Toybox REVIEW: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Ninja White Ranger

Release Date: January 2022

RRP: $26.99/£32.99

Even though the core Mighty Morphin Power Rangers team have been released about three times over by now, Hasbro certainly aren't going to be done with them any time soon. When their original Power Coins were damaged in battle against Rito Revolto, the rangers sought out new coins from the mysterious Ninjor – gaining new ninja powers in the process! Now the rangers' ninja forms – used in their countless battles against the Tenga Warriors, have arrived as part of the Lightning Collection. With the power of the falcon, the Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Ninja White Ranger is ready to lead the team in a brand-new chapter in the fight against Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa.

While the Ninja Rangers seem to be part of their own "wave" of sorts like the Metallic Armour figures, the packaging uses the main waves' white background as opposed to the coloured boxes we've previously seen on various store exclusives. The general layout of the box remains the same across the board though, with some nice artwork of Tommy in his full ninja outfit on the front alongside the window giving a look at the figure inside. This artwork is extended onto one side of the box alongside the Mighty Morphin series logo, and then repeated on the other. On the back is the usual CGI render of the figure showing off its posing capabilities and accessories, and then inside everything is neatly laid out on a moulded plastic tray.

The Ninja Rangers bodies are a brand new sculpt that act as a middle stage between civilian and ranger forms, giving the rangers a full-body cloth uniform in their designated colours. As such Tommy's is naturally nearly all white – decorated with gold piping around certain areas as well as a black belt and gold/black jewels. It's an effective and visually striking design, but it's simplicity could easily lead you to believe that it'd be hard for Hasbro to go wrong with it. Unfortunately that's not the case, as the Ninja Rangers sadly fell victim to easily the worst QC the line has ever had – boxes have been seen with repeated and missing parts as well as even broken limbs. Thankfully my copy wasn't anything that bad, but there's still a surprising amount of patchy paintwork (especially the gold) given how little paint it actually has on it. The falcon emblem on the chest looks great, but coloured in a dull gold with a black background rather than the shiny gold raised design it has on both the show and in the movie. Those quibbles aside though Hasbro have done a good job capturing the look of these rather unique Power Rangers suits – adding plenty of moulding to replicate billowing fabric as well as a soft plastic vest piece around the torso.

Jumping forward to some of the accessories for a moment, one of the coolest things about the Ninja Ranger releases is the fact that each of them come with two additional heads. On top of the standard completely covered head, there is also a partially masked head sculpt and the usual full civilian one. An alternate neck covering is also included for use with said heads. While on the show the partially masked look is simply used as a mid-transformation step, it's incredibly significant that it's been included here because that's also how the Ninja Rangers appear in Mighty Morphin Pow

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