IN SPACE BLUE RANGER VS SILVER PSYCHO RANGER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Hey, the Power Rangers In Space-themed reviews are getting closer together!  This is something that I can definitely get behind, my guys.  Have I mentioned that I really like that show?  I definitely have, but is it really possible for me to say it too much?  Probably, but it’s my site and I set the rules around here.  So, you know, there it is.  Slowly but surely, we’ve been assembling the main team from the show, as well as a few of the foes they faced.  Thus far, we’ve gotten four of the six team members, as well as all five of the evil Psycho Rangers.  The remaining two main rangers are both slotted for release, quite soon.  So soon, that I’ve in fact already got one.  And also, there’s a sixth Psycho Ranger.  Bet you didn’t see that coming!  Especially because it’s actually the seventh!  I’m bad at counting, you guys.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

In Space Blue Ranger and Silver Psycho Ranger are one half of the third assortment of Power Rangers: Lightning Collection two-packs, with the other half being MMPR Yellow and Scorpina.  This pack specifically calls out being based on the episode “Five of a Kind,” the fourth episode in In Space‘s Psycho Ranger arc. That’s mostly in regards to the presence of Psycho Silver, but the Blue Ranger is also really central to that particular episode as well, making for a pretty natural choice pairing him off with Silver for the set.

IN SPACE BLUE RANGER

TJ Johnson, aka the Blue Space Ranger, is another entry in my list of “Red Rangers being way cooler when they’re not Red Rangers.”  As Turbo Red, I didn’t care, but as Space Blue, I’m quite a fan.  Of course, I guess I’m just a little bit biased towards Blue Rangers.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As expected, TJ shares his construction with Andros, Carlos, and Zhane.  All of the male Rangers have the same approximate build, and have classically shared their parts when it comes to toy form, so this is all fairly sensible.  It helps that it continues to be a rather serviceable sculpt on its own, so there’s not really anything that warrants changing.  The paint work is the same as the others, but, of course, with blue in place of the other main colors.  The application is nice and clean, with no notable slop or bleed over, and they’ve made the appropriate adjustments to the shaping on the edge of the visor, so as to give him that extra bit of uniqueness.  TJ is packed with two sets of hands (gripping and a fist/flat combo), his Astro Axe, Astro Blaster, an effects piece for the axe, and an unmasked head.  The unmasked head has an okay likeness of actor Selwyn Ward, but he does seem a little bit serious and dour for how TJ tended to be portrayed.

PSYCHO SILVER RANGER

Rather amusingly, the Psycho Rangers are one of the two most thoroughly-explored Rangers teams in the line thus far, down to even getting both of their add-on members.  The first was Psycho Green, a later addition from the comics, while the second is today’s other focus, Psycho Silver.  In “Five of a Kind,” as part of a ploy to defeat the Psycho Rangers, the whole team disguises themselves as Space Blue, while Zhane pretends to be an all-new Psycho Ranger, his own evil counterpart of Psycho Silver.  Originally, it seemed that Psycho Silver was going to follow the trend of all of the Psychos barring Yellow, in being released prior to his main team counterpart.  However, regular Space Silver snuck in under the wire, and they wound up showing up at about the same time.  That’s pretty cool, I guess.  The figure is 6 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s identical to all of the male Psycho Rangers, again as expected.  It’s a good sculpt, probably even a bit better than the main Space sculpt, and all of the costumes on the show were the same, so it makes sense.  The paint is the main change-up, as he gets silver in place of the accent color seen on the others.  Psycho Silver gets the same alternate effects hand as the other Psychos, as well as a new Psycho Silverizer piece, and an unmasked Zhane head.  The unmasked head is unique from the one included with the standard Silver.  The hair is sculpted to the head this time, rather than being a separate piece, and the expression is just generally a more stern one.  While the hair seems a little better on this one, the face’s likeness seems a little too angular for Justin Nimmo.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m slowly chipping away at the In Space team here, so there was never any doubt that I was picking up this pairing.  Both figures here are, admittedly, rather by-the-numbers in terms of construction and such, but that’s also exactly what they’re supposed to be, so I can certainly dig it.  They do what they need to, and they do it well, so I’m very happy to have them.  And, hey, I’m only one Ranger away from the whole team!

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this set to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.