Sunday 7 May 2023

Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Ninja Black Ranger

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Release Date: January 2022
RRP: $26.99/£32.99

Getting all of the Ninja Rangers as part of the Lightning Collection in a matter of months was definitely a big plus to Power Rangers collectors, but as a reviewer I definitely felt the need to try and space them out a bit to keep things varied. So continuing on with these unique forms from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers season 3 and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie we have the Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Ninja Black Ranger, which was released alongside White, Blue and Pink with Red and Yellow then joining them a few months later. Following the loss of his dino Power Coin Adam Park now takes the power of the frog, "like the one you kiss to get a handsome prince".

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As was unfortunately the case with the Blue Ranger, the Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Ninja Black Ranger was one of the harder hit figures of the team when it came to notably bad QC - so much so that some collectors were receiving figures completely missing accessories. Thankfully I was lucky enough that my copy didn't seem to be affected (and hopefully the issues have subsided with later copies), but it's definitely something potential purchasers should be wary of before buying. The figure comes in the usual white packaging adorned with character artwork across the front and sides, with a CGI render of the figure in an action posed printed on the back. Again, as was the case with Billy the effect part on the render is a completely different colour to the one included in the box - how hard is it to get these things right? Open it up and inside the figure and accessories should be neatly laid out on their moulded plastic tray.

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As you'd expect the Ninja Black Ranger shares the same body as the other three male Ninja Rangers, featuring a thick hard plastic moulded outfit with a soft plastic "vest" piece added over the torso. The colours on this version of the costume are particularly good, as the black goes really well with the white belt and gold accents. The frog Power Coin emblem has always been one of my favourites, and the figure's chest piece captures the look of it perfectly. But of course it wouldn't be a Lightning Collection Ninja Ranger review without commenting on some aspect of the QC, and in this case it's that the shoulders aren't great. Straight out of the box mine were all twisted, and even after lining them up properly the arms don't seem to be able to sit as parallel with the torso as I can get on the other rangers. Not sure if it's a common problem with Black specifically or just one of the many random QC issues you can encounter with this line. But those sort of inconsistent QC issues aside, the overall sculpt on these figures is wonderful. Hasbro really captured the bagginess of the outfits with all the moulded billowing and creases. 

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But the Ninja Ranger figures really shine when it comes to swappable parts and customisation, allowing fans to cycle through all three stages of their transformation (headband only, partially masked and fully masked). While the first two stages are largely just one second images in the series itself, they're a HUGE part of the Rangers appearance when searching for the Great Power in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie - with the film omitting a fully masked look so that the actors' faces could remain onscreen at all times. The head sculpts included here have a pretty good likeness to Johnny Yong Bosch - maybe not the best Adam heads Hasbro have done but definitely among their better offerings. In addition to the heads themselves, an alternate (bigger) neckpiece has also been provided to go along with them.

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With little to no difference between the male and female bodies the Ninja Rangers are one of the more consistent teams in the Lightning Collection, with the figure including;
- Ball jointed head, neck and waist 
- Double hinge elbows and knees 
- Single hinge ab crunch
- Swivel hinge shoulders, wrists and ankles 
- Butterfly joint shoulders
- "Pull down" ball jointed hips
- Bicep and thigh swivels
Overall that's a cut above what's usually expected from the Lightning Collection, with touches like the "pull down" hips adding that little bit of extra movement for better posing. Butterfly shoulders and double hinged elbow/knees are a common trait amongst the whole line, but it doesn't prevent them from being any less satisfying here. The only major complaint I have from a design perspective is that the soft plastic vest pretty much prevents the ab crunch from being functional, which is a real shame. Any other complaint once again relates to the QC of the figures, which will likely vary from copy to copy. The hips on mine aren't too great - they're a lot stiffer than they are on any of the other Rangers. There's also a rather noticeable gap where the thigh swivels are - as if the legs haven't been properly plugged properly. Most likely fixable, but again not really something I should have to do.

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In addition the the alternate heads and neck cover, Adam also comes with two swappable hands (a posed right hand and knife strike left hand) as well as a translucent white effect part. The effect part is in the same vein as the ones included with the other Ninja Rangers, but this time around it's a swooshing effect designed for the knife strike hand). The effect part is designed to comfortably slot over the hand in a specific direction, however since it's made of a relatively soft plastic you can kind of force it into the opposite should you so wish. It's an alright effect part, but definitely one of the weaker ones that has been seen across the Lightning Collection. But then the Ninja Ranger line has done so well with the alternate head parts, I can forgive Hasbro for lacking in the one area that often feels like them filling up space anyway.

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The Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Ninja Black Ranger is yet another figure that shows the painful duality of this toy line - a fantastic figure with plenty to offer if it didn't just fall short on the quality control. Between the great sculpts, impressive articulation and brilliant range of accessories these should be some of the best figures the line has to offer, but there's always something holding them back from perfection. On my copy it's the shoulders and hips, on someone else's it could be another thing entirely. Do I still recommend these figures? Absolutely - despite the issues I have a soft spot for the Ninja Rangers and Hasbro have definitely scratched an itch in that regard.

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