Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin 'Metallic' White Ranger

Release Date: July 2022

RRP: $27.99/£26.99

Another team in the Power Rangers Lightning Collection comes to completion, although admittedly it is one that has already been completed a few times over already. Fans of the divisive Mighty Morphin Power Rangers season three power up rejoice as the Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin 'Metallic' White Ranger arrives to complete the original team of Power Rangers in metallic armour form. Like the rest of the team, leader Tommy Oliver is an exclusive release to Hasbro Pulse (where available).

As the last of the metallic armour figures to be released, the Mighty Morphin Metallic White Ranger may be the last time we see this glittery variant of the Lightning Collection packaging. Sadly Tommy's box is a little less glittery than the rest of his teammates, but it still stands out nicely from the standard releases and makes a nice little endcap to the team. The design of the box remains the same as the standard White Ranger release though, with of course the exception of the CGI figure render printed on the back of the box. Inside you'll find the figure, along with accessories both old and new, neatly stored on their plastic tray.

As with the rest of the metallic armour rangers, the White Ranger is a re-release of the standard figure – revitalised in glitter-injected white plastic. The translucency of the white plastic is considerably more noticeable on this than any of the other rangers, with the colouring also making the glitter that much more visible. The shield piece remains opaque black, albeit with a glossy finish. The gold paint on the figure is extremely vibrant, glistening in the light and really bringing out all of the detail – particularly on the helmet and shield. Admittedly the gold isn't 100% accurate to the onscreen suit (which had a much duller tone to it), but it does look good nonetheless. Maybe it's just that the details of the White Ranger are much easier to replicate on a six-inch figure than the core MMPR team, but this one definitely stands out as the best looking of the team. Again not necessarily as screen accurate as it could be, but definitely the best attempt at the metallic armour we've ever had in a Power Rangers toy line.

The White Ranger shares the same body as the other male MMPR rangers, which feature the following articulation; 

- Ball jointed head, upper torso and hips 

- Single hinge neck and ab crunch 

- Swivel hinge shoulders, wrists and ankles 

- Butterfly joint shoulders/pecs 

- Double hinge elbows and knees 

- Bicep, thigh and boot swivels 

While there is an initial bit of stickiness that seems to come from the use of translucent plastic on the figure, overall the articulation is very good – easily meeting the expectations one should have of the Lightning Collection by now. Given the White Ranger's sizeable chest shield one might expect the torso and shoulder articulation to be hindered somewhat, but while the shoulders might have a little bit of restriction the torso doesn't seem to have any problems whatsoever. Even though that ball jointed upper torso is completely covered, you can still get the full range of motion out of it for more expressive poses. The standard White Ranger was the first figure to be revealed in the Lightning Collection and in turn part of the first wave, so there was a lot riding on it to impress fans and convince them to continue buying into the line. A few years later and it's still a fantastic figure.

Share this post