As the die hard MMPR demographic has moved into adult hood, so has the offerings from a merchandise perspective. It's not just limited to mainline offerings - they've moved into the middle and upper price points, though the validness of being at said price point is often questionable.
There's even been official offerings in the 1/6 figure world, though it's not through a brand that you would generally consider - ThreeZero. Not that they're particularly bad or anything, but they're probably more known for the robot/mecha inspired toys, though it appears with the Fig-0 line up, they're moving into the territory typically occupied by Medicom, who seem to be pretty much focused on their Mafex line.
ThreeZero has made figures from the MMPR (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers) universe, because that's apparently the only thing that sells in the Western world. They've techincally started expanding into some of the BOOM! Comics stuff, which isn't exactly a stretch of the imagination seeing how it too, is based in the MMPR reality. I've not not read the books, but my understanding is that there is a Darkest Timeline where Tommy embraces the darkness and overthrows Rita to become the despot Lord Drakkon.
From that particular timeline comes the Ranger Slayer, the Kimberly Hart, who has possession of the Pterodactyl Power Coin along with some Darkness perks. Armed with the Bow of Darkness, she aids Lord Drakkon in hunting down Rangers from across the multiverse.
With that out of the way, lets talk about the figure. Apparently the Ranger Slayer was some sort of limited edition release, and retailed for much higher than the $110 CAD or so MSRP - at least that's what Amazon was charging when they failed to fulfill my Pink Ranger order. I guess someone either green lit a second batch, or the figure failed to see as expected, as I was able to get her locally, in Canada, for $89.99 CAD. Definitely a good price considering the alternative, but at the same time it's the novelty that made the price higher than normal, not so much the quality, which is really no different from your standard release.
So, go forward, I'm just going presume the MSRP of a standard figure.
The accessory count reflects the price point, offering a very humble selection of pack ins:
- 1 x Main Figure
- 8 x Posing/Gripping Hands
- 1 x Bow of Darkness
- 1 x Arrow
- 1 x Blade Blaster
No stand, which is unfortunate. The lack of civilian head, however, is understandable given the price point, plus the headache of actually having to make one.
As expected, there's nothing overly remarkable about this figure, nor the line on the whole. The biggest changes are in the outfit. In addition to the basic costume, Ranger Slayer also has a mantle/cape, and a single pauldron. The cape is pretty flimsy, though it IS wired. Mantle and pauldron are a very light weight rigid plastic, with the most basic adhesion methods used - glue fore mantle, and velcro for the pauldron.
The outfit is actually one of those nylon body socks, though unfortunately sewed on so swapping this onto a S23 or something with proper body musculature is a bit more challenging than simplying suiting up and pulling a zipper. Basically anything that isn't black is a vinyl decal, albeit a thick one. Not sure if its glued or or is adhered with heat somehow, but yeah that's about it. It obviously isn't as nice looking as actual multi coloured fabric sewn together, but again, price tag.
The one hand that is meant to hold the arrow, I'm not exactly familiar with how it works as the fingers are too far apart to grip the tail of the arrow.
The helmet along with all the other unique parts are clearly sculpted, though I feel the helmet is undersize for the body. The Blade Blaster actually converts between Gun and Melee mode, though I completely forgot to pull out the blade... mostly because the manual doesn't say anything about that at all.
The belt with the Morpher and holster is a separate piece of vinyl that is removable from the body, secured together with a clip at the back. It's a touch flimsy, but it'll do. Detailing work isn't as crisp as I'd like, though it's clearly legible and discernable as being the Pterodactyl coin.
If you're wondering where the extravagant pose pictures have gone, well, it's basically because you can't really do a whole lot with the body. The base body is decent, and is about the same as the base Hot Toys TTM female body, if not exactly the same. So you'll be able to do most of the typical poses, though nothing overly dynamic as there's no thigh twist, butterfly shoulders, or ankles to support this sort of thing, nor do you have a stand to keep the figure upright.
Then there's the restrictiveness of the suit. It normally wouldn't be this bad, but compared to the norm, well you've got all those extra decals to deal with, located in spots that need to flex and bend. So you have the sheer bulk of the decals to deal with, plus the fear of actually damaging it. Any poses that require the arm to be raised above shoulder level are incredibly tough to pull off. Elbows are also kind of wonky, and overall will only get you to the 90 degree mark. Basically, a character armed with a bow is probably the most affected by these limits, though unless the male body is vastly different, I don't know how you'd pull off the Dragon Flute pose either.
Paint and Build Quality are in line with expectations. There's isn't much actual paint, but it is cleanly applied. Basically everything that isn't the body features some paint work, and it is crisply completed. Even the high gloss paint work is flawless, as are the minute details. Build wise, only two real minor issues to report - the wrist pegs tend to come out with the hands, which is annoying but not the end of the world. The other issue I experienced was that some excess paint got onto the bow holding hand, and required some separation.
In an ideal world where the price for this figure is pretty much the same as the regular figures, this is a decent release. You're not getting a premium figure, but it has some decent production values for the price, and it's a 1/6 that isn't one of those Hasbro monstrosities missing lots of paint and generally looking terrible. If this was purchased at the full price of around $150 USD, well I'd be pretty pissed, because that FOMO price premium has not manifested itself in any way, shape, or form, and the extra accessories don't exactly warrant that much of a price hike.
So this will do for now, but you can be sure I'll be thinking of ways to get her a body upgrade.
For Full Gallery, please visit:
Comments