Power Rangers 15th Anniversary: Epic Red Ranger Set Review

Released by: Ban-Dai

2007 is really a great year to be a power ranger fan. There was the first ever power ranger convention back in June, the special “Once A Ranger” two-part television episode in July, and now there are three “Epic Red Ranger” figure sets released to commemorate the fifteenth year ranger celebration.

In set one, there are five red rangers represented. The five rangers in this set include: Jason Lee Scott, the Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger, Tommy Oliver, the Red Zeo Power Ranger, Wesley Collins, the Red Time Force Ranger, Connor Mcknight, the Red Dino Thunder Ranger, and Mack Hartford, the Red Operation Overdrive Ranger. The packaging on this set is beautiful. The five red rangers are all seen through the plastic casing, and each figure is striking a dramatic pose.

The figures themselves are a lot of fun. Jason (Mighty Morphin Red) is in a pose that was used when he called upon his red dragon thunderzord during season 2. Wes (Time Force Red) is holding his hand to his morpher, indicating the Time Force Morphing sequence. Tommy (Red Zeo Ranger) is standing strong, showing what a bad ass fighter he is. Connor and Mack (Red Dino Thunder and Overdrive Rangers) are also standing strong, giving a powerful pose that will catch the eye of toy collectors everywhere.

The downside to the set is that these figures have little to no articulation. They are already sculpted in action poses. Sure, the poses look great but don’t expect to move them around. Also, I wish there were weapons included to give the rangers a little more power. But, the set is still really beautiful and an absolute must have for ranger fans. It’s also really cool that Ban-Dai crafted this set (and the other 2) in the first place. They didn’t have to acknowledge PR celebrating it’s fifteenth season, but they did. So this entire set is like a thank you to the ranger fans and the box packaging is really beautiful and striking.

The cool thing about the other two sets is that some of the red rangers are offered in their power-up modes. In one of the upcoming sets there is Connor (Red Dino Thunder Ranger) in his powerful Triassic Ranger form. Also, Jack Landors (SPD Red Ranger) is being offered in his SWAT mode power up form. It’s really cool that these figures are being included in on the fun. I just wish that Eric Myers (Time Force Quantum Ranger) was created for one of these sets. Eric was a primarily red ranger even though he was the sixth ranger in Time Force. But Eric should be included since he wears mostly red and he was also a part of the tenth anniversary episode “Forever Red” which united all the red rangers from the first ten seasons.

All in all, I need to get the other two sets. I am very happy Ban-Dai created these sets for life-long fans like myself. Despite the lack of poseability, I still have to give this set a B+ . Go buy this set (and the others) and let the power protect you all.

Disgaea 2: Chaos at the Colosseum! Palm Figures Complete Set Review

For a couple of years now I have been addicted to a tactical RPG called Disgaea. If you know a little about me, I gave up on RPGs years ago (Final Fantasy VII really killed it for me). For some reason I always found myself glued to these two Nippon Ichi Playstation 2 games. When I say glued I mean over 100 hours of gameplay. Do you know what I could have accomplished in those 200 hours? Probably nothing more productive than reading bad comics, but still. If you’ve read my reviews in Beckett Anime Magazine you know I am a big fan of Gashapon (Capsule Toys). So what exactly happens when two of my favorite things collide? A slice of heaven my friend….a big slice.

These figures are more than just capsule toys though; they are the perfect collector items for Disgaea fans or just fans of anime/video game figures. Alright, so on to the review. Let’s talk about the packaging first. Man, Japanese people love their packaging! Not only are all the characters packaged in individual boxes, but the boxes themselves are packaged in a big white discreet box. There are 12 boxes, because each figure resides in their own container and each container is gorgeously decorated with images from the game. Inside each of those mini-boxes is a clear plastic display case and a black bag. I guess this is so you’ll be surprised when you actually figure out which figure you get and let me tell you it’s half the fun trying opening those black bags and hoping it will be the ninja(yeah my personal favorite). The plastic displays are a perfect display case for the figure and the legoish circles means you can stack the figures to save room.

This set includes 12 fully pre-painted figures that you have to assemble, but not to the extent that you will need glue or carving knives. Each Figure stands 2.5" tall and the case measures 3"×2"x2". Unlike the Japanese release that come randomly packed you actually get a complete set when purchasing the box. The set includes: Adell, Etna, Rozalin, Yukimaru, Axel, Hanako, Taro, mage, ninja, archer, thief, and the mystery figure Pleinair. These figures are made by the Japanese company Toranoana. There is so much detail that went to each figure, you can really tell that Toranoana put time into making each mold and applied paint. Speaking of paint, for figures this small I am completely impressed with the lack of paint bleeding and chipping. These small figures are completely flawless and their assigned weapons are easy to attach.

The only negative things I can really say about this set is I really wish that they had released another secret figure besides Pleinair; it seems that each set now comes with her. They could have at least given her a different animal to hold. I do recommend taking your time when putting the figures together, because now and then a hand can go flying if you try to force it in and these things are a pain to find again. Those are just really small gripes because overall this new set is completely flawless and I can’t recommend these small figures highly enough. The first two sets were limited to 500 boxes and 650 boxes so I’m assuming the same thing is going on here. So do yourself a favor and don’t put it off until they are gone. A

You can find the Disgaea 2 Chaos at the Colosseum figures at Rosenqueen.com they have the best prices and are the official NIS store here in America. You can’t go wrong with this place!