Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin 'Metallic' Red Ranger

Release Date: December 2021

RRP: $27.99/£24.99

We still have one ranger outstanding, but it seems that Hasbro may be done with metallic armour variants of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers for now. After initially releasing the Pink Ranger back at the end of 2019, Hasbro decided to drop the rest of the five core rangers as Hasbro Pulse exclusives the following year. Will we ever see the White Ranger join the team? Who knows, but for now we're looking at the Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin 'Metallic' Red Ranger, which marks the first time second Red Ranger Rocky DeSantos (as played by Steve Cardenas) has been released as part of the Mighty Morphin range.

The Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin 'Metallic' Red Ranger comes in another box of glittery wonder – a redux of the standard Red Ranger's packaging with glitter added to both the character artwork across the box and the name card below the front window. Even if the figures themselves can't fully convey just how glittery the metallic armour was, at least the boxes themselves can. That difference aside the design and layout is just the same as a normal Lightning Collection box, complete with the CGI render on the back of the box showing off the figure in some sort of action pose. Inside both the figure and accessories can be found stored on the usual moulded plastic tray.

As per the rest of the range the metallic Red Ranger is a redux of the standard Mighty Morphin Red Ranger figure, only this time done in a glitter-injected red translucent plastic with pearly white plastic/paint for the white areas of the suit. Just how well the deco conveys how glittery the actual suits are is debatable, but the colours match reasonably well. While some of the other metallic rangers released have featured some slight sculpt improvements to the helmets, this is definitely the most obvious with the Red Ranger as its a whole new sculpt. I don't think I fully appreciated just how off the previous one was until I compared the two side by side, with the metallic one having a far more rounded and screen-accurate shape. Unfortunately Hasbro still haven't got it quite right here either though, with the visor shape and the silver trim around it still incorrect. Why this is so difficult for them I no idea, but it does look like they may have finally gotten it right with the forthcoming Boom! Studios power swap two-pack. Thankfully the rest of the body is much better, with details such as the Morpher coin visible even at this squished down size.

The Lightning Collection male body should be all too familiar to collectors by now, and with MMPR being the poster child of the line this is arguably what most of the figures have been built off of. Altogether the figure features;

- Ball jointed head, upper torso and hips 

- Single hinge neck and ab crunch

- Swivel hinge shoulders, wrists and ankles

- Butterfly joint shoulders/pecs

- Double hinged elbows and knees

- Bicep, thigh and boot swivels 

Though the main issue with the joints is a fairly minor one in the grand scheme of things, it is one that's fairly obvious straight away. Those arms just can't rest parallel with the body. It's a problem that seems to plague most Hasbro figures, and although it doesn't really make much of a difference in action poses it can look a little unnatural if you're displaying the figure in a more neutral pose. Other than that though the figure has all the highs of the Lightning Collection articulation with little of the lows, and importantly no notable restricts to any of the joints is capable of plenty of fantastic action poses. The semi-translucent plastic may result in the joints being a little stiff at first, but with a bit of working that will soon pass.

The accessories included with this release are largely the same as the standard version, with the pieces carried over including an alternate pair of closed fists, Blade Blaster (in gun mode), Power Sword and translucent yellow lightning effect. The Power Sword has been moulded in translucent plastic much like the figure itself, but due to the amount of paint on it this it's barely noticeable. The Blade Blaster however is moulded in the same opaque plastic as the standard release. While on first glance the Power Sword might look like a great weapon – nicely moulded and detailed, it quickly highlights one of the most irritating issues with the Lightning Collection. The second you put it in the figure's hands all of that black paint on the hilt begins to rub off, leaving you with red patches all over the weapon and horrible black smears inside of the figure's pearly white hands. It looks bad enough on the standard figures, but on special decos like this it's especially unsightly. So many weapons have suffered from this problem now it’s hard to believe Hasbro haven't noticed and done anything about it. It really puts a damper on the rest of the pieces included with the figure, because the hands (which are a matching pair for once) and effect part compliment it nicely. The lightning effect is one that's been used on plenty of figures before, but it fits over the Power Sword nicely and really gives it some display presence.

With all five Rangers in hand you can also combine their weapons to form the Power Blaster, which had long since been retired from the show by the time the metallic armour debuted but it's a fun feature nonetheless. As the weapons were largely moulded using the same translucent plastic as the Rangers themselves this is technically a "metallic" version of the Power Blaster, but the difference to the standard version really is miniscule. Combining the pieces together is straightforward enough and they hold together well, but once again paint rub is a serious issue on the Power Sword – clipping it into place on the Axe instantly sheared a lot of black paint off of the grip. I'd say the combination is best avoided if you can't stand paint wear, but ultimately with pieces like the Power Sword it’s going to happen regardless unfortunately – the fact Hasbro can't produce accessories that can't perform their expected function without the paint rubbing off is nothing short of abysmal.

Replacing the Jason head of the standard Red Ranger figure is a new Rocky head – based on his appearance in season three of MMPR and a CONSIDERABLY better likeness than the one included with the Blue Zeo Ranger figure. Finally actor Steve Cardenas has a Lightning Collection head that he doesn't have to be completely embarrassed about, with the likeness being among Hasbro's better efforts. It's a facial expression that can look a little odd from certain angles (and in certain poses) but it's undeniably Rocky, and that's far more than you can say about some of the heads that have come out of this line so far.

Rounding off the accessories is Tommy's segment of the Zeo Crystal – bundled in with Rocky for colour matching purposes as Tommy went on to become the Red Zeo Ranger (Zeo Ranger V). This is perhaps the most recognisable piece of the Zeo Crystal given its distinct star shape, which matches Zeo Ranger V's helmet visor. Like the other segments it is made from translucent milky white plastic, and can comfortably fit in either of the figure's gripping hands despite not technically being designed for them. While the five pieces of the Zeo Crystal are extremely cool and rather unexpected accessories for these releases, it is a shame that they weren't designed in a way that allowed them to combine into the full thing. We can only continue to hope that the combined version will be included with the still unannounced metallic White Ranger figure.

Overall the metallic armour figures have been a pretty mixed bag – a wonderful inclusion for fans of this bizarre variant but suffering from all the same flaws as the standard figures. The male figures have largely faired better than the female ones thanks to the more articulated sculpts, but the Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin 'Metallic' Red Ranger is definitely one of the weaker members of the team. This far into line's lifespan, inaccurate helmets (and on the second attempt no less) and accessories where the paint immediately rubs off are pretty notable flaws. These are things that should have been ironed out ages ago, especially with the price of these figures constantly rising. As it stands the Red Ranger is still a decent figure thanks to that great articulation (and a SIGNIFICANTLY better Rocky head) but it still could, and should have been better.