Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Lightning Collection King Sphinx

Release Date: November 2020

RRP: $29.99/£29.99

When Hasbro announced the Power Rangers Lightning Collection and revealed it would be drawing inspiration from across the whole of the franchise, there were two questions that immediately came to fans' minds. The first was whether the line would also be incorporating Megazords, and would the various monsters of the Power Rangers universe (the episodic ones, rather than the big bads) be getting in on the action too? While we're still really waiting for an answer on the Megazords, Hasbro will indeed be bringing on the bad guys with a range of deluxe Lightning Collection figures at a $30 price point (similar to that in their other collector lines). Given his overwhelming popularity even amongst the most memorable MMPR monsters, Lightning Collection King Sphinx was an obvious first release. Appearing in the fourth episode of the series, A Pressing Engagement, King Sphinx is sent to battle against the Rangers as Jason attempts to break a fitness record. King Sphinx also appears in the unaired pilot for the series (since released as the "Lost Episode"), which likely led to the monster appearing in so much of the merchandising at the time.

The style of packaging for these monster figures remains unchanged from the standard Lightning Collection releases, other than of course that the box is considerably longer. It isn't quite the length of the two-pack releases, but it certainly isn't far off. But the general colours and layout remain exactly the same, as does the character artwork style. Strongstuff's been producing some fantastic work on the smaller figures, but with these monsters it's a chance to see him branch out from just Ranger designs (other than the few exceptions we have had in the main range) and the results are beautiful. The use of cyan as the second colour on the box together with the white really makes that King Sphinx artwork pop. As usual, one spine simply continues the artwork from the front of the box (along with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers logo), whilst the other has a repeat of it. The back features a single CGI render of the figure and its accessories, sadly featuring the paint apps that were omitted from the actual figure. Most collections are wise to this by now, but there must be someone out there who's thought their figure might be defective because of it. Inside the figure and accessories are neatly laid out on a moulded plastic tray. The wings are disconnected from the figure in-package, and when removed simply need to be popped into their intended holes on the back.

Alternate packaging for this figure is also available as part of the Target exclusive "Spectrum Series", though the actual contents remain the same. It's also unclear (and unlikely) that this packaging is available anywhere else in the world.

The first thing noticeable about Lightning Collection King Sphinx even before you take it out of the box is that it's big - too big in fact. Onscreen King Sphinx is roughly the same height as Goldar, who in turn is only a little bit bigger than the rangers themselves. However when it comes to the toy, King Sphinx absolutely TOWERS over both the rangers and Goldar - both in height and mass. Granted in the photos below I'm using S.H. Figuarts/Super Robot Chogokin figures of the rangers and Megazord rather than the Hasbro versions, but even then the size difference shouldn't be this apparent. That much is clear from the pictures alongside Goldar. I understand that if King Sphinx was being produced at a $30 price point Hasbro would feel the need to ensure it justifies that, but amping up the size for the sake of it wasn't the way to go - especially when there are other problems with the figure that could have been addressed instead. But let's address the positives first - this really is a great sculpt. Yes it's far too big, but it looks fantastic. The face and wings both have brilliantly defined detailing, and the whole body is textured in a way that mimics the materials of the onscreen suit. 

But instead of justifying that deluxe price point with a big figure, what Hasbro really should have done is given King Sphinx a lot more in the way of paint apps. Despite the box render showing King Sphinx off with both a painted nose and mouth, the toy is actually devoid of any black paint whatsoever - leaving King Sphinx with an unpainted snarl as though he were made of stone. It wouldn't be so bad if that's was HOW he looked onscreen but it's not, and it's doubly worse when the box art is showing the figure off with said paint apps. The face could also just generally do with a wash to bring all that detailing out, because whilst it's all there it gets very easily lost in that sea of grey. The body also lacks of a lot of the cyan highlights the onscreen suit have, with them only really noticeable on the forearms. Other parts of the body have them, but again they just quickly fade into that sea of grey. Even the Egyptian symbols on the shoulder pads, wonderfully moulded as they are, are barely noticeable because the figure is all just solid areas of colour. Part of the reason these deluxe figures are more expensive is because it's harder to retool the bodies into different characters, but a smaller mould and more paint would have just been so much better here. Especially when "premium paint and decorative details" is part of Hasbro's own product advertising for the line.

Though a much larger figure King Sphinx still has that impressive Lightning Collection articulation, with the body made up of the following;

- Ball jointed head, torso, hips and tail

- Swivel hinge shoulders, wrists, ankles and wings

- Butterfly joint shoulders

- Double hinge elbows and knees

- Single hinge neck and ab crunch

- Bicep and thigh swivels

That's a joint count that's pretty much exactly the same as a standard Lightning Collection figure, and King Sphinx is still able to make the most of it. There are some restrictions brought about by the design, but the figure is actually able to overcome a lot of them. The only really disappointment are the butterfly shoulders, which feels less a case of being restricted and more that they simply don't move all that much in the first place (although the shoulder pads don't help either). The headdress is made of a soft plastic that bends to give the head/neck more movement, and likewise the skirt is also soft plastic to give the hips a decent range of movement as well. The double jointed elbows and knees provide a really good bend, however the top part of the joint may be a little sticky at first and need some working. Adjusting the wings and tail also prove very handy for balancing the figure too, even if the wings do have a habit of popping out very easily. While the size of this figure might be pretty questionable, the construction of it certainly is not.

King Sphinx comes packaged with two additional hands (one weapon holding right hand and a closed left fist), his Sphinx Sceptre and an effect part done in the style of his "Question Mark Fireball Barrage" attack. Matching the size of the figure itself this is a much larger effect part than you usually see in the Lightning Collection, and also far more impressive. On first glance it just looks like another generic lightning effect in translucent orange plastic, but on closer inspection you can see that it's actually multiple moulded question marks with strands of flame connecting them. It's very impressive attention to detail, and it's also nice to see these monsters getting new effect parts unique to their signature attacks rather than just recycled generic ones in different colours. Attaching the part to the Sceptre involves putting the Sceptre through the middle of the part and then hooking the question mark over the top to keep it in place. It can be a little tricky at first because the effect part is made of a harder plastic than the regular ones usually are, but the box render is pretty helpful in explaining just how the parts fit together. The Sceptre itself is pretty basic, but then it was on the episode itself too so as far as accuracy goes it hits the mark perfectly. Finally there's the alternate hands, which are a nice alternative to the default open ones King Sphinx has but aren't anything especially remarkable. A closed fist and a weapon holding hand are about as generic as they come. Overall it seems like a fairly light set of accessories, but when you consider how much plastic has gone into the figure itself AND the fact that the wings probably count as accessories too as far as parts-count is concerned, then it covers all the bases nicely. 

Lightning Collection King Sphinx is a good debut in what will hopefully be a long line of Power Rangers monsters, but like a lot of figures in the line the overall consensus is "good, but could have easily been better". Hasbro just made some downright baffling decisions with this one - the figure is way too big to properly scale with the rest of the line, and the paint job is nearly non-existent. It might be a bit more forgivable on a smaller figure, but when Hasbro are advertising the product with "premium paint" then they should really be doing something to back that claim up. King Sphinx has always been my favourite MMPR monster so I'm pleased he's made his way into the Lightning Collection, but maybe if he'd come a few releases in when Hasbro had ironed out all the creases he might be a whole lot better.