Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Dino Thunder White Ranger

Release Date: August 2020

RRP: $19.99/£19.99

One of the most fun things about collecting the Power Rangers Lightning Collection is that you never know where the latest reveal is going to show up next. Take the Lightning Collection Dino Thunder White Ranger for example - first it showed up in a Malaysian store, then was widely available in UK stores before Hasbro even properly acknowledged its existence. The fan favourite extra ranger from Power Rangers Dino Thunder has had a somewhat tumultuous release, but is finally here and as a Walgreens exclusive in the US. Adopted son of the genius Anton Mercer, Trent Fernandez initially acted as a lone agent - even allying himself with his step father’s evil alter-ego Mesogog against the Dino Thunder Rangers. When the evil within the white Dino Gem was finally destroyed, Trent allied himself with the other rangers to help defeat Mesogog and save his father.

As a store exclusive the Dino Thunder White Ranger comes in a uniquely coloured Lightning Collection box, rather than adopting the standard white colour scheme of the mass release waves. Of course since white is his main colour Hasbro have had to go a slightly different route to make this obvious, so instead the box’s main colour is a solid grey to make the predominately white artwork (and lettering) stand out all the more. Dino Thunder White’s sinister design and striking red visor make Tom Whalen’s fantastic artwork stand out all the more, and it’s great to see another Power Rangers series join the Lightning Collection with that Power Rangers Dino Thunder logo on the spine. As usual the back features a single CGI render of the figure and weapon/effect accessories, and then inside the toy is neatly laid out on a moulded plastic tray.

Of course looking at the figure in the packaging fans were quick to notice there was something glaringly off with the figure. Despite being moulded onto the helmet, the black outline surrounding the visor had not been painted on. It's such a significant detail that it immediately throws the figure off, and many fans (including myself) were quick to chastise Hasbro for making such a huge with a hotly anticipated release. But to their credit Hasbro listened, not only admitting that the lack of black was a factory error but also pledging to provide accurate helmets free of charge. All you need to do is contact Hasbro Customer Service and provide proof of purchase. Hasbro UK rolled out the replacement heads pretty fast, and as you can see the added black makes a HUGE difference to the overall figure. Sadly it is a bit of a case of "two steps forward, one step back" with these as well though, as while the visor may now be fixed the replacement heads come with a different problem - the eyes on the fine part aren't lined up. Admittedly it's a less obvious issue and how bad it is varies from figure to figure, but it's strange how this suddenly cropped up when it wasn't a problem on the originals. Nevertheless, a replacement head scheme was far more than I expected from Hasbro so I have to commend their efforts there.

With the hassle of a replacement helmet out of the way, it’s far easier to admire what a brilliant job Hasbro have done with this release. The character is a firm fan-favourite in both Power Rangers and Super Sentai - partly due to his status as an initially evil Ranger but also because of that incredibly striking white and black colour scheme. It isn’t very often you see Rangers will visor colours other than black, and even rarer that you see it on a single member of a team. That piercing red visor and gold highlights give the suit exactly the right amount of additional colour it needs, and there’s absolutely no doubt that this is a ranger that can be an enemy as well as a friend. The white is exactly the right shade to make the black areas running down the sides all the more bold, whilst the gold is a vibrant paint rather than that dull plastic colour you often see. Naturally on a figure this size and price point some details have been left unpainted - namely the Drago Morpher fixed to the left wrist. It has however been properly shaped and moulded, so I appreciate Hasbro for not completely missing out that important bit of detailing. Likewise the black triangles on the gloves have also been moulded but unpainted, so if that is a huge issue for you it should be too hard to fix. It’s easy to be picky with these releases and when Hasbro miss something really obvious (or worse, advertise a paint app on the box render that the figure itself doesn’t have) they should be called out for it, but for the price this figure goes for it really is an impressive release.

The shield piece is simply held into place by a plug on the back of the figure, so can easily be removed once the head has been taken off. There isn't really any detailing underneath that isn't noticeable while the shield is on, but the paintwork is at the very least consistent enough that the figure still looks reasonably good when it's taken off as well. Due to the plug piece it wouldn't be a perfect fit on other Lightning Collection figures, but since it's on the back the bulge wouldn't really be seen either. 

By now we’ve got a good look at just what the Lightning Collection base body is capable of, but it’s always going to be interesting just how additional bits of costume like White’s shield are going to impact articulation. Overall the figure features the following;

- Ball jointed head, torso and hips,

- Swivel hinge shoulders, wrists and ankles

- Butterfly shoulders/pecs

- Double hinge elbows and knees

- Single hinge neck and ab crunch

- Bicep and thigh swivels 

Ultimately, the only real restriction from that shield comes when trying to lift the arms any higher than a 90 degree angle. Even that raised collar doesn’t have any impact on the head and neck, since it sits loosely enough on the body that it can freely move around and out of the way. The bend on those double jointed elbows and knees continues to be especially satisfying, and the rocker motion from those ankles is more than enough to ensure the feet stay flat when posing. One item of note is that the ab crunch needs a bit of working to move as fluidly as the rest of the body, but even if it does prove a little stiff that ball jointed torso can pick up a lot of the slack.

The Dino Thunder White Ranger comes packaged with two additional hands (giving him two posed hands and a pair of accessory-holding hands in total), alternate civilian head, Drago Sword and a translucent orange laser arrow effect part. On the show itself the Drago Sword can transform between two different modes (known in Abaranger as Tact and Blade modes), however in terms of this release Hasbro have only opted to include the blade mode. Definitely the right decision to make if you're only going to include one version, but due to the extended length it does look a little odd when holstered - certainly nowhere near as ridiculous as the Zeo Power Pod Swords though. The Drago Sword is also missing its black paint, which if cuts had to be made somewhere to meet the budget then this was definitely the right place to do it. The gold paint looks just as immaculate here as it does on the figure itself, and that's arguably far more important. The laser arrow effect part included is particularly special as it's rare that we get an effect part that's not just unique to a single figure, but also represents one of their signature attacks. It's a big orange web of lightning with arrows jutting out from it, which can weave over the sword very comfortably. The wrists can have a little trouble holding up the sheer weight of it if displayed vertically, but with a little bit of posing trickery there are ways around it. Though it may not have the same universal qualities as some of the other Lightning Collection effect parts released so far, it's undoubtedly one of the coolest.

Lightning Collection civilian heads are very hit or miss as it is, and with the helmet already having issues Hasbro really needed to make this one a winner. Thankfully it is just that, and the head is an excellent likeness of Trent/actor Jeffrey Parazzo. Clearly the trick is to choose a reference that isn’t an open-mouthed smile, because the neutral expression heads are the ones that tend to be better. The features are all nicely defined and more importantly the character is instantly recognisable, making it a great alternative option for display. The striking colour palette of the suit even makes the head stand out all the more when applied.

It's a tragedy that it took so long to get this figure right, because if it had looked the way it should right from the beginning the Lightning Collection Dino Thunder White Ranger would probably be the best figure in the whole line. It's striking, expressive, comes with some great accessories and the missing paint apps are the kind you'd expect from a $20 figure rather than glaring omissions. However that inaccurate head just ruins the whole product, and the hoops buyers have to jump through to get it fixed certainly counts as a knock against it. Especially when you consider that while the visor might be fixed, another part of the helmet may become a problem instead. Massive props to Hasbro for listening to fans and fixing the issue free of charge, but I'm lucky enough to live in a country where all I had to do was email Hasbro UK and ask for new one - other regions might not be so lucky, and right now there's been no guarantee that fixed versions are going to be hitting stores either. Hasbro really were on the edge of greatness with this release and for that reason it definitely isn't worth skipping, but that replacement head is a necessity. And if you can't get your hands on that, some paint skills are definitely required.