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12-12-2019, 08:11 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Lexington, Ky
Posts: 16,328
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"It's Morphin Time! Dino Charger Ready!"
Arriving in Amber Beach on a mission to find his long lost father, Tyler Navarro could never imagine what really lay ahead for him. By chance, he and his new friends come into contact with the Energems, ancient crystals that channel the Morphin Grid and the energy of the universe. Once entrusted to the ancient dinosaurs of the past by the mysterious alien Keeper, these Energems have chosen Tyler and the others to be the next generation of Power Rangers! To defend the Earth, to defeat the villainous Sledge and his crew, to unlock the ultimate power of the universe, in a world full of strife the Dino Charge Red Ranger fights to survive! Packaging As we are all pretty familiar with the line by now, I'm sure I probably don't need to go through my usual list of reasons why it's awesome. Hasbro was keen to make sure these appealed to collectors and fans of the franchise from throughout it's various eras. And they also really pop thanks in no small part to some wonderful box art, lovingly crafted by artist Tom Whalen aka @strongstufftom on twitter. His artwork is breathtaking, and makes these figure's feel like just a bit more of a passion project from the folks at Hasbro. Main Figure I know. This one is way overdue. Lightning Collection has really come along in the last roughly year, moving at a pretty brisk clip. And in trying to catch up on previous releases I've finally gotten back around to Dino Charge Red. This was a figure I'd originally written off as unnecessary, largely due to the Kyoryu Red S.H. Figuart I had. My thinking on the matter has really swung around the other way since however. While LC figures will never replicate the same quality and engineering of SHF's, it's just so clear that they have such great play value for their price. I've been slowly selling off my Sentai SHF's and being pretty happy with the LC's I've replaced them with. Once I finally gave Dino Charge Red a chance, I was not disappointed. As the last figure from Wave 1 that I've reviewed, in fact having reviewed all of Wave 1 2 and half of 3 by now, I didn't expect the Red Ranger to blow me away. I'm happy to report that this is a very solid figure though, and I think people have really been sleeping on the quality of this mold. Though the recently released Dino Charge Gold Ranger has been divisive, people have been mostly quiet about Red. Like most figures in the line this is a well engineered and quite enjoyable figure. Standard articulation cuts in this line make most any figure feel good in hand and DC Red is no different. The standard rocker ratchet ankles work well as always, though on my copy the ankle ratchets are extremely tight making it very difficult to move them forward. I felt like I might snap the peg off but so far nothing like that has happened. DC Red still has the boot cuff style swivel below the knee though it's much less obvious because of the largely uniform red suit. The knees are the same typical double bend and although I know some collectors aren't fond of the sort of square shaped knee pad that's left from bending the leg, it's really the most sensible design for functionality. The standard hinged hips are present as well and they strike a nice balance of firm & flexible and are helped along in posing by the thigh swivel. Around his waste, Tyler has the signature Dino Charge Dino Com buckle. While it isn't fully painted, the details are sculpted and painted well enough to communicate what it is. The belt sits up just a bit high, in front of the ab crunch, but can be slid down a bit back out of the way. As with most any Lightning figure, DC Red's ab crunch is the best part of the upper body, really giving him some dynamic range. The floating ball jointed upper body is of course quite nice as well. The difference here is that unlike many rangers in the line who have either so far had a lot of chest armor over this section, or a less intricate design on the chest, Dino Charge Red has that elaborate sash design. And not only is it painted but also sculpted into the torso coming down from the upper body and back across the lower torso as well. Undoubtedly much of the cost for sculpting and paint apps went into this area of the figure, perhaps explaining some of the other missing details on it. I particularly appreciate how well the "Rexy" logo on Tyler's chest is painted given it's small scale. The upper body really is pretty great despite some minor discrepancies. The arms are based around the standard butterfly shoulder joint, though the chunks of torso used for it on this figure seem larger to me. Each arm gets some pretty great detailing in the form of sculpted in dino scales coming down from the shoulder peg and onto the forearms. We still get the bicep swivel we love, the double jointed elbow we need, and the wrists that get that the job done. Finally that brings us to the Red Ranger's helmet. Honestly this one of the more spot on sculpts in the line. The teeth accenting the visor are slightly off, but overall I find this to be a really well done figure in the line. Since DC Red has a pretty standard upper body and neck there's no danger of losing an articulation for the head so it really works like the best of the line. The gallery beloow features a few cameos I hope you'll enjoy. The S.H. Figuarts Kyoryugers join LC Red for some group shots, and we've got some good comparisons of this figure to Kyoryu Red specifically. Further below we also feature the Kyoryuger Deinochaser toy, which had quite a bit more functionality than Bandai's Dino Cycles released for Dino Charge. Accessories Like a lot of this line, the Dino Charge Red Ranger comes with a smattering of great accessories: 1 - Dino Charge Morpher. This yellow/black blaster is the US equivalent of the Gaburevolver from Kyoryuger. While I know the comparison isn't entirely fair I did include a comparison of the two just for some contrast. While neither of them can function or accept Dino Chargers/Zyudenchi and the Dino Charge Morpher is missing a number of paint apps, I do feel it gets the job done quite well. At the $20 price point, and given how many paint apps the figure got, it makes sense to me that the blaster is a little sparse. 1 - Dino Saber. Another pretty fair representation, the saber looks really great with the figure. A bit longer and more proportional than the SHF's weapon, it is again a bit sparsely detailed but looks great in the Red Ranger's hands. 2 - alternate hands. One close fist and one karate chop. The standard attached hands are the weapon holding ones so these extra don't provide a ton of variety, but it's something. 1 - Tyler Navarro civilian head. Once again, I really love that these figures keep coming with these heads, even if I don't typically display them using them. The likeness to actor Brennan Mejia really is quite good even if I'm not a huge fan of the facial expression they went with on this one. I find the expressions chosen for most of the heads to be a bit odd, but this head looks the right size on the Red Ranger's body and gives you a good neutral display option as well. 1 - Saber effect part. Effect parts are the best thing about the line and I really like the one that DC Red comes with. A pretty specific part, this blue lightning is soft and flexible enough to let you run the Dino Saber through it and make it look likes it's charged for a big attack. This same part is seeing another outing in yellow with the wave 3 Dino Charge Gold Ranger as well. Given how much this figure comes with, I can't say I should really complain about anything being missing. It would have been nice to get the combined Dino Blade Blaster or for the already included weapons to be capable of transforming into it. It would have been really great to get the T-Rex Smasher and accompanying Dino Steel Armor as well. But again, this figure is packed with two weapons, two hands, another head, and an effect part already so I can hardly complain. Final Thoughts It's taken me the better part of 2019 to finally get back around to this review. Wave 1 of Lightning Collection was quickly followed by Wave 2, then an SDCC 2-pack, then some retails 2-packs, then Wave 3 hit so much earlier than expected and the Dino Charge Red Ranger just kept falling to the bottom of my review backlog. Finally having had the time to crack him open and really get deep into the review, I really like this mold. Lightning Collection has been one of my favorite domestic toylines in a while. I've collected Hasbro's 2 other big collector lines, Marvel Legends & Black Series for some time as well and it's just so nice to have a solid third line like this that really aligns with my interests. Now that I've finally knocked out all of Wave 1 I'm going to refocus on Wave 3 and my long overdue review of the LG Red/Psycho Red 2-pack.
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Last edited by Den-O; 12-12-2019 at 08:22 AM.. |
12-12-2019, 08:12 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Lexington, Ky
Posts: 16,328
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Part 2
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Last edited by Den-O; 12-12-2019 at 08:18 AM.. |
12-12-2019, 08:42 AM | #3 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Slay me for heresy, but I think this looks better than the SHF. That comparison image really shows how much and how badly the old SHFs have aged; as usual it feels too thin now, and even the helmet looks a little more squashed than what it should be. This figure though is pretty spot on!
While the combined blade/blaster is fine with me, it's always a shame to see a character not come with his signature weapon; that big t-rex hand. Aside from that though I have very little complaint with how this figure looks, good job with it!
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12-12-2019, 09:23 AM | #4 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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I'm debating grabbing this guy, and this gallery isn't helping. He certainly looks good for his price point, with a tonne of posing options, and stuff (even a good looking civillian head), but I'll wait and see how the LG/Psycho gallery looks before making the final decision.
Alternatively, if they release this in a few other colours, I'll buy it straightaway.
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Check out my occasional ramblings! https://akibamusings.blogspot.com/
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12-12-2019, 11:18 AM | #5 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 203
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Quote:
Slay me for heresy, but I think this looks better than the SHF. That comparison image really shows how much and how badly the old SHFs have aged; as usual it feels too thin now, and even the helmet looks a little more squashed than what it should be. This figure though is pretty spot on!
While the combined blade/blaster is fine with me, it's always a shame to see a character not come with his signature weapon; that big t-rex hand. Aside from that though I have very little complaint with how this figure looks, good job with it! I think both figures do good and bad things. The SHF replicates the shoulder overhang and combines the sash with the upper body. After the Psycho Red/Blue/Goldar figures, I think it's a shame that didn't do that with DC Red. Those figures has a vest that does over a standard torso(you can remove it if you pop the arms off). That would have been perfect here to get that overhang. It also clear the paint job on the SHF is superior to the LC. At $20, obviously there will be trade offs but Hasbro can do better. Then there are joints. After getting a few, I think the Figuarts have better knees. Though I prefer the scale of the LC and overall body. It's like if Hasbro did a few tweaks and got QC, they could easily overtake the SHF. The real next level is a full covering to hide the joints. Not to toot my own horn but yeah with the unique weapons, the figures do get elevated. |
12-12-2019, 12:23 PM | #6 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Quote:
I think both figures do good and bad things. The SHF replicates the shoulder overhang and combines the sash with the upper body. After the Psycho Red/Blue/Goldar figures, I think it's a shame that didn't do that with DC Red.
Those figures has a vest that does over a standard torso(you can remove it if you pop the arms off). That would have been perfect here to get that overhang. It also clear the paint job on the SHF is superior to the LC. At $20, obviously there will be trade offs but Hasbro can do better. Then there are joints. After getting a few, I think the Figuarts have better knees. Though I prefer the scale of the LC and overall body. It's like if Hasbro did a few tweaks and got QC, they could easily overtake the SHF. The real next level is a full covering to hide the joints. Not to toot my own horn but yeah with the unique weapons, the figures do get elevated.
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12-12-2019, 01:49 PM | #7 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 203
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Right now I'd say the LC helmets look like someones head are inside them. Figuarts especially looks like the helmet is the head. If they were robots, that's the size head they would have. Though the LC helmets can suffer from the front profile.
MMPR Red side profile is perfect. It's profile from a 30/60 degree angle is perfect. It's front profile is off. It's squared off when the helmet is more spherical. Luckily it's not Legacy MMPR Red bad but you notice. |
12-12-2019, 01:53 PM | #8 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,435
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It amazes me how well this guy nailed the likeness and yet the recent DC Gold figure messed up some really basic stuff.
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12-12-2019, 01:55 PM | #9 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 246
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Love this figure, wish it had the other weapons but that's a minor complaint.
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12-12-2019, 02:42 PM | #10 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,474
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I've loved the henshin sequences you've done for many of your recent review galleries, but this may be the best yet. I didn't watch Dino Charge, so I don't know how much of the posing made it into Power Rangers. The "strongest AND the bravest" pictures filled me with glee.
Weapon paint aside, the figure looks remarkably good. Since I'm a Sentai fan, I can't help but be wistful about what the tooling/paint budget on the alternate heads could've otherwise been used for, but even still, there's a somewhat persuasive argument here for starting to replace my poorly-aging Figuarts. I haven't gone anywhere near the line for various reasons (living in SF means I see retail figures on pegs on an almost-never basis), but if they keep this up and get to my favorite teams Figuarts never touched, I'll probably have to give in and try to figure out how to acquire some of these. |
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