On the first night of Hanukkah Starscreamer reviewed for me…The Power Rangers Dino Charge Megazord!! Yes with a new series we have the latest mecha here in time for the holidays! Will this be the must have? Will it go off the meh land like the rest of Super Megaforce? Read on!
The Dinochargers take us back to the familiar realm of robo dinos! I mean it worked great with the original team…even if two were actually mammals…and of course with Dino Thunder…so a third time has to be a charm, right? Well I can say yes, yes it is!
We have to start off with the Red Tyranosaurus Rex. This guy is a great big ole block of plastic that my daughter has fallen in love with. Full of personality and just nice and chunky. As opposed to the plastic from this guy, this is feeling super solid.
Also due to how the Megazord mode works, we actually have a bit of expressive articulation. kind of neat I have to say.
Did I mention the SIZE of this guy? This dino I think could go toe to toe with the Dragon Zord with no issues. He really has presence.
Now also included is one dino battery. This is the carryover gimmick from the original source material. MUCH better execution with this than the Ranger Keys I have to say. As you click them, they rotate the image inside with the power bar decreasing. It works like a charm. Also they have a QR code on them for a mobile phone game.
This interacts with the toy by opening his mouth…
Feed him the battery.
and CHOMP! His crest rises. Now in the Japanese figure, there were additional electronics and music with this feature. I am honestly not missing it at all.
Next we have the two other Dinos. Pink’s Tricera Zord and Blue’s Stega Zord. These are much smaller.
Now they did not come with their batteries, but you can still use the gimmick. With Pink the drill tail extends, and Blue umm…a spike goes up. Ok, it’s something…
Now one thing I found amusing was since they essentially share the same mold, they share the base gimmick. Stega’s back pops off to be the sword, so Pink’s back can just pop off. You can switch them around if you don’t want a gender biased zord.
Now it’s morphin’ time! Pull the base of the tail down and extend the legs..
Twist the body and split the legs as well as remove the tail. The helmet will be released then.
The tail you open up and plug into the back
Then flip the head up and put the helmet on! That is the base of the Megazord.
Now with Blue and Pink, open the jaws and fold in the legs so the strip is lined up.
Plug into the sockets and BAM! You have this badass Megazord! And man is he STABLE with dem feet!
This is a bold design and aside from a few simpler paint jobs and a folding part on Pink, a near replica of the Japanese version. Plus we can actually have a semi dynamic action pose! Well better than the last guy we got…
I mentioned earlier that the back of Stega becomes the sword and it is imposing!
And yes, you can do the part swap in this mode. I have to say I actually prefer this, if only to make it a more integrated look.
Of course you have the Zord Builder system to add play value. I was surprised that the legs couldn’t come off for more options. Not a bad thing mind you.
All in all, this is a pretty cool toy. A very faithful translation of the source material, well made, not cheap feeling…and again, a toy. After this shoot, he went to the arms of my two year old, and she LOVES it! Plus I have little qualms of her actually breaking this bad boy. Even better? As opposed to the Legacy Zord, I think I may have to pick up a few more of these Zords…just to see how well this journey goes.
-Starscreamer