Tag Archives: Lightning Collection

#3830: Blue Time Force Ranger

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

BLUE TIME FORCE RANGER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Way back in 2020, I discussed my last true hurrah with Power Rangers, Power Rangers: Time Force.  It’s a show that resonated pretty well with me, and ranks as probably my fourth favorite iteration of the series (after Space, Zeo, and Mighty Morphin, in that order).  I brought it up during its introduction into Lightning Collection, which, as it turned out, was also most of its presence in Lightning Collection, since they did Red, and then had a rather large gap.  The only other team member, added not too long before Hasbro wrapped up the line, was Blue.  I guess I’m okay with that.  Here he is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Blue Time Force Ranger was added to Power Rangers: Lightning Collection in 2023, as part of a deluxe offering that included both the figure and his time cycle.  Today’s review is just of the figure, since I do not have the time cycle.  I apologize to all the time cycle enthusiasts on that one.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  His assembly and articulation set up is very similar to Time Force Red, with the only major change-up being the removal of the visible pins on his elbows and knees.  Two figures in the line-up, and they don’t even have internal consistency.  Oh, Lightning Collection.  Otherwise, it’s all very similar.  Honestly, the Time Force Red sculpt was quite a nice offering, and lacked some of the weirdness of the MMPR-based bodies, so it’s actually a pretty solid starting point.  It’s pretty sleek and clean, and looks the part well.  His paint work is the main differentiating thing, of course, with the major palate swap for the coloring, as well as the tweaked shaping on the visor.  It all looks quite sharp, and the application’s generally well handled.  He’s packed with the same Chrono Blaster and Sabers as Red, as well as his own unmasked head, and hands in fists and gripping.  And that’s all without the Bike parts!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Early in Lightning Collection, when Time Force Red hit, I was genuinely planning to get the whole line-up.  As we progressed, that plan shrank down to maybe just this guy and the Quantum Ranger.  Well, it became clear Quantum Ranger wasn’t getting made, and then this guy got bundled with the cycle, which I didn’t really need.  But, Max ended up wanting the cycle, but not the figure, setting us up for one of our classic Ethan-and-Max-split-a-set-they-both-don’t-need-to-be-splitting-but-they’re-doing-it-anyway situations.  Ah, the good ol’ EAMSASTBDNTBSBTDIA set-up.  Ultimately, he’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a late-run Lightning Collection figure, which is to say very solid and by the numbers.

#3821: Blue Senturion

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

BLUE SENTURION

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Ah ha!  As the prophecy foretold I said in the opening to last Friday’s review, it’s time to look at Blue Centurion!  Who’s Blue Senturion? Aw, why’d you have to go and ask that? Oh, right, because I mentioned him.  That tracks.  I have discussed once before here on the site Power Rangers: Turbo, the season of Power Rangers wedged between my two favorite runs of the show.  It’s…not great.  It does make up for it’s lack of quality with a noted *quantity* of Rangers.  Thanks to a mid-season cast change-up, there are a total of nine main rangers over the run, and not one, but two contenders for the “sixth ranger” spot (though, neither is officially classified as a Sixth Ranger).  The last time I talked Turbo, I looked at one of those two contenders.  Today, I’m looking at the other, the aforementioned Blue Senturion .

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Blue Senturion was released as a deluxe-priced figure in Hasbro’s Power Rangers: Lightning Collection line. Unlike Phantom Ranger, Senturion was actually billed under the Turbo banner, making him the first in the line (though there was only one more after this before the line wrapped).  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 36 points of articulation.  His movement is similar to the rest of the line, but surprisingly unimpeded by the sculpt, which is super cool.  He’s sporting an all-new sculpt, courtesy of sculptor Dennis Chan.  It’s a very strong recreation of his show design, wherever you may land on that.  I mean, it’s certainly goofy.  I don’t think it’s really as strong a look as Phantom Ranger.  But, there’s no denying that the sculpt does it justice, and it’s certainly clean and sharp.  There’s a lot of layers to the assembly, which gives him some nice depth.  It’s this complexity of design and sculpting that contributes to the “deluxe” price point of the figure, despite his generally fairly average sizing for the line.  The color work on this guy is also pretty solid.  I really dig the translucent coloring on his “lights”, and the general application of the paint’s all pretty clean.  Blue Senturion is packed with two pairs of hands (in fists and gripping), his Senturion Synergizer in blaster, baton, and collapsed configurations, swappable leg holsters for open and closed on both sides, a blast effect, and his whistle.  That’s quite a lot of stuff, and pretty much covers every base except perhaps his bike, but that’s a bigger item I really wouldn’t expect.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I came rather close to buying this guy new, but ultimately didn’t because I’d opted to start scaling back on this line.  Of course, so did a lot of other people, so he didn’t really sell, and then he got really cheap, so when a loose one got traded in, he wasn’t really worth doing anything with on his own.  Max also prodded me by reminding that he’s not only technically a sixth ranger, he’s also kind of a Blue Ranger, so here we are.  He’s not as cool as the Phantom Ranger.  But that’s a character thing, not a figure thing.  The figure’s actually really good, and he’s certainly worth what I paid for him, so that’s a definite plus too.

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

#3430: Zeo Cog

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

ZEO COG

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Every iteration of Power Rangers gets its own set of faceless mooks for the teens with aititude to beat up. Well, okay, Morphin had a few different ones, what’ with it actually being a few different shows. But the others tend to narrow in on just one. Zeo had the Rangers facing off against the Machine Empire, whose particular brand of mooks were the Cogs.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Zeo Cog was released in Series 11 of Hasbro’s Power Rangers: Lightning Collection. The Cogs were initially added to the line as a Pulse-exclusive two-pack, before this slightly modified version was put out on his own. The figure stands just over 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation. The Cog is built on the line’s generic spandex-clad body, with a new head, forearms, and boots, as well as an add-on piece for his belt. I find the head sculpt on this one particulariy impressive; it captures the signature elements of the show design, but cleans: them up just a bit, for that “the way you remember it looking” feel. The rest of the body is a bit more by the numbers, but generally works alright. He’s technically missing a pair of discs at the shoulders and elbows, but those are likely a symptom of the re-used body. The color work on this guy goes for the silver style of Cog, which is usually the one to get the marketing push. The silver is actually a semi-transparent plastic, which makes for a rather fun look. The painted elements are pretty ceanly handled, so he generally looks prestty sharp. The cog is packed with two sets of hands (gripping and a fist/open gesture combo), a staff in long and short configurations, and an alternate head with the face plate raised. Additinaly, the Cog gets two extra pieces that arent actualey for him: Zeo Blue’s tonfas! Since Rocky was the first Zeo Ranger, he was the only one not to get his power weapons, which was a definite bummer. So, Hasbro rounded out the team’s weapons via this release, which is honestly not the worst way to handle it. At least they didn’t make people buy Zeo Blue again.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I almost jumped on this figure right away when he was released, but I realized it was largely just for the tonfas, which is a hard justification, for buying a full priced figure. So, I held off, and, through a wacky set of circumstances that I can’t fully detail here, I got an incredibly good deal on one. He’s fun. Not as fun as the Rangers but still fun.

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

Matty’s Corner #0004: In Space Blue Ranger with Galaxy Glider

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Matty's Corner and tagged with , , , , ,

IN SPACE BLUE RANGER & GALAXY GLIDER

POWER RANGERS: THE LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Hi, Ethan here!  Welcome to Matthew’s Corner, where I’m collecting the mad ramblings of my 6 year old Matthew, who also likes to talk about action figures.  What can I say, I’m sympathetic to his need to ramble about action figures.  So, I’m just gonna let him take it away…though, for what it’s worth, I’m still transcribing for him.

Presenting the Blue Space Power Ranger!  *Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech*  [Yes, he actually screeched–E]  Okay, I don’t mean that screeching anymore.  If you saw, that step at the end of the screech was actually my father writing a note.  Don’t write another note.  I am going to review the Space Blue Power Ranger.  If you heard that, in the starting, with the screech.  Is that the end of the preview?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Blue Power Ranger is in the Lightning Collection toyline.  This Blue Power Ranger is a deluxe figure.  Apparently, my dad cannot remember when this figure was out.  *Farting noise*  The figure has 34 joints.  This figure’s height is 6 inches and 1/4.  The sculpt is, well, I feel like the knee pads are a little too straight.  Other than that, it’s probably good.  I really like head of the figure.  Both heads.  He can move well, a little bit on the arms is a little hard and a little bit on the right knee is hard to get, but otherwise it’s okay.  Okay, reviewing all of the colors in one.  Starting off with the head, which has blue on the chin and over the mouth of the hat.  The eye strip has a little bit of black and white on the outside, but not all white.  There is a little tiny gold strip, if you look in.  A bit on the top of his head is black.  The mouth strip is grey.  And the rest is all blue.  Okay, the rest of the figure. That does not include the head.  The neck is white, with a little gold strip around.  The top of his body is blue with white strips on the arm and a little in the middle.  Now, what’s in the middle that does not include some white is on the color strip in the middle of the body.  There is black, yellow, red, pink, and blue.  Then below all that is just a lot of blue and a belt that includes white and gold, legs with a blue strip and the boots, white.  The arms start blue and then there are some white gloves.  Back to review of the normal figure.  No more color scale.  My favorite accessory is the gun and the blast.  The sculpting of the blast looks really hard to make.  He also comes with hands and an axe, and he comes with another head.  And!  He comes with a galaxy glider.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this figure because I really, really, really like Space Power Rangers and Blue is my favorite color.  My dad came home with a Blue Space Power Ranger because every Monday we watch Space Power Rangers.  I love, love, love, love, love, love, loooooooooooooooooooove the figure.  I will see you next time with Venom!  Good night, folks!

Matty’s Corner #0002: Red Ecliptor

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Matty's Corner and tagged with , , , , ,

RED ECLIPTOR

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Hi, Ethan here!  Welcome to Matthew’s Corner, where I’m collecting the mad ramblings of my 6 year old Matthew, who also likes to talk about action figures.  What can I say, I’m sympathetic to his need to ramble about action figures.  So, I’m just gonna let him take it away…though, for what it’s worth, I’m still transcribing for him.

Hello, this is Matthew again.  It has been a while since I have written.  If you were not happy, you can just say so in the comments section.  I understand.  But I have been catching up with all my stuff on my weeks. So, today, I’m talking about Red Ecliptor!  He’s from Power Rangers.  Space Power Rangers [that’s the best Power Rangers –E].  I’m gonna get to the figure now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The toyline of Red Ecliptor is Lightning Collection.  The Lightning Collection is a whole toyline of Power Rangers.  Red Ecliptor is a Power Ranger enemy.  He was released by himself.  Red Ecliptor has 33 joints.  He is 6 3/4 inches tall.  He is re-using parts from the normal Ecliptor [who I reviewed here–E].  I like everything about the sculpt.  All of the parts stand out.  I love them all.  He has lines that are kind of criss-cross and swirly.  I like that because it makes him stand out, like that’s the main part of his body.  He looks strong.  And just so that you know, Ecliptor’s sword and stuff are all part of him, because that’s how it is in Space Power Rangers.  The main figure is mostly red and grey.  The eyes are green.  It looks really good with all of those colors.  I like how all the grey looks.  It looks like it’s kind of burned.  He comes with a sword and four hands.  One hand had lightning.  Another is out like he’s touching something.  The other ones look like he’s punching.  I really like the sword. The sword’s colors are red and grey and blue and yellow and brown.  One of the hands is red with blue lightning.  The other hands are just red with gold rings on them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Red Ecliptor because I was thinking of getting a collection of Space Power Rangers.  Ethan, the one that owns this website, had an Ecliptor and that made me want to get one.  So, Ethan got the figure for me and now I have a Red Ecliptor.  I really like Red Ecliptor.  He’s a really special thing to me because Ethan got it for me.  I am all done writing.  I will see you back here for my next review of Shadow!

#3122: Mighty Morhin Ninja Blue Ranger

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

MIGHTY MORPHIN NINJA BLUE RANGER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Wait, another Power Rangers thing?  Wasn’t I supposed to be done with these?  I mean, I finished my two times, right?  Okay, but hear me out: Blue Ranger.  Yeah.  See how that instantly changes the dynamic?  Makes so much more sense now.  Which Blue Ranger, you ask?  Well, it’s, uh, Billy again, but, you know, in a different outfit.  What’s the deal with that?  Well, depending on which continuity you’re going by, the Ranger’s source of power was destroyed by either Rito Revolto or Ivan Ooze, and they had to go train to gain new powers, which meant getting new “ninja” suits.  Boom.  Perfect excuse for new toys.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mighty Morphin Ninja Blue Ranger was, alongside Mighty Morphin Ninja Black, the debut of the Target-exclusive Ninja Rangers sub-set of Lightning Collection.  That said, they seem to have more or less hit at the same time as the White and Pink Ninja Rangers.  They’re all hitting in solid cases, though, so it’s probably just a regional thing.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  This version of Billy uses the newly developed parts used for all of the male Ninja Rangers.  The articulation scheme for this one is similar to the standard Rangers for the line, albeit with some slight adjustments to match up with more recent Hasbro figures from their other 6 inch lines.  The butterfly shoulders have a tendency to pop out of place, but otherwise, the range of motion is pretty solid.  He’s also got the pinless construction for the elbows and knees, which works better from an aesthetic standpoint.  The sculpt proper is pretty solid; it takes the design from the show, which is admittedly kind of sloppy and hokey, and does its best to make the design notably less sloppy and hokey, while still looking the part.  The figure gets three different head sculpts.  There’s the fully masked look, which is the same across all of the male Rangers, plus the movie-inspired hood and half-mask combo, and the unmasked with headband look, as well as two different styles of collar piece to match up with them.  Of the heads, the hooded appearance is definitely my favorite, as I think it looks the sleekest.  It and the fully unmasked head both sport pretty solid likenesses of David Yost, on par with the one included with the standard MMPR Blue.  Ninja Blue’s color work consists of a bunch of molded blue plastic, plus painted accenting for the other colors.  The white is a little fuzzy on the edges, but the rest of the details are pretty sharp.  The two heads with the face visible use the printing for the details, which works pretty well. The unmasked head has a stray smudge of brown on his chin, which is kind of frustrating. The eyes on the fully masked head are also printed, but it’s not quite as effective for that piece.  Ninja Blue is packed with two pairs of hands (fists, and a flat and striking gesture pair), as well as an effects piece for the hand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I’m largely done with Lightning Collection at this point, and I’m also done with store exclusives (or at least hunting them down), this guy piqued my interest when he was shown off.  I do like my Blue Rangers after all, especially when they’re Billy.  That said, I didn’t put much effort into it.  I just wound up finding him during a quick stop at my local Target for some other things.  He was a rather nice surprise.  He’s a solid figure, and honestly a noted improvement on prior offerings from the line.

#3099: In Space Pink Ranger

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

IN SPACE PINK RANGER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Okay, let’s wrap up this Power Rangers focus in the best possible fashion, by circling back around to Power Rangers In Space, aka my favorite Power Rangers incarnation.  Following up on yesterday’s discussion of Turbo, as well as Tuesday’s discussion of change-overs for the Rangers, I guess I could talk about how exactly the In Space came to be.  After the replacement of half of the Rangers in MMPR‘s later run, and the later replacement of Kimberly and Aisha in their roles of Pink and Yellow respectively, the remaining cast transferred over to Zeo, and then again to Turbo, minus Rocky, whose actor left due to a pay dispute.  The rest of the MMPR/Zeo cast left at Turbo‘s mid-point, and were replaced with four newcomers.  They would continue on to In Space, keeping the roles until that show wrapped, and brought to an end the “Zordon Era” of the show.  Of particular note was Patrica Ja Lee’s Cassie Chan, the Pink Ranger of Turbo and In Space, and almost the replacement Pink Ranger for Lost Galaxy, until contract negotiations fell through.  Alas, I suppose it just means she went out on a high note, and we’re looking at that particular high note today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The In Space Pink Ranger is another part of Series 10 of Hasbro’s Lightning Collection line.  Cassie marks the sixth and final member of the In Space line-up to be added to the line, making her the second figure in this assortment to round out her respective team, as well as the second of two In Space-branded figures in this line-up, since Phantom was moved over to In Space.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 30 points of articulation.  Unsurprisingly, In Space Pink shares her construction with In Space Yellow.  As with their male counterparts, its a total parts share, without even a new helmet sculpt.  It’s true to the show designs, of course, and the sculpt for Yellow was pretty strong on its own, and it’s still strong here.  The color work on this release changes up, of course.  The base layout remains the same, but with pink in place of yellow, as well as the adjustment to the shaping on the edge of her visor.  As with the recent Pink Ranger two-pack, there’s a mismatch between the shades of pink of the torso and the limbs.  It’s not ideal, but it’s also not the end of the world, I suppose.  The figure has two sets of hands, her Astro Blaster, her Satellite Stunner, an effects piece for the Stunner, and an unmasked head for Cassie.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been chipping away at the In Space Rangers, and it’s been getting more exciting the closer I’ve gotten.  Getting Cassie is rather similar to getting Tanya in her Zeo gear, in that she herself isn’t the most thrilling of the characters or designs, but she’s a solid by the numbers figure, and she finishes out her team on a high-note.  Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted all of the In Space Rangers in one cohesive style, but I’ve never gotten the chance until now.  I’m really happy about this one.  I really love this particular set.  A lot.

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

#3098: In Space Phantom Ranger

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

IN SPACE PHANTOM RANGER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION

I’ve discussed my two favorite Power Rangers shows, Zeo and In Space, here on the site before.  What I haven’t really discussed is the season that fell between them, Power Rangers Turbo.  Turbo is…well, it’s an interesting product.  It’s generally not looked at very fondly by…well, much of anyone.  There are a multitude of reasons for this, notably the clashing tone between the psuedo-parody stylings of Gekisou Sentai Carranger and Turbo‘s own darker and edgier approach, to say nothing of the addition of a less than well received kid-Ranger, and the fact that most of the cast left halfway through the season.  The season saw a rather heft drop in ratings, and the entire franchise was almost wrapped up, until In Space came along and picked things back up.  Turbo was not without its positive elements, of course.  While Turbo didn’t *technically* have a sixth ranger, at least in the sense that surrounding seasons did, there were two contenders for the role.  The one with “ranger” in his title always felt like the more logical choice for me, of course, but what do I know.  Whatever the case, Turbo‘s Phantom Ranger is generally seen as one of its most redeeming parts, so him being the first Turbo thing in Lightning Collection is far from a surprise.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Phantom Ranger is part of Series 10 of the Lightning Collection.  Curiously, he’s not billed under the Turbo banner, and is instead an In Space release.  Phantom Ranger does have a few appearances in Space, so it’s not the craziest thing.  It’s just slightly weird that they’re avoiding Turbo entirely on this one.  It also results in two In Space figures in one assortment, though I’m hardly going to complain about such a thing.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 36 points of articulation.  Phantom Ranger is sporting an all-new sculpt, appropriate given his rather non-standard design.  The articulation scheme is pretty impressive, especially given the bulkiness of some of the armored parts.  Additionally, since this release isn’t built on older parts, he’s got the pinless construction on the elbow and knee joints.  Beyond just the posability, the quality of the sculpt here is pretty top-notch.  He sticks closely to the Phantom Ranger’s on-screen appearance, and has a nice contrast of clean and sleek armored sections, and well-textured undersuit detailing.  It’s a very strong mix.  The paint work on this guy is generally pretty basic.  Largely, he’s a lot of black, but he’s at least got a variance of finishes to the blacks, so it’s not too drab.  The other accenting colors are quite sharply applied, which gives the whole thing a very polished appearance.  Phantom Ranger is packed with two pairs of hands, a Turbo Navigator, a blasting effect, and the impact effect piece we previously saw on the Z Putty.  The blast effect is compatible both with his Turbo Navigator’s barrel, as well as the Phantom Ruby on his chest.  It’s cool that they made both of those work.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite my investment in the two seasons on either side of Turbo‘s run, Turbo itself was one that largely never clicked with me.  I remember seeing the movie in theaters, largely on the basis of it being Power Rangers, and me being 5.  I mostly remember Phantom here for his appearances on In Space, where I very much enjoyed him.  I had his toy as a kid, again based on those later appearances, and he was one of those designs I’d really wanted to see updated for this line.  He’s truly a fantastic offering, and takes the spotlight in an assortment that finishes my two favorite teams, so that really speaks to his quality.

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

#3097: Zeo Yellow Ranger

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

ZEO YELLOW RANGER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Hey, how about some more Power Rangers stuff?  It’s been a little while, and I got important stuff to talk about.  I’ve been doing a fair bit of alternating as of late between my two favorite Rangers shows, Zeo and In Space.  When last I discussed Zeo, I talked about the cast change-over mid-Mighty Morphin.  Most of that cast carried over to Zeo, but Karan Ashley’s Aisha Campbell, who had replaced Trini as the Yellow Ranger, did not.  Since Ashley wanted to leave the show, Aisha was written out at the end of MMPR, and replaced with Nakia Burrise as Tanya Sloan, who would stay in the role of Yellow Ranger for all of Zeo, and the first half of Turbo.  Today, I’m focusing on her Zeo incarnation.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zeo Yellow Ranger is part of Series 10 of Hasbro’s Power Rangers: Lightning Collection line.  Tanya is a rather notable release, as she’s the final member of the Zeo team to join the line.  Hey, it’s a finished time that’s not MMPR!  Nifty!  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 30 points of articulation.  Tanya’s construction is largely identical to that of Zeo Pink, which was expected, and is also a pretty sensible choice.  Their designs and builds are fairly close (they don’t even require a new waist piece, since Ohranger was a rare Super Sentai that actually had a female Yellow in the original footage) and it follows the model employed with the male Rangers in the set.  The elbows are still rather restricted in their movement, but the articulation is otherwise still pretty solid, and the detailing on the sculpt remains a pretty solid recreation of the suit design from the show.  She’s got an all-new helmet sculpt, depicting her unique visor shape.  The two slits aren’t as practical as Adam’s rectangle or Kat’s oval, but I guess it’s okay.  It’s a pretty straight forward sculpt, which is in line with the rest of Rangers from the set, and the new visor differentiates her pretty well from the others.  Tanya’s paint work is pretty straight forward.  The application is all pretty clean and sharp, and the plastic yellows match more closely than the colors on Pink.  In general, it looks quite sharp.  Zeo Yellow is packed with her Zeonizer, capsule sword, Power Clubs, two sets of hands, an effect piece, and an unmasked Tanya head.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

At this point, it’s a matter of momentum on a lot of these figures.  I can’t very well quit the Zeo team five members into a six person team, right?  So, you know, I was pretty happy about her getting a spot in this particular set, so that I could finally finish up the team.  I started building this team in 2020, and two years later, I’ve wrapped it up.  I’m pretty happy about that.  Tanya’s not the star of the show or anything, but she’s a strong finish to a strong set.  Pretty dope.

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

#3048: Ecliptor & Astronema

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

ECLIPTOR & ASTRONEMA

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

“Ecliptor adopted Astronema and raised her as his own, eventually becoming her second-in-command as she serves Dark Specter”

Hey, remember yesterday when I was talking about Power Rangers, and more specifically how most of my Power Rangers reviews as of late have been centered on Power Rangers In Space?  Well, surprise surprise, we’re back on In Space.  No actual Rangers today, though.  Instead, I’m looking at two of the show’s antagonists, at least for most of its run, main baddie Astronema and her surrogate father turned henchman Ecliptor!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Ecliptor and Astronema are an Amazon-exclusive Lightning Collection two-pack, which, like other recent exclusives, also had limited quantities available through Hasbro Pulse.  Unlike the Pink Ranger pack, they weren’t part of any particular subset focus, just a general Lightning Collection push.

ECLIPTOR

The new piece of this set, and certainly its main selling point, Ecliptor makes a rare toy appearance here, doubly interesting because he’s a non-MMPR antagonist who wasn’t an any point a Ranger or Ranger equivalent.  And he’s even slated for another figure down the line, if you can believe it.  Ecliptor is seen here in his most standard set-up, before his power-up or cyborg reprograming.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and has 33 points of articulation.  Despite how bulky and squared off his design is, Ecliptor actually has a pretty solid range of motion, and can get into quite a number of impressive poses.  And, thanks to the really huge feet sported by the original Yugande design, he’s also quite stable, which is a definite plus.  His sculpt is an all-new piece, set to be shared with the upcoming Red Ecliptor figure, but unique for now at least.  It does a rather nice job of capturing the show design for the character, in all of its wire-frame-y, limited polygon count glory.  It’s very clean and sharply detailed, and just looks really slick.  The paint work on Ecliptor isn’t *quite* as in-depth as it should be for true show-accuracy.  There should be a great deal more green linework than is currently present.  That being said, they’ve done a respectable job of at the very least giving it a bit of visual shorthand, so that the overall appearance is preserved.  Ecliptor is packed with a fairly nice selection of extras, including his sword, two sets of hands (fists, and a gripping/open with effects combo), an effect for the sword, and a larger effect that’s meant to encircle the whole figure.  The right fist on my figure is rather oddly missing all of the green detailing, but it’s otherwise a solid selection.

ASTRONEMA

Wow, remember when it was a big deal to have the *one* Astronema?  And now there’s *two*?  Who could have foreseen getting an Astronema as a hum-drum affair.  I mean, I guess it’s really not that hum-drum.  Astronema does have a slightly evolving appearance throughout the show, meaning there are a few options for looks, beyond just what we got on the first figure.  This one specifically draws influence from the show’s first three episodes.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 30 points of articulation.  Though at first glance, the figure seems like she’s a pretty straight repaint of the last figure, she’s actually not.  The head is all-new, sporting a slightly different hairstyle, but she also gets an all-new torso piece, which replaces many of the simple painted details from the last with proper sculpted details.  It takes a figure I already quite liked, and makes her even better, which is quite nice in my book.  The paint work isn’t terribly different from the last one, though the face paint is a lot more subtle with the coloring than the last release.  It’s again an improvement on an already pretty solid release.  Astronema is packed with two sets of hands, her spear, and an effects piece, much like the last time.  The effect is at least a different color, so there’s that going for it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Obviously, given how much of an In Space fan I am, I wasn’t going to miss out on Ecliptor.  While I wasn’t initially thrilled about getting another Astronema, it annoyed me less than the pack-out on yesterday’s set.  While I missed the Pulse window on this set, I was able to get in through Amazon, and they also didn’t get cancelled, so that was a win.  I really like this set in hand.  Ecliptor is a fantastic figure, and I look forward to seeing more variants of him.  Astronema is a figure I definitely warmed up on, especially after seeing how any improvements they’d made.  All in all, not a bad set.