The Power Rangers Lightning Collection Dragon Dagger Prop Replica is a brand-new product from Hasbro that is starting to ship right now! I purchased mine from Entertainment Earth for $59.99, but you can buy yours wherever your favorite Power Rangers toys and collectibles are sold.

After two video reviews of the brand-new Power Rangers Lightning Collection Dragon Dagger Prop Replica, it’s nice to be able to take a moment and think about the item as a whole in written form. We are going to take a deep dive today. It’s always enlightening to review a product that not only excites me, but gets a whole fandom tingling with excitement. And trust, plenty of you out there were excited, wanted to see this toy’s features, had input on the features, and were mad that I didn’t own the 2010 light saber style Dragon Dagger or the metal Japanese imports inspired by the original Zyuranger.

Send them over, fam. I have no objections. But remember, that like you, I am a fan and a toy collector. If I don’t have it, I can’t include it.

Thanks for listening to my PSA. Let’s get daggering.

Starting with the packaging, this item is very attractive. The images and design choices are smart. What I’m not personally digging is the voice that Hasbro wrote in. On the Bandai Legacy packaging, there is a “Story of the Green Ranger” that is quite detailed (gotta peel off those layers for the uninitiated, I supposed), but the Hasbro version has this snark casual tone that doesn’t work for me. The verbiage on the box will sound dated in 10 years and I’m more of a “give me the facts, evergreen information” kind of person. Example from the box:

Trumpet knife? Flute sword? No, of course not. It’s the Green Ranger’s Dragon Dagger, the one that plays the iconic Dragonzord call…without ever moving your mouth! 

Commence groan.

While the Bandai Legacy Proplica has an age of 15+ (the standard age recommendation for collectibles), Hasbro’s says 18+. But trust me, there is nothing happening here that justifies an 18+ age recommendation. This toy is somewhere lost in between high-end toy and prop replica. The materials are all plastic and it is very light. This is a good thing! I was comfortable letting my five year old daughter run around with it, unlike the Bandai Proplica version which is part die-cast and very heavy.

Moving onto the toy itself and its features– this is where many fans were the most gung-ho about what I missed in my video reviews. I will be the first to say that I rookied out hard by not flipping on the lightswitch. This toy glows and that is pretty cool! Liberties in a toy are appreciated when what it is accomplishing is neat. But when it’s stuffed full of gimmick, I don’t know what we’re all getting stiff about.

More on that in a moment. But first, let’s talk aesthetics.

The size and scale of this item are great. There is a battle worn paint job on the blade that is cool. Not necessary, but different. It sets it apart from the Vintage and Legacy versions. All three have one thing in common– the blade is a soft gray plastic and I’m thinking it’s a safety standard. But for me as a fan, it’s a neat thing that ties the three together. What I’m not in love with is Hasbro’s decision to make all of the colors worn. The brownish yellow “gold” plastic they chose is dull. I find myself really missing some metallic gold and sheen on this Dragon Dagger. But once that light switch is on, it makes a really cool glow and electronic humming sound effect. It also looks quite nice on its (super dinky and cheap) plastic stand. The stand is a piece that some Bandai collectors wished came with their Legacy Dragon Dagger.

Let’s continue on with the sounds it makes.

There is no comparison with sound quality between Bandai’s Legacy Dragon Dagger and the new Hasbro Lightning Dagger– Bandai blows Hasbro away. It is crisp and clear and loud and I love the way the flute mouth piece depresses on Bandai’s. The audio quality on Hasbro’s is fine, but it’s not turbo. There was also some fan assumption that the gray “mouth piece” is something you can blow into and make noise, but that’s not the case. It’s plastic. It doesn’t blow.

You can press the three buttons to hear different sounds: the iconic “summoning the Dragonzord” sound, the “commanding the Dragonzord” sound, and a clip of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers theme song. By pressing that little gold button, you can hear “remixes of the theme song”. Barely a feature, more of a “Well, we can stuff more audio clips in here….so….” sort of gimmick.

Now, where I didn’t read carefully enough (IE at all) is the “twist the bottom of the sword” mode to “make your own music”. Truthfully, this is where I wish I didn’t discover this mode at all. The sword makes a few little honking sounds, and according to other fans online, if you press the buttons in a particular sequence you can summon the sound that the Japanese equivilent of the Dragon Dagger made in the original Zyuranger. That sounds like a great feature– let’s not hide it as a weird Easter Egg, yeah?! The honky little music mode was truthfully embarrassing and juvenile. It’s the thing that makes fans shrug and go “Hey, deal with it, it’s a KIDS’ TOY!”

Well…it says 18+ on the package. And I’ve been to a lot of stores with boxes of movies and items that say 18+ and none of them honked little synth trumpet sounds out of a Power Rangers sword.

Just saying.

All in all, this toy is cool as hell. You know you want it and you should probably buy it. Does it replace the majesty that is the Bandai Legacy sword? No. Does it replace the wholesome sweetness that is the Original Vintage? No, I legitimately cried when I got mine. As a prop replica, this item is medium. But for a high end toy for displaying or playing make believe? It’s pretty radical! I said it before and I’ll say it again– I would collect every Dragon Dagger that came under my radar if they were accessible and I could afford to. No question. 100%.

I give Hasbro’s Power Ranger Lightning Collection Dragon Dagger Prop Replica 4/5 Wizard stars. It’s sexy. It just needs to keep its mouth shut in the dark.  

 

You can check out my video comparison of the OG Vintage Dagger, the Legacy Bandai Dagger, and the new Hasbro Lightning Collection Dragon Dagger here:

 

You can see my review of just the Hasbro Lightning Collection Dragon Dagger here:

 

 

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