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

Release Date: June 2022

RRP: $26.99/£32.99

While the bulk of the Mighty Morphin Ninja Ranger team were released by Hasbro in one fell swoop, the last two members came a few months later. Why this was is anyone's guess given how crazy Hasbro's release schedules have been over the last few years, but nevertheless getting the whole team in a matter of months is still a pretty crazy achievement. The Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Yellow Ranger joined the Red Ranger as the final two releases from this "wave", representing second Yellow Ranger Aisha Campbell as she gained her new ninja powers from the Bear Power Coin. "It's time to boogie with the bear."

Matching the rest of the Ninja Ranger releases, the Mighty Morphin Ninja Yellow Ranger comes in the standard white box with the bold yellow of the character artwork making it all the more vibrant. With Tom Whalen's great artwork now gone from the Lightning Collection boxes, it makes you appreciate these pre-plastic free packaging releases all the more. The artwork is continued across one side of the box and repeated on the other, and then on the back is the usual CGI render of the figure in an action pose (no obvious differences between the render and the actual figure to report this time around). Inside the figure and accessories should be neatly laid out on their moulded plastic tray.

Aisha is the second female-body figure to be released as part of the Ninja Ranger team, which uses a pinless sculpt which has benefits to both the sculpt and articulation of the figure. As was the case with the Pink Ranger the shade of yellow that's been used on the figure is really bright and vibrant, and even though the figure is largely one colour all the moulding across the figure (such as the baggy cloth folds as well as the lace detailing on the gloves and boots) doesn't go unnoticed. The combination of the gold and white highlights also work really well, with the gold sinking in to the yellow nicely while the white stands out boldly against it.

As with the other Ninja Ranger figures the Yellow Ranger includes two additional head sculpts, as well as an alternate larger neck piece intended to be used with them. The two heads included are a standard Aisha head (sporting the yellow ninja headband), as well as a partially masked/hooded head - something that can either represent the mid-stage in their Ninja Ranger transformation in the series OR the Ninjetti Ranger appearance from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. Both heads have a great likeness to Aisha/actress Karen Ashley, and even though the "civilian" head has a particularly long hair sculpt it doesn't get in the way of neck articulation all that much.

The great thing about the female-body Ninja Rangers is that they have the exact same articulation as the male bodies, which previously was a rarity amongst the Lightning Collection and arguably one of my biggest gripes with the line as a whole. Altogether the Ninja Yellow Ranger features;

- 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

Though there is a little bit of resistance from the soft plastic "skirt piece" draping down over the hip section it isn't enough to truly hinder the articulation, which despite only having a few minor tweaks is a cut above what is normally seen on the Lightning Collection. In addition to the double-hinged elbows that are seldom seen on the female body, the Ninja Rangers also have G.I. Joe Classified Series-style pull-down hips to add even more movement to the legs. In previous reviews of the Ninja Rangers this is usually the point where I comment on the shoddy QC bringing down what is otherwise on paper a near-perfect figure, but this time there surprisingly don't seem to be any QC issues with my copy.

The Ninja Ranger figures already excel in the accessory department with the alternate head options, so them not coming up so hot when it comes to other bits and pieces is a fair trade as far as I'm concerned. In addition to the aforementioned head parts, Aisha also comes packed with an alternate pair of knife-strike hands and a swooshing effect part that can be attached to the left knife-strike hand. This is actually our first repeat of an effect part among the Ninja Rangers - with the exact same coloured piece having previously come with the Black Ranger. 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.

For once I don't actually have any notes - Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Ninja Yellow Ranger is the figure I wanted all of the Ninja Rangers to be. I don't know whether its the fact she came out five months later that made all the difference, but Aisha exhibits all the best qualities of this mould without any of the dreaded QC issues to bring her down. The repeated effect part is a little disappointing, but when all the other accessories are as good as they are who really cares about the most forgettable one anyway? While it would have been nice for the whole team to sitting comfortably as some of the best figures the Lightning Collection has to offer, I'll happily settle for one of them.