[dekablue25]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltjdavid

That was a very interesting editorial. Here's my opinion:

1- Power Rangers is still what I would call a Phenomenon It's 36 years old in Japan and going on 20 years here. THAT'S HUGE. That puts just the BRAND itself in to the same category of other toy and franchise Juggernauts like : GI Joe, Transformers, and Star Wars figures. That's a difficult feat to accomplish especially in this tough economic climate. I have lived 20 of my 25 years with Power Rangers. That's a lifelong fandom for many. Those don't just disappear and fade away.

2- It's still popular with all ages. Anyone who has netflix streaming could tell you in the "Popular on Netflix" Catagory right next to Doctor Who and Marvel Movies is MMPR. I have a large collection on display in my office in my house. When I have guests of all ages over they instantly recognize my Power Rangers and often ask to check them out.

3-Kids still love it. My Girlfriend is a Program Director at a school and I work there part time and the kids love to talk to the "Power Ranger Guy". I'll bring in older toys for them to play with and they go crazy. My three year old niece begs to come to my house so she can play with some old Ranger and Samurai Syber Squad toys.

4-Universal Appeal I live in New York City which in itself is like a tiny version of the planet with all countries represented in some way. There are stores devoted entirely to Tokusatsu merchindise and more "Clubs" for PR than I can count. I feel it's because the Rangers transcend any Racial,Language, or Ideal barriers and they give people a great entertaining story and remind everyone of what that wonderful child like awe and wonder felt like when we first heard "IT'S MORPHIN' TIME".

5- Things Change I understand what you're saying about the toy displays yes they are a 1/8th the size they where in the heyday of MMPR, this I think has to do with a few things, Kids don't play with toys as much as they used to. When we where younger our older siblings would play video games or go out and we would play with our toys. Your friends would bring their toys over or vice versa and you would play together and that's just the way it was. Console and Hardcore Gaming have ravaged the Toy market. HARD. I worked for Gamestop and TOYS "R" US when I was in college, most of the customers in the Toy Store where adult collectors and in the Gamestop most of the customers where kids. You can't sell things to people who don't want them.

6- It Depends on You It is our duty as fans to immortalize our fandom and keep it running strong. Support Power Rangers, Support Super Sentai. Send emails to the producers and film studios tell them how much MMPR means to you and thank them. Support the show any way you can. Support = Life for franchises.

7- Remember, Dream, ShareI have already begun assembling a small MMPR/Tokusatu time capsule for my future child. I don't think Toku is going anywhere but I want to able to share the magic and joy I had as a child growing up with these heroes. I want to be able to give my child a toy and say "That was mine when I was your age" And Thanks to MMPR I will be able to that.

So I would say no the Phenomenon is not over, as long as we keep it alive.

there arent as many tokusatsu stores for sentai as much as they were back in the 90s in NYC now though only a few small ones.

for the fandom its still popular to this day.you can wear a mmpr shirt and you will get kids and older people looking at the shirt and say something about the pr universe.had that many times already.its not as big as it was back with MMPR where toys were selling out and all that stuff.you can find the toys in almost any toystore or toy aisle kids will still buy them but do remember its a new generation of kids now and they have ALOT more other things to show since technology has gotten far more advance than back in the days.