[Den-O]

Dragonzord Power!

After a long long wait, we finally have our hands on the Legacy Dragonzord to review and gallery for your viewing pleasure! Read on to check out TokuNation's full assessment of this highly sought after itme!

**Post #2 contains additional images.
Comparison images of Original & Legacy Dragonzord's courtesy of Photo & Content staff member ThatRangerGuy!

Packaging
Continuing the trend begun by the Legacy Megazord, the Legacy Dragonzord is presented in a vintage style Mighty Morphin Power Rangers box. Right down to the recap of the Power Rangers origin story, the Dragonzord's stats and the "power of the Dinozords" this awesome box screams 90's.

Dragonzord Mode
By far the most iconic form of this mechanical beast is it's Dragonzord mode. This form of course shares some notable design cues with the classic Toho beast Godzilla or rather Dragonzord's source footage counterpart Dragon Caesar does. In this form though Dragonzord is a lean mean fighting machine.

When looking at this form versus the original DX Dragonzord or Dragon Caesar it's clear Bandai of America was striving to improve the proportions of the figure. And for the most part they succeeded. The features of the machine have been streamlined to give it a more realistic type of body (as real as a mechanical lizard can be). The legs splay out a bit more naturally, the shoulder fold out, the tail's been given articulation, the hands on wrist joints for added motion, they even included a swappable set of "motion" hands. They really tried to throw in the kitchen sink here.

But at least one issue exists, the diecast content. Now the diecast for a lot of fans is a selling point of this toy. It hearkens back to an age when toys were made with some degree of sternness that's missing in today's standards. In Dragonzord's case it can be an issue though. The entire toy isn't metal, but there is enough of it to make it hard to balance this guy sometimes. The hip joints aren't particularly strong to begin, so he leans forward a bit with the added diecast content of the figure. Luckily the feet are also solid chunks so that helps to offset it. The tail is also fairly hefty despite being all plastic so that helps too. The tail itself is articulated between each section, it's actually pretty fantastic how articulated it is. But to be perfectly honest the tail is absurdly long when used in any way other than in Dragonzord mode. And while it is articulated it could have used a little higher degree of motion, it makes it a bit hard to display this guy on a shelf with how far back the tail points.

Also of note though is a positive. And that's the lavish paint applications. No stickers here. Unlike the Legacy Megazord this guy is 100% painted. While some of these applications are a tad splotchy in places on mine, they look nice overall. No stickers could ever accomplish the level of detail these paint apps do. The painted silver and gold looks especially nice, and there's a great vibrant green used here as well. Overall this mode is a winner, compared to the original at face value this one does look better, minor height issues aside. But then again when do Sentai or Power Rangers mecha ever scale properly when next to each other?

Dragonzord Battle Mode
The scarcely seen yet beloved Dragonzord Battle Mode. This form is achieved thanks to combining the Dragonzord with the Mastodon, Sabertooth Tiger, and Tricertops Dino Zords. The 2010 Megazord and/or the Legacy Megazord are completely compatible. To create this form you physically need to split the Dragonzord in half, remove the chest piece, and remove the tail. Then plug the 2 halves back together, fold the shoulder around to make the new chest. Pull the Dragonzords mouth down to reveal Battle Mode's face, doing so well release the spring holding the Dragonzord's red eyes in place as well making them "dormant".

No here's where this thing starts to lose out to the original. To make the legs compatible with the Legacy Megazord the Zord Builder system had to be incorporated into this figure. So there are pegs on the back of the legs to combined with the Megazords legs. To get to them you need to fold up and open the thigh panels on the Dragonzord and then rotate it's knees up into the open space. Unfortunately there is no locking mechanism whatsoever for these joints. If you plan to create Battle Mode you have to be very careful when moving this toy. The legs will fall out without a moment's notice as soon as you pick this guy up. Sadly the legs are just far too heavy, way too much diecast, for them to stay in place. And no clip or lock was implemented to keep them in place.

Another issue you may notice is the way the complete legs now look. The new knees look marvelous. But because of the way the 2010/Legacy Megazord was designed with a more opened leg stance where they angle in, here the toy looks very odd. The lower legs bend inward as intended, but the Dragonzord wasn't designed with that aesthetic in mind so the upper legs appear more rigid and robotic compared to the more dynamic lower halves.

The finished product does look nice. If you can forget for a moment the previous issues. It's a great shelf piece. However the Diecast present above the knees makes this figure a precarious one to balance on your shelf. Mine leans forward just enough for me not to pose it at all without it's Power Staff. On that topic a separate staff stand is included to combine with the chest piece and tail you removed earlier. You simply need to plug the staff into the chest, collapse the tail joints down, and fold out the hand peg. The main issue here is again the absurd length of the tail which results in a staff nearly twice the height of the actual figure. The staff base is also not even on all 4 prongs, so balancing it at all without the Dragonzord holding it isn't possible, it has to be held to be displayed upright. Luckily the staff gives the figure the added balance it needs to overcome the weight issues it has in this form.

When compared to the original Dragonzord Battle Mode or Gouryujin the Legacy version unfortunately comes up short. While it looks gorgeous in it's presentation, the design isn't quite strong enough, literally. It's still an intimidating shelf piece that will certainly make your original look outdated, but it could have used a little more love.

Mega Dragonzord Mode
The final combination we can make with this figure (for now!) is the Mega Dragonzord! Simply put you create this form by splitting the Dragonzord Zord up the middle, folding it's appendages out to the side and placing it atop the Megzord's head and shoulders. You need to rotate the Megazord's horns back and fold the shoulder pads down to accomplish this. There are also some small black rectangular brackets on the underside of the Dragonzord that can be folded down to clamp onto the Megazord for stability.

But again, stability seems to be what's missing here. The sheer weight of the Dragonzord makes it very difficult to balance the Mega combination. It makes it difficult even to create this combo. The weight of the Dragonzord's feet, which end up hanging off the shoulders, are at odds with the black brackets used to stabilize the shoulders. And you encounter the same issue here that you do with the Battle Mode combination. The legs just sort of tend to fall out of place due to weight. This form looks imposing, as it should, but it's horribly imbalanced. Mine has fallen over enough times that I highly doubt I could ever leave it combined in this manner for any length of time.

Not to beat a dead horse, but there's also a glaring inaccuracy to this mode, at least in toy form. There's absolutely nothing you can do with the tail and chest piece from Dragonzord mode. On the original DX toys when you created Mega Dragonzord or Zyutei Daizyujin these items could be plugged onto the knees hanging off the shoulders on either side. However here, not only do the Zord Builder connectors make that impossible simply because of incompatibility with these parts (the chest has a female but it isn't accessible in this form, the tail is a male), but the length of the tail would have made it physically impossible to replicate. You can still create the staff with these parts, but the handle can't be put in the Megazord's hand. The staff is too tall for that. Neither of these things happened in show, but it hurts that the toy can't replicate them.

Zord Builder Compatibility
Bandai of America's Zord Builder system is here to stay regardless of who does or doesn't like it, it sells. As clearly evidenced in their Super Megaforce and Legacy toylines it's the basis around which entire toylines are designed now. That being said, this figure doesn't embrace it enough at all. In contrast to the recently released Q-Rex Megazord and it's wealth of Zord Builder features, the Dragonzord is rather unimpressive.

It sports a mere 5 male Zord Builder connectors and 3 female ports. And most of those are only because of the leg joints. It seems they were only implemented where necessary to facilitate it's combinations with the Megazord. So unfortunately, even though this gimmick is BOA's money maker, the inclusion of it here isn't fully realized. You need the Mastodon zord to even be able to attach new arms to Dragonzord.

Had they taken just a few more liberties with the design and really strove to incorporate the Zord Builder system, then you could make some truly crazy combos with this thing. As is it's actually quite hard to find real ways to use these parts with other compatible figures. This makes the notion of an advertised combination with the upcoming Legacy Tigerzord all the more perplexing.

Final Thoughts
This figure strove to be the ultimate collectors item for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fans. The ultimate for a Green Ranger fan. Sadly it falls short. It can't be said that the Legacy Dragonzord isn't gorgeous. It looks amazing on a shelf, it's a wonderful display piece that captures the essence of it's on screen counterpart. The beautifully and lavishly painted details attract the eye far more than a dated toy with stickers ever will. For the efforts in it's production BOA deserves our respect and admiration.

Unfortunately though, the positives of this toy are tempered by the more negative aspects of it's design. The size issues of the tail, the excessive amount of diecast, the lack of proper Zord Builder inclusion, the unfortunate inaccuracies and proportional issues present in it's combined forms. I wanted this toy to be perfect, I dreamed of it being the ultimate Dragonzord/Dragon Caesar toy. But it's unpopular opinion time. This toy falls short, in big ways. Though if you can find the Legacy Dragonzord for it's retail price then I'd recommend picking it up to give your childhood a jumpstart. It can be an enjoyable shelf piece with a moderate amount of play value. But if you're looking for a true successor to the original toy, I'm not entirely certain that this is it.