It’s time once again to rehash and release another version of the Megazord from the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The design for this particular robot, dubbed the Dino Megazord these days as we are 27 years removed and several iterations of Power Rangers from this guy just being called “Megazord”, was originally introduced in 1992’s super sentai series Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. This was the Toei tokusatsu program that Saban Entertainment decided to localize for American audiences and well… you know the rest. This is Hasbro’s first go at a 12″ combining version of the iconic robot, and I have to warn you early, it’s a rough one.

Sculpt

It is very obvious that this toy was created to represent the original toy that many fans either owned or collectors still own to this day. The dino zords themselves all invoke a very nostalgic feeling. These shapes, and panel details are all very much present on the original 1990’s DX toy from Bandai. A lot of attention went into the rendering of a classic design. However, not very much went into newer ingenuity to make this toy much better or even on par with it’s nearly 30 year old predecessor. Each individual zord transforms into its component piece just as you would assume. There is nothing new or clever. In fact, some of the engineering is further simplified for the toy’s size and price point. Proportionately the robot mode is very nice. I like that they tweaked the size of the arms, legs, and shoulders for a very dynamic anime robot feel. It looks very heroic on the shelf.

Paint & Materials

There is a very little amount of paint on this toy. The majority being on the robot’s head as it needed the most amount of detail applied. What amount is applied is done fairly cleanly, but there’s coverage issues with yellow paint over red plastic. Most of the individual beasts get a little paint on their heads for eyes or noses. The pterodactyl gets a fair amount of silver paint that makes up the chest of the robot. Everything else you see on them are cheap decals that came out of the package misplaced and sloppily applied. For this review I actually removed them and reapplied them. The plastics used for this release also leave a lot to be desired. I wasn’t expecting 1992 Bandai Japan quality heavy plastics, but I was expecting something closer to what Bandai released for their 2010 Dino Megazord that later got revamped for their Legacy Collection. The plastic is very thin, very light, and shows signs of swirls and inconsistencies in the mix. Nothing feels fragile or breakable, but it does look cheap.

Articulation

Here is an area I thought this item was going to succeed. When solicitation photos hit the internet I thought the whole reason of this Megazord release was to capitalize on the success of Bandai’s Super MiniPla plastic model line featuring many super sentai robots that have loads of modern articulation as well as the transforming and combining abilities of the vintage toys. This is sadly not the case. There are a few new points of articulation on this toy. There is also a frightening amount of articulation that remains the same as the original DX Megazord. This new toy for 2020 includes:

• No neck articulation
• Hinge & swivel shoulders
• Bicep cuts
• Single elbows
• Soft ratched ball hips
• Thigh cuts
• No knee articulation
• Hinged Tiger and Triceratops heads for transformation that I am generously including as articulation.

Ok. Alright. This toy has zero, ZERO neck, knee, or ankle articulation. Something like wrists I can forgive, but there is absolutely no reason for these others to be omitted from a brand new version of this toy that was built from the ground up, scaled to an appropriate size and released in three individual blister card packs for a modern market. The thigh swivel and hips are barely useful as well as when you rotate he thighs the T-Rex feet just hit the tail on the robot’s back after about 5 degrees. The hip joints move forward and back fine, but there is almost no outward movement. The robot can achieve an “A” stance and that’s about it. I would have much rather seen a straight copy of the Super MiniPla Daizyujin repackaged into three blister cards and released to major retailers. Even at less than half the height of this toy, it still has much better transformation and articulation engineering.

Accessories

In terms of accessories, the T-Rex comes with the Power Sword which I’m happy to report isn’t a soft floppy mess. It’s actually quite sturdy. The Pterodactyl & Mastodon pack comes with the two cannons that can attach to the back of the Megazord and I believe on the vintage toy could be makeshift legs for the ptero so she could perch upright. This feature is not present here.

Value

These packs are $15 each at most retailers. At nearly $50 after tax you’ve got the price of what I assume would be a full DX Megazord at today’s market. This is nowhere near the quality of older Bandai Megazord releases. It is probably comparable to Power Rangers toys from the last ten years, but it’s very sad to see a lot of care and quality from Hasbro going into 6″ action figures and seemingly no thought or reverence being put into what at one time were the stars of the toy line, the uniquely diverse combining robots made from all manner of mecha beasts and vehicles.

Score:

2/5 Wizard’s Stars Available – Now Retail – $39.99 Amazon Link Please enjoy the full gallery of images below!

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