Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Super Samurai Shogun Mode Red Ranger

It's been over a year (and 44 toy reviews) since I last looked at a Power Rangers Samurai toy, which just goes to show how long this series has been running for now. While I did like the 3 1/2" Mega Mode Red Ranger figure I previously reviewed, I haven't been tempted to pick up any of the other figures Bandai of America have put out. That has all changed with the release of a Shogun mode Red Ranger in this scale, which is the battlizer of this season and one of the better US-only creations that have come from Power Rangers.

There's nothing particularly excited to say about the packaging - its your typical card/blister pack you get with Western action figures. Like all of the other toys, it refers to the character as the fire ranger rather than the red ranger. The back of the card features images of the rest of the toys included in the assortment.

Like the onscreen suit, the Shogun mode is a more subdued maroon colour rather than the fiery red the other red ranger suits are. There's a huge amount of detailing on here - from the notches and grooves all over the armour to the fully detailed shogun belt buckle. The golden head crest is smaller and much more rounded than its real life counterpart (and larger battlized ranger figure), but even without the chrome the gold plastic stands out nicely with the dull silver. As far as articulation goes the shoulders and hips can rotate 360 degrees, but this is limited by the shoulder pieces (which do swing back) and the skirt. The elbows and knees are hinged, while the hands and boots can also turn around 360 degrees.

The Shogun ranger comes with two weapons, a Mega Blade and the Bullzooka. Sadly neither are painted, but both have a fair amount of moulded detail. Like on the Mega Mode figures the blade can be pegged to the side of the figure, and the Bullzooka horns can move forwards and backwards (they come unattached in the packaging). As an added bonus, the two weapons can be combined into the Shogun Spear.

If you're a fan of these new smaller scale figures (which to be fair seems to be the standard for American action figures now) then the Shogun Mode is a great purchase. The suit design is fantastic and this toy retains all the little details of it, even if many of them remain unpainted to keep this as a budget release. It might not be to the standard of a Figuart or toy of similar price range, but for its cost (around £7 at a UK store) it comes as one of the best ranger figures in the Power Rangers Samurai line.

Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Samurai Mega Red Ranger

Power Rangers Samurai toys have finally hit the UK, and in what I consider a rather odd move, Bandai have decided to market the Mega mode figures before the standard ranger costumes (which will be coming later). For anyone not familiar with Power Rangers Samurai, the mega modes are the suits the rangers wear when the pilot the Megazord, and don't actually use them for any sort of combat despite the fact they could make a very nifty super mode for the team. Anyway, today's review will be on the red ranger, which originally was the only mega mode figure I planned to buy.

For such a small figure, the level of detail is pretty impressive. All of the costume's grooves and padding remain intact, as is the costume's good mix of red, black, gold and silver. The articulation is excellent too, with full 360 degree rotation in both the shoulders and the hips. The elbows and knees are on hinge joints, and then the head, hands and feet can rotate 360. Quite possibly the most articulated mainline Power Rangers figure Bandai have given us thus far.

The figure's accessories are the mega mode sword (which again, is merely used to pilot the zords in the show and not for any actual combat) and the red ranger's signature weapon - the Fire Smasher (Power Rangers can call it what it wants, but it will always be the Rekka Daizantou to me). The standard sword is able to clip to Red's belt, and is pretty accurate to the on-screen version despite it only being moulded in one colour. The Fire Smasher is more interesting - while it has retained its ridiculous size, its much thinner and stylized to look a lot more like a sword (rather than an oversized toy). While I like the original Fire Smasher design, I like how this version is a lot more sword-like and not so huge that it jacks up the overall price of the figure. All the details are moulded on the Fire Smasher, but are unpainted.

The only real problem with this figure is the scale. While I know 3 3/4" figures are highly popular at the moment (G.I. Joes, Marvel Fury Files etc) but Power Rangers figures for the most part have always been much bigger (my old Zeo figures are able to stand with my newer RPM figures without TOO much of a size difference). What makes it worse is, it seems that the Samurai figures seem to have a variety of scales for different figures (the standard figures look to be a lot bigger than these) so really these are really only displayable on their own. This isn't a huge deal to me, as I'd much rather the sizes be this way around than vice versa, but its the only real fault I can find in what otherwise is a pretty damn good figure for something that appears and does very little in the actual show.