Review: Power Rangers Legacy Titanus

Titanus is a toy of two halves. One great, one a big stinking pile of poo. Intrigued? Read on!

There's a lot of high-end (i.e. cost) collectible toys on the market at the moment, aimed at now-grown 80s and 90s kids who have a nostalgia-hole to fill, preferably with stuff 'as they remember it', rather than 'as it actually was'. As police will tell you, people's memories aren't very reliable and they tend to look on the past with rose-tinted glasses, not remembering, for example, how inaccurate to their TV screen counterparts a lot of old toys were.

Titanus forms the third and final part of the Super-dooper Megazord (*may not be official name) from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He's kind of like a big brachiosaurus, but with with an even larger body, some teeny tiny legs and, well, thinking about it, Titanus doesn't have too much in common with a brachiosaurs besides the long neck. But never mind.

There were a whole bunch of things 'wrong' with the original toy, but most kids probably didn't care too much. Adults, however, are much more critical and want the increased details that a toy costing over £100 ought to have. And Legacy Titanus has them all in spades.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Legacy Dragonzord

The Dragonzord is the best Power Rangers zord there has ever been; this is an undisputed fact. So says me. Yes, it may be limited in its range of arm movement. And in its range of leg movement. And... Well, look, it's just awesome, okay? The Green Ranger was the coolest ranger and he had the best zord. Even if he couldn't ride inside it.

As part of the 20th Anniversary line, some time ago (can't remember how long) Bandai released an updated MMPR Megazord, which was generally better than the original one because it featured a load of die cast metal. You can read all about it here.  Due to the success of that, next on Bandai's list of updates was obviously the Dragonzord.

Review: MMPR Legacy Megazord

Thanks to an Amazon Prime Instant Video free trial, over the past few weeks we've been watching a lot of Power Rangers. Some are pretty darn terrible, with annoying characters, poor acting, bad storylines and new zords introduced for apparently no reason other than they were in the original Japanese series and Bandai want to sell toys of them. Other series, however, are the complete opposite. My personal favourite, so far, is Jungle Fury which not once has been really annoying and all the new characters/zords seemed to have a reason for being introduced.

Of course, I think any long-term fan would have to declare the original, Mighty Morphin, as the best. Even though, in many ways, it was terrible. I mean, I was too old, really, to join in when MMPR arrived, but I still thought the Dragonzord was cool.

...even though, in many ways, it was terrible.

For the 20th Anniversary, Bandai have been releasing 'Legacy' versions of past zords and accessories. These have been aimed at collectors, with die cast parts. We've had the morpher, dragon dagger, Dragonzord and Titanus on the way, and the subject of this review: the Megazord. 

Review: Rock Lords

What's the most boring thing a Transformer could turn into? Tom Hanks suggested a building, but I think there's something even more dull. To make matters worse, they didn't just stop with the prototype on these, they went into production and made a huge bunch of the things. And a movie. Yeah, you know where I'm going with this, you've read the post title, it's the Rock Lords!

News: TechPet reduced at The Entertainer

Haven't used this myself (that would require buying a half-decent phone), but for £20 how can you go wrong?

SPECIAL OFFER! DOWN FROM £59.99 TO £20!

Bandai’s TechPet, an app based toy with the addition of an iPhone or iPod Touch, was originally £59.99, and is now better than half price at only £20 at The Entertainer for a limited time only. Don’t miss this chance to get hold of one of the hit toys of this summer!

TOP TECHPET FEATURES

· Powered by a free app from iTunes, the TechPet can perform tricks tail, sing and dance!

· TechPet can respond to your voice and hand commands. Just put TechPet into ‘Trick mode’ and speak or gesture the set commands to make TechPet come to life

· When in ‘Sitting pose’ TechPet can be used as a personal music player using the built in speaker and can even shake its head to the music!

· The more you interact with TechPet the more you discover. Raise TechPet’s level to unlock over 100 new tricks, items and looks to customise your experience

· TechPet can communicate with other TechPets, too! Watch them sing and dance together and also check their compatibility with a friendship test.

TTo purchase TechPet for £20 go to http://www.thetoyshop.com/Electronic-and-educational-toys/Robotics/Tech-Pet-Interactive-Puppy/p/512266

Review: Power Rangers Samurai Morphin Vehicle

We're at the tail end of Power Rangers (Super) Samurai now. We've grown to know Jayden, Kevin, Mia, Mike, Emily and Antonio. For the first time we watched Rangers morph in HD. We've learnt Jayden's secret. Red Ranger and Deker have had their duel. And we've never had an answer to to what the point of Bulk and Spike's presence actually was.

Soon it will be time for Megaforce, but before then Channel 5 is whizzing through the whole of Samurai once more, the children's swimming lessons are still arranged around it, and there's still time for a few more toys...

Review: Ben 10 Omniverse Shocksquatch

We're not caught up on Omniverse, the latest Ben 10 series, in our house. To be honest, we've barely watched any Ultimate Alien since they haven't released a DVD boxset of that yet.

...goes to check...

Hmm, seems we haven't even had a R2 release of the final volume. We've done the original series and Alien Force to death, however and have a box crammed full of figures. So in a way it was a bit annoying when Shocksquatch came along because he won't fit in the box! On the other hand, new toy! And one that doesn't require batteries!

Review: Power Rangers & Ben 10 Mini Figures

This is a sponsored review.

Blind bags - you either love them or hate them. On the plus side there're relatively cheap, thus great for pocket money or keeping a small child quiet while you're shopping. On the negative you never know what you're going to get and - as evidenced by us getting 2 Pink Rangers from the 3 Power Rangers packs we were sent. This is where having friends who collect them comes in very handy, or - as a last resort - ebay.

There are 6 different characters in the Power Rangers Samurai range - 5 Rangers plus a villain in the form of a Mooger. These are duplicated in regular colours, plus single-colour translucent versions. They are partially articulated, with the arms having a swivel.

Ben 10 features 16 characters from across the various cartoon series, again in both 'normal' colours and a translucent green. These are non-articulated and a little smaller than the Power Rangers. While the children don't have a particular preference between the two sets, personally I prefer the Ben 10 ones and their chunkier sculpts.

There are two aspects about these in particular that I like. Their small size means they're perfect for a bunch of them to fit in a child's pocket. In addition, children can throw them around to their hearts content and they're not going to break them. A bit of paint might chip off, but that's about all the damage anyone will be able to inflict. There's no sitting with a tube of glue, holding an arm in one hand and a torso in the other and wondering how on Earth you're ever going to stick the two back together with these figures!

News: "If something's important enough, you make the time,"

said Scotty, when asked by Captain Kirk how Sulu managed to find time to have a family. The following press release makes for slightly depressing reading and discusses new research that dads are spending increasingly less time with their children.

Yes, having enough cash to pay the mortgage and ensure there's food on the table is important. And while I'm sure a holiday somewhere exotic would be remembered fondly by your offspring, I'm equally sure that spending time making Egg-O Egg-O would be even better....even if it takes several weeks to make your 5yo understand the pun.

I was talking to my parents about something similar a while ago. When I was small my dad did a lot of overtime to ensure there was plenty of cash in the bank, and for a period I hardly saw him at all. In retrospect, he says he regrets it. The money was frittered away over time on nothing in particular and he wishes he'd spent more time with me. Which probably explains why now he's retired he wants to spend every possible second with his grandchildren.

While the article states that fathers in the West Midlands spend the least amount of time with their sons, it's worth noting that at our school, at least, the percentage of fathers picking up/dropping at school & attending the PTA events with their children is surprisingly high. I'd place the figure at a third, if not higher. So things aren't all bad.

At the end of the release is a list of simple ways in which fathers and sons can spend more time together. Some may seem obvious but it's worth reading through and keeping in mind when you're deciding between finishing off the mountain of paperwork on your desk or going home and reading a bedtime story.

NOT NOW SON – I’M BUSY

- One in three dads rely on phone calls to stay in touch with son -

Half of modern day dads (50 per cent) believe father and son bonding time is fast becoming a thing of the past with 53 per cent agreeing that face to face time between fathers and sons is at an all time low.

New research out today from Bandai, toy manufacturer behind Ben 10, shows that nearly half (48 per cent) of fathers cited working late as one of the main reasons why they don’t spend more time with their son, whilst 35 per cent of dads also admitted to working at the weekend. One in three (68 per cent) of fathers revealed that the pressures of work now are greater than ever before with over half (55 per cent) admitting to spending more time in the office than two years ago. 44 per cent said that they were often too tired and exhausted from work to take part in regular bonding activities with their son.

Half of fathers (49 per cent) said that playing with toys was a bonding activity they enjoyed with their son, with a third (66 per cent) agreeing it made them feel nostalgic for their childhood. Other bonding experiences fathers said they enjoy included playing football or other sports (47 per cent), going to the cinema (45 per cent), reading (44 per cent) and riding a bike (32 per cent). However, a quarter (25 per cent) admitted they had not taken part in any typical bonding experiences with their son in the last week or more and a third (33 per cent) also revealed they spend less time with their sons taking part in such pursuits than they did with their own fathers.

The research showed fathers spend an average of just fifty six minutes a day with their son, with nearly a fifth (18 per cent) spending just fifteen minutes or less together. A third of fathers (33 per cent) revealed that they have to rely on phone calls to stay in touch with their son, whilst 20 per cent also said they relying on texting. 84 per cent of dads wish they could spend more time with their son and 79 per cent agreed they would like to build a better father-son bond.

To help fathers and sons bond, maker of the Ben 10 toys, Bandai, have worked with educational psychologist Kairen Cullen to create the top ten tips:

1. Daily play is essential for health and well being for children and adults – so find ways of playing in the house, outside, wherever you are

2. Advantaged children are the ones who have a strong sense of self so encourage him to have his own opinions

3. Demonstrate how important your son is by designating time just to him – if you have multiple children then take turns to spend time with each

4. Share your capacity for fun – be silly and let your guard down, whether it be dressing up or pretending to be an alien

5. Only children really live in the moment so re-create your own childhood by joining your son in his

6. Necessary and natural; play will help your child grow and cope with life - the 'play space' is where true emotional growth can happen

7. Time together when your son is young will result in a stronger relationship when he is an adult

8. Invent and create playful moments through imaginary play and make believe with toys like the Ben 10 range

9. Model the right way to live your life by investing time in your son and he will be able to do the same when he is a father

10. Energy and enjoyment go together. The more you enjoy yourself the more energy for work and play will result

This Easter, Bandai are encouraging dads to spend at least ten quality minutes each day with their children and asking dad’s to submit their own top tips onto their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BandaiUK).

The research also showed that fathers in the West Midlands spend the least time with their sons with an average of forty eight minutes a day, whilst those in Scotland are most time rich spending an average of sixty five minutes a day with their son. Younger fathers are also spending increasingly less time with their sons with 88 per cent of fathers aged under twenty five agreeing that the pressures of work are greater than ever and putting strains family life and 100 per cent of fathers under twenty five agreeing they would like to build a better bond with their son.

Product Manager for Boys brands at Bandai UK, Andrew Welch says, “Dad’s across the UK are wishing they could spend more time with their sons and with long working hours this is becoming harder and harder. We hope that with the creation of our 10 minutes campaign dads will take the time to play with their son and share a memorable and fun experience, especially over the upcoming bank holiday weekends and Easter period.”

Educational psychologist Kairen Cullen says, ”Dads work harder than ever in today’s stressful world. Initiatives like Bandai’s Ben ’10 minutes’ will not only help father and son relationships to grow but also support the adult and child’s development and wellbeing.”

Upload your own top father-son tips to http://www.facebook.com/BandaiUK or tweet to www.twitter.com/BandaiToysUK

Review: ThunderCats Sword of Omens

£19.99 from Toys R Us

I had the original ThunderCats Sword of Omens when I was small. I'd still have it now, but some little rascal has claimed it has his. Since Christmas and a failed attempt regain ownership by buying him the new version, he now has two. Curses.

Quick! Glance at the photo of the 'old' version before the little rascal runs off with it again -

The new sword is a near-perfect update of the original. Bandai have, to all intents and purposes, looked at the original role-play toy and redone it but with the advances of 20-odd years of toy manufacturing.

Review: ThunderCats Lizard Cannon

I've not spoken too highly of the new ThunderCats toys from Bandai. Certainly they've had potential, but there have been major flaws in most of them which have left me wary. ThunderLynx, especially, has seemed like a completely useless gimmick.

The main reason for buying the Lizard Cannon was to give the ThunderCats something to fight against. Mumm-Ra is fine, but the Cats currently have a great big tank so something with a little fire power to even things up was needed.

Turns out, the Lizard Cannon is possibly the best toy in the line thus far.

News: Whatever you do, keep the packaging!

I was supposed to have been at the UK Toy Fair this week. I've had the badge stuck on the kitchen noticeboard since December. I've spent the last few weeks marking the little map with all the places I wanted to ensure I visited while I was there.

Well in the end I couldn't go. Logistics prevented it, which... well, never mind. Always next year!

There's been a whole bunch of news coming out of the show about new toys destined for toy shops this year. I haven't posted any of it here since I didn't learn any of it first hand. However, I thought the following was kind of cool and worth a mention, especially since I've done a load of ThunderCats reviews recently...

------------------

SHOPPING BECOMES CHILDS PLAY

-  Kids able to play with toys without opening the box -

From today children can play with toys before even opening the box as new technology will allow them to see fully formed 3D models from the box packaging, allowing them to examine every part of the toy before purchase.

Review: ThunderCats ThunderRacers

A while ago I reviewed the new ThunderCats Thundertank. To save the lazy amongst you 5 minutes of reading, I'll tell you now that it didn't fare particularly well. Nevertheless, I decided - after a little pressure from small children seeing the picture on the Thundertank box - to buy the racers which attach to it. You never knew, maybe this would improve it.

There are two racers available - one that comes with Lion-O and one with Tygra. Both are essentially identical, bar the differing figure that comes with it and a small weapon that plugs into the side.  The Racers look fine. They're not super-attractive, but getting them out of their boxes I was perfectly happy with what I'd bought.

I don't want to say it went downhill from there, but things certainly didn't go uphill...

Review: Kevin's DX Action Cruiser

I bought this in Asda a while ago for my son's 5th birthday. Being an 'Alien Force' toy and therefore a couple of years(ish) old, it was half price at £15. And for £15 it's pretty good, despite the big disappointment which I'll come to in a minute.

But first a description.

This is Kevin's car, which anyone who's sat through any of the Ben 10 Alien Force episodes will know, features quite a lot. Things can never be straight forward, so as well as being a car this transforms into 'battle mode' with wings and large guns.

Plus 'DNA alien ball-shooting' action.

Review: Power Rangers Serpentera

There's a big problem with Power Rangers toys, specifically the megazords. Be it Mighty Morphin or Samurai it's always the good guys whom you can buy a giant robot for. But the whole point of the zords is to fight bad guys and there are never any large-scale bad guys released, so the question is who are the zords supposed to fight?

We usually settle for dinosaurs. There are a couple of T-Rexs in our house which are around the same size as the zords so they have to suffice. But it'd be nice, just for once, to have a proper large villain for the Power Rangers to fight.

Once.

This turns out to be the amount of times a large villain has actually been released by Bandai. The toy was Lord Zedd's Serpentera and my eldest just received him for Christmas.

Review: ThunderCats Thundertank

ThunderCats is back! You wonder what took it so long really - all the other classic 80s hits had comebacks ages ago. Think about it: He-Man had the 200x line, Ninja Turtles around the same time too, Transformers has been reincarnated thousands of times. But we got there in the end, and with it a new version of one of the best vehicles of the 80s: the Thundertank.

Looks pretty good, eh? Reminiscent of the old version, but more beefed up. On the face of it, Bandai have a hit here.  On the face of it.

News: ThunderCats 6"

Bandai have announced that the next two figures in their modern 6" ThunderCats line are to be Tygra & Cheetara. This is nice, but no where near as interesting as the announcement of their new 6" Classics line. We already knew the previous 8" line was dead after only the first two figures (which have yet to be released in Britain - will they ever be now?) due to complaints from collectors that they were two large. In an interview with MTV Geek, Bandai have released pictures of the new Lion-O and Mumm-Ra figures.

Two questions: where are Mumm-Ra's cape and sword? And who on Third Earth decided that having a 'roaring' face on Lion-O was a good idea?

Full news & more images at MTV Geek

News: ThunderCats toys online

A quick random browse on the Internet has revealed that the toys for the new ThunderCats toys are online (if out of stock) at The Entertainer. Not officially released in the UK until December (and Bandai have gone to great lengths to ensure importing them from the USA is near-impossible), it's the first indication (as far as I know) of what a large toy shop will be stocking in the line and what the prices are going to be.

Most interesting is that the two 'classics' figures (Lion-O and Tygra) are listed, despite the rumours that this particular series has been cancelled in favour of making them in a smaller scale.

If the TV series is as popular as the press releases make out, expect much panic-buying just before Christmas (who on earth thought is sensible to release them that late in the year?)

News: Power Rangers hit London!

Seems the Power Rangers have set their attention on protecting London. Check out the details below.

- TV heroes celebrate smash new TV show by taking on the capital –

London commuters were stunned last week when the Power Rangers hit the city to mark their 18th year and the return of the kids’ favourite TV show on Nickeloden. The five super heroes took to the streets of London to cement their status as cultural icons with a series spanning nearly two decades on our TV screens. 

The red, pink, blue, green and yellow stars were spotted around the capital with sightings at the Tower of London, the London Eye, Oxford Circus, the Millennium Bridge, Abbey Road and even on the tube. The Power Rangers were on hand to protect the capital and to celebrate the success of the 18th series, Power Rangers Samurai. The series is now one of Nickelodeon's most successful live action shows. 

In 1993 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers took the world by storm creating a global phenomenon. The show, following five teenagers who must battle to save the planet, quickly became the most watched children’s television programme in the US and following its debut went on to be sold to over 150 markets worldwide. Ranked as the number one boys brand in the world from 1993 until 1997, the Power Rangers spawned a film, comic books, and a hugely successful merchandise line including videogames and toys. Since its launch in 1994 Power Rangers has become the number one kid’s action toy selling over 24 million action figures world-wide through global toy partner, Bandai. 

Currently in its 18th year and with series including Power Rangers Turbo, Power Rangers in Space and Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, and a total of more than 700 episodes, the Power Rangers are back with a new hit show, Power Rangers Samurai made by the original creator Haim Saban and other original show producers.
Tina McCann, Nickelodeon UK Managing Director says, “The new series of Power Rangers Samurai has been very successful for Nickelodeon and it’s great to be able to re-energise the love for the characters, which we saw back in the early 90’s. We are thrilled to be celebrating the triumphant return of Power Rangers Samurai to the channel by bringing the characters themselves to London.” 

Watch Power Rangers Samurai on Nickelodeon & Nicktoons 
http://www.nick.co.uk/shows/powerrangerssamurai/

Power Rangers Samurai: Empower

I watched Karate Kid when I was small and wanted to take up karate. Then I found out that the Crane Kick (as originally intended) was actually impossible without the use of Magic, and, after a little cry, I gave up on that dream.

(although I did become really good at cleaning cars)

Then I watched Hero Turtles and wanted to take up [censored], even though the BBC had very cleverly managed to replace [censored] from all the cartoons so no one - apart from every single child in the country - knew that it was supposed to be...oh hell, it's ninja! There, I said it! The secret is out! Say it with me: NINJITSU!

Anyway, there are 'issues' with nunchaku in this country so I gave up on that dream too. If the guy who lived across from me at uni is anything to go by, these 'issues' stem from hitting yourself over the head with them.

My sister was a lot better than me. She stuck with karate and is now a black belt. So if anyone messes with me, I'll set my little sister on you!


(I have done a bit of Muay Thai in my time, however. The mention of 'Bob' is enough to frighten anyone with even a little common sense. Some idiots tried to mug him once. Bet they had a bit of a shock. Heh heh heh...)

But this is getting off the point.

I have touched briefly upon the 'uproar' in the media that came with the launch of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and its 'violence' (presumably they'd forgotten about the horrors that occur in most fairy tales). I'm not at all convinced that violence in children's television makes them any more violent than they would be anyway, but I do think that it encourages children to take up martial arts.

This is good.

As well as the self-defence aspects, there is a huge importance in martial arts on discipline. You will have large muscley people shouting at you if you attempt to do martial arts outside the dojo (/whatever the training place is called for the specific martial art you're doing) - unless you're getting beaten into a bloody pulp. This discipline & training then carries across into other areas, such as other sports and into schoolwork.

So while I was reading through all the promo material for Power Rangers I was interested to learn about the 'Empower' program which promotes the values of the Power Rangers. ThunderCats had truth, honour, justice and loyalty and the Power Rangers have...

Teamwork and Cooperation: Power Rangers always work as a team. By working together and looking out for one another, they overcome challenges, succeed in their missions, and solve important problems.
Confidence: Every Power Ranger succeeds because they believe in themselves and their friends! Confidence gives them the personal strength to face every new difficulty.
Health and Physical Fitness: The physical action in the Power Rangers inspires kids to get up and move around. Imitating Power Ranger poses and moves promotes early patterns of exercise.
Caring and Friendship: They may be a team of fighting superheroes out to promote fairness and save the world, but the Power Rangers also are a close-knit group of teenage pals. Even though they’re all different, they accept each other’s individuality, and are always around to help a Power Ranger in need.

(Yes, I did just c&p that from the press release.)

In these days of scary numbers of obese children, Power Rangers could well be one of the key elements that motivates kids to get out of their armchairs and into the dojo. Are they going to start exercising because their parents tell them that in 20 years time they're going to have health problems? Or are they going to do it because that's what the cool guys on TV do?

The new series,Power Rangers Samurai, is currently on Nickelodeon from Saturdays to Wednesdays at 3pm, with repeats at 4pm.