Series REVIEW: Power Rangers Beast Morphers

With the amount of toys and merchandising there’s been over the last two years it’s easy to think that Power Rangers has become entrenched its latest iteration, but when it comes to the show itself it’s still very much early days. The Hasbro era truly kicked off in 2019 with the release of Power Rangers Beast Morphers, immediately commanding attention from older fans by going back a few years in the Super Sentai timeline to adapt 2012’s Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters. Additionally, while the series once again adopted the two season format used since Power Rangers Samurai, this marked the first time the latter half did not take on the “Super” prefix - remaining as simply Beast Morphers for the entirety of its run.

Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Lighting Collection Cybervillain Blaze

Release Date: February 2020

RRP: $20/£20

While naturally a line like the Power Rangers Lightning Collection is going to gravitate toward to rangers themselves, four waves (and a handful of exclusives) in and it hasn't done a bad job of giving us some villain representation too. While it's only really Zedd, Goldar and the Putty Patroller covering the monster side of things, between the Psycho Red, Psycho Blue and Lord Drakkon there's been a fair few evil rangers to go around as well. Wave four boosts that number yet again with Lightning Collection Cybervillain Blaze! An evil avatar created by Evox, the twisted version of the Power Rangers Beast Morphers Red Ranger assists the virus in his bid to take over the Morphin Grid. With the Beast Morphers Yellow and Silver rangers still unaccounted for in the line, Blaze is a bit of a surprise entry for the fourth wave but certainly not an unwelcome one.

Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Beast Morphers Gold Ranger

Release Date: August 2019

RRP: $19.99/£19.99

While its variety and attention to the 27 year history of Power Rangers has attributed to the success of Hasbro's Lightning Collection, for the brand to survive it's important that the line pay as much attention to the new as it does the old. While naturally a brand new range is almost always going to focus on the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers first and foremost, the currently airing Power Rangers Beast Morphers has also seen fair representation in this collector-orientated line on top of its own series-specific range. This all kicked off in wave two of the line, which didn't just include the obligatory Red Ranger but also a Lightning Collection Beast Morphers Gold Ranger figure. Coming some months after Nate Silva's debut as the Gold Hercules Beetle Mantis Ranger on the show itself, this particular release also helps fill a significant void left by the now-defunct S.H. Figuarts Super Sentai line. Though the core trio of Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters (and their respective Buddyroids) may have also received figure, Beet Buster/Jin Masato and Beet J Stag/Stag Buster sadly did not.

First Impressions: Power Rangers Beast Morphers

After shaking the Power Rangers fandom with the news last year that the franchise would be leaving the hands of both Saban and Bandai of America and joining the Hasbro family, the true dawn of the Hasbro Era is finally upon us. This fourth chapter in Power Rangers history kicks off with Power Rangers Beast Morphers, a show that becomes even more interesting when you consider the Super Sentai series it was adapted from. Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters was originally released all the way back in 2012, having previously been skipped over following the completion of Power Rangers Super Megaforce in favour of the supposedly more marketable Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger (Power Rangers Dino Charge). But given that Go-Busters features transforming (in addition to combining) mecha as part of the teams arsenal, Beast Morphers seems like the perfect series for Hasbro to kick off their Power Rangers tenure.