Figuarts Mighty Morphin Power
Rangers White Ranger Review

NoisyDvL5

Okay, so the figure is pretty much what we’ve come to expect from Figuarts. You can check out my Green Ranger review if you’d like my fresh take (hope I said the same things!). The White Ranger uses a lot of the same parts, but gets some new boots and arms for costume details, though they could be reused, like the belt, from Figuarts I’m not as familiar with. What’s new to the White Ranger, though, is the head and armor. The armor isn’t intended to be removable, but is a separate piece. The shoulder pads wisely (& thankfully) are articulated so they flip up to retain the arm movement. The visual isn’t always pretty, but I’ll gladly take it over the alternative. The helmet sculpt itself is solid. I don’t like the Dairanger helmets as much as the classic Rangers, but it works!

Articulation is standard Figuarts, featuring ball-joints at both the top and bottom of the neck, wrists, and ankles, hinged toes, double-hinged knees & elbows, thigh swivels (similar to MOTU figures), two well-ranged torso joints at the mid-torso and waist, and then the shoulder & hips feature ball-joints that are on the end of a double hinged bar. He can get down if you need him to.

The paint work was particularly solid on the White Ranger. The pearlescent paint job over the white plastic is gives the figure a nice sheen and helps him stand out from his fellow rangers. The gold paint and black is similarly crisp throughout – though I did have a tiny bit of slop here and there, well within what I’d consider acceptable.

Accessory wise, the White Ranger is a little light, at least light by Figuarts standards. He includes two fists, a gripping hand, and an open hand instead of the usual “way too many complement”. The main accessory though, and all a White Ranger really needs, is Saba. An enchanted sword, Saba could talk and shoot blasts from his eyes (in addition to being the key to the Tigerzord). I always felt bad for Saba – he was like Tommy’s buddy and then he just ends up in a display case while Tommy surfs the rainbow. Sad day, right? Saba includes two blades one, extended and one retracted. These attach at the hilt, which is also how you get the sword into the holster. That makes for a bit of comedy as you pull the sword free… and the blade falls off.

Overall, the White Ranger may not be as crucial a purchase for an MMPR fan. I’m more anxious to get the upcoming Black & Blue Rangers (Pink is here waiting to be opened & reviewed, Yellow has yet to be scheduled) than I was to get Tommy in white, but I can’t deny he’s a cool figure. The original design and the pearlescent paint combine to really make the figure pop. I think he’ll look great competing for a spot among the main five with his Green past-self or maybe even with the Dairangers should I really go forward and complete that particular subset (the jury is still out on that one). For now, he’s just a cool get of a character I like: Saba. Kidding, Tommy too.

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21 thoughts on “Figuarts Mighty Morphin Power
Rangers White Ranger Review”

  1. Figuarts actually reuse a lot fewer parts than they probably could get away with. While most characters of the same gender from the same series will share the bulk of their bodies, for some reason Bandai goes through the trouble of crafting entirely new pieces for ares that could easily be shared, like upper arms, upper legs, hands, crotch, torso (provided there are no sculpted elements), etc for each new batch of Rangers. Which means Kiba/White Ranger shares more in common with Ryu Ranger than he does with Dragon/Green Ranger.

    I, personally, hope we do get an army of Tommies (is that how you’d spell that?). I wasn’t a huge fan of the Zeo/Oh Ranger suits, but the Red Racer/Red Turbo Ranger still has, for my money, one of the coolest helmet/suit designs in Ranger/Sentai history. It would be at the top of my want list even if it didn’t represent the franchise’s flagship character. The Abaranger suits were also great, so I’m hoping they get made sooner rather than later (Kira is also one of my favorite Rangers). Hopefully being featured in the new Go-Busters/Kyoryuger/Zyuranger/Abaranger film will help make that happen. Bandai seems to prioritize teams/Rangers that appear in new media, hence why almost every Ranger to ever be featured on Akiba Ranger has a Figuart, and why the entire Hurricanger team got made (thanks to their recent tenth anniversary special. Which pretty well sucked, but it got us some nice figures).

  2. Any MMPR fan who is collecting these MUST make a Tommy Army… Don’t forget Turbo Tommy…
    Great now I’m on Youtube Listening to WHITE…RANGER TIGER POWER!

    1. Ron Wasserman (the guy who wrote and performed all the music for MMPR) actually refuses to play “White Ranger Tiger Power” anymore, because it’s too easy to turn it into this:

  3. Will say it, I am over Tommy so will be Kiba for me. Also watching some Dairanger surprised the golden henshin tool wasn’t included. Oh well would confuse the masses of folk who still think Rangers came first even when show them Goranger to Jetman.

    On the Tommy the overbearing army, just doing the Sentai heroes to me. OhRed, Carranger Red, Abablack all needed if want to make a Super Hero Taisen battle scene. Though I still hope to see Gaoranger, Megaranger, Gingaman, Timeranger, Shurikenranger (whole Hurricaneger/Ninja Storm isn’t finished), then all the teams before Jetman and finish Jetman and Dairanger. (I still kick myself for not buying Gokai Red back in 2012 but I never saw the packaging to know if it was legit and it had the Darin to all for $50 🙁 )

    Though have to say bring on some cannon fodder, the riders get the Shock Trooper but no puddies, Zangack army, Black army(okay need.Goranger), blame the gokai special “The ghost ship” on that though as they had to fight a mix army from every season in that. And they talked instead of the noises we know.

    1. Bandai’s not great about getting us bad guys for Figuarts at all, and, sadly, Sentai is a lot less popular than Kamen Rider. I can count on one hand the number of Sentai villains we’ve gotten and still have enough fingers left over to call a ball game, and no foot soldiers at all. I guess we did get the Corporate Drones from Akibaranger, but they’re unofficial.

  4. We feel about the same on this figure. I wasn’t sure I wanted it but I felt like he was part of the group and got him anyway. The last real memory I have of MMPR before I moved on to “older” things was the big mystery of who the white ranger would be. Once it was revealed to be Tommy, I can’t remember ever watching the show again (although I’m sure I did for a little while longer).

    1. You know to be fair I think we should get the male and female molds of Tiger/Yellow ranger considering the action footage we saw Boy and out of costume it was Trini (or Aisha if wanna use that way)

      1. The male version will be released in Japan, and if you preorder, you can usually get a good price (everyone but the Red and Sixth Rangers tends to be an online exclusive, so once the preorder period closes prices tend to climb).

        We only had male fight footage for the Yellow Ranger in season 1. After that, the costume footage was mostly American, so it was a female stunt double for season 2 and 3. Plus, the merchandise always portrayed her with feminine characteristics (at least the merchandise that used art, like books, t-shirts, etc. The action figures used the same weirdly androgynous body for all the Rangers).

        1. As a pro Sentai fan (and one that can see Supah Motha Fudger sucking massive) think the us fans should get a choice on this one. Trying to recall the all yellow Gokai team and who was who.

          1. The US fans do get a choice: import the male version or buy the domestic female version. Given current internet economics and the fact that these figures are clearly marketed to an older demographic, that’s not an unreasonable option. If you’re 100% pro Sentai, you shouldn’t have any problems with getting the actual Sentai figure, rather than the repackaged Power Rangers equivalent.

            In the all Yellow Gokai Change, Joe was Tiger Ranger. Ahim was Gosei Yellow, Don was Hurricane Yellow, Gai was Kirin Ranger, Luka was Bouken Yellow, and Marvelous was Gao Yellow.

      2. I’m fine with the female sculpt. I never noticed the difference as a kid anyway. I just knew it was a girl in there.

    1. If follow Rangers two, if a fan of the original source material none. Kiba Ranger is a ten year old living a dream but man did he have some gritty dark stories. Dragon Ranger well basically same as Tommy butbwas related to Tyranno and also died.

  7. MMPR Red, Green, White, and Armored Red are probably the only Zyu/Dairanger figures I’ll get. I’m not interested in completing the team, as cool as it would look.

    (Though I did buy every Akibaranger Figuarts piece. Yes, even the car.)

  8. i’d love to see a side by side of the figuarts next to the armored might white ranger… maybe another review is in order if you find him? i found the super mega red at my TRU last week, but he was the only one of the AM figs there… if i lay hands on the armored might white, he’ll be coming home w/ papa. i liked those figs a lot.

      1. I’m big on the concept of playability, that I can take a fig out into the world for photos or share them with my sons, and the bandai figs trump the figuarts there by a country mile.

        2. I’ve seen them around and I actually do think I’d like the AM figures quite a bit (I like the Mega Force looks a lot and there’s no Figuarts yet), but my main concern on those is also why I finally bit on the Figuarts: I want the team.

          And as a typical non-import buyer, these newer Figuarts are a lot more tenacious than even some of the figures Vault was buying a few years ago. The accessories are still delicate, but the Figuarts stand up nicely. I don’t feel the need to be as careful with them as I do the handful of Figmas I’ve bought lately.

  9. I debated getting him for a while, but decided to pass and just stick to the season 1 team (minus Armored Red Ranger). I also have to agree that the White Ranger’s costume is just a little off and I feel it doesn’t go with the other Rangers. But that’s just my opinion. I’m also okay with only getting the female version of the Yellow Ranger. Plus I already picked up the Legacy Megazord and just preordered the Dragonzord, so I have to cut costs somewhere!

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