Ever wish the "PR Zords" toys were more poseable

[Tigermegatron]

Ever wish the "PR Zords" toys were more poseable?

Ever wish the "PR Zords" toys had more stand alone zords Similar to the Thunder Tiger Zord that could Transform from a animal/vehicle then into a full humanoid robot mode? obviously having this be poseable would be the icing on the cake.

What I always loved about the PR Zords is how the majority of them use the classics styled blocky robot face. that most early 1980's TF robots toys used. Which was loosely based off & had designs ties from the egyptian sphinx.

MY 2 CENTS: I really like some of the PR Zords toy sculpts. Problems are I hate brick-formers robot toys. I think some of the stand alone Zords like thunder Tiger zord,bull zord,steath bomber zord would have made decent toys HAD THEY ALL BEEN SUPER POSEABLE.

My perfect Zord would be the 2004 TF Energon leader optimus route or the TF PCC route. where their was one big ZORD that could transform from a robot then into a vehicle/animal that was super poseable,then four drones attach to the limbs to create a bigger poseable gestalt mode.

I really wish Bandai would abandon the limited poseable zords & go the super posable zords route. Obviously Bandai creates the bricks zords because they don't want to spend the extra cash to add in poseability. Also Bandai figures its buying base is much younger kids ages 3 thru 7 years of age. It appears Bandia doesn't want to risk making the Zord to overly complex because this will turn away their main kids younger age buying market. I suspose bandai figures,why fix it if it's not broken.

Personally It would be epic cool to buy a bandai thunder tiger zord that kept the sculpt in both modes,was a bit more stream lined,leader sized,super poseable & ofcause came with the 4 drones to create a super poseable gestalt mode. I'd buy this toy in a heart beat a normal USA Retail store prices.

[Sparky Prime]

Yeah, it would be great if the Zords had more articulation. As nice as a lot of those toys are, the biggest downfall they have is a lack of articulation. They did a re-release of the original MMPR Megazord not that long ago that added some new knee joints that allows it some new movement, but even with that it's still practically a brick and the T-Rex Zord has nubs that stick out of its knees when not combined which is a bit glaring. Sometimes it seems like they could make them a little more poseable then what they are. Like with Astro Megatron, why can't the arms bend at the elbow? They could have easily put a joint in there.

[Shockwave]

no.

[Onslaught Six]

no.

What an awful reply!

I obviously also wish they were better, but my enjoyment of PR is more nostalgia-focused anyway. Besides, the age range for PR is lower than the average age for TF, and it's also focused more on making sure new kids keep getting into the franchise (and eventually growing out of it) rather than making long-term fans like TF seems to be doing. Power Rangers expects you to be out the door in two or three years; TF expects you to hang around for a decade to complete your 1984 crew.

I remember getting the Dino Megazord years after it had been released and being really disappointed with its lack of articulation.

[Almighty Unicron]

I haven't had a PR zord toy since I was in its appropriate age bracket... I think I had the Lost Galaxy megazord. With PR toys I was always more into how many zords I could combine rather than posability. I had all the zords from the 2nd season of MMPR that could combine (Thunderzords, white tigerzord, the turtle guy) and everyone envied me. I'd be okay with having an unposable brick if said brick was made from like 20 different zords... but that'd probably run me over a hundo these days, wouldn't it?

[Shockwave]

no.

What an awful reply!

Maybe, but it's an honest one. I was never in the target PR demographic and when I did see it, it just seemed... hokey. I dunno if that's really the right word for it, but that's the best I got. It also kind of felt like a cheap knock off of Voltron. And even back in the '80's I thought Voltron felt like a cheap knock off of Transformers. So PR to me, seemed like a cheap knock off of something I already wasn't into for being a cheap knock off.

[Onslaught Six]

Except combining mecha with colour-coded dudes has been a Japanese tradition since long before both Voltron and Transformers. (Golion was released in 1981; the first Super Sentai series, Gorenger, was released in 1975.) Power Rangers has its goofy elements, sure, but G1 had Optimus Prime playing basketball.

[BWprowl]

It also kind of felt like a cheap knock off of Voltron. And even back in the '80's I thought Voltron felt like a cheap knock off of Transformers. So PR to me, seemed like a cheap knock off of something I already wasn't into for being a cheap knock off.

You're moving backwards there! Super Sentai actually started way back in the late seventies, and GoLion (which became Voltron) and Diaclone (which had its stuff repurposed into TF) wouldn't be out until 1980, so Sentai actually came first!

They're all vastly different concepts anyway, Sentai being a martial-arts action series with extraneous giant robot fights that don't even always implement transforming or combining, GoLion/Voltron being a singular super robot with pilots fighting monsters, and TF being focused on the robots themselves and their conflict. I never really saw any of them as a 'knock off' of the others.

As for posability, it's worth noting that while Bandai of America's PR Zord/Megazord releases often use downsized, simplified versions of the designs, the Japanese Sentai mecha generally aren't much better in the posability department, the 'DX' toys favoring gimmickry and, as AU mentioned, combining functionality over posability. And they can still cost upwards of $50 for the 'basic' mecha, without any add-ons! Interestingly, there are smaller, cheaper model kits of the mecha packed with candy, known as 'Minipla', that DO feature extensive articulation! They have to be assembled yourself and generally need to be extensively painted to look passable in terms of detail, but the results are some nifty, articulated Sentai mecha toys (I'm still wanting to get my hands on some of the Go-Busters minipla). I might post some pictures when I get home, but for guys like Tigs that want posable 'Zord' toys, these might be a fun diversion.

There's also stuff like the Super Robot Chogokin toys: Insanely detailed, highly posable, premium action figures of various main Sentai mecha. They feature no combining action, but make up for it with the playability and accessories and effect parts. I've got the DaiZyuJin/Dino Megazord (and GunBuster, but that's not a Sentai Mecha), and it's a pretty incredible little toy.

[Shockwave]

Except combining mecha with colour-coded dudes has been a Japanese tradition since long before both Voltron and Transformers. (Golion was released in 1981; the first Super Sentai series, Gorenger, was released in 1975.) Power Rangers has its goofy elements, sure, but G1 had Optimus Prime playing basketball.

It also kind of felt like a cheap knock off of Voltron. And even back in the '80's I thought Voltron felt like a cheap knock off of Transformers. So PR to me, seemed like a cheap knock off of something I already wasn't into for being a cheap knock off.

You're moving backwards there! Super Sentai actually started way back in the late seventies, and GoLion (which became Voltron) and Diaclone (which had its stuff repurposed into TF) wouldn't be out until 1980, so Sentai actually came first!

They're all vastly different concepts anyway, Sentai being a martial-arts action series with extraneous giant robot fights that don't even always implement transforming or combining, GoLion/Voltron being a singular super robot with pilots fighting monsters, and TF being focused on the robots themselves and their conflict. I never really saw any of them as a 'knock off' of the others.

Sure, I know that NOW. But back then it was different. For one thing I wasn't in Japan and as such was largely unaware of what was going on there. And what you youngins is forgetting is that this was the 80's. Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet. We didn't have everything about everything readily accessible on a moment's notice like you kids did. So order of exposure counted a lot towards perception. It was very much a world where everything seemed to be knocking off everything else. If something was as insanely popular as TF was back then, everyone and their dog tried to capitalize on it somehow. So being exposed to TF first, then seeing everything else, it very much seemed like the other two properties were trying to copycat this already hugely successful franchise.

So yeah, I know the difference now, but at this point my interest in things like Voltron or PR would be carried largely on nostalgia which, not having been interested in them at the time is not something I have for them now. So yeah both properties would be a big ol' skip for me.

[Almighty Unicron]

When I was 7 or so I had a Japanese-American friend (who, strangely enough, I didn't realize in my mind was actually Asian until I tracked him down on facebook and found out his last name was Takagi) who had what he claimed was "Pokemon Gold" back when everyone in the states was still going ga-ga over Red and Blue, and I went over his house to play with a cool robot toy that he claimed "would be next year's Power Rangers", and I didn't believe him at the time. Turns out he picked up both pokemon gold and what would later be Lightspeed Rescue's megazord on the same trip, but no one believed him.