Power Rangers Dino Charge Dino Cycle & Black Ranger Gallery – Toku Toy Box Entry!

Engage! Energize!

TokuNation is back with another in our series of complete, in depth, hi-res galleries for Power Rangers Dino Charge! Today we take a look at the mode of transportation for this years prehistoric heroes, the Dino Cycle complete with 5" Black Ranger!

**Note - This cycle and figure are nearly identical to the previously release standard Dino Cycle with Red Ranger. A Majority of this review will be exactly the same for this item. Word for word. Aside from a few new comments on packaging and paint apps.

I should also mention that TokuNation user Gosei Wonder was the wonderful enabler who sent this bike my way!

Packaging
New to this year's line is this scale of vehicle, and with that comes some new packaging. This time around we get an open window box style for the Dino Cycle with Black Ranger. Held in by just a few plastic straps it's not the most reliable or sturdy box but it gets the job done. The outer packaging is decked out with the usual stock photography and screen shots from the source footage, including a CG image of the Cycle in it's separated Deinonychus components. Though since this Cycle is a variety not seen in the show, an entirely toy exclusive coloration, the CG shot has been recolored to match the figure. Which is great.

Until you look at the back of the box and see the stock footage shot plastered across the back, showing Dino Charge/Kyoryu Black riding a normal Dino Cycle/Deinochaser. They took the time to recolor the CG art on the front but not the image on the back? Why even bother to change one if not the other? It's a simple task as well. We're also given a quick look at how the cycle functions as well as several other figures in the line. There are two other simultaneously released versions of the Dino Cycle in slightly altered colors with other ranger figures included, 1 which we've already posted a gallery of, and the other which will be up for your viewing pleasure soon. These images also give us a good look at how the Dino Cycle is meant to interact with the Dino Charge Megazord and how the Megazord interacts with the yet to be released Zord Armors.

Dino Cycle
The main event of this review is of course the Dino Cycle itself. The first thing to know about this vehicle is that it's BOA's version of the Deinochaser from Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger's toyline. A vehicle which itself is quite sought after for it's compitability with 5" & 6" figure lines. Much of what can be said about the Dino Cycle is in part in comparison to the Deinochaser. But it should be stated first that this vehicle is a vast improvement over the last several years worth of generic repainted bikes. In quality and functionality it far exceeds the Cycles of the past several years.

As you can see the Dino Cycle opts out of having quite a few paint apps compared to Deinochaser, which isn't entirely odd for BOA releases. This color variation with Black Ranger is also quite different though since it's an original color scheme. There's some excellent detail on this vehicle that could really be brought out with paint though, when you look at it side by side with Deinochaser it's apparent some important details were overlooked, such as the eyes on the front half of the bike being unpainted. But again you can handicap this one since it's a unique color scheme.

There are also significant physical differences between the two bikes. Gone is the Zyudenchi or Dino Charger gimmick from the original figure. Odd considering the Dino Charger gimmick is the central element of the Dino Charge toyline. This appears to be one of the few primary Zords or Zord like vehicles that has forgone it's inclusion. Aside from scaling the Cycle down a bit to compensate this lack of functionality it doesn't actually alter the physical look of it by much. Aside from this mostly all functionality in the figure has been lost. Where the original Deinochaser could separate into it's components at the Zyudenchi connection and then transform into proper dinosaurs, the Dino Cycle instead separates with no transformation at all at a Zord Builder connection. The red half need only be flipped over to stand on the handlebars, the rear gray half does absolutely nothing. Sadly the two have just been far too simplified, the entire transformation gimmick has been removed meaning the look of both the combined and individual modes is compromised. As you can see in the comparisons it's a stark contrast.

Now that's not to say the Dino Cycle isn't without it's merits. As with the Deinochaser before it, it's actually scaled quite well with 5" & 6" figures. The ranger included with it is of course made to fit right onto it, but it accommodates S.H. Figuarts Kyoryugers quite well too! Though the Dino Cycle is a tad smaller overall it still works just fine with figures in this scale.

This figure also features a limited amount of Zord Builder compatibility. 2 female ports on the red half, & 1 each of male & female on the gray half. They're a bit hard to utilize though. While I don't have a Dino Charge Megazord I made due with the some other parts I had for fun. My last masterpiece from the previous Dino Cycle Gallery, has been dubbed the Q-Rexasaurus Cycle. The new monstrosity from this gallery? Who knows. By the way the female port on the back half of the cycle is particularly difficult to make use of.

Black Ranger
Included with the Dino Cycle is a rather plain 5" Dino Charge Black Ranger. No one expects these type of figures to be extraordinary, even when compared to the mainline 5" figures. But this one is quite simple. Very few paint apps and severely limited articulation. It has the typical BOA bulkiness and muscles, but has only a few silver paint apps, and only basic articulation. So basic in fact the wrists cannot be rotated from the holding handlebars position. But the standard Dino Charge 5" figures should be much nicer than this one.

Final Thoughts
From the start the Power Rangers Dino Charge toy line has already surpassed the Super Megaforce toyline in originality and quality. Trade-offs in functionality one way or the other have been met with a degree of originality I did not expect from Bandai of America. While it's clear to me personally that the Deinochaser released for Kyoryuger is a far better toy in almost every way, it's also become exceedingly rare & expensive. As a budget alternative the Dino Cycle is actually fairly nice. It retains at least the basic functionality of the real deal and makes for a great bike that's far and above better than what we've gotten used to in the last couple years from Power Rangers toylines. If you can find one of the three variations of this vehicle at retail now I'd recommend getting at least 1 as a cheap alternative to the Deinochaser if nothing else.

That last picture looks like a reptilian/bird hybrid.

This cycle has a pretty neat color scheme. might be my favorite color combo out of the three cycles

I actually dig the red raptor.

I was Kind of inspired by Ultra Mega Chicken from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, but with two heads instead

At least the figures aren't like the "Putty Rangers" that we got before. 😀

Not a bad effort, I think BoA is slightly getting better at this.

It's cool that we get alternate colors that we can mix and match. I'd love to see an all silver colored one.

and Bandai messed up a little bit more...