[Den-O]

Legacy 5" Ivan Ooze Review

Packaging
If you haven't picked up a Power Rangers Legacy figure by now, even Ivan Ooze follows the same basic formula. Packaged in a triangular box Bandai has done the best job they could at evoking the look of the vintage toys from the original movie toyline. Just as with the Legacy Mighty Morphin TV themed figures this box perfectly replicates the look of the movie toys, right down to the more bare bones black & white colors. It may look a little more drab but it's still a great package. Included on the front of the box is a call out to the 1995 film itself and to further that connection on the back is a brief description of the films plot. A brief bio about Ivan Ooze is also given on the back of the box. Though it doesn't feature the fantastic outlandish hyperbole of his on screen counterpart.

Figure
As far as 5" figures go, Legacy Ivan Ooze is a bit of a different beast than the Movie Rangers are. As far as the sculpt goes it's quite nice. The details are all there, but much like the coins and chest emblems on the rangers, a lot of Ivan's detailing is kind of soft. Despite being the one wholly new mold in the entire line, Ivan is the blandest figure. Many of the body lines and details take direct inspiration from the original Evil Space Aliens Ivan figure. The arms, cloak, and waist detail in particular are nigh identical. The strange face sculpted into Ivan's Belt is properly colored though, as is quite a bit more of his body this time around. Where the vintage figure was made on the fly during the films production, this one was made nearly 20 years after. Which makes it all the more disappointing when comparing the two.

On the articulation front Legacy Ivan Ooze hasn't got much. Ivan has what I can only describe as vestigial feet. As in they can rotate side to side, have no forward/back movement, aren't attached to any form of leg, and are ultimately totally pointless. Despite the non-existence of a lower body, Bandai couldn't be bothered to at least implement some form of simple waist joint either. The arms however are just as average as the Legacy Movie Rangers released so far. Simple shoulders that move forward & back and can't properly stretch out to allow the arm a full range of up/down movement. This is mostly due to the sculpted in shoulder tendrils, but it keeps the arms from getting into dynamic poses. Elbow articulation is limited to a 90 degree angle only. The wrist are ball jointed, but they're ridiculously detached from the actual arm. You get free range motion, but an almost disembodied look to the hands themselves. They also pop off, constantly. The arms are kind of frustrating to me though as a whole. A simple bicep swivel could have made them so much more dynamic. And stronger ball joints would have greatly improved the wrists.

The head is on a fairly decent ball joint that allows for a good bit of tilting in all the primary directions too. I honestly didn't expect it to be as decent as it is. If only it had a little more clearance in the back. But Ivan's hair prevents that. The sculpt for the head is actually pretty decent and gets a majority of the finer points right, but sadly opts for an absolutely comical and silly "mean grin" on Ivan's face. It's completely non-threatening and sadly doesn't capture the feel of the character. Everything else is on the whole a little more accurate than the vintage Ivan Ooze figure, but not by much honestly.

Accessories

1 - set of..... things? Tassles maybe? Honestly I don't know what to call them but they're meant to represent the weird hair-like appendages that hang from Ivan Oozes arms in the original film. All these succeed in doing is being frustrating inflexible pieces of junk plastic. They barely fit over the forearms and can't seem to tab into them properly either. So they don't really do anything. I'd rather not display him with them then try to use them. Even though the vintage figure opted out of even having them, I think I prefer it that way.

1 - Wand/Flute molded into a hand. Despite how much I hate the arm tassle things, I somehow despise this accessory just a bit more. As a molded in and therefor non-removable accessory you'd hope for it to at least be made decently. While Ivan's Flute in the film is kind of plain this thing is even more so though. Just a gold piece of plastic molded into a hand. A right hand only. It's an incredibly limited accessory that just looks like he picked up a stick to poke you with, and the figures lackluster arms mean he can't even hold it properly as a flute.

This is the part where I'd like to wish Legacy Ivan Ooze came with another accessory of some kind. But there really isn't any thing else for him to have come with. So I just wish those included had been better accessories in the first place. Maybe an actual set of extra hands? A flute that was properly removable? An extra head without the dopey look on his face? Just as with the rangers I feel more could have been done on the accessory front.

Final Thoughts
I was looking for Legacy Ivan Ooze to be a bit of a change of pace after bland repetitiveness with the Legacy Movie Rangers. And while it indeed changed the pace it isn't that good. Sadly this figure just doesn't do much for me. And indeed doesn't do much right at all in my opinion. It's scary that this figure with nearly 20 years of additional engineering and toy quality improvements really isn't better than the vintage figure. Neither may be perfect but at the end of the day the intage Evil Space Aliens Ivan Ooze is kind of what I prefer. The only thing the Legacy Ivan really gets right are the colors and head sculpt. I wish I could give it the wand/flute but it just is such a non-accessory.

In the end let the pictures included help you decide which Ivan Ooze you'd rather own. No matter what you decide, I'll leave you with just a single quote from the almighty Ivan...

"10 minutes out of the egg and I'm already listening to one of your lectures!"