Thursday, August 4, 2016

Power Rangers - NINJA STORM BLUE RANGER!

Power Rangers Legacy Collection - Ninja Storm Blue Ranger - Bandai 2016

Bandai's new Power Ranger Legacy Collection is off to a great start. When these were talked about at recent shows and conventions, I wasn't grasping how robust of a line this would be. For starters, the 6-7" scale seems so impressive and new for Power Rangers figures. Also, they aren't messing around with the word "Legacy" - Ninja Storm was the Power Rangers theme in 2003 and this Blue Wind Ranger happens to be one of my favorite Rangers of all time. This first wave consists of Blue, Red, and Yellow Ninja Storm Rangers, and Green and Red MMPRs. I only bought this one figure so my knowledge is incomplete, but I know that by buying the three Ninja Storm figures, you have all the Build-a-Figure pieces to create the Storm Megazord. I have a feeling the two MMPR figures don't let you create a full Dino Megazord, but I'm not certain about that. Bandai has made promises that this line will be consistent and long-lasting. I can't wait to see it all unfold. Let's check out the Blue Wind Ranger below!








Something I was struck by right away with this figure was the plastic composition. With this scale, we usually expect a dense rubbery plastic like Marvel Legends or DC Multiverse. But this figure is a hard rigid plastic. The only similar recent figures I could think of were the 8" Lion-O and Tigra, coincidentally also by Bandai.

















The Blue Wind Ranger comes with two swords, one sheathed and one unsheathed.
The sheathed one can be mounted between her shoulderblades.





















The articulation is everything you would expect it to be. Her skirt hinders her a little, but not much.
My only issue is that many of the joints aren't as tight as I would like them to be.





She comes with an arm and a leg for the Storm Megazord. The blue dolphin Zord happens to be her's (hence the dolphin fluke on her chest).
















Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!


Here she is with the recent Dino Steel Pink Ranger and the MMPR Movie Pink Ranger.













Cheers!



4 comments:

  1. Hm, thanks for the size comparison! I was wondering who these figures could hang with given that they're too big for Marvel Legends... but it looks like the Rangers will make great allies for the Masters of the Universe. :)

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    1. I just realized I didn't compare her to any Marvel Select figures. they might be a closer scale than MOTU. Next time I have a photo shoot I'll add some more pics.

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  2. I think this is a wonderful line. They are very similar to SH Figuarts but at a fraction of the cost. Plus, their scale difference lends them more to crossover with Marvel Legends than the Figuarts. I was extremely disappointed with the skirt, however. I took an exacto knife and I gave her four slits along each of the dress seams (two in the front, two in the back). Now, her articulation is perfect. Her hips actually let her kick forward more than the male figure counterparts. I am stymied by the company's use of that hard plastic hiding great articulation under it. Maybe it just came out harder than they intended. In any case, her skirt still looks very cool but she has much more play value for me now. I don't often comment, but I visit your site often. Keep up the great work!

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    1. Yeah I found the skirt pretty restrictive, but at the same time, I tend to display all my figures in "at-attention" yearbook-style bleacher displays, so hip articulation isn't super crucial to me. I just watched the hour-long Bandai panel from Morphicon and they made a big deal about how flexible and poseable the Legacy skirts were... maybe we'll be seeing an improvement going forward? Or maybe we're being too critical and Bandai is happy with this skirt? If that's the case, at least your cutting method was a simple fix with good results. Thanks for reading!

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