I enjoy the Lightning collection, but I do feel like it’s a little light on the bad guys, especially when you consider they introduce a new monster every week on any given Power Rangers show. That’s why I was very happy to see these deluxe monster figure announced and snapped the pre-order up ASAP when they showed up on Target.com. Let’s take a look at King Sphinx and Pumpkin Rapper!
The Target versions of these figures have exclusive packaging that uses the very cool established character art style but mixes it up a bit with a black backdrop and some holo-foil lightning-bolts. I personally prefer the artwork on the white field, but I’m not saving these anyway.
King Sphinx comes with two open hands, a grip hand, a fist, a staff and an energy effect. Pumpkin Rapper comes with two vines, an energy effect, three pumpkins, two grip hands, an open hand, and a fist.
The energy effect wraps around the staff and has a beautiful flame shape that incorporates the question mark from the staff for a neat representation of on of King Sphinx’s powers. The extra hands swap easily and securely and adds a nice variety for posing.
Pumpkin Rapper’s energy effect attaches pretty securely to the arm and can hold the pumpkins or just serve as a shock blast. I really like the vine options and that one works as a lasso to trap Rangers.
The three pumpkins are designed to swap with the Putty and Ranger heads as they are used in Pumpkin Rapper’s episode.
Sculpting is quite nice on both of these with sharp detail, a variety of textures, and a bold silhouette. I feel like they capture the suit feel from the show while slightly amping up the realism of the designs.
The articulation feels very much like most figures from this line with:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, hips, ankles, and King Sphinx’s wings
- Ball and socket neck, tail (King Sphinx) and mid-torso
- Double-hinged knees and elbows
- Thigh, Bicep, boot for Pumpkin Rapper, and ankle swivels for King Sphinx
The articulation moves pretty well and the figures do balance nicely which is surprising since Pumpkin Rapper’s noggin is so insanely huge, but his giant booties help balance him out. One thing I noticed about King Sphinx is that he seems a little overlarge in relation to Goldar. Or perhaps Goldar is a little small.
Paint on these figures doesn’t meet the bar set by the sculpting and articulation. Pumpkin Rapper does have bit of a wash to bring out the details in his head, but really the whole body needs that wash and the inside of the mouth and eyes really could use some more darkening. Similarly King Sphinx’s mouth needs some dark paint to differentiate his teeth from the inside of the mouth. King Sphinx does have a little dark overspray on his legs and chest and a slight pearl blue in places, but he could use a lot more of a dark wash around the body and the shoulder pads and more application of the pearl blue.
Overall, I like these figures a lot and they are fun figures, but the paint is keeping them from living up to their potential and is disappointing especially at the price point. The Pumpkin Rapper character is so absurd and his accessories have a lot of play potential that I find it easier to ignore my paint concerns with him. He will be easier to modify to my liking too.
