VR Troopers - KAITLIN STAR!

Saban's VR Troopers - Deluxe Figures - Battle Grid Kaitlin Star - Kenner 1996

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!

Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack - MIMEENA!

Metal Hero Series: Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack - Mimeena - Bandai 1998

I was trying to think a good Easter review when I remembered this goofy little beauty.  Toei's Metal Heroes Series ran from 1982 through 1998 with a variety of (mostly) kid-oriented television programs.  The most popular ones for US audiences were VR Troopers from 1994 and the Big Bad Beetleborgs from 1996.  The Robotack series is the newest, but never made it to US Television.  Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack is a sequel series to B-Robo Kabutack (from which I reviewed Tentorina last year) and was the 17th and final installement of the Metal Heroes Series.  Mimeena is a bunny-themed robot who is in love with Kamerock, a turtle-themed robot and one of the two main characters.  Their relationship is a Tortoise and Hare motif.  Bandai released these figures in 1998 in Japan so they can be a bit diffiuclt to find in other countries.  But if you can hunt them down, they make great quirky additions to any fembot collection.  Let's check out Mimeena below!

Beetleborgs HORRIBELLE!

The Evil Crustacean Horribelle - Beetleborgs Metallix - Bandai 1998

The evil villain costumes are my absolute favorite thing about all the Saban-produced Japanese properties that were so prevalent in the 1990s.  The Big Bad Beetleborgs was an American television show from 1996 that used footage from Juukou B-Fighter, and later when the series evolved into Beetleborgs Metallix, it used footage from B-Fighter Kabuto (with original American footage for the non-costumed scenes).  The villains in these series are always very detailed and creepy-looking.  Usually in some kind of insectile or demonic armor.  In this case, all the villains are supposed to be crustaceans.  Well, at least they're called "Evil Crustaceans."  Horribelle is pretty clearly a Praying Mantis (they should really be the Evil Arthropods if they wanted to include insects, but we can leave my nerdy semantics out of this).  Horribelle looks fantastic.  A lot of times these 90's Bandai females look way too masculine, but she is definitely an exception.  Let's check her out below!

Big Bad Beetleborgs JARA!

Saban's Beetleborgs: Magnavores - Whip-Cracking Jara - Bandai 1996

Big Bad Beetleborgs was the fourth wave of Saban's "Power Rangers" invasion.  I say Power Rangers because it always seemed to me like they were trying to replicate that initial success with other Japanese/American Hybrid shows.  First VR Troopers, then Masked Rider, then Big Bad Beetleborgs.  Beetleborgs was adapted from Toei's Metal Heroes Series: Juukou B-Fighter (Beetle-Fighter) and B-Fighter Kabuto.  Jara was a Russian-accented villain in league with the evil Magnavores.  She had a static mask that didn't allow for any facial expression, but her Baroness-like voice was enough to develop her personality convincingly.  She often wielded a whip that emitted energy blasts when she cracked it.  Hence this figure's "Whip Cracking" action feature.  The female heroes of this series always made pretty disappointing toys because the bodies seemed to be recycled from the men, but the villains always had original (and feminine) sculpts.  Jara is pretty great.  Let's check her out below!

B-Robo Kabutack's TENTORINA!

The Pinkest Ladybug Robot Ever - from BanDai 1997
 
Happy Valentine's Day!  I've been saving Tentorina since she's my favorite of all my pink toys.  B-Robo Kabutack is the 16th installment of Toei's Metal Hero Series.  The Metal Hero Series had a similar role in Japanese pop culture as other serials like Super Sentai (aka Power Rangers) or Kamen Rider (aka Masked Rider).  These series usually reinvent themselves every year while sticking to a general theme,  The Metal Hero Series typically involved robots (or heroes in robotic suits) with stories of good tech versus evil tech, often in the "space police" genre. B-Robo Kabutack is unique in that it's the first in the series to be totally geared towards children.  The basic plot involves a scientist who creates a bunch of robots to help him find these magic "star pieces" scattered across the planet.  Some of the robots had incomplete programing and start being bad.  Tentorina is a pink humanoid robot (on the good side) who is styled after a ladybug.  I love her design.  One of my favorite fembots ever.  Let's check her out below!