Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers

Release Date: May 2023

RRP: $124.99/£118.99

Full team sets don't really come along all that often in the Power Rangers Lightning Collection, so whenever one is announced it feels like a pretty big deal. But while Hasbro had previously tested the waters before the Psycho Rangers set with some individual releases, with the Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers it's all brand new! The first (and currently only) release of the Alien Rangers of Aquitar, this set features all five Rangers alongside the usual selection of accessories and effect parts.

Five figures in one big set naturally means big packaging, and with Hasbro having moved away from the line's template art design in its later stages that means the Alien Rangers get something a little more lavish. On the front of this large box is some gorgeous artwork of the Alien Rangers against a watery backdrop (presumably their home planet of Aquitar) – complete with alien spaceships in the sky. The artwork takes up nearly the whole of the front of the box and looks absolutely superb – the kind definitely suited to a poster. One side of the box simply denotes the name of the set and the Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers series logo, whilst the other flanks that series logo with some nice artwork of their helmets. On the back of the box there's a very basic breakdown of the set's contents, showing off each of the figures (along with their heights) and accessories. As this is part of Hasbro's plastic-free packaging movement inside all of the figures and accessories have been wrapped up in Power Rangers-branded paper, held down on a cardboard tray.

First up is this most unique figure in the set – Delphine, the White Alien Ranger. Not only is Delphine the only female member of the team, but her figure utilises the new pin-less body Hasbro debuted in the very late stages of the line. This mould was reserved for only a select few figures (most notably the remastered Mighty Morphin team), so for Delphine to get it is quite the honour. As the name suggests this means there are no obvious pins in the arms or legs of the figure, creating a far more seamless sculpt. The new mould also boasts slightly reworked proportions, which not only look better but also bring with them improved articulation (more on that further down the review). Visually the figure looks brilliant – that bright white suit highlighted with lots of gold and black accents which (while still keeping things simple) break up the solid colours of the suit. The White Ranger's unique symbols are also printed on her belt and headband, adding a nice bit of personalisation to the suit outside of just colour.

Meanwhile it would be fair to assume that the remaining four rangers in the set – Aurico (Red), Cestro (Blue), Tideus (Yellow) and Corcus (Black), all share exactly the same body but there is one very slight difference. As per the specs on the back of the box, Red and Black are apparently 1mm taller than Blue and Yellow. The idea of them having a little bit of height variation is nice, but when it's that miniscule what really is the point? Nevertheless all four of these figures look great – granted they are very simple designs, but it's that simplicity that makes them work so well. At a push you could probably argue that Blue should be a slightly lighter shade, but it's still notably lighter than most Blue Rangers are. All the details on their suits have been very neatly applied, with Yellow even having the correct black belt and neck triangle where the others have gold. Each of them also have their own unique symbols printed on their belt buckles and headbands – again clear and very neatly done. While there might not have been a whole lot to get wrong here, Hasbro got everything right and they look superb.

The new pin-less body also provides all-new articulation to the White Alien Ranger, finally bringing the female body type more in line with what the male body was enjoying since the line began. Altogether she features; 

- Ball jointed head, neck and torso 

- Swivel hinge shoulders, wrists and ankles 

- Butterfly joint shoulders 

- Drop-down ball jointed hips 

- Double hinge elbows and knees 

- Single hinge ab crunch 

- Bicep, thigh and boot swivels 

The implementation of double hinged elbows, bicep swivel and ab crunch are HUGE additions to the figure, allowing a far better range of motion that so many figures in the line had been previously denied. It’s a shame that it took the introduction of a pin-less body to make these changes, because so many past figures would have been all the better for them. Newer changes like the ball jointed neck and drop-down hips also make a big difference, particularly in the latter case where there's a soft (but still fairly rigid) plastic skirt to contend with. While the slits in either side of the skirt do allow for more leg movement than there otherwise would be, crouching poses still sadly don't come quite as naturally. Still, this figure shows what Hasbro were capable of doing with their woman Rangers all along and as such definitely stands out as the highlight of the whole set.

For the boys though this is far more your typical Lightning Collection experience, but that said given that the male body mould has been pretty great from the start this is by no means a bad thing. Altogether they feature; 

- Ball jointed head, torso and hips 

- Swivel hinge shoulders, wrists and ankles 

- Butterfly joint shoulders 

- Double hinge elbows and knees 

- Single hinge neck ab crunch 

- Bicep, thigh and boot swivels 

While some slight improvements were made to the base mould (particularly the neck) over time the Alien Rangers have the body type most commonly seen throughout the line's lifespan, which still offers a fantastic range of articulation with very little getting in the way of movement. Two areas that seem to work particularly well on these figures are the shoulders (which have an incredible range of motion from those butterfly joints) and the ab crunch (which moves with a surprising smoothness rather than the usual stiff clicking). While it is a shame that the arms can't sit flusher against the torso for neutral poses, it is a common complaint with the line in general. There's more than enough here to pull off some spectacular ninja poses, so it's a job well done from Hasbro.

A big set also means lots of accessories, and Hasbro have been very careful to cover all of the essentials. Each Alien Ranger comes with one alternate pair of hands to go alongside their default accessory holding pair, their Aquitian Saber (with scabbard), Aquitian Laser in both gun and knife forms, and then finally five effect pieces for the weapons. These effect pieces come in two different varieties, both of which have been previously included with past Lightning Collection figures. There are two swirl pieces that can be fitted over the Aquitian Sabers (in both red and green plastic), and three small blast effects for the Lasers (in yellow, blue and purple). It's a shame Hasbro opted to only include two different effect pieces, but at the same time these are two of the better ones they've produced. The hand selection on offer is similarly varied, with White having a pair of knife-strike hands, Red and Blue posed martial arts hands and then Yellow and Black standard closed fists. The weapons are all nicely detailed with all the correct paint apps, and can be stored on the figures themselves – the sheathed Aquitian Sabers can peg onto their backs, and then the Aquitian Laser can be stored in either mode in the belt holster.

Hasbro have done an excellent job at covering all the essentials here, especially in including the Aquitian Laser in both modes for all five figures. That said, the Alien Rangers (or rather the Kakurangers) have a pretty huge arsenal so there are things that have been missed out. The Aquitian Fist hasn't been included, nor have the Rangers' individual weapons. Though at the same time, use of the Kakuranger footage was fairly minimal in Power Rangers so these pieces might have not even been in the series (they were barely in Kakuranger) so of all the things be omitted they are the most logical. A bigger divergence for the Lightning Collection is the lack of unmasked heads, but again considering which team this is it isn't hard to understand their reasoning. Not only are the Aquitian Rangers some of the least iconic in terms of civilian forms, but their head sculpts would require far more moulding and paintwork than your standard head. Including those would have likely meant that the quality/paint of the Rangers and their weapons would have taken a hit, so having the best quality Alien Rangers possible is far more preferable to getting heads that the majority of collectors probably wouldn't even use for display.

While the line may have ran into all manner of issues towards the end of its (current) run, the Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers set shows that Hasbro were still perfectly capable of producing fantastic figures even at this time. Although a full team set naturally comes with a high price tag, these are some of the best-looking figures in the whole line – excelling in their simplicity with great sculpts, great articulation and a really nice selection of accessories. The Alien Rangers getting this sort of treatment comes as a bit of a surprise (though the Kakuranger suits certainly deserve it), but it's a surprise that's more than welcome.