I already had a Silver Ranger from the In Space show, but this deluxe figure got me with the addition of this awesomely retro-futuristic motorcycle. Let’s take a look at the Lightning Collection Deluxe Silver Ranger!
The plastic free packaging features a big rendered image of the figure and bike on the front and back with a lovely painted artwork on the left corner and right hand side. The back does show what’s supposed to be included and have some measurements for those not already in the know. I don’t keep the packaging, but I do find that I miss the striking design work of the Tom Whalen illustrations from the beginning of the line.
Inside the box there are two paper baggies with the figures tied down to a tray. There is a bit of logo work on the tray and the bags.
The set includes a figure, two weapons, a bike, four hands (two grip, one fist, and one chop), and two heads. The weapons are alt modes of the same weapon that can transform from a blade to a blaster. The blade has a nice translucent blue color and both fit in the grip hands well.
The chop and fists swap with the grips, but it takes a bit of force to do it. From what I can tell they are good choices for a lot of the Silver Ranger’s common poses.
The alternate head pops on and off easily, but stays on securely. The sculpting has a pretty intense expression and heavy features that don’t quite capture the look of the character from what I’ve seen, but I’m far from an expert on this show.
The Silver Cycle’s retro styling was my main draw to this set and it’s got some nice detail in the sculpting, however it is lost a bit in the mostly silver plastic. There is some painted detail like the glossy windshield and some gold symbols, but I feel like it would have benefited from silver paint rather than the semi-metallic plastic. I really like the translucent pieces they used for the headlights.
The engine block seems to be all of one piece with the rest of the body and the engine detail is a little chunky and not quite as detailed as I would like, but overall it’s a nice toy with spinning wheels, a working kickstand, and handlebars that turn the front wheels. In the show, the Cycle can transform into a galaxy glider, but this toy doesn’t have that functionality.
The articulation on the figure is such that he fits well on the bike, though I was surprised that there were no pegs to secure him on tightly. The figure has the following articulation:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, hips, and ankles
- Ball and socket lower neck, head, and mid-torso
- Hinged pectorals, lower torso, and drop-down hips
- Swivel boots
- Double hinged knees and elbows
This articulation scheme is slightly different from previous figures and includes pinless knees and elbows. The drop-down hips do make the figure a bit more fiddly to pose, but add a bit of range to front kicks. I do wish the ball and socket at the head had better range of motion. There is nice tilt at the lower neck, but not much up and down movement.
The body does feel slightly less super-heroic and more regularly human proportioned than the older standard ranger body. One major improvement is that the arms rest at the figure’s sides a lot better, not as well as I would like, but much better.
In the above photo, the Walgreens Silver ranger is on the right and the new figure on the left.
You can swap alternate heads between the two figures if you have both. Here’s the old alternate head on the newer figure:
The paint is mostly a silvery plastic that I normally wouldn’t care for, but I think it works fairly well to convey the shiny spandex of the character’s uniform. The bike could definitely benefit from some actual silver paint and some more detail on the engine parts.
While I think the bike especially could use a little more TLC in the detailing around the engine, but overall this is a fun set of toys. I love the ’80s TV sci-fi styling on the bike and thought it looked pretty cool with the Phantom Ranger as a quick and dirty Street Hawk custom.
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Source: The Fwoosh
