Dino Megazord

In 1993, Toei’s long running Super Sentai series of spandex-clad superheroes with giant robots was adapted by Saban into the popular Fox Kids afternoon TV show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The first season was based on Japan’s Dinosaur Taskforce Zyuranger and featured a team of five heroes, each with their own robot designed after a prehistoric animal. After fighting a practically ritualistic battle against a human sized monster, the evil villainess Rita Repulsa (Bandora in Japan) would use her magic staff to grow the monster to huge proportions. This was the cue for the rangers to combine their robot animals into one tremendous robot, the Megazord (Daizyujin in Japan). After 17 years with new toys and new episodes every year, 2009 marked the end of the new. So what’s in store for 2010? A re-airing of the original series and a toy line based on that same series. This is the 2010 Megazord.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

You can tell right away this is not a reissue of the old toy from the ’90s. This isn’t a drastic revision either. The 2010 T-Rex is a little more svelte than the original and looks a little more the TV show. The knobs on the end of the dinosaur’s knees are clearly not in the show nor are they on the original toy, but they are necessary for the new combination method.

The toy came with a whole sheet of stickers I elected not to apply, but if that kind of thing appeals to you, go for it. It probably spruces the look up a little. I especially like how they did the head of the T-Rex. Very lizard-like and it’s lots of fun to make the jaws clamp shut.

Triceratops

Was the triceratops ever exciting? Not really. Some may bemoan the fact that the horns are no longer vacuum metalized chrome out, but I prefer plain gray plastic in most cases just because I always manage to ruin it by touching it too much. I think the better proportions on this version of the toy help the otherwise unexciting triceratops a bit.

Sabertooth Tiger

The sabertooth tiger is pretty cool, and a decent upgrade of the old one. The original version was pretty square and this is more in keeping with the tiger’s appearance in the show. Legs are still not very articulated and it compares poorly with Go Lion/Voltron, but it’s better than the original. As before, the teeth can go up or down.

Mastodon

The mastodon’s also a marginal improvement. You can move the legs a bit more and it comes with factory applied stickers that I couldn’t mess up, so that’s nice. I also prefer the look of these stickers to the old ones by quite a bit.

The mastodon still has no butt. I really wish there was something to cover that up with, but no, there just isn’t. Poor elephant can’t sit down. Again, people may complain about the lack of chrome on the tusks, but I am not bothered by it.

Pterodactyl

Seems like the pink ranger always gets shafted and this is no exception. The pterodactyl is the worst of the bunch by far, only barely managing to resemble the animal it is based on. To be fair, it looked almost as bad on the TV show.

This is hardly any different than the original toy, but considering it’s a remake of an old toy and the robot in the show looks almost as bad, I’ll let it slide. The only real improvement is the modern stickers which are far closer to the show and much less garish.

Stupid Tank Mode

Ah yes, it’s the stupid tank mode. This was always dumb and just looks like the Megazord is too drunk to stand. But hey, this toy can do the same cheesy mode just as well. While the better proportions and stickers of the individual robot animals makes this look slightly better than the original, you could complain that the part of the arms/guns that are pointing up in this mode are hollow. This is a very slight disadvantage compared to the original, but that’s a very minor nitpick on a ridiculous, useless mode.

Megazord

Now this is what everyone’s really here for, the combined Megazord mode, seen here with a battery for scale. Here’s where the improvement in proportions is most apparent. The modern Megazord looks much, much better than its inspiration. Thanks to the new connection style, the 2010 Megazord is much more poseable than the mostly immobile original. I do wish the knees would bend back but this is still better and the toy just looks a lot better.

The sword is also better, looking much more like a real sword even though it’s not exactly the same as the Dinosaur Sword Godhorn that we see in the show. Now I should clarify that this does not have the stumpy “guy wearing boxes” aesthetic of the TV show, but it does make for a very impressive looking robot. The styling has been modernized and the posture of the robot recalls ’80s giant robot anime.

Now, if you have the original Megazord, is it worth upgrading to? Maybe. If you have a nostalgic attachment to the big and square original, then maybe you want to stick with that. But for about twenty bucks at your local store, this is a pretty satisfying plastic robot. This is not an expensive, metal-laden Soul of Chogokin style reinvention of a ’90s classic. This is not a reissue of the original either. It’s just an inexpensive, slightly smaller but even more fun upgrade to the classic Megazord. If you want a Dino Megazord, I’d recommend this over the original. For twenty bucks, I’m really happy with it. This toy also features the dubious ability to replace its limbs with dino-themed motorcycles that obviously out of scale rangers can ride. I don’t really care about this at all and have no intention of buying these parts. It looks great with its real limbs but maybe this alternate mode will appeal more to kids. Of course, how much a 17-year-old robot design and a re-airing of a show from the early ’90s is going to appeal to today’s kids, I can’t say. As an adult who watched this show as a kid, I think this Megazord is cool. Bring on the Dragonzord!

(C) 2009 Jeremy W. Kaufmann & CollectionDX