Bandai finally released all the original Power Rangers in their S.H. Figuarts line! I’d love to tell you that I am a full-on Power Rangers fan, but I’m not. My son, on the other hand, is into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,
Kamen Rider, and all the Tokusatsu he can find online. Originally we were supposed to write this article together, but we haven’t had the time. I’ll try to do better with the rest of the Rangers.
And I am referring to them as “Rangers.” I haven’t checked the boxes to see if these are Power Rangers or Zyuranger, but I’m sticking to Power Rangers. My son tells me that I should stick to Power Rangers since the Super Sentai series isn’t as good as the American Power Rangers, which blows my mind. Power Rangers kicked off in 1993. I was in college, but I was super excited that a Tokusatsu show was getting some airtime in the US. And then after seeing it, I wasn’t so excited. I wasn’t the market; this was geared more towards the after-school crowd, elementary, middle school and high school (maybe) students. There was nothing wrong with the show per se, it just wasn’t for me. But it hit the spot with the American youth and it still has a huge impact today.
The Red Ranger, Jason Lee Scott (played by Austin St. John), would go through some transformations as the actor was switched out. But he was the leader of the Power Rangers and that makes him cool. And he’s red. And that’s about where my knowledge of Power Rangers ends. Well, that and that Paul Schrier, whom I met at Comic-Con a few times, played Bulk.
The S.H. Figuarts figure is standard for what they are. You’ve seen earlier reviews of Kamen Rider v3 and Kamen Rider Fourze, and Bandai’s done a great job with their buck base, building some amazing sculpts over them. It’s formulaic, but these are wonderful toys. The sculpting is crisp clean and really pops where it is supposed to pop. Like on the helmets.
The articulation is great. There isn’t more that I can cover that hasn’t been covered before, but at this time it’s a standard formula for S.H. Figuarts. You pose these suckers in any position that you want. I’m happy to note that these figures did not have any tight or loose joints. Makes them a hell of a lot of fun to play with. Here is the breakdown:
Hinged toes
Swivel feet
Ball ankles
Double knees
Swivel thighs
Ball hips
Jointed crotch
Ball waist
Ball abs
Double ball shoulders
Bicep swivels
Double elbows
Swivel forearm
Jointed wrist
Swivel hands
Ball neck
Ball head
For the pure play factor, these are phenomenal figures! There are extra hands and weapons that can be used to make new poses. I know that my sons love to pose and play with the figures, and they have a lot of fun with them. Now we need some of the villains in S.H. Figuarts form!
You can pick up the Red Ranger today at:
