Release Date: August 2020
RRP: $29.99
With all seven of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers available through the Lightning Collection’s main range, one has to wonder where Hasbro will continue to go to keep the MMPR hype train going. Sure there’s plenty of other instalments in the Power Rangers franchise to draw inspiration from, but it’s always going to be MMPR that makes the big bucks. In recent months we’ve seen Hasbro turn their attention towards monsters with deluxe $30 figures, but on top of that fans were also treated to a Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Zordon & Alpha 5 set as a Walmart exclusive. Despite not receiving that many figures over the years no MMPR collection feels complete without the rangers’ wise mentor and his robotic assistant, so it’s great to see the line get to these characters so early in its lifespan.
The packaging has remained especially pleasing across the whole of the Lightning Collection line, and although on first glance the Zordon and Alpha set seems like another winner it’s actually quite lacklustre in comparison to what’s come before. Rather than include new artwork of the characters included in the set the front of the box instead reuses the images of core five Mighty Morphin rangers, which does give the set a nice “team” look but doesn’t feel quite as unique. Bizarrely neither spine repeat this or any other artwork, instead only having the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers logo and (in one side’s case) an epilepsy warning (in relation to Zordon’s light-up gimmick) in multiple languages. The back of the box is business as usual, featuring images of both Zordon and Alpha along with a little note to say Zordon lights up. The Alpha here looks exactly the same as the one in the box, but the Zordon definitely looks more impressive than the actual product. Open it up and both pieces are neatly stored on a moulded plastic tray.
Alpha 5 is a staple part of Power Rangers, and with his distinct saucer shaped head and “Ai ai ai ai ai” catchphrase it’s no wonder that he’s become such an iconic robot character in the wider realms of genre fiction. And what a great job Hasbro has done with this figure. There’s an argument to be made that the shade of gold is a little more pronounced than the version used on the show, but it’s a colour scheme that’s been used across Power Rangers toys and media for decades so works just as well here. They really nailed the blue colour of the body, which is a detail not so easy to pick up in the darkened Command Centre shots of the series. Alpha’s body features plenty of moulded detail - primarily on the chest which features both the lightning bolt symbol and the various dials surrounding it. The crotch piece has raised moulded detailing painted in gold, whilst the arms have been moulded to give them a tubed look. There are a couple of paint apps missing here and there (the chest dials and the hands for example), but absolutely nothing that spoils the look of the figure. The head sculpt is especially good, as not only is it spot on proportionally but has all the detailing along the sides as well. It’s a great looking figure that lives up to the quality sculpts we’ve seen in the Lightning Collection since its inception.
Looks aren't the only thing Alpha's got going for him either, as this figure enjoys the same articulation that the rest of the line has benefitted from too. Altogether he features;
- Ball jointed neck, upper torso and hips
- Swivel hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists and ankles
- Double hinged knees
- Single hinge ab crunch
- Thigh swivels
As you can tell by the swivel hinge elbows Alpha is more along the lines of the female figures in the Lightning Collection line, but unlike those he doesn't necessarily feel like he'd benefit that much from having double jointed elbows - what we do have feels pretty true to the suit itself. Saying that though, while Alpha is perfectly capable of the necessary frantic worrying poses he's also extremely expressive in other ways too. You could definitely put him in plenty of action poses if you wanted to and he'd pull them off pretty flawlessly. Despite those chunky feet the ankle tilts work excellently for balancing, and the various joints through the torso ensure the top half is well-articulated as well. I'm not sure that I expected Hasbro to suddenly do anything less for an Alpha figure, but I'm still finding myself surprised at just how expressive he is.
Alpha’s sole accessory is his teddy bear that appeared in a number of episodes, which also shares his iconic head design. The teddy bear is very nicely done and the kind of obscure accessory I like to see with figures like these, but just one accessory feels incredibly sparse for a Lightning Collection release. A pair of alternate hands should have been a given, and while there aren’t many more Alpha-specific accessories this figure could have come with there are still plenty of Command Centre or Mighty Morphin pieces that would have worked perfectly. Anything from a Viewing Globe to Power Coins, Morphers to even alternate weapon pieces (given that the main range figures are all missing their holstered Blade Blasters) would have been great. Alpha’s a nice enough figure on his own and Zordon probably took up so much of the price point that there wasn’t room in the budget for more accessories, but this set definitely wasn’t short of potential.
Zordon features a light-up gimmick which is accessed by pressing the square button on the bottom half of the tube, which activates a bright white LED that illuminates the tube. Well that’s supposed to be the intended effect at least, because the reality is an underwhelming spotlight effect which mainly lights up Zordon’s chin. It’s a bright light, but it’s hard to believe that it warrants three AAA batteries. Once activated the light can be turned off by pressing the button again, or alternatively it will turn itself off after a short while. It’s not awful, but considering this is the only thing Zordon can do it definitely should have been better. The back of the packaging gives the impression that there’s LEDs running across the whole of the bottom to light up the whole tube. Alternatively, some sort of light-up gimmick behind the translucent head sculpt could have worked as well.
The Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Zordon & Alpha 5 set is the kind of exclusive release a lot of fans love to see from Hasbro, but overall it’s a pretty average one at best. The Alpha 5 figure is really nice but doesn’t have a whole lot to him, while the Zordon makes a cool display piece but is otherwise underwhelming. This is definitely just one for the completists and Mighty Morphin diehards out there, especially since Hasbro haven’t made it the easiest thing to get a hold of outside the US (Hasbro UK skipped its release entirely). The set certainly fills a gap in the Lightning Collection that can really make a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers display shine, but if you can’t get a hold of it don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything too desirable.
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