It’s wild to think that Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has been on the air for over a quarter of a century. Fox took a risk on a repackaging of Japanese live-action sentai shows with added American footage, and Haim Saban managed to transform it into a merchandising juggernaut that has stretched over a flabbergasting 26 seasons, three theatrical feature films, video games, and more. And, of course, there are toys – both imported over from the original Japanese franchises and made new for America. Here are eleven of our favorites.
Legacy Edition Morpher
The franchise has featured a number of different “morpher” devices that allow our American actors to transform into their spandex-clad counterparts for footage reuse, but for our money the coolest were the original ones, which the gang wore on the back of their belt buckles, flipping them around to activate the Power Coins. Other Morphers have been more gimmicky as the series continued, like the bizarre Samuraizer that looks like a TV/DVD remote with a paintbrush on the end. This Legacy Edition Morpher comes with all five original dinosaur coins so you can (not really) transform into the Ranger of your choice.
Soul Of Chogokin Megazord
Bandai’s “Soul Of Chogokin” figures are, full stop, the most dope giant robots on the market today. As part of the Tamashii Nations series, you can expect the utmost care to be taken in the detail of the figures, and their take on the iconic Megazord is unbelievable. Each of the five Dinozords that combine to create the giant robot are sculpted and detailed with die-cast metal, with the assembled figure standing 10 inches high. The individual zords also have cool gimmicks and hidden features. The price tag on this one is a little steep, but there’s a ridiculous amount of value and craftsmanship on display here.
S.H. Figuarts White Ranger
The transformation of Tommy Oliver from mind-controlled thrall of Rita Repulsa as the Green Ranger to the heroic White Ranger was one of the first must-see storylines in the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a tour de force in cobbling together the Japanese source material into something compelling and interesting. The character was originally just supposed to feature in a single season, but fan response led Saban to keep him around through multiple incarnations of the franchise. This high-detail Bandai action figure has a pair of head sculpts (masked and unmasked), four interchangeable hands and the mighty Saba Sword.
Soul Of Chogokin Dragonzord
Another entry in Bandai’s intensely cool giant robot line, this one comes with special features that we’ve never seen before. The whole deal with the Dragonzord is that it can fuse with the Megazord to make the powerful Dragon Megazord. The construction of this figure makes that and many other things possible. At its core, the Dragonzord is fairly posable given the basic style of its design, with a flexible tail. You can transform it to combat mode, but the real get here is the fusion mode that lets you split the chassis apart and meld it with the Soul of Chogokin Megazord to really kick butt.
Funko Pop Rita Repulsa
The antagonist of the first series of Power Rangers, Rita Repulsa was an incredibly powerful sorceress who Zordon managed to entrap in a space dumpster (this is canon) and exile to the moon, where she tormented the Earth with a seemingly inexhaustible army of Putties and gimmick monsters that could grow to giant size. One thing that’s interesting is that she was played by two actresses on the show – Machiko Soga in the Japanese original footage used in the first season, and Carla Perez in the new American shots from then onward. This Funko Pop isn’t directly modeled on either woman, but she’s ready to make some mischief on your shelf.
S.H. Figuarts Pink Ranger
One of the reasons the Power Rangers franchise was such an immediate hit was the gender parity it brought to Fox Kids action. The team was almost evenly divided between boys and girls, and the ladies weren’t just there as tokens or sex appeal. The Pink Ranger – civilian name Kimberly Hart – has been knocking around the series longer than any other female character, even getting her own spin-off comic book. This high-end figure from Bandai’s S.H. Figuarts line captures the character with max articulation and her Power Bow and Blade Buster weapons. The pose-ability of these things is out of this world, letting you stage action scenes to your heart’s content.
Mega Construx Megazord
LEGO continues to snap up pop culture franchises for their construction kits, but they can’t get everybody, and Mattel’s Mega Construx line (a subset of Mega Blox) managed to snap up Power Rangers and make a couple pretty cool sets. The best is their take on the mighty Megazord, the massive robot that the team always had to pull out in the third act to smack down whatever giant monster came their way. They’re compatible with the competition, too, so you can build this guy and then clamp on whatever LEGO accessories and modifications you want to make it even cooler.
Lightning Collection Goldar
The hench-villains of the Power Rangers franchise are all pretty dope, but few crept into the public consciousness quite like Goldar. The bizarre monkey-like creature clad in a golden suit of armor beamed down to scrap with the Rangers himself more often than any other foe, even once piloting his own Zord. This figure from Hasbro’s “Lightning Collection” depicts him in his third season form, after Lord Zedd gave him his wings back. Goldar is quite posable, comes with a pair of extra hands, and a sword with a clip-on translucent cracking energy effect.
Tamashii Nations Shogun Megazord
The original Japanese sentai programs that the Power Rangers franchise was built around loved to introduce new robots to sell more toys, and the show had tons of history to tap into. The third season saw not only the Ninja Megazord, but one of our all-time favorites, the Shogun Megazord. Originally discovered and used for evil by Rita Repulsa, they were brought over to the side of justice by Billy and used by the team for a while. This is a model kit, so you have to build each of the five individual Zords yourself, but once you do the final assembled figure stands six inches tall when completed.
Power Rangers Movie Legacy Coins
Having a giant robot to ride around in is cool, but if you don’t have a power source they’re just hunks of metal. In Power Rangers canon, the Power Coins were created by the sage Ninjor and lost in the Desert of Despair, where Zordon and Alpha found them and gave them to the original team of teens. These coins transform into crystals to power the robots as well as amp up their strength and fighting skills when they’re in costume. This set of five replicas from the Power Rangers movie come in a case with built-in LEDs that send throbbing pulses of light through the coins when the box is opened.
Big Figs Red Ranger
If you’re looking for an action figure that has a little more stature, the Big Figs line might scratch that itch. These babies are crafted at a full foot and a half high, towering over the competition, and that scale gives them the ability to feature a ton of incredible sculpt detail. Based on the recent movie, this Red Ranger figure only has seven points of articulation, so you can’t put him in a bunch of different action poses, but the build quality is nice and the paint and sticker job on the surface looks good.
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