When it comes to Mezco and its action figure offerings I have a very specific taste. To me, the majority of their super hero figures look little better than Mego. Some people like that aesthetic, but not me personally, and I’m certainly not into paying 100 bucks for the honor of owning such. Some frequent readers here may be surprised that I never reviewed either of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles four-packs the company released last year and that’s because, to me, they looked like dried-out turds left out in the hot sun to bake. I saw plenty of folks singing the praises of that set and I think it’s great that they enjoyed it, it just wasn’t for me.

With Mezco, the stuff I typically am drawn to are their creations based on live-action properties. I love the look of their Batman ’89 and their Michael Keaton likeness under the cowl is spot on. I don’t love the approach they took with the silicon body, but if you want to read more about that there’s a link at the bottom of this one. I really liked their take on The Crow based on the 90s film. I didn’t get it, but I certainly gave strong consideration to doing so. And my favorite figure I picked up in 2023 was the Mezco Green Ranger from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It was a perfect character for Mezco to tackle because it was based on a live-action series where martial artists in spandex suits and helmets wield goofy weapons. The fact that the character is helmeted made it even more perfect because even though I said I prefer Mezco’s take on live-action properties, they don’t always nail the likeness. The Crow works because he’s covered in paint. The unmasked Tommy Oliver head they included with the Green Ranger is just okay. And that’s fine because I’d never display him unmasked.

When I got that figure the plan was just to get the one. I’m strictly a casual MMPR fan who feels drawn to the toys of today because the toys of yesterday were so hard to come by when I was a kid and actively watching the show. The Green Ranger is the best of the rangers so it made sense as my lone representative for the series from Mezco. It turned out so well though that my attention turned towards the rest. There was a White Ranger released in 2024, but I don’t need two versions of the same character. Plus, I fell off the series right around that character’s debut. I have a full squad of rangers from the Hasbro Lightning Collection, but it’s merely adequate. Over time, as often happens, the flaws with those figures become harder to ignore. They’ve stood untouched on my shelf for years. I don’t intend to go down any extensive MMPR rabbit hole at this point, so why not splurge a little and get a set of Power Rangers that I’m really going to enjoy? Couple that with a milestone birthday in 2024 and I decided to say “screw it,” and gift myself an expensive set of Power Rangers.

Time went by. I scored a great deal on Entertainment Earth because of a promotion that applied even to preorders. Month after month would come and go with the product getting pushed out. Eventually, I got irritated by the whole thing and began questioning if I really wanted it. We had some expenses come up, the holiday season also came and went, and I just hated the idea of this expensive item coming due at any moment so I cancelled. Not a week later, product starts hitting. God damnit, Mezco. I lost the deal I had on the set and figured that was that. Then Big Bad Toy Store actually got the product and showed it as in-stock and ready to ship. And to my surprise, there was no additional markup. Usually with Mezco, BBTS will put up preorders at MSRP, but once the item actually hits, they jack up the price to capitalize on the FOMO purchases. Maybe they had a high number of cancellations on this one since it was sitting out there for so long (years, I want to say) and needed to just make sure they sell the product they have at the price quoted before they try to extract a little more. I don’t know. I ruminated on the subject a little then obviously gave in since we’re here today talking about this set.

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Box Set from Mezco checks in at a whopping $400. That’s a number more commonly associated with a video game console and not a set of action figures. Considering that most Mezco figures retail for $100 or more (I think the Green Ranger was $110) this set actually feels like a pretty good deal. That’s five figures each with a vast assortment of accessories at $80 a piece. I won’t call it a bargain because $400 is $400. Maybe a week long stay in a hotel for that kind of cash could be considered a bargain, but not action figures. The big question then is do these figures justify their cost? With the Green Ranger, my conclusion was a somewhat tepid “Yes.” The figure’s great, I just wasn’t convinced it absolutely had to cost what it did. And that was at a significantly higher price point. These figures are off to a better start by virtue of that fact, but an $80 action figure is still a pricey thing. I’m not sure if I spent that much on a single action figure in this scale in 2024. I did spend $75 on a figure so it’s not as if I’m far off the mark, but there is certainly something to prove with this set and expectations are and should be high for that price.

The figures come in a pretty large box with multiple trays within. The box has what I assume is new artwork commissioned for the release and it’s all fine, but it’s not a window box so if you want to not only hold the figures, but just see them, then you’re going to have to open it. Once removed you have your five figures. It’s actually more like two figures as the male rangers share a body and the two female rangers share a body. And that’s fine as the characters were fairly similar in the show when suited and I wouldn’t expect a sculpt tailor made for each figure. Especially because the helmets and soft goods are unique enough.

Just standing them all in a row and taking it in the look is impressive. From a normal distance, they look like miniature versions of the characters from the show. The helmets are the right shape. The details are all in place when it comes to the sculpt work on the helmets or the stitching in the gloves and boots which are sculpted in. The colors are bright and vibrant and the white vinyl or decals for the diamonds on the chest is nice and opaque, even, and straight. As is the case with Mezco, we have a mix of soft goods and plastic. The heads, gloves, and boots are all plastic while the body is covered by the soft goods. If you get up close, you can see the threading in the suits which I suppose isn’t screen accurate, but I’ve also never been that up close and personal with a real Power Rangers suit. They obviously take on the look of the characters when using the American actors since the Yellow Ranger was played by a male in all of the Japanese footage. And that’s fine. For an American audience, Trini is the Yellow Ranger and it would look out of place if the figure had a male body, even if that’s what we typically saw on TV. I think it would be cool if Mezco did a one-off Yellow Ranger release on the male body for those who want a Super Sentai display, but I don’t know if such a thing is likely.

The presentation is strong, but not perfect. Nothing is, and when a figure costs 80 bucks we’re going to scrutinize the Hell out of it. The helmets on the males look fine, but the females do stand out a bit as oversized. I do think some of that is other toys and media playing tricks on us. The Lightning Collection, and most action figure lines, scale down the helmet heads slightly. Some of the older lines scale them down a lot to the point where one would question if a human head could actually fit in them. They’re pretty big on the show, but if you’ve spent years looking at figures where they’re a little smaller then it’s going to have an effect. Similarly, the Yellow Ranger being a male in the show more often than not means the figures usually look out of whack. However, in this case, I do think the helmet size is too big. For the Pink Ranger, it’s mostly fine. That helmet always looked bigger on the show, probably because of the size of the actress, so it’s not standing out. The other drawback I notice right away is that the diamonds on the chest, in particular the ones on the sides, have a wavy quality to them. They should be sharp, but it must have something to do with the vinyl coating in use here. What may bug the hardcore fan the most though is that the morphers are not the right color. They’re all silver here when in the show only the front is supposed to silver. The sides should be black, which is an odd detail for Mezco to screw up since they went through the trouble of making the coins in the morphers look so damn good.

We’ll talk first about the male rangers: black, red, and blue. To my surprise, these do not appear to be identical to the Green Ranger I already have. I think much of them are shared, but there are some differences. Or at least one noticeable one. Under the suit, it feels like there’s just a basic action figure body. The Green Ranger I have at a little over 6.5″ while these new ones are right around 6.375″ which surprised me a bit. It looks like the Green Ranger is getting a bit more length out of the torso so perhaps it’s not the same body underneath. I don’t know if either figure is truly 1:12 scale, but it looks fine to me. The suit is stitched in the back so it’s not removable and the belts are an imitation leather. They’re painted with black striping and the Power Morpher is nicely detailed and personalized for each character. The blade blaster holsters are removable and they just tab on and off.

Running your fingers over these figures will allow you to feel out the articulation. It’s impossible to know exactly what’s underneath without taking one apart, but I’ll do my best. It sure feels like we have a ball joint in the base of the neck and I know we have a double ball at the head. The shoulders appear to be simple ball hinges and there is a bicep swivel, double-jointed elbows, a glove swivel, and ball hinge wrists. The diaphragm seems to feature a double ball and there is a slight waist twist. Hips are a mystery, but they got to the side a little better than 45 degrees and kick forward about 90 degrees. There is a dedicated thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, boot swivel, and a hinged ankle and rocker. Because these guys have different gloves and boots than the Green Ranger, those had to be re-sculpted and Mezco made at least one notable improvement and it’s with the ankle rocker. The Green Ranger’s ankles are pretty poor, but these new ones should have little trouble keeping their feet flat on a shelf. The actual boots do have an odd shape to them. In some poses it looks like they’re curving out. I’m not sure if it’s the connection to the leg that’s causing that. It can be posed away, for the most part, but out of the box I was wondering if the left and right shins had been swapped at the factory.

The articulation is all basically there, save for a butterfly joint. It’s just limited by the soft goods and your own courage. If you try to put these guys into splits you’re going to have to stretch the material. I’m not saying the figures can’t do it, but I’m not willing to try. I wish I was some semi-famous YouTube guy who gets review samples so that I could really go the distance with these, but I’m not and I’m out a considerable amount of money should I break something. The joints that feel the most limited to me are the waist, shoulders, and those hips and it’s all because of the soft goods. The waist, for example, doesn’t feel like it wants to turn much. The shoulders don’t like being raised out to the side a full 90 degrees. The material is stretchy and it can probably take more abuse than I’m willing to dish out, but it’s also form-fitted to each figure. They’re not frumpy, which means if you leave these guys in a position that’s stressing the material it could stretch out permanently and lead to a poorer fit. That’s always going to be the limitation with this setup and it’s the same with other scales too. Have some fun with them in hand, but maybe don’t leave them on your shelf in anything too crazy.

The female rangers are pretty much the same, only smaller, and with another detail I wasn’t anticipating. The pink and yellow rangers stand at just a tick under 6″ and I like the height separation between them and the boys. They have a more feminine shape with slender limbs compared to the males and a more defined hourglass shape to the torso without being unrealistically curvy. Kimberly, the Pink Ranger, has her skirt piece as well which seems to be just a separate piece that’s not sewn into place. The articulation feels to be the same, but the body underneath feels like it’s a silicon one. It’s my understanding Mezco tried this with a Spider Gwen figure and it’s being utilized here. The silicon body covers the torso, waist, and thighs and gives the figures a squishy feeling. These types of bodies are known for eventually cracking and tearing, but if it’s hidden underneath soft goods then who cares? I would think it’s an added expense so I’m surprised to see it in use here, but maybe this is a technique Mezco is going to utilize more going forward?

For whatever reason, this approach makes the women the more articulated of the pair. The actual articulation points are all the same, but they can really crunch forward and back in a way the males cannot. The legs seem to kick forward better as well and they also kick back all the way so they can theoretically do splits in both directions, though I still wouldn’t really advise it. The joints are stiff, but smooth, and if you have handled a figure like this in the past then you know what I mean. It’s a metal armature, basically, that’s inside the body so you do need to be somewhat mindful of that. Sometimes a joint can get pointed in a direction you weren’t expecting. As a result, the limb won’t move the way you want it to, but it’s just a matter of figuring out which swivel point got turned around and going from there. The one downside is it seems like joints can either separate or just aren’t tight enough. The right leg on my Pink Ranger doesn’t want to go out to the side and stay there. I don’t know if the hip is disconnected or if it’s just weak. It’s not floppy, but it sucks that the range isn’t there with her.

All of the characters come with an array of hands as well as an alternate, unmasked, portrait. The quality of the unmasked heads varies from character to character. I would say the Billy and Jason heads look really good, Zack and Kimberly okay, and Trini looks nothing like the actor. Billy doesn’t have his glasses which is technically accurate to the show, but for this era, I think most fans picture actor David Yost with his spectacles on. For hands, every Ranger comes with fists and gripping hands and then after that it varies. Red Ranger has a set of flat palms with his thumb to the side and a set of flats with his thumbs towards the palm. He also has martial arts posed hands (kind of his signature pose) and loose gripping hands. Black Ranger has the same, minus the martial arts posed hands, while Blue Ranger loses the flat palms with the thumb off to the side and the loose gripping hands, but picks up palm-striking hands. Yellow Ranger has the same spread as Black Ranger, plus a set of “Tiger Claw” hands. Pink Ranger has the most as she has the same spread as Yellow, but swaps the flat hands with thumbs turned inward in favor of splayed open hands like she just loosed an arrow. She also has an additional right hand specifically shaped for nocking an arrow. All of the male hands can be shared with each other and the same is true of the female hands, you just wouldn’t want to put a male hand on a female body and vice versa.

Each Power Ranger comes with their trusty blade blaster. These little gun to knives accessories are identical to the one that came with the Green Ranger meaning they’re capable of going from knife mode to handgun mode just as they did in the show. They’re hard plastic and well painted but Mezco did not include the “Power Rangers” writing on them. Some require a little extra oomph to push the dinosaur head forward when converting to the gun mode which can feel a little scary, but I haven’t had any issues. The actual blade doesn’t fold out and is instead a separate piece that pegs in. Mezco included five so you can have all five Rangers wielding their blade blasters in knife mode if you please or firing with the included blast effects. They’re a thin, translucent, red and likely made of an acrylic so do be careful when handling them. If you don’t want your Rangers to brandish these arms, they can be stored in the included holsters which is probably where most are likely to end up. Upon doing so though, it becomes clear that the blasters are a tad oversized compared to the ones in the show. They look big in their holsters and even the promo shots for this set seem to show a smaller weapon. This wasn’t something I really noticed with the Green Ranger since he doesn’t traditionally carry one of these things, but it’s plain to see here.

Each Ranger also has their signature weapon. For the Red Ranger, it’s the power sword which is lovingly painted and looks terrific. If you think it lacks a little something though there’s also the charged version which is basically the same sculpt but molded in translucent red. I honestly don’t remember the sword doing that in the show, but it probably happened. I doubt it looked like this though given the show had very cheap and simple special effects. It looks a little jarring in Jason’s hands and it’s not something I see myself using, but maybe I’ll come around on it. It does have the opposite problem of the Blade Blaster which is that it’s definitely too small. Mezco clearly played fast and loose with the scale on this stuff. For Billy the Blue Ranger, he has his lance which is sort of like a blue trident with a topper on both ends. In the show, he could separate it and brandish two, smaller, weapons so Mezco included a set of small, handheld, tridents. They also included two bigger ones and an adapter piece to facilitate connecting either set to form the actual lance. I’m not sure which is more screen accurate. One looks too big and one looks too small and I don’t think it had a silver center handle in the show. It’s at least made of a sturdy plastic. My Lightning Collection Blue Ranger’s lance always curved when held because the plastic was so soft. There are also some lightning effects for the lance included, which is always appreciated.

For Trini the Yellow Ranger, she has her daggers which also resemble sai. Again, they’re well painted and do what they’re supposed to, and unlike the other weapons so far, the size seems fine. Zack’s power axe also looks great and has a sliding handle so it can be wielded like a pump shotgun. Sizing for it seems fine and it can make use of the blast effects included. Kimberly has her bow (I guess power bow?) which also has a real string affixed to it which is stretchy. She has three arrows as well to wield and the weapon works well enough, though it’s always a challenge to get an action figure to pull off a bow look and she’s no exception. Also included are some optional weapons. For Billy, we get the Anti-Sonic Foam Gun which looks like an old Nerf double ball blaster, but painted blue. There’s a non zero chance that’s what the actual prop was. It has an optional effect part if you want Billy spraying foam on your shelf. I’m not sure that I do. There’s also three Thunder Slingers which are basically handheld slingshots, but made to look like something a Power Ranger would handle. They look great, but this is more stuff I’m likely to just look at once and then put away forever. And if you’re curious, yes, there were five of these in the show, but Mezco only provided three. I think they could also combine with the Blade Blaster, but no such functionality exists here.

When the Power Rangers combine their weapons they form the Mega Blaster. Rather than put tabs and holes into the weapons, Mezco just gives you an assembled Mega Blaster. Every component looks every bit as good as the individual weapons because I’m pretty sure its the exact same stuff just stuck together. There are even five effect parts so you can have the gun blasting the bad guys, which are going to have to come from another toy line for now. It’s cool and it at least makes things a little easier and lessens the risk of paint rub and such if we were expected to physically attach the weapons to each other. If I’m being honest with myself though, I kind of miss the fun of assembling the weapon. That’s part of the appeal of Power Rangers for me: combining weapons, combining robots. The blast effects are seemingly colored correctly, but tough to get straight and flimsy. I wonder if it would have worked better as one, big, piece?

We’re not quite done yet though as we have a few more accessories in the box. Both the Red Ranger and the Black Ranger wore the Dragon Shield at points during the show so Mezco included two Dragon Shields and the armbands that go with them. They’re the same parts as the ones included with the Green Ranger so if you want a trio of armored up Power Rangers on your shelf you can do so. The arm bands are loose enough that you can slide them on without having to pop the gloves off. That also means they won’t fit the smaller female arms, but the shield itself is also way too big for them. Lastly, we have a stand for each figure which features a circular base with their respective Power Coin image printed on it and an articulating, transparent, plastic, armature. This is the standard Mezco stand, and while the base does take up a lot of real estate on a shelf, they do work well. A good stand is something every premium collectible should come with.

That is a lot of stuff and a lot of words. What have we learned after reading all of this? That these Mezco Power Rangers are as advertised. They capture the look of the American version of the show quite well. The Mezco approach is perfect for this property and this is basically a match made in Heaven. The articulation is pretty good, though the format will always breed some apprehension when it comes to extreme posing, but I think most will be satisfied with what these figures can do. There’s basically nothing left out when it comes to extra stuff. We get the unmasked portraits, 54 individual hands, weapons, blasters, extra weapons, the Mega Blaster, stands, and even some extra Dragon Shields. Oh, and those little baggies Mezco always includes for storing accessories if you decide to ditch the box. There’s nothing missing, as far as I’m concerned. I guess some folks may want individual morphers, but that’s an accessory for plain clothes Power Rangers, if you ask me. There are all kinds of other one-off weapons in the show, but none made an impact with me to the point where I want them included. I guess the Power Crystals might have been cool? Again, I’m reaching here as I would be unlikely to ever do anything with such in my display.

That’s not to say everything is perfect. While I think the proportions for the male rangers are pretty damn spot-on with the American show, there’s no denying that the Yellow Ranger looks off. The shape of the white diamonds on the torso of all of the figures are also off. It might be something where if you play with the suit enough you could smooth those lines out, but it’s certainly a hassle. The scale with the weapons is all over the place and the morphers on the belts are the wrong colors. Depending on your point of view, that’s either a bunch of nitpicking or a bunch of problems for figures that cost $80 a piece.

That means the real question is are these figures worth it? There is a part of me that looks at the price tag for this thing and can’t fathom how it could possibly be worth such an investment. Even big time Lego sets are usually in the $300-$350 range. This is beyond even that and when this thing was first announced I don’t think I could have envisioned me picking it up. On the other hand, if these Power Rangers were released individually over a couple of years at $80 a piece would I feel differently? Yes. My brain looks at an $80 Mezco figure of this quality and is able to both realize it’s still a lot to pay for a toy, but it’s not outrageous in this market. Mondo is doing The Real Ghostbusters at $101 a piece spread across probably 2 years, when all is said and done, and I’m in on them. And a Mondo sixth scale X-Men figure sets me back over $200 by itself and I’ll probably buy anywhere between 4 and 6 of those this year alone (if Mondo hits its goals).

This is an expensive hobby. Action figures are not thought of as luxury goods because the term luxury makes people think of limousines and monocles, but that’s what they are because they’re just baubles. Things no one needs that don’t perform a function; they just exist to be admired and fiddled with. They’re not even proper children’s toys which have some nurturing capabilities. Accepting all of that, I can definitively say that, for me, these figures are worth every penny. They’re fantastic for what they are. These are the only Power Rangers I will ever need. I have no use for my Lightning Collection set any longer and I cannot fathom buying another Power Ranger for myself for the rest of my life. These are exactly what I want as they look and feel like 1:12 scale Hot Toys figures. It’s the perfect format for me and for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

And I’m apparently not alone as this set now appears to be sold out everywhere. That doesn’t mean it’s gone, the very popular TMNT set has been reissued already and had a variant set released as well. Maybe Mezco wants to do a variant with the other actor likenesses? Maybe they want to do the movie suits? I don’t know, but Hasbro is more than willing to license the brand out so I wouldn’t rule anything out. And like most companies, Mezco likes money and if they feel the demand is out there then they’ll make more. You just never know with them because their communication is so terrible. If you’re a big fan of the property then I think you should get these and it might even be worth paying over MSRP. If you value each figure at $100 then $500 isn’t much of an overpay, or you can wait it out. And if you get it and completely disagree with what I’ve said here then I bet you’ll have no trouble unloading it at cost. It makes the set almost a risk free proposition. I don’t think that’s going to happen though. Most people who get this, aside from those who may run into quality control issues, are going to be thrilled with what they have.