Release Date: December 2021
RRP: $22.99/£24.99
One of the biggest stories to come out of the Power Rangers universe in the last few years was undoubtedly Shattered Grid – a multi-issue comic event from Boom! Studios which saw the
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers team (as well as all the other rangers from across the franchise) face off against Lord Drakkon, an evil version of Tommy Oliver who sought to gain power from across the Morphing Grid. Since the event both Lord Drakkon and the Ranger Slayer (a brainwashed version of Kimberly initially under Drakkon's control) have gone on to reappear in the comics, as well as feature in video games and various pieces of merchandise – including Hasbro's Lightning Collection. Now the Morphing Grid continues to shatter as Hasbro unveil the next figure from the comics continuity to join the line – the Lighting Collection Mighty Morphin Tyrannosaurus Sentry. These soldiers act as the elite personal guard of Drakkon, helping to carry out his will and battle against the resistance force known as 'The Coinless'. The Tyrannosaurus Sentry was released exclusively via Hasbro Pulse and (in the US) Target stores.
Despite being the fourth figure in the Lightning Collection to hail from the current comics continuity, the Tyrannosaurus Sentry is actually the first one to actually include the Boom! Studios logo anywhere on the packaging. Admittedly it's tucked away on the back near the rest of all the other legal information, but it is a start. Maybe one day the comic figures will get their own little designation in the Lightning Collection, but for now we'll have to just be content with them being lumped in with the rest of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (or in Psycho Green's case, In Space). Though an exclusive figure the Tyrannosaurus Sentry comes in a white box like the mainline figures, with some fantastic artwork of the Sentry adorning the front and sides. Not only has artist Tom Whalen nicely captured the changes made to the Sentry design, but the slightly darker red used as opposed to the standard Red Ranger gives it a suitably sinister tone. On the back of the box you'll find the usual Hasbro render showing off the figure and accessories, and inside they're neatly laid out on a moulded plastic tray. The cape has been thread though a hole in the back of the tray and then clipped onto the figure, so be sure to remove it from the back rather than trying to squeeze the whole thing through.
The Tyrannosaurus Sentries are a mass-produced militarised version of the Mighty Morphin Red Ranger, and this is very much reflected in their design. The simple spandex design has been adjusted into a more segmented armoured look, with black areas replacing the standard white and red boots sporting the familiar white diamond pattern. As the Sentries do not have Morphers of their own the belt has again been replaced with something more armoured with lengthened hip guards. Though the helmet remains relatively unchanged, the moulded mouthpiece has been replaced with a smooth silver plate. Rounding off the Sentry design is that collared red cape, with gold lining on the inside and a right shoulder guard sporting the Tyrannosaurus Power Coin symbol. Hasbro have done a great job translating this design to a figure that looks visually distinct from the normal Red Ranger, with the correct colour placement as well as additional black paint apps across the body to convey its armoured structure. The cape and hip guards are made from a soft plastic, with the cape held in place both from simply being clipped around the neck of the figure and a plug hole in the back. The boots are also noticeably thicker than the standard MMPR design. While the Red Ranger helmet was point of some criticism with some of the line's earlier releases, this version is much closer to the actual design with the silver trim continued all the way around the visor. There are a couple of spotty areas when it comes to paint application (the helmet's Tyrannosaurus eyes are messy splotches on my copy) but overall it's pretty good given that there's a lot more going on with this design – the Power Coin symbol on the shoulder looks particularly good.
Despite a slightly bulkier look the articulation remains the same as the standard Lightning Collection body, with any restrictions simply by design of the suit. This means that overall it has;
- Ball jointed head, torso and hips
- Single hinge neck and ab crunch
- Swivel hinge shoulders, wrists and ankles
- Butterfly joint shoulders
- Double hinged elbows and knees
- Bicep, thigh and boot swivels
So to address the elephant in the room first, we need to talk about that cape. A soft plastic cape will always hinder articulation when it comes to moving the limbs behind the body, but since this one drapes over the shoulders it also means it can get in the way of the articulation there as well. You can bring the arms in forwards just fine, but pushing them out isn't really possible – especially on the left shoulder where the cape drapes over the body a little more. Thankfully the collar isn't really raised enough to get in the head or neck articulation, so that remains unchanged. Everything from the waist down remains unhindered as well, but again that shell-like cape doesn't leave you with a whole lot of actions when it comes to dynamic action poses. But then again, if you want to get dynamic you can always just take the cape off and work with the base body – with it attached you can still get some good stalking poses out of the figure as well as some decent (if limited) action poses. While a soft goods cape might have worked better, it would still probably need a plastic shoulder/collar assembly so may not have necessarily fixed the problems. Not to mention the Lightning Collection doesn't really dabble in soft goods anyway, so wasn't on the cards to begin with.
As nameless soldiers in Lord Drakkon's army, the Tyrannosaurus Sentry comes with a slightly smaller assortment of accessories than your typical Power Ranger figure. Included here are two additional hands (giving it a pair of closed fists and a pair of weapon holding hands in total), the Sentries' signature double-bladed staff weapon and a translucent blue lightning effect part. Each end of the staff resembles a shortened version of the Red Ranger's Power Sword, and is nicely painted as such. Sadly though, the painted black handle suffers from the common Lightning Collection problem of immediately rubbing off in the figure's hands when held. Meanwhile the effect part is very similar to the ones we've previously seen in the line – not really slotting over the weapon particularly comfortably but well enough that you can still make it look good. As it's still something of a rarity it's nice to get two pairs of matching hands with the figure, and two weapon holding hands means you can pull off some nice double-handed staff poses with it as well. Overall it's everything one would come to expect these figures to come with, with the omission of an alternate head. While there may have been named Tyrannosaurus Sentries in the comic (Skull being the most notable), it's understandable that Hasbro didn't want to sculpt any new heads for generic soldiers like this. If they weren't going to do it for the Ranger Slayer, they certainly weren't going to here either. Some Sentries have also been seen wielding copies of Lord Zedd's staff, but it's not surprising that wasn't included when the standard staff will suffice.
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