Intro:
During
the first season of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers series, the Green Ranger was
widely considered as the most popular Ranger. Not only he was arguably the
strongest of the lineup of Rangers then, the actor – Jason David Frank would go
on to have long affiliation with the franchise and appeared in numerous subsequent
Power Ranger series.
One
of the other reasons that made this particular Ranger so darn popular was his
Zord – the Dragonzord.
When I first watched the series, Dragonzord
was my favorite Zord. He looked bad@$$ and was way more powerful than the other
Zords. And to have him being operated with the Dragon Dagger, which was used as
a flute – that was even more unique.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to
buy the figure back then, and so I just let desire store away deep down in my
childhood memories – or so I thought.
Then, Bandai announced the release
of Legacy Megazord. Fans went nuts, and so did I. However, maybe it’s just me, I
don’t know, but one of the reasons why I was so excited is the fact that whenever
the original Megazord is released, the Dragonzord will always follows.
As
far as I was concerned, I bought Megazord with the hindsight that I am going to
get the Dragonzord.
Since
the day I’ve gotten my Megazord, I have been patiently waiting for the
Dragonzord, and now, finally, it’s here!
Anyway,
I like to thank the good people at TeenCom Melaka for reserving me this
wonderful figure.
So,
without further ado, let’s get on with the review.
Box and Packaging:
The
box hugely resembles Legacy Megazord’s, but with several slight differences. The
Legacy Megazord’s box clearly states that it was a Power Rangers 20 release.
Legacy Dragonzord instead has the original series logo – Saban’s Mighty Morphin
Power Rangers – instead.
I
don’t really know why the difference exists, but I still think it’s quite neat –
giving it a sense of nostalgia to it.
On
the side, there is also an interesting Stats Card at the side of the box. It mentions
that Dragonzord is actually 124 ft tall and weighs about 340,000 lbs, compared
to Megazord’s 333 ft and 172,000 lbs respectively. When I watched the original
series, I used to remember that they were both on equal footing, i.e. the same
height. I never remembered ol’ Green Jaw being half the height of the Megazord.
However, I was quite shock to leard than Dragonzord was almost twice the weight
of Megazord, which makes sense considering the power this guy.
The
packaging also boasts the figure 11” articulated tail! More on that later. It also
comes with several accessories such as the Power Staff’s stand and an extra set
of relaxed hands, along with the weapons firing hands.
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| Extra Hands |
Dragonzord:
Well,
I don’t really have the original Dragonzord to begin with, so I can’t really do
a comprehensive comparison, but I can still do some of the comparisons that I do
know.
This
version has all the detailing on the gold shoulders, underneath its feet and
hips all engraved in. No more messy stickers – everything is built-in.
Another improvement
is the articulations. The jaw opens and closes. There is a slight elbow, and
the hands can rotate at the wrists. There are articulation points at the hips,
knees and legs.
The most awesome
improvement made is of course are the tails! The tail is so huge, and it has 6
different articulations – five of those are ball joints-esque. The main
connector between the tail and the body are ratcheting joints in them.
The
Dragonzord itself is hefty, having loads of die cast part in them, namely the
feet, shoulder etc.
However,
there is one aspect of this figure that is actually a backward move. In the old
action figure, the chest piece used to have some electronics in them – being able
to light up and having sound effects, albeit being very lame. At least, I think
that they could’ve improved on that here.
 |
| Zords |
 |
| Size Comparisons: Masterpiece Grimlock, Dragonzord, Tyrannosaurus Rex Zord, Megazord |
Mega
Dragonzord:
When
you have Megazord standing side-by-side the Dragonzord, you know that something
marvelous could and should happen.
The
transformation seems rather simple, but can be quite deceptive in the sense
that it doesn’t transform the way the original Megazord and Dragonzord do.
The
Dragonzord opens up, and the chest piece and tail are pulled out to form the
weapon later.
In
this version, you have to somehow detach the Pterodactyl and pulled down the
T-Rex’s arms and chest piece, before attaching the Dragonzord on his shoulders
and head.
The
Dragonzord looks like an overcoat, or rather a Warrior’s shield for Megazord to
wear. It’s kind of lame, and I don’t quite like this mode, as it is kind of an
insult to Dragonzord, to be treated just as an ornament. But somehow, this mode
was shown prominently in series, so I can’t really complain much, can I?
In
this mode, the Megazord’s articulations are reduced – the fact that arms
movements is further restricted is another bummer.
The
tail, oh wonderful tail, is then detached and then can be collapsed into the
tip of a lance instead. Combining that with the chest piece and the stand
provided, it looks huge and majestic – called the Power Staff. However, one
weak point of the Power Staff is that it cannot stand on its own due to the
design of the stand – 2 legs are longer than the other two, which is a bummer
really. They should be able to stand on its own!
However,
there is something that they did right here. In the original Dragonzord, the
Megazord cannot really wield its huge humongous weapon, but this time, he can! Not
in a dynamic way, but at least he can hold them now! That is another huge improvement.
With
all the die cast parts in both mode, this combination is very hefty – weighing
at about 1.2 kgs.
But
that’s not all folks, there’s one more gimmick left!
Dragonzord
Battle Mode:
Now,
this is one of the other main reasons why I have to buy this figure. This is
how an equal partner supposed to transform, and by doing so, he just eliminate
both the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Pterodactyl out of the equation, leaving
only the Saber Tooth Tiger, the Mastodon and the Triceratops to form one of the
most kick@$$ Zord of all time.
The
transformations are quite satisfying and the resulting Dragonzord Battle Mode looks
amazing. He is huge and tall – weighing at almost 1.2 kgs and standing at
almost 12-inches tall!
 |
| Posing with the leftovers |
In
all honesty, I prefer this Dragonzord in Battle Mode to the Megazord anytime. He
looks way cooler and way better than the latter.
 |
| Wielding the Power Staff |
Articulation-wise
however, there is no improvement at all, but still, I like this mode
nonetheless.
Summary:
Yes, Dragonzord
is exactly a brick that it used to be. He is fun and has a lot of play value in
it, although most of that will require that you have the Legacy Megazord prior.
Ol’ Green Jaw
looks and feels awesome, and I really love it!
Highly
recommended.
Rating – 9.5/10
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