purpose. In total, he got four (4) pairs of interchangeable hands plus one without a pair.
Blue Ranger: Like our Black Ranger, the Blue Ranger comes with accessories that looked almost unusual in his set. Again, these are parts that will help you build the Power Blaster and this time it's Kim's bow and Trini's daggers. The Blue Ranger's personal weapon is the three-pronged double Power Lance on "staff form", which (in my opinion) should have been a bit longer. He also comes with a pair of Power Lances in their "dagger forms". And of course, he got a set of grips designed to hold his weapon plus a pair of semi-judo chop hands.
Yellow Ranger: Lastly, we have Trini the Yellow Ranger that just got released couple of months ago; following the Blue Ranger. She holds the last piece for the Power Blaster which is Zack's axe. Once combined together, it will form their super-duper ultimate weapon just like what we always see in the show. The Yellow Ranger has her own weapon- the Power Daggers, which also comes with the hands designed to hold it nice and tight. Also like all other Rangers, she has a special pair of hands but hers is doing a sort of "cat-claw attack!"
The articulation on all these five Rangers is phenomenal. Like the Green Ranger figure, these guys can also hit any kind of pose pretty much. The neck is on a double-ball hinged that lets the head lean at any angle and rotate at the upper portion of the neck as well as the lower area near the chest. They have these loose shoulder pieces that allows their double-ball jointed shoulders move at a wider range. Their arms have double-jointed elbows and rotation at the wrists. Diaphragm and waist rotation are incorporated per usual. Double-ball jointed hips, double-jointed knees, hinged ankles with ankle rockers are present as well.
The Red, Black and Blue Ranger stands on par with each other at 6 inches tall while the two ladies are maybe 2 or 3 millimeter shorter than the guys. If you're a Power Ranger fan, these S.H.Figuarts action figures are the real deal! With its tremendous amount of accessories and articulation, and close likeness to the Rangers, they are must-get figures to people who went crazy for them. Although I'm not too much of a fan but they are part of my "growing-up memories" and it's a great thing to have the best Power Rangers action figures that are in today.
