VR Troopers was the first "spin-off" of the Power Rangers franchise which ran on US Television from 1994 to 1996. It has no connection to Power Rangers, but it followed a similar formula of taking existing action sequences from a Japanese property and re-splicing it with new American footage. Where Power Rangers was created from the Super Sentai Series, VR Troopers came from the Metal Hero Series (Big Bad Beetleborgs was the only other property adapted from this series in the US). VR Troopers is unique because it creatively mashes together three different shows, and it uses the oldest footage (1984) of all the 90's Saban properties. VR Troopers was focused on the popular 90's theme of virtual reality and features three teens who meet a hologram who exposes them to the the VR dimension and makes them heroes. Kaitlin is the token female and a budding photographer and journalist. She had three action figures produced, but this particular one stands out. Let's check her out below!
Kaitlin comes with two sai's, two translucent red nunchucks, and a shield.
Kaitlin has two distinct costumes in the series. The main one is from the character Diana from Time-Space Warrior Spielban (1986). It is very boxy and androgynous and definitely looks dated. The "Battle Grid" costume on this figure is from newly-made footage for the American production in the mid-90s. The most notable differences are the mask (which looks like like a Power Ranger and less like a robot), and her body looks more human and female overall.
Here are the other toy versions of Kaitlyn.
You can see that the armor is the more boxy and androgynous style from the 1986 Japanese footage.
You can see that the armor is the more boxy and androgynous style from the 1986 Japanese footage.
I made a quick video to show how extremely floppy her Right leg is due to the kicking action feature.
She can't stand - hence all the photos with the black wire figure stand to keep her upright.
There is a very cool "villain" in VR Troopers named Red Python. I believe she is actually a good guy, but is brainwashed by the bad guys (a major Saban trope). Her Japanese counterpart is named Helen-Lady. Despite that cringey fact, I think she's awesome and I wish she would have been made into a toy.
Time for a Comparison Pic!
Cheers!
I sometimes wonder why the toy doesn't look that much like her suit does on the show.
ReplyDeleteIf not for the fact that this toy came out late in the show's life I'd chalk it up to it being an early design before they settled on the on the one they used in the show.
Huh, so that's what the figure was supposed to be! (I have both the regular Kaitlin figure and this one.)
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