SDCC 2018 Exclusive Legacy Psycho Green Ranger Gallery

"Finally... you shall be free again."

In 1969, humanity made it to the Moon for the first time, but something else had been there much longer. Dispatched to Earth's moon on a secret mission was Dark Spector's right hand lieutenant, Psycho Green! The original Psycho Ranger was meant to free Rita Repulsa, but a crash delayed his mission until the moon landing woke this mighty evil again. Detecting this threat, Alpha 5 & Zordon assembled their first team of Power Rangers! This inexperienced team would face severe casualties at the hands of Psycho Green, though they did manage to defeat him in the end. His dagger disappeared somewhere in the midst of his destruction, perhaps one day it will turn up again? Making his debut in the Legacy toyline is the SDCC 2018 Exclusive Legacy Psycho Green Ranger!

In the gallery below I've done my best to recreate a number of panels from the Boom! Studios MMPR #20 issue in which Psycho Green first appeared. I don't typically buy many Legacy figures considering the S.H. Figuarts collection I have. So the Zyurangers are playing stand in for the 1969 Rangers. Enjoy!

Packaging
Psycho Green comes in a version of the newest and last iteration of Bandai's Legacy packaging. Specifically branded for the 25th anniversary of the franchise. Retail Legacy figures dropping right now like Psycho Red and Dino Thunder White come in extremely similar window boxes to these, albeit in a lighter color scheme. Psycho Green (and fellow exclusive Psycho Silver) are in new style boxes that also feature slip covers. Honestly it's pretty great, premium style, packaging that I wasn't expecting.

The packaging features a very short bio for the character as well as some stellar artwork on the front of the slipcover. Both the modern Saban era logo as well as the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers logo are present. That one is obviously to brand this character to the current MMPR comics it originates from. The entire presentation just really works for me and is far better than I'd have ever expected from Bandai on one of their last PR con exclusives ever. They at least deserve credit for that.

Main Figure
Here we are. I don't normally buy Bandai America toys anymore, most anyone can tell you that about me. But when I initially saw the announcement for the Legacy Psycho Rangers, I have to say, I got VERY excited. Power Rangers In Space is absolutely my favorite season of the franchise ever and the Psychos were great villains. Likewise, I loved Denji Sentai Megaranger and the Nezirangers are by far the best and most original evil Sentai that franchise has ever come up with. These are some rock solid villain designs that I've waited 20 years to own in some kind of figure form. No matter how I feel about Bandai America, I had to give them a shot for these characters.

If you've ever handled one of the previously released Legacy figures, then you basically know what you're getting out of Psycho Green. The Psycho Ranger Mold (which will largely be unchanged across the 7 uses of it) is a pretty intricately detailed one, considering what's come before it. Most of the ranger figures we've seen in the line before have the same basic bodies, at least structurally, with a moderate degree of paint apps that close the gap on detailing. This one has far more molded in detailing than the standard. The lower legs can seem a bit plain aside from some white and green highlights, but the thighs are packed with sculpted lines that extend from the thigh across the interior joint into the waist. While articulation is fairly standard across this line, the hips do impact the waist armor from certain angles so you may lose a little variety because of that. Also I'm unsure if this defect is widespread or limited to my copy, but the knees have become incredibly squeaky and loose after just posing them for this photo shoot. So be cautious.

The waist and upper body are packed with unique detailing as well as some gorgeous metallic green paint. The waist swivel is pretty free moving but also tight enough to maintain poses well. For this part of the figure I'm pretty surprised at how crisp the paint apps are actually. The belt in particular is very sharp. But honestly the whole torso looks really fantastic. It's an extremely well defined sculpt that I honestly did expect from this company. This is accentuated by that wonderful metallic paint too. Each rivet and line in the armor is executed just right, I mean look at those lines across his back! Surprisingly the ab articulation also manages to function without breaking the sculpt horribly, in a way more reminiscent of something like Marvel Legends than previous Legacy figures.

The arms are mostly standard for a Legacy figure. Though I feel like they're a bit too long compared to the upper body personally. A bit more sparsely detailed than the rest of the figure, I do appreciate the accuracy of paint apps on the fists and shoulders. The only real limitation here is that the shoulder armor that extends out off the body does keep the arms from swinging up and out as much as they're designed too. Lastly, there's the head. While it does look nice, I feel this is maybe the biggest issue the figure has. The details are very soft and ill-defined. It's all there in a general sense, but the sharpness and depth have been lost somewhat. There's also a fair bit of mold flashing on the ears(?) of the head and there are a number of minor paint defects as well. I feel like it misses the mark just enough to be a detraction but not entirely detrimental to the figure as a whole.

Honestly the wildest thing about this figure is that 20 years later, Osamu Abe's fantastic designs for the original 5 Nezirangers have come to life in figure form and even managed to feature a brand new take on the design in the process. This really puts some much needed perspective into the "Legacy" name of this toyline.

Accessory
Despite the premium exclusive nature of this figure, it has the same pitfall as practically every Legacy figure that Bandai has produced. Lack of accessories. In Psycho Green's so far only appearance in fiction (there is that upcoming bonus story in Year 2 Deluxe Hardcover as well) he only used a single weapon. The Psycho Dagger was a weapon used by Psycho Green to great effect in 1969 when he slaughtered most of the original Power Rangers. I'm glad to see each of the Psycho Rangers released thus far have their signature weapons, especially in this case. While this accessory does look pretty nice at first glance, the sculpt is actually a bit soft in several areas. There's a fair bit of mold flashing, and some less than desirable paint issues as well. I appreciate that it has a nice snug fit in Green's hand but I can't believe they skimped on finding away to attach it to his waist. When not in use Psycho Green stores his dagger on his hip, a simple molded in peg would have made this quite easy and would have replicated his look very well. It's a nit pick but this is the hill I've chosen to die on!

Look I can't honestly think of another thing he could have come with. It's not to say Pscho Green is missing anything, just that generally Legacy figures don't come with much and he's no different.

Final Thoughts
It's really fantastic to finally own some version of the Psycho/Nezi design in figure form. 20 years later and these are still excellent designs that fit in with the best of modern tokusatsu. The Boom! Studios Power Rangers comics have really re-invigorated the brand in a way I never imagined. Introduced new forms, new zords, new characters entirely, the comic medium is finally being utilized properly for this franchise after languishing for years. After Lord Drakkon, Psycho Green has easily become one of my favorite things to come out of it all. The SDCC Exclusive Legacy Psycho Green Ranger is a pretty weird and yet fitting start to putting this team together. Next up, Psycho Silver!

Part 2: The destruction of the Power Rangers

Was that the throne accessory from SW Black Series Snoke you used in a couple of those images?

If only you knew how painful it was for me to look at this gallery.

It was! Didn't have anything else to really use to simulate his ship so I went with that

While I'll never collect any Legacy figures, it's good to see merch for these guys

I wanted this figure so bad. I was willing to pay someone that went to get me one. But nobody took me up on the offer.

It took me some time to arrange a purchase for it myself. With them only selling 250 a day over the course of 4 days, and at a massive con like that, they were bound to be hard to get. Asking people to wait in a line like that with so little chance of success, well it's a lot to ask. I was just lucky I knew someone willing to do it. By the time I had one secured, they had 11 left to sell on the last day of the show. So they sold through their entire inventory quite easily.

I knew the risk was high and the chances low. But you see why I wanted it so bad. The Green Psycho has been my main PR OC since 2000. XD This guy is part of me. XD

Since I'm not a Power Rangers guy, I've been curious about these for a while; I assumed they were PR-exclusive. I thought the Ashu in Boukenger were as close as Sentai had gotten to a full-on evil Sentai team. Turns out I've got something to look forward to when I get around to Megaranger.