Power Rangers Dino Charge Dino Cycle & Black Ranger Gallery
 

Engage! Energize!

TokuNation is back with another in our series of complete, in depth, hi-res galleries for Power Rangers Dino Charge! Today we take a look at the mode of transportation for this years prehistoric heroes, the Dino Cycle complete with 5" Black Ranger!

**Note - This cycle and figure are nearly identical to the previously release standard Dino Cycle with Red Ranger. A Majority of this review will be exactly the same for this item. Word for word. Aside from a few new comments on packaging and paint apps.

I should also mention that TokuNation user Gosei Wonder was the wonderful enabler who sent this bike my way!

Packaging
New to this year's line is this scale of vehicle, and with that comes some new packaging. This time around we get an open window box style for the Dino Cycle with Black Ranger. Held in by just a few plastic straps it's not the most reliable or sturdy box but it gets the job done. The outer packaging is decked out with the usual stock photography and screen shots from the source footage, including a CG image of the Cycle in it's separated Deinonychus components. Though since this Cycle is a variety not seen in the show, an entirely toy exclusive coloration, the CG shot has been recolored to match the figure. Which is great.

Until you look at the back of the box and see the stock footage shot plastered across the back, showing Dino Charge/Kyoryu Black riding a normal Dino Cycle/Deinochaser. They took the time to recolor the CG art on the front but not the image on the back? Why even bother to change one if not the other? It's a simple task as well. We're also given a quick look at how the cycle functions as well as several other figures in the line. There are two other simultaneously released versions of the Dino Cycle in slightly altered colors with other ranger figures included, 1 which we've already posted a gallery of, and the other which will be up for your viewing pleasure soon. These images also give us a good look at how the Dino Cycle is meant to interact with the Dino Charge Megazord and how the Megazord interacts with the yet to be released Zord Armors.

Dino Cycle
The main event of this review is of course the Dino Cycle itself. The first thing to know about this vehicle is that it's BOA's version of the Deinochaser from Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger's toyline. A vehicle which itself is quite sought after for it's compitability with 5" & 6" figure lines. Much of what can be said about the Dino Cycle is in part in comparison to the Deinochaser. But it should be stated first that this vehicle is a vast improvement over the last several years worth of generic repainted bikes. In quality and functionality it far exceeds the Cycles of the past several years.

As you can see the Dino Cycle opts out of having quite a few paint apps compared to Deinochaser, which isn't entirely odd for BOA releases. This color variation with Black Ranger is also quite different though since it's an original color scheme. There's some excellent detail on this vehicle that could really be brought out with paint though, when you look at it side by side with Deinochaser it's apparent some important details were overlooked, such as the eyes on the front half of the bike being unpainted. But again you can handicap this one since it's a unique color scheme.

There are also significant physical differences between the two bikes. Gone is the Zyudenchi or Dino Charger gimmick from the original figure. Odd considering the Dino Charger gimmick is the central element of the Dino Charge toyline. This appears to be one of the few primary Zords or Zord like vehicles that has forgone it's inclusion. Aside from scaling the Cycle down a bit to compensate this lack of functionality it doesn't actually alter the physical look of it by much. Aside from this mostly all functionality in the figure has been lost. Where the original Deinochaser could separate into it's components at the Zyudenchi connection and then transform into proper dinosaurs, the Dino Cycle instead separates with no transformation at all at a Zord Builder connection. The red half need only be flipped over to stand on the handlebars, the rear gray half does absolutely nothing. Sadly the two have just been far too simplified, the entire transformation gimmick has been removed meaning the look of both the combined and individual modes is compromised. As you can see in the comparisons it's a stark contrast.

Now that's not to say the Dino Cycle isn't without it's merits. As with the Deinochaser before it, it's actually scaled quite well with 5" & 6" figures. The ranger included with it is of course made to fit right onto it, but it accommodates S.H. Figuarts Kyoryugers quite well too! Though the Dino Cycle is a tad smaller overall it still works just fine with figures in this scale.

This figure also features a limited amount of Zord Builder compatibility. 2 female ports on the red half, & 1 each of male & female on the gray half. They're a bit hard to utilize though. While I don't have a Dino Charge Megazord I made due with the some other parts I had for fun. My last masterpiece from the previous Dino Cycle Gallery, has been dubbed the Q-Rexasaurus Cycle. The new monstrosity from this gallery? Who knows. By the way the female port on the back half of the cycle is particularly difficult to make use of.

Black Ranger
Included with the Dino Cycle is a rather plain 5" Dino Charge Black Ranger. No one expects these type of figures to be extraordinary, even when compared to the mainline 5" figures. But this one is quite simple. Very few paint apps and severely limited articulation. It has the typical BOA bulkiness and muscles, but has only a few silver paint apps, and only basic articulation. So basic in fact the wrists cannot be rotated from the holding handlebars position. But the standard Dino Charge 5" figures should be much nicer than this one.

Final Thoughts
From the start the Power Rangers Dino Charge toy line has already surpassed the Super Megaforce toyline in originality and quality. Trade-offs in functionality one way or the other have been met with a degree of originality I did not expect from Bandai of America. While it's clear to me personally that the Deinochaser released for Kyoryuger is a far better toy in almost every way, it's also become exceedingly rare & expensive. As a budget alternative the Dino Cycle is actually fairly nice. It retains at least the basic functionality of the real deal and makes for a great bike that's far and above better than what we've gotten used to in the last couple years from Power Rangers toylines. If you can find one of the three variations of this vehicle at retail now I'd recommend getting at least 1 as a cheap alternative to the Deinochaser if nothing else.

That last picture looks like a reptilian/bird hybrid. :lol

I actually dig the red raptor.

This cycle has a pretty neat color scheme. might be my favorite color combo out of the three cycles

I was Kind of inspired by Ultra Mega Chicken from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, but with two heads instead :lol

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/2016/3sBAwp.jpg

At least the figures aren't like the "Putty Rangers" that we got before. 😀

Not a bad effort, I think BoA is slightly getting better at this.

:lolol

It's cool that we get alternate colors that we can mix and match. I'd love to see an all silver colored one.

and Bandai messed up a little bit more...

I do like the silver half of the bike. I actually like that they gave the Rangers some articulation as well. Not a lot, but at least they aren't solid.

No mention of who supplied you with this piece? :)

Yeah, I can safely pass on this version.

An 'all x' colored would I fear be just a hunk of plastic with no paint apps.

Gah how could I forget!

Gosei Wonder was the wonderful enabler who sent this bike my way!

You know, I was going to say something serious. Then I saw the last image and just lost it.

I don't like that the black ranger comes with this mainly because of the red half maybe if it was black i would like it but oh well

Not liking the cycle all that much. I understand replacing the Battery with zordbuilder, but not cutting out the front halfs transform gimmick.

Seeing this figure next to the Figuarts... why does BoA think that those proportions are good?

Even if they are a little lackluster, these are probably the best bikes in a while in my opinion. By their nature as being Zord-like (weren't they counted as ones in Kyoryuger?), coming in multiple colors like this is basically giving you even more Zords. And that's pretty cool in my book. Not like having a horde of dinosaurs wouldn't be cool anyways.

It is a shame that they cut the the charger gimmick for a zord builder one, but looking at past ranger bikes this one is still good

I like the color scheme, definitely a good look with the black ranger. I would still like to see more paint apps but overall I like the color scheme and the gimmick being retained.

Again, not my thing, but it's always neat to have a bunch of weird zord builder stuff smacked together

Part of my issue with the final combined form for "Bragigas" is having all those batteries stored inside it, and without the Charger for this one I'm wondering I the ports on our US Bragigas will be lowered or... what exactly.

That being said, the smaller dinosaur front reminds me very much of Gon. And for that, I'll probably pick at least one up.

it doesn't looks so bad

lol, BOA sure are putting their zord builder at their top priority!

Not a huge fan of the zord builder system being put in there but I do like the look of the bikes, especially the yellow and black version of the bike the colors pop pretty well.

I know it's been said before but it's surprising to see BOA look like it put some effort into it this year.

I like how the cycles continue to be engaged in the word builder line, but I think they should have included a dino charger with the bikes (an easy way to get blue and pink out there since they didn't come in the megazord or morpher)

These would be so much cooler if they had been given new molds of some kind. Like if they had been motorcycles from different dinosaurs besides the ones used in the original black and yellow one. Ah well.

I find the recolor choice a little odd. I would have thought either a flip of the colors or maybe purple instead of red. Regardless, nice looking toy.

I really like how they're doing different color variants, you can mix and match them like a Hardboilder 2.0

My son likes them a lot. I personally think they are much better then previous bikes by BOA.

The bike seems ok enough, like the combining gimmick. Nothing will surpass the Lightspeed Rescue bikes in my eyes xD

Have you guys found the blue one yet? It actually looks pretty good.

I think it's pretty cool how BOA is making some effort here this time around with the Dino Charge toys, while nothing spectacular it's nice to see them to do original things such as original colors, zord armor, or the Turbo Falcon zord. While still maintaining the original looks for those that want to purchase it or the new look doesn't hinder the old, so you if you want just the original Kyroyuger color look you can just buy DC red.

It's official. Deadpool turned into a bike and invaded power rangers. He's everywhere.

The designs look interesting and the combining is cool. Still not sure about non-Zord vehicles :).

I was only going to get the red bike, but seeing this one up close, I think it might be a pick up as well.

Hasbro needs to start using this kind of silver plastic.