[TokuChris]

Tis morphin' time!

After 800 years of darkness, the Knight of Zandar Sir Ivan, has been released from his imprisonment inside the villainous Fury! With his freedom restored he becomes the Dino Charge Gold Ranger, using the power of the Gold Energem and from the Ptera Zord to vanquish his foes.

This 5" figure is the first major retail release of the character, aside from a vinyl figure in Japan. You can find the Kyoryu Gold S.H. Figuart figure on the aftermarket, but it was not available as a retail release, and instead was a web exclusive.

Right off the bat it should be noted that this figure is going to have the same quality issues you find in the other 5" figures from the Power Rangers Dino Charge line, because with the exception of a retooled head and chest, it is the same figure you've already purchased with the core four male Ranger figures. So ignoring those, we're going to focus particularly on this figure and what it brings to the table.

The Figure
First and foremost, Bandai America knocked it out of the park when they did the head sculpting. It looks incredible and the paint detail is outstanding. The metallic blue details on the helmet as well as remembering to add the red eyes are incredible.

The paint on the chest is also top notch. Obviously, there's no paint on the back but on this figure you don't really notice it. But the colors picked create a bright and glorious looking figure in the package and even more so when you put the lights on it to take pictures. It just pops - and that's awesome.

The Accessories
The Ptera Sword is very detailed and nice looking. Obviously, it isn't painted. But it still looks incredibly sculpted as most of the Bandai America accessories do. Again, it's just the lack of painting that ruins what was otherwise a glorious looking weapon. The Ptera Morpher on his wrist is also unpainted, and comes in what I'm calling the "800 years of rust" colors (kind of like when he first calls for it in the show!). Obviously, the morpher is supposed to be blue and silver, but this is more of a rust-brown. Either way, it has great detail to it. Just more paint please! Or any paint, really.

So let's break it down in bullet points, because bullet points are fun.

The Good!

• Sculpting on helmet and accessories is incredible
• Paint on the chest and helmet are very eye-popping
• It is a GREAT alternative to a $100 S.H. Figuart

The Bad!

• Rust-brown molded morpher is disappointing in looks
• You can't create awesome poses because of limited articulation

Overall
I really love this figure. I know a lot of people like to crap all over the Bandai America releases but for $7.99 (or $9.99) you're getting a great representation of the figure. The dark days of poor toy releases are behind us because they're upping the quality each year. Obviously, this isn't a S.H. Figuart. And if you can manage to find yourself the Kyoryu Gold S.H. Figuart figure for a price that doesn't cost you part of your mortgage, go for it. But if you can't, this is an incredibly price efficient alternative. If you're on the fence, then hopefully this will push you over the side to go and grab this guy!