TFW2005HisstankTokuNationToyark
Tokunation › Bandai America › Page 4

under Power Rangers

Strap in folks, this one is big.

It was announced in a short press release that Bandai America is no longer going to be the partner for Saban Brands for the Power Rangers toy franchise. The press release is below.

After a successful 25-year partnership building the iconic action franchise, Power Rangers, Saban Brands and Bandai have mutually agreed not to renew their global Power Rangers master toy license agreement, effective April 2019. Bandai will continue to support Power Rangers, including the 2018 commemoration of the Power Rangers 25th anniversary and the current season, Super Ninja Steel. In addition, Bandai, through its partnership with Toei Company Ltd., will continue to exploit toy rights for the Super Sentai series, which has enjoyed over 40 years of success, in Japan and select other Asian territories.

We have more details and will announce them shortly.

under Power Rangers, Toy Fair

The Nuremberg Toy Fair is one of the largest Toy Fair gatherings in all of Europe and is often the first place to see brand new product. This year did not disappoint for those in attendance. Thanks to Power Rangers Deutschland on Facebook, we have images from Bandai‘s product book that gives us our first look at the upcoming Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel Gorilla Sniper Zord and Ninja Comm!

The Gorilla Sniper Zord was seen at the London Toy Fair. It is a Megazord-sized mecha that fires darts but does not have any combining features. The Ninja Comm is the communications device used by the Power Rangers Ninja Steel and is the first non-Legacy communicator to see a release.

Check out both images after the jump! Will these be joining your collection? Let us know in our discussion thread for the Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel Gorilla Sniper Zord and Ninja Comm!

under Power Rangers

Quite the interesting entry has been discovered on Amazon.com. Found by @PowerRangerTalk on Twitter, there is an Amazon listing for a Power Rangers Legacy Super Zeo Gems Collectable Set. The description of the listing is as follows:

  • Harness the power of the Zeo Rangers with the Power Rangers Legacy die-cast Super Zeo Gems set
  • Each gem has been masterfully replicated with high quality die-cast parts so you can relive epic moments from the show
  • The set includes all 5 of the Power Rangers’ gems
  • Hold a piece of Power Rangers history in the palm of your hand, show it off in its display packaging, or combine it with the Power Rangers Legacy edition Morpher (not included)
  • The Power Rangers Legacy die-cast Super Zeo Gems set is an essential addition to any Power Rangers collection!

A pretty solid description for items shown only once in Power Rangers Zeo! Either way it is nice to see the Legacy line of Power Rangers continue to tread past the days of Mighty Morphin. Check out the listing on Amazon by clicking here. There is no release date or price at this time.

For those unfamiliar with the item – when Trey of Triforia passed the Gold Ranger powers to Jason, he left the Power Rangers Zeo with a gift – the Super Zeo Gems! Zordon had assumed they were lost forever (and that was the end of their lore) and was excited that they were back. Jason, using the Golden Power Staff, was able to reactivate the Super Zeo Gems to activate the brand new Super Zeo Zords which would combine to form the Super Zeo Megazord.

If the Power Rangers Zeo Legacy Super Zeo Gems comes to be will it be joining your collection? Sound off in our discussion thread!

under Power Rangers

The next series of the Power Rangers Legacy 6.5″ figures have been found! Brandon E. posted on the Power Rangers Buyers, Traders, and Sellers Facebook page that he had found Power Rangers Legacy 6.5″ Dino Thunder Black Ranger and Zeo Blue Ranger at his local Meijer store in Ohio.

The Power Rangers Legacy 6.5″ Zeo Red Ranger has been spotted in a case refresh pack of Series 04 figures and is most likely in this new case assortment as well.

Still no word or sighting of the missing female figures. Power Rangers Legacy 6.5″ Zeo Yellow Ranger was listed as Series 04 but as Series 05 is now hitting the shelves, we have yet to see her appear yet. As soon as something pops up we’ll let you know.

Have you spotted new Power Rangers Legacy toys? If so, post about it in our Sightings Forum, which has threads broken down for each state and for countries outside the United States too!

under Power Rangers

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Power Rangers. In celebration of this historic milestone for the Power Rangers, Saban Brands in partnership with Bandai America, nWay, BOOM! Studios, and Imaginext, plan to reveal their Top 25 for the 25th, a new segment that will celebrate the Top 25 items releasing this year for the 25th Anniversary of the Power Rangers.

The first showcase is none other than the recent release of the iconic auto-morphin figures first released with the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers toy line. Available now at retailers are the Mighty Morphin Red Ranger, Pink Ranger, and Green Ranger. Also announced today is that the Blue Ranger, Black Ranger, and Yellow Ranger will be available to purchase this fall.

On top of that – RangerNation.com has been updated to be a brand new website! There’s an interactive museum with facts about each season of Power Rangers, a section where you can ask Zordon a question, morph back to the Internet circa 1993, and of course the 25 for the 25th feature.

Check out the full press release by clicking “Read More”!

[Read more…]

under Power Rangers, Toy Fair

The hype for the 25th Anniversary of Power Rangers will have to wait – at least from Bandai America. We reported on Twitter last week (follow us @TokuNation on Twitter!) that Bandai America did not have an exhibitor booth for the upcoming Toy Fair 2018 event held at the end of February. That information is readily available for everyone by browsing through the exhibitor list at the Toy Fair New York City website. They do have a meeting room registered to them so we held back on posting a news story until we reached out to Bandai America regarding their Toy Fair New York City plans.

Well, we reached out and got a response.

Bandai America will not have an exhibitor booth at this year’s Toy Fair 2018. No marketing or media representatives will be traveling to the tradeshow this year. The only representatives from Bandai America that will be in attendance are sales representatives. Here is the response we received:

Thank you for reaching out to Bandai. We will not be hosting a booth on the floor of New York Toy Fair this year. You can find images and descriptions of our key items on the official New York Toy Fair Press site. Thanks! -Bandai

This will undoubtedly come as a disappointment to many fans who were hoping to kick off the 25th Anniversary of Power Rangers with excitement and anticipation. Whether or not Bandai America has new product at the show at all is unknown and perhaps other outlets will receive the courtesy to report on those products. We do know some of the products making their way out this year thanks to Bandai UK‘s exhibitor booth at the Toy Fair 2018 London event. You can find those updates by clicking here, here and here.

While this may be discouraging to collectors and adult fans we do hope you will exercise patience before passing judgement on the year itself as a whole. Our friends at Saban Brands have assured us there is so much more to come in terms of the 25th Anniversary of Power Rangers. After all, Toy Fair is a tradeshow not meant for collectors and press coverage akin to San Diego Comic Con or New York Comic Con.

We will continue to update you as news and information trickles out from this year’s Toy Fair, especially from other licensees of the Power Rangers brand.

under Power Rangers

NOTE: The list of closures includes Babies’R’Us stores but are not specifically notated in the list provided. Please check the address of the store(s) closing in your area to determine if it is a Toys’R’Us, Babies’R’Us, or a combination location.

We all knew this was coming. And at times like this it’s best to just rip off the bandaid rather than make it slow and painful. Toys’R’Us announced today through court filings regarding it’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy that it will close 182 stores across the United States.

If you haven’t been following the story regarding Toys’R’Us and it’s ongoing bankruptcy issues, the holiday season was not a strong one for the embattled retailer. Overall sales for the classic toy store were down anywhere from 10% to 20% of projections which helped lead to the decision to cut ties with under-performing stores or stores with unfavorable leases.

As if a punch to your gut wasn’t enough – these are labeled as “initial” closings. Some of these stores may be turned in to Babies’R’Us and Toys’R’Us combo stores while other stores may end up on the chopping block as well. There is a slight chance that a few of the stores listed for closure will remain open if leases with landowners can be restructured.

How does this have any relation to a website about tokusatsu, you ask? Bandai America has partnered with Toys’R’Us to be their primary exclusive retailer option, where the Power Rangers Legacy line first premiered and has continued to offer exclusive offerings (namely every Megazord released thus far). One of the primary reasons for the Toys’R’Us Chapter 11 bankruptcy was due to the fact that Toys’R’Us was unable to pay the toy companies (especially Mattel and Hasbro) for the product that they ordered to carry in their stores. That inability to pay caused less than projected profit numbers for toy companies in Q4 of 2017. Some fans speculate that the lack of any new Power Rangers Legacy Megazords (looking at you, Legacy Shogun Megazord) is due to the fact Toys’R’Us is currently involved in these Chapter 11 bankruptcy dealings. Hopefully we will have more information on that specific item, and future Legacy Megazord items, at next month’s Toy Fair New York City.

For a full list of stores closing in the United States, please click “Read More”. For our friends in Canada, there are currently no plans to close any Toys’R’Us stores in Canada.

[Read more…]

under Conventions, Other Conventions, Power Rangers, Toy Fair

We’ve only just begun reporting our findings from London Toy Fair 2018, but unfortunately the entire Bandai Power Rangers display is currently under a photo ban. Which is pretty typical for these events and held true at last year’s London Toy Fair as well. However, someone at the show was apparently daring enough to snap at least one picture., and this is kind of  a big one. Now we have our very first look at the Power Rangers Legacy 6.5″ Red & Blue Psycho Rangers!

TokuNation user thedangerranger was kind enough to share this image on our forums. From what we can gather, these figures are not in a prominent area of the Bandai UK display space. Given that they aren’t even standing up properly, it’s even possible they may have been totally overlooked. From what we can see though the sculpt looks on point for both and each appears to include their appropriate weapon as well, Red’s Psycho Sword & Blue’s Psycho Axe. When and if a better look at these figure from the event becomes available we hope to be able to share it with you!

under Power Morphicon, Power Rangers

Highly speculated since it’s announcement and confirmed today through @bboyrealm on Twitter (guest relations at Power Morphicon), the BOOM! Studios creation Lord Drakkon will be joining the Legacy 6.5″ figure collection of Power Rangers. As an exclusive to this year’s Power Morphicon, you will need to register at the show and purchase the figure separately after you’ve registered.

Lord Drakkon first appeared in the BOOM! Studios comic book series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. In an alternate reality where Tommy chose to stay with Rita Repulsa, Tommy destroyed the Power Rangers and combined the Green Ranger and White Ranger powers to become the evil Lord Drakkon! He will be featured prominently in the upcoming comic event Shattered Grid, where Power Rangers from all over time will need to come together to defeat him once and for all.

You can register for Power Morphicon 2018 by clicking here.

under Power Rangers

Thanks to GrnRngr.com’s Facebook page we have press photos for the upcoming 5th series of the Power Rangers Legacy 6.5″ figures. This series has already started bleeding in to stores with the Zeo Red Ranger showing up in Series 4 case assortment refreshes. The wave is as follows:

– Zeo Red Ranger
– Zeo Blue Ranger
– Zeo Pink Ranger
– Dino Thunder Black Ranger
– Dino Thunder Yellow Ranger

We know that at least one case assortment that will be hitting stores will contain only the male figures. The female figures have yet to be seen in package, in production, or anywhere really. We’re still awaiting an update on the Zeo Yellow Ranger, who is part of the Series 4 figures and yet has not been released.

The press photos do not appear accurate to what is going to be released. Many of the “shiny gold” parts of the figures end up being a dull orange color instead. This change first started with the Series 4 figures and continues int he Series 5 figures. Hopefully we will have some answers at Toy Fair next month as to why.