Power Rangers Lightning Collection Dragon Shield Mighty Morphin Black Ranger Gallery

"Yes, that should break the spell!"

Set to impress Angela with a pair of pearl earrings for their big date, Zack has no idea that Rita Repulsa has tricked him taking the Pearls of Stillness! Spellbound to freeze everyone as soon as they're worn, the Power Rangers as well as Zack's date are stuck. Now it's up to Zack & Tommy to face off against the Oysterizer on their own. And in a moment of need, the Green Ranger's mighty shield can be passed to another. Wielding the Dragon Shield himself, the Black Ranger takes on the Oysterizer!

You may recall (though it's been some years) that this form was the basis of an SDCC 2014 S.H. Figuarts exclusive, which I also reviewed way back when. 5 years later and we're getting a brand new take on it with the Lightning Collection figure. Just as a refresher, the Dragon Shield Black Ranger (5 years ago known as the Armored Black Ranger) originates from the "Zyu2" era of newly commissioned footage which Saban ordered from Toei to flesh out the end of MMPR season 1. So this interesting form is exclusive to American aired footage and believe it or not, this unique power up is featured in less than 1 minute of actual screen time. That's it! But it was often something fans wanted to see as an action figure for years prior to the release of the Figuart. Now we have a newer and cheaper alternative with the Lightning Collection figure as well.

Packaging
As we are all pretty familiar with the line by now, I'm sure I probably don't need to go through my usual list of reasons why it's awesome. Hasbro was keen to make sure these appealed to collectors and fans of the franchise from throughout it's various eras. And they also really pop thanks in no small part to some wonderful box art, lovingly crafted by artist Tom Whalen aka @strongstufftom on twitter. His artwork is breathtaking, and makes these figure's feel like just a bit more of a passion project from the folks at Hasbro.

The Black Ranger's profile artwork takes up a majority of the packaging, while the back of the box is relegated to a single stock photo of the figure. Like Goldar and the recently released Psycho Blue Ranger, this release features features a non-standard color palette for the box. Rather than the predominantly white boxes of the mainline, this retailer exclusive is in a primarily black box.

Main Figure
While Zack's shielded form has previously been known as the Armored Black Ranger, (see the SDCC '14 exclusive) "Dragon Shield" seems to be the way Hasbro is deciding to name any other MMPR Ranger in the Green Ranger equipment now. For the purposes of this review I'm referring to him by the given Hasbro name, Dragon Shield Black Ranger.

By now this mold has seen a few releases. First with the SDCC Dragon Shield Red Ranger, then again with the Fighting Spirit Green Ranger. So if you've handled either of those, you're in for an identical experience here. Black Ranger of course has all the same solid standard articulation as the other uses of the mold. Full rotating rocker ankles as well as a clicking swivel joint for them to go back and forth give us a solid start. Above this is a shin swivel as well at the boot cuff, allowing you to rotate that portion of the leg 360 degrees below the knee if you wish. Then we get a very playful double jointed knee which allows you to fully bend the leg back in on itself. This is already great but there's a (tight) 360 thigh swivel as well as full hips with back/forth and outward motion. Going backward you will impact that good old sculpted butt plate again. But it far from kills the articulation. All of these cuts are executed in the traditional Marvel Legends/Star Wars Black/Lightning Collection Hasbro styling, doing their best to not be obtrusive to the character's design. I will say that this go around with the mold I noticed a lot more play in the lower body joints. The hips in particular are a bit loosey goosey so to speak.

Around Zack's waist is the ever iconic Power Morpher and belt. In this instance the Morpher is properly silver unlike the Green Ranger's gold one, and a new Mammoth coin is sculpted into it. On his left hip is a holster meant for the included Blade Blaster. However, where the SDCC Red Ranger releases included the smaller holstered version of Blade Blaster's dagger mode, Dragon Shield Black includes only the Blaster Mode. While it still fits into the holster just fine, it doesn't look quite right to see the back of the blaster mode sticking out from the hip like this. It's a strange omission to be sure, though one I'm certain may be in part due to cost concerns as well.

Like his mold mates, the Dragon Shield Black Ranger has a pretty big but flexible piece of chest armor, the Dragon Shield. Thankfully the soft rubbery type of material used for the chest shields in this line is rigid enough to hold shape properly, but also flexible enough to allow mostly free movement of the upper body. I'd like to mention that I'm glad Hasbro didn't skimp on the white diamonds under the armor either. It's a superfluous detail, but one I appreciate. The lower torso has the same satisfying ratchet ab joint I've come to appreciate from the line as well, and the ball jointed upper body. The combination of the two gives you quite a bit to work with when posing. The arms hit the sweet spot with that classic butterfly style shoulder joint. As you angle the shoulder back, the armor slides out to fill the gap and vice versa. There's a full 360 rotating bicep swivel, double jointed elbows, and the same peg style hands as the rest of the line. Honestly if nothing else the arms have been generally phenomenal on all the Lightning figures. Making a great compromise of form and function.

The Black Ranger's head round's out the figure. Nice and proportionate to the body, it's thankfully unobstructed by the shield armor. And owing to a standard ball jointed neck we get full rotation and plenty of back and forth with this one as well as an easy time of changing out for civilian heads across the line. Perhaps the only real issue with the head is the faint lines of silver or white along the nose of the mammoth design. The Red Ranger suffered from a total lack of detail, but it feels more apparent that it's a bit light here simply because of the very muted black colors of the helmet. Again, it's not a huge detriment to the figure, this is a another solid entry in the line. Just something worth pointing out. The rest of the overall details of the helmet are pretty sharp. While Lightning Collection figures are definitely bulkier than their older S.H. Figuarts counterparts, they do seem to fill out their respective designs a bit better. With armor that's seemingly more proportional to the body, these are wonderful representations of the actual designs. I was skeptical that I really needed to own this release, but once having it in hand I really had to eat my words. Hasbro is killing it with this line and the Dragon Shield Black Ranger is no different.

Accessories
Zack comes with just the right balance of accessories to work for him, but enough omissions to note as well:

2 - additional hands. The standard pair attached are partially open hands for holding the included weapons, though they aren't really sized properly. The grip of each hand is really only intended to hold the Power Axe in Blaster Mode. But even then the fingers to grip the actual trigger aren't in the right position. The alternate hands give us a single closed fist and a karate chop style palm. Great alternatives for sure, but I would have liked a pair of closed fists or some more variety for the weapon holding hands.

1 - Blade Blaster (Blaster Mode). In a very curious choice, Hasbro has opted to include the Blade Blaster, but only in Blaster form. Meaning that when holstered in the Black Ranger's belt, it's entirely inaccurate. In all Zyuranger footage, and even in American produced MMPR suit footage, the Blade Blaster is always closed and collapsed when holstered. This is even true of the "Zyu2" footage from which Dragon Shield Black Ranger originates. Though it's appearance is brief, the Blade Blaster is still seen to be properly holstered. You can hide the butt of the gun at certain angles but it just isn't the right accessory. If we were going to get the blaster, then they should have also included the holstered form too, which is what the SDCC Red Ranger came with. Both.

1 - Power Axe. A re-pack of the accessory included with the SDCC Red Ranger, the Power Axe is a nice beefy compliment to the Black Ranger. What I really appreciate about it though is that it's functional. The sliding mechanism of the barrel allows you to display it as either the Axe or Blaster modes. As I mentioned above, the grip for blaster mode is a bit too large to be held properly by the included hands, but this is even more apparent with the axe handle. It's an incredibly thick handle, and you will have to stretch the hands a bit to make him hold it correctly. Since this is a repack of the weapon which came with SDCC Red Ranger, it can also combine with the other Power Weapons if you so choose.

1 - Power Axe Blaster Effect. While we've seen some reuses of effec parts in the line, this new one is designed specifically for use with the Blaster Mode of the Power Axe. A swirling blue blaster effect that plugs snugly over the end of the blaster mode, it really helps sell the power of this form, even though Zack never had the opportunity to use his axe during his brief run with this form. I do question how much use I'll get out of it in the future given it's specificity. But I really love it regardless.

1 - Zack Taylor civilian head. The real hallmark of the Lightning Collection, the civilian heads are always a welcome addition, even if I don't get a ton of use out of them. I've seen a fair few people gripe about the likeness of Zach's head, but I find that it comes across as much more genuine in person than in photos.

So Zack comes with a lot, but again I'm disappointed by the hand choices as well as the really odd Blade Blaster mix-up. Hasbro gave us more with this figure than was even featured in the forms' sole appearance though, so that's nice. But if they were going to go the extra mile I would have liked a Dragon Dagger. Even the Figuart of this form didn't give us one of those, though it did opt to include the old and very seldom seen Thunder Slinger.

Final Thoughts
As a Walgreens (and other international retailers) exclusive, the Dragon Shield Black Ranger really fits the bill perfectly. It's an insanely cool form, but one that's largely unnecessary as well. It has less than 60 seconds worth of screen time to it's name, but is something collector's will buy. Making for one hell of a smart store exclusive. I'd highly recommend picking up this exclusive should you see it in stores in the near future.

Part 2

We already saw not just the Dragon Shield mold but even the Power Axe from DS Red, so really the only new pieces here are the two headsculpts. And they're pretty gorgeous, actually! It's especially nice to see that after Red's helmet being... debatable, Black is pretty damn spot on.

Sadly none of the Walgreens near me have him. Gonna have to pay double for him, unfortunately.

Well it's just not out across the states. You should probably wait until the end of November before going for higher prices.

I live that the moth breaker can transform. The sliding part is a very nice touch.

While not show accurate, I never really had a problem with the blade blaster being in gun mode mainly cuz all the old toys had it the same way but can anyone confirm if the Legacy blasters fit? I know they’re bigger but just wondering.