Sunday 28 June 2020

Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Lighting Collection Cybervillain Blaze

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Release Date: February 2020
RRP: $20/£20

While naturally a line like the Power Rangers Lightning Collection is going to gravitate toward to rangers themselves, four waves (and a handful of exclusives) in and it hasn't done a bad job of giving us some villain representation too. While it's only really Zedd, Goldar and the Putty Patroller covering the monster side of things, between the Psycho Red, Psycho Blue and Lord Drakkon there's been a fair few evil rangers to go around as well. Wave four boosts that number yet again with Lightning Collection Cybervillain Blaze! An evil avatar created by Evox, the twisted version of the Power Rangers Beast Morphers Red Ranger assists the virus in his bid to take over the Morphin Grid. With the Beast Morphers Yellow and Silver rangers still unaccounted for in the line, Blaze is a bit of a surprise entry for the fourth wave but certainly not an unwelcome one.

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Cybervillain Blaze comes packaged in a box with the standard retail wave Lighting Collection Box design, featuring Whalen's consistently high quality artwork against a white background. The Blaze artwork is yet another triumph, and the title card of "Beast Morphers Cybervillain Blaze" does sound a lot more impressive than just simply "Blaze" (which Hasbro almost certainly wouldn't have been able to trademark on its own). The front artwork continues onto the right spine where it is featured alongside the Power Rangers Beast Morphers series logo, and repeated on the left spine. The back features a CG render shot of the figure, and then inside everything is housed on a moulded tray with a striking Power Rangers lightning bolt backing card just behind it.

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If there's one thing Beast Morphers did right straight from the very beginning, it was giving this incredible suit far more screen time. In Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters Enter's Dark Buster form only appears in the last three episodes of the series, whereas Blaze's ranger form is a staple of Beast Morphers' first season. With a colour scheme of maroon, silver and black, this form takes the design elements of the Go-Buster/Beast Morphers suits and gives them a cybernetic look that mirrors both shows' villains. Hasbro have done an incredible job with this figure, and Cybervillain Blaze stands far apart from other ranger releases with his leathery textured body that features moulded detailing across all three of the suit's core colours. From the Morpher mounted on his right wrist to the Evox symbols adorning his belt and chest, seemingly no detail has been spared. All except one that is - presumably due to its small size the helmet sculpt lacks the white circuitry pattern printed across the visor's right side. A bit of a shame, but had it been included here it would probably be a bit of a mess given how intricate the pattern is. That isn't to sell the rest of the helmet detailing short though, perfectly capturing the sharpened, more ferocious cheetah-motif and that piercing orange visor. It's a fantastic suit, and though the standard Beast Morpher line has its own version it definitely benefits from the additional detailing that the Lightning Collection can provide. 

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Most readers will probably know what to expect from the base male Lightning Collection body by now, and with Blaze articulation remains mostly the same other than a few slight hindrances coming from the bulkier torso design. The raised collar section means a little less neck movement than usual, and the same goes for the shoulders because of those extended soft plastic shoulder pads. The loss of articulation really is minimal at best though, so it's not something you could consider as a knock against the figure. Altogether it features a ball jointed head, hinged neck, swivel hinge/butterfly shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinge elbows, swivel hinge wrists, a ball jointed torso, hinged waist, ball joint hips, double hinge knees, boot swivels and swivel hinge ankles. The double joints in the elbows and knees allow for an excellent bend in the arms and legs, whilst those fantastic ankle swivels provide support for plenty of wide-legged action poses.

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Cybervillain Blaze comes packaged with two additional hands (giving him a pair of closed fists and a pair of item holding hands in total), his signature (but currently unnamed) sword, purple lighting effect part and the Robotron Maker laptop. The sword is fairly basic with not too much detail to really write home about, but what is there looks good and the weapon really stands out with the effect part slotted on top. It's very similar to the lightning parts we've seen with previous figures, but unlike most of those this is a flat piece rather cylindrical. It works in pretty much the same way though, sheathing over the blade by weaving the gaps over and under it. The crowning glory here though is undoubtedly the Robotron Maker - a hinged laptop that can fold up into a briefcase and sports an incredible amount of moulded and painted detailing, including a "Virus Loading" screen. In a wave where we had a Zeo Blue Ranger that didn't even come with his holstered sword, we have a Blaze figure with this thing so it really makes you wonder just how they decide what figure comes with what. You couldn't really ask for this one to come with more.

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Rounding off Blaze's accessories is the alternate head of his "human" form - the likeness that the evil avatar stole from the real Blaze. Whereas previous Lightning Collection heads have been pretty hit and miss this one should definitely be considered a win, sporting a fantastic likeness of Blaze's onscreen actor Colby Strong. While technically a neutral expression, the head still manages to channel that evil energy Strong brings to the character and definitely feels more like a villain than it does hero. Still, with the universal joints these figures use you can always fix the head to the Lighting Collection Beast Morphers Red Ranger figure too and create the Blaze that was originally meant to be! One final note worthy of mention is also how well this figure particularly is able to grip onto his helmet when it's taken off - the figure still can't really properly hold it in an underarm pose, but the circumference of the bottom around the helmet is just thin enough for the hands to get good purchase on it.

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Enter is my favourite villain in all of Super Sentai and Blaze has done a pretty good job living up to his legacy in Beast Morphers, so Lightning Collection Cybervillain Blaze was easily one of my most anticipated releases. But Blaze is more than just a very good figure - he's easily one of - if not the, best in the entire line so far. This is clearly the figure that got the most love and attention in wave four, evident from the utterly fantastic sculpt, the quality of the additional accessories and the likeness of the alternate head sculpt. The majority of collectors the focus may be on some of the more classic seasons of Power Rangers, but it's clear that Hasbro are putting as much care into the newer seasons too and I couldn't be happier. Whether you're a Go-Busters fan, a Beast Morphers fan or a fan of both - this is one figure you won't want to miss out on.

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