[Den-O]

Although Power Rangers Dino Charge is hitting that sweet spot for the fandom at large right now, Saban Brands and Mattel have teamed up to treat us with something a little more retro by bringing back the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers for their Imaginext line!

The line has just started hitting store shelves in recent weeks and we're taking this opportunity to review one of the initial offerings in the line, Imaginext Goldar & Rita Repulsa!

Packaging
Imaginext Goldar comes in the traditional open style of box that most Imaginext play sets do. Frankly if not for his conspicuous size you could yank him right out of that package in a store. He's held in my by 1 twist tie that can be cut from the front. There's a perforated section on the back of the package that you can tear to get to the twist tie from that side. But it's ultimately pointless with ease of access from the front, and you'd destroy the artwork on the back. However the Rita Repulsa mini-figure as well as her & Goldar's accessories are glued down underneath a plastic bubble.

The front of the packaging isn't really all that elaborate thanks to it's openness. But there's plenty to check out on the back! The above mentioned art work with a perforation in it is pretty damn cool for something like Imaginext. You get slightly stylized images of the entire initial Power Rangers Imaginext lineup here. It's actually a pretty cool scene. And in lieu of any actual instructions, you're told how to play with Goldar & Rita on the back of the packaging. Oddly enough the back of the package features one rather funny typo. Even though her name is spelled properly as Rita Repulsa everywhere else on the box, the back features text that reads her name as "Rita Repulsar". But that's about it for the box, onto the figures!

Goldar
It's gotta be said that the Mighty Morphin franchise is a really odd place for Mattel to begin with Power Rangers Imaginext. It just seems counter to the logical choice of the current series, Dino Charge. As toys aimed at very young children in the 3-8 range these aren't quite the types of things that nostalgia collectors would be after. Normally. But I have to say that Imaginext Goldar is pretty damn awesome.

There's a level of detail present that you wouldn't quite expect on a toy of this nature. Just all around the molded in details are pretty great. The paint apps are even mostly spot on with a few minor areas of over spray. His face is painted quite nicely though they definitely took Goldar's usually menacing expression and dulled it a bit to work for children. His articulation is limited to his hips, shoulders, and rotating wrists but frankly for a kids toy like this you don't need much. Weirdly enough Goldar's tail is "rolled" up through a loop on his waist line area and it actually be rotated at the base so his tail isn't in the loop. For seemingly no reason at all. It's made of a soft rubbery plastic but can't actually be stretched out entirely. I tried using the loop to store his sword but it just barely serves that purpose. So I have no idea what the intent (if any) was to have that molded in such a way that it could move.

Rita, whom I'll look at more closely down below, can be mounted onto Goldar by plugging her into his Power Pad. Located between his shoulder blades on his back. She's held on by a single heel peg locking her securely in place. Turning Rita to the left while attached to the pad will swing up Goldar's right arm for his "sword fighting" as the packaging calls it. Turning her to the right releases Goldar's mighty wings! Though Goldar's wings appeared and disappeared over the course of MMPR season 1 seemingly at random due to footage cuts, here they are presented in all their glory. They're held in place by one small friction tab on either side of the Power Pad that release when it's turned. You also don't have to use Rita on the Pad, it can be turned either direction without her but the intention is to do it with the figure.

Goldar actually winds up being about the size of a DX Sentai Robo or US Megazord. Which suffice to say makes this figure pretty damn great. Putting him with your Legacy Mega/Dragon/Tigerzords will not disappoint. A large and imposing figure despite it's childlike design, Imaginext Goldar is big and fun.

Accessories
Goldar also includes one actual accessory to use himself whereas the others are a little different.

Goldar's Sword - Though unimaginative in name Goldar's Sword in truth has no official name. His Japanese counterpart Grifforzar wielded the Griffocalibur IV. In either case this toy version of the sword is incredibly faithful to the real deal. Honestly at this scale it's not that surprising, but it really does look quite nice. Certainyl more impressive than it's ever been done in 3" or 5" scale before.

Rita Repulsa Figure - While Goldar himself and his sword are very faithful, Rita and her accompanying accessories go in the complete opposite direction. Rather than the brown robed white haired sorceress we know, we get an oddly shaped purple woman. I have to point out that she has a fair amount of articulation for such a small figure as well. 360 wrists, hinged shoulders for outward and forward/back motion, rotating head, and she has a sort of "knee" joint in the thigh section of her robe. She's about the size of a Bandai of Japan Ranger Key but I've included an image for scale to several other figure lines.

Rita's Headdress - Similar to Rita herself, the headdress get's the basic shape right but none of the colors. When on her head it completely restricts the head from rotating side to side.

Rita's "Magical Staff" - If this one had just gotten as many paint apps as Goldar's sword we'd be in business. Instead it's a dull gray plastic with a few minor paint applications. The sculpt is on point but just not the colors.

Now Rita may look a bit off and I'm not sure why they went that direction but I think it can be forgiven for the most part. I'm sure some creative choice played into the figure being in those colors. Goldar and his sword more than knock it out of the park and make up for things. Rita's essentially just a bonus to me.

Final Thoughts
Rita's inaccuracies not withstanding that's a pretty great selection for a children's play set. Dare I say that Mattel has done a better job with this than Bandai of America has EVER done with a Goldar figure? Yeah I definitely dare to say that, it's just true that this is a really really fun play set. Imaginext Goldar is an immensely fun toy for young children and somehow despite being aimed at those children winds up being pretty damn cool for nostalgic collectors as well.