Thursday 17 March 2011

Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Super Legends Retrofire Mighty Morphin' Megazord



This installment's figure is now a little bit of an oldie, having originally been released in 2009. While I probably would have picked this up around then had it been released in UK it (unsurprisingly) wasn't, and given the latest phase I'm going through there was no better time to hit eBay and pick one up than now.

What we have here is a smaller scale figure of the original Dino Megazord from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, around the average size of a Revoltech/Robot Damashii figure (or, more accurately, around 5"). While this figure doesn't offer the transforming features that the deluxe megazords do, it makes up for that through posability - something the deluxe figures are almost incapable of.

To begin with we'll take a look at the sculpt of the figure. Not only have Bandai managed to include all the important details in at such a smaller scale, they've also managed to put a unique twist on them. The Retrofire figures have exaggerated (almost anime-like) proportions and stylings, something that is best illustrated by the bigger and far more angular head fins. The shield (the head of the Mastodon zord) also has a much smaller trunk, which looks a lot better as a shield (but probably wouldn't translate well onto a complete zord). The paint work is also excellently done on the front of the figure, keeping all the important details in while at the same time keeping things nice and simple. The back of the figure is a bit on the plain side, which is probably to keep the figure cost effective. While personally I'd have paid a little more for a more complete paint job, it doesn't detract from the overall presence of the figure, and I'm unlikely to display it with the back showing in the first place.

While almost a perfect figure so far, regrettably the Retrofire Megazord's main selling point is also its biggest flaw. While admittedly it does have a wide variety of articulation - a ball jointed head, waist swivel, moveable fists and hinges in the hips, knees and feet - the arms bizarrely have completely unsymmetrical articulation. For example, the left arm is only movable in the shoulder and top of the arm connection while the right arm has a turning shoulder and elbow articulation. Obviously the idea behind the figure was to have it merely recreate a few battle poses than a wide variety but nevertheless its an extremely odd move by Bandai, and I'd much prefer symmetrical articulation on the figure.

Included with the figure is the aforementioned shield and the power sword, but also a stand with the base in the shape of the signature Power Rangers lightning bolt. This stand also suffers from a variety of problems - for the most effective battle poses the figure is attached at an angle, making the chest area and many of the details impossible to see unless displayed on a shelf just above eye level. While it CAN be posed upright on the stand, that just makes it look like the figure has had something inserted in its rear and very difficult to pull off decent poses with.

To conclude, this figure has some notable flaws but its still a damn good representation of the original and iconic Megazord. The poses it can pull off look great, which makes the unsymmetrical articulation a little more bearable. As far as price goes, this figure is long gone from shops so your best bet would be looking on eBay (UKs will have to import). I spend around £25 on the figure, which in hindsight is more than its worth but I was desperate for the figure. I'd say around £20 is the max I'd pay for it again, especially since it was retailing for around $10 back in 2009. I'm still very pleased with the figure, and am looking to add its wave mates (the RPM High Octane Megazord and Wild Force Megazord) to my collection. If I'm very lucky I may even find the much rarer wave 2 (Dino Thunder, Mystic Force and RPM Valvemax Megazords too.

With the Samurai toyline reviving the Retrofire zords with the SPD and Jungle Fury Jungle Pride Megazords, there may even be more to come following that!


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