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Another day, another Mighty morphine‘Shipping. Power Rangers will probably never escape from its shadow very first iterationespecially when it comes to toys, but Hasbro’s latest attempts to offer fans something it’s been trying to do for a while: a classic Megazord toy worthy of being the heart of any Rangers fan’s collection.
That “Zord Ascension Project” Dino Megazord is the first in a new range from Hasbro trying to take on a more premium riff Power Rangers mecha toy. In recent years there have been many attempts to bring a more modern take on the original Megazord to large format toys, from Hasbro’s lower-priced combiner to the Nostalgic Legacy Megazord a few years ago – replicating the iconic original toy right down to the packaging – or even Flame Toys is imminent a more stylized version of the giant robot. But the ZAP Dino Megazord wants to strike a balance between something that feels more substantial and modern than the typical Zord figures (broadly constrained by having to be essentially five separate, articulated robotic figures, as well as just the entire Zord combined). not as wallet-wrecking as some premium takes.
At $165, it’s still fairly pricey, but what you get mostly sits in that “just right” window of where you feel worth it. The ZAP Megazord measures just under 12 inches when fully combined, and it is bigand from the packaging to the ability to open ports on each individual Zord to reveal a small cockpit with each Ranger sculpted inside (unfortunately unpainted – that, like the one included unbelievable tiny scale figures of the team, feels a bit odd for a “premium” toy), everything is covered in detail to make the mecha look like its classic, colorful self from afar, but more modern and sleek the closer you get to it .
Unlike many older Megazords – especially those that can disintegrate into individual mechs – the elegance of the ZAP Megazord is evident in the surprising amount of articulation it has in its combined form. you won’t get it crazy Poses out of it like a dedicated Megazord figure might, given the nature of its component parts that limit how much you can do, but there are enough points of articulation that aren’t as obvious when you look at the individual Zords that You can get some fun action poses that accentuate the giant robot as a weighty (all plastic, so not too lumbering) beast rather than being particularly light on its prehistoric robotic feet.
All in all, not everything about the toy is perfect. The ability to combine the Zords is a fairly cumbersome task, even with Hasbro-style instructions included transformers Leader. The Megazord’s sheer size, combined with some very stiff points of articulation, mostly leaves you wondering if you might break something when assembling it – a problem you don’t want for something that costs $165 (Even then, I had a few issues with Parts that chip off if you look at them the wrong way (especially Kimberly’s Pterodactyl Zord on the chest). And even then, some of those points of articulation don’t quite hold up under the mass of zords, leading to some precarious moments – especially in the optional tank form, you can combine the zords, which sucks as much as the show up and take as much as the history of Megazord Toys.
There’s also that odd middle ground between offering something that feels premium but also not quite bonus enough. There’s plenty of detail and paintwork on the finished product – including a particularly beautiful chrome plating on the Megazord’s included sword – but there’s also plenty of finer detail that’s left unwashed. The lack of metallic parts or more chrome-plated overlays like the sword keeps the Dino Megazord’s classic color scheme intact, but also makes it look cheaper when the Zord is mostly all flat plastic. Perhaps appropriate for something that was just a man in a suit on the show, but for something marketed as the high-end “Ascension” on previous Megazord toys, it doesn’t quite feel like it’s demanded Worth the price on the surface.
But if you’re undecided ranger Fans, click through for more pictures of the Zord Ascension Project Dino Megazord in action – it’s slated to be available next month, and it is for pre-order now from Hasbro.
A copy of the Zord Ascension Project Dino Megazord has been made available to io9 for review.
