[TokuChris]

It's Morphin Time!

For the 20th anniversary of the Power Rangers franchise, Bandai of America kicked off its celebration by releasing the first item in what would become one of their more successful lines in recent memory - the Legacy Collection line for Power Rangers - with the 20th Anniversary Legacy Morpher. The original release featured the main morpher used by the five Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and included a coin for each. It was chrome, diecast metal, had lights and sounds, and played the theme song. It was, by all standards, the morpher that everyone had been waiting 20 years for someone to make.

After it's release, fans began to wonder whether or not we'd see a Green and White version Legacy Morpher, as the Green and White Mighty Morphin Power Rangers had different coins and a more golden colored morpher. It's important to note that the United States never had a Green Ranger morpher released during Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Their prayers were answered when Bandai of America announced one of their exclusives for San Diego Comic Con 2013 - the 24K Gold Green and White Legacy Morpher. Now, what they meant by "24K Gold" is up for debate (raz famously had it tested and it showed no visible sign of gold anywhere in it, d'oh). The fandom exploded in both cheers and ire - how could they make, possibly, the most desired morpher of all time and make it a convention exclusive that no one can get to?

As the story ends, a non-gold-plated version of this same toy would be released this year to Toys'R'Us stores, featuring weathered coins instead of gold coins. But let's get to the actual toy here!

The SDCC 2013 Exclusive Gold-Plated Legacy Morpher has no real difference in weight when compared to the original Legacy Morpher. The gold-plating of the morpher does it make pop a little bit more than the other two Legacy Morpher releases, but not too much. It's also very cold to the touch - more so than the Toys'R'Us version of the Green & White Ranger edition.

The best part, in my opinion, are the two coins - the Dragon Coin and Tiger Coin. It is (of my personal opinion) that these coins are beautiful, and when compared to the weathered version that was available at mass retail, simply blow them away in every aspect. The weathered coins from the mass release version just don't have the same sparkle and shine - literally - and as I joke, the gold coins are the "before we lost our powers" while the weathered coins are the "after we lost our powers" versions. Yes, I'm a nerd.

One thing to note - the SDCC 2013 Exclusive Gold-Plated Legacy Morpher is based off the latter release of the standard Legacy Morpher. This means that with the electronics you don't have to keep the release button held down for the theme song to continue to play. Releasing your hold on the button will not stop the theme song. The release of the original Legacy Morpher had different electronics, forcing you to keep the button held to play the theme song. This was changed in the latter releases of the original.

The after-market on this thing goes from anywhere from $400 up to $1000 depending on who is selling it. If you're a die-hard completest, be prepared to drop some coin to get this thing. If you're not too concerned about the morpher and just want these cool looking coins, your best bet is to check out a ton of the custom-made coins which will save your wallet a lot of strain.

MORE IMAGES, INCLUDING EXCLUSIVE TO RETAIL COMPARISONS, IN THE NEXT POST!