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under Power Rangers

With the premiere date of Power Rangers Super Megaforce set for February 15th, the powers-that-be have (finally) begun to shine the light on our Super Mega Rangers! The official Nickelodeon website for Power Rangers Super Megaforce has updated with a Super Mega look and feel.

Click the title of the story to check out all the helmetless pictures of your Super Megaforce Power Rangers! The premiere is less than a month away … are you excited and hyped? Are you ready … to Unlock the Power and make your year Legendary? Discuss it with us! Go Go (Super) Megaforce! Thanks to RangerCrew for the heads up!

under Power Rangers

The much-publicized anniversary season at last has a release date!

According to TV Guide, the 21st season will begin Saturday, February 15 at 12pm Eastern Time!

Also included is a special new teaser of Super Megaforce actions!

Set your recording devices & be sure to tune in!

under Conventions, Other Conventions, Power Rangers

The UK Toy Fair 2014 begins on January 21st, and as a preview for the event, UK Toy News Magazine had some preview images and information for the Bandai portion of the event! For those curious…

– Power Rangers Super Megaforce to begin airing this summer in the UK
– Power Rangers Super Megaforce toys to hit UK toy shelves this summer (including zords, figures, and keys)
– Digimon Fusion also making it’s way to the UK
– Power Rangers Megaforce costumes by Rubie‘s!

While TokuNation.com will not have a representative at the UK Toy Fair 2014, we will be sure to bring you any and all coverage that comes across our eyes. But we WILL be in attendance at US Toy Fair 2014 this February, with a special tour scheduled with Bandai of America! So stay tuned! For our UK friends, are you excited to see Power Rangers Super Megaforce toys hitting your local toy stores?

under Power Rangers

A surprising new entry almost flew under our radar this week- the “Complete Series” collection for Power Rangers Samurai is now available on Amazon.com!

Listed as a “manufactured-on-demand” item, the set contains 5 discs and is available for the very reasonable price of 19.98 USD.

under Power Rangers, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Power Rangers, we asked the users at TokuNation to rank who they thought the 10 Best Power Rangers were (with #1 being, of course, their top choice). We then took the nominations, what rank they were, and assigned each rank a certain numerical value that would allow them to be added and averaged in a fair way. In overwhelming fashion (literally more than twice the number that the #2 entrant received), the fans at TokuNation.com selected Jason David Frank – who played Tommy Oliver the Green Ranger and White Ranger from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the Red Ranger for both Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers Turbo, and finally the Black Ranger from Power Rangers Dino Thunder – as the Greatest Power Ranger of All Time.

The character Tommy Oliver first appeared in the episode “Green With Evil Part 1” on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Tommy was the new kid in school and showcased an incredible, aggressive style of martial arts. He befriends Kimberly immediately, but as he’s supposed to meet her, Rita Repulsa appears and sends the Putty Patrol after him. Tommy is victorious, and Rita Repulsa decides that Tommy will be the one to wield the Dragon Coin and become her evil Green Ranger.

Given the Sword of Darkness, Tommy overpowers the other Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He separates the Red Ranger, Jason, away from the others and systematically picks them apart piece by piece, removing Zordon and Alpha 5 from the equation. Good always triumphs over evil however, and the Power Rangers restore Zordon, who shares Tommy’s secret identity with the team. Together, they destroy the Sword of Darkness, thus freeing Tommy from evil, and he, along with his mighty Dragonzord, join the team. At this point, Tommy is nothing more than reinforcements – while he will fight with the others in civilian form, his only scenes in the Green Ranger costume are to call forth the mighty Dragonzord to aid the others. However, Rita Repulsa uses the Green Candle to absorb Tommy’s powers. The others are unable to destroy the candle, and Tommy has to give his power coin to Jason, thus leaving the team.

But when you’re the Best Power Ranger of All Time, you never get to leave for good. When the other Power Rangers had their parents kidnapped and they were duped in to giving up their Power Coins, as well as losing the Dragon Dagger to Goldar, they brought Tommy back as their only hope for salvation. Zordon infused his own energy with the Green Power Coin, and Tommy’s Green Ranger powers were restored, at least for small bursts of time. As soon as he grabbed the box containing the Power Coins, his body absorbed the energy from the force field and restored his powers. Tommy, and the Green Ranger, were back!

Sadly, the Green Ranger powers were limited and destined to run out, this time for good. When Lord Zedd ousted Rita Repulsa and took over, he made it his primary goal to eliminate the Green Ranger once and for all. He would succeed, draining all of the Green Ranger energies, but not before Tommy saved the day one last time. With Lord Zedd stronger than ever, the Power Rangers knew they needed another 6th Ranger. Unbeknownst to the team, Zordon and Alpha 5 create the White Ranger, and in one of the most watched children’s television shows of all time, White Light Part 2, the White Ranger is revealed to be Tommy, his powers created completely from good powers and bestowed as the new team leader. With Tommy as the White Ranger and leader of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, they would defeat Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa time and time again.

When Goldar and Rito Revolto manage to destroy the Command Center, along with the arrival of the evil Machine Empire, Zordon uses the powerful Zeo Crystal to create the Power Rangers Zeo, with Tommy becoming the Red Ranger. When the evil space pirate Divatox arrives on Earth, Zordon creates the Turbo Powers to combat this new threat, giving creation to the Power Rangers Turbo. Tommy would continue to lead as the Red Ranger until he, and the others, decide that it’s time to pass on the power so they can continue on with the next phase of their lives. Tommy, as a race car driver, would leave the Power Rangers for many years (and miss out on some of the biggest battles!).

When General Venjix, a leftover from the evil Machine Empire, surfaces and attempts to restore Lord Zedd‘s personal zord, Serpentera, Tommy gathers a team of veteran Red Rangers to come together and destroy the Machine Empire once and for all in the episode “Forever Red”, which acted as the franchise’s 10th Anniversary special.

During all this down time, Tommy went to college and become a doctor of paleontology. He discovered the Dino Gems, mysterious jewels taken from the asteroid that crashed on Earth and killed the dinosaurs. When an evil creature known as Mesogag appears, Tommy knows he has to harness the energies of the gems to create a new team of Power Rangers. Three of his high school students stumble in to his secret lab and bond with the gems. With Tommy’s help, they morph in to the Power Rangers Dino Thunder, and Tommy is thrown in to the role of a mentor to his new team. But when he detects the presence of a fourth gem, Tommy goes to inform his students when he is kidnapped by Mesogag, who wants Tommy to show him how to free the Dino Gem from it’s prison. Through a twist of fate, Tommy ends up bonding with the gem and morphing in to the Dino Thunder Black Ranger, stating that he “might be old, but can still pull it off”. In one of the most beloved episodes of the entire franchise, Tommy winds up in a coma, fighting for his life, and ends up fighting his former incarnations – the Mighty Morphin Green & White Rangers, as well as the Zeo Red Ranger. Victory means life, defeat means death. When all is said and done, Tommy implies that he will stay in Reefside and continue teaching.

But you can’t keep the Best Power Ranger of All Time down. When The Armada overpowers the Power Rangers Super Megaforce, Tommy will once again take up the power to help save the world. Tommy will return as the Mighty Morphin Green Ranger in the series finale of Power Rangers Super Megaforce, airing in late 2014.

Jason David Frank is the actor who played Tommy Oliver for more episodes in the franchise than any other actor or character. Jason David Frank is a 7th degree black belt, an inductee in to the World Karate Union Hall of Fame, a Guinness Book of World Records record holder, an undefeated MMA Fighter, owner of the Rising Sun Karatae schools, creator of the clothing brand Jesus Didn’t Tap, an accomplished sky diver, an actor, a husband, a father, a reoccurring guest of the Wizard World convention circuit, and according to our users, The Best Power Ranger of All Time. Congratulations Jason David Frank.

Thank you to all the TokuNation.com users who participated in this event. We had over 75 different Power Rangers nominated, and we calculated all the nominations to create our Top 20 list. Please take a moment to review our Top 20, listed below:

20 – Danny Slavin (Leo, Lost Galaxy Red Ranger)
19 – Amy Jo Johnson (Kim, Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger)
18 – Chris Violette (Sky, SPD Blue Ranger)
17 – Valerie Vernon (Kendrix, Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger)
16 – Doggie Cruger (SPD Shadow Ranger)
15 – Brandon Jay McLaren (Jack, SPD Red Ranger)
14 – Erin Cahill (Jen, Time Force Pink Ranger)
13 – Matt Austin (Bridge, SPD Green Ranger)
12 – Ciara Hanna (Gia, Megaforce & Super Megaforce Yellow Ranger)
11 – Dan Ewing (RPM Black Ranger)
10 – Sean CW Johnson (Carter, Lightspeed Rescue Red Ranger)
9 – David de Lautour (RJ, Jungle Fury Wolf Ranger)
8 – Christopher Khayman Lee (Andros, In Space Red Ranger)
7 – Milo Cawthorne (Ziggy, RPM Green Ranger)
6 – David Yost (Billy, Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger)
5 – Dan Southworth (Eric, Quantum Ranger)
4 – Austin St. John/Jason Geiger (Jason, Mighty Morphin Red Ranger, Zeo Gold Ranger)
3 – Jason Faunt (Wes, Time Force Red Ranger)
2 – Johnny Yong Bosch (Adam, Mighty Morphin Black Ranger, Zeo Green Ranger, Turbo Green Ranger)
1 – Jason David Frank (Tommy, Mighty Morphin Green Ranger, Mighty Morphin White Ranger, Zeo Red Ranger, Turbo Red Ranger 1, Dino Thunder Black Ranger)

That was the list that YOU, our users, voted for! Thank you again so much for your participation in our celebration of the Top 20 Best Power Rangers of All Time in honor of the Power Rangers 20th Anniversary. Maybe we’ll revisit this for the 25th. Maybe. Thanks again, and congratulations to our Top 20!

under Power Rangers, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

The fans of TokuNation voted very heavily in favor of this character and actor as their 2nd Best Power Ranger of All Time, and that honor goes to the very-talented and very-popular Johnny Yong Bosch, who played the role of Adam Park, the second Black Ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, as well as the Green Ranger in both Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers Turbo.

Adam Park’s life forever changed the day he went rollerblading with his buddies Rocky and Aisha, as they ran in to Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy. Originally from the rival school Stone Canyon, he transferred to Angel Grove and in the process ended up being kidnapped by the evil Goldar. Discovering the hard way that you can’t wrestle snakes, Billy was forced to remove his helmet, leaving Adam as one of the only people to know the true identities of the Power Rangers. Eventually, a peace conference would occur and three Rangers would leave, and thus, Adam was selected to become the new Black Ranger of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

The character of Adam would go through a few different things – overcoming self-doubt and gaining self-confidence, being duped by Scorpina, developing a mild romance with fellow Zeo Ranger Yellow, Tanya, and would actually have two of his most memorable moments in the show (prior to his 15th Anniversary return) helping instill self confidence in to others.

Adam would eventually become a second-in-command to Tommy during Power Rangers Zeo (until Jason returned), and continue in that role briefly in Power Rangers Turbo. Adam would return in Power Rangers In Space, specifically the episode Always a Chance, where he would help the In Space Black Ranger, Carlos, to overcome his lack of self-confidence after he accidentally injured a fellow Ranger. He would morph back in to the Mighty Morphin Black Ranger, using the damaged (but not destroyed) Mastadon Power Coin, and would eventually have the powers give out entirely during the fight.

He would return again for the 15th Anniversary two-parter during Power Rangers Operation Overdrive titled Once A Ranger, where the son of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, a villain named Thrax, would severely damage the Operation Overdrive Rangers’ connection to the morphing grid, causing the Sentinel Knight to grab Adam, as well as other previous Power Rangers, and restore their power, creating a new team of Power Rangers. Adam would restore Alpha 6 from a storage unit and take him back to his dojo in Angel Grove.

Adam Park was played by the masterful Johnny Yong Bosch. Where Mighty Morphin Power Rangers launched his acting career, Johnny’s role as Vash the Stampede in the anime series Trigun would launch his anime career. He has had voicing roles in over 60 different anime movies and series, ranging from Akira to Gurren Lagann to even Pokemon. He’s also voiced some characters in video games, from Bumblebee to Zero to Nero. He continues to star in various films, teaming up with former Power Rangers director Koichi Sakamoto, and continues to do a majority of his own stunts. If that wasn’t enough to impress you, Johnny is also the lead singer in his own band titled Eyeshine, who continue to grow in popularity to this day. One can easily make the argument that Johnny Yong Bosch has gone on to have one of the most, if not THE most, impressive careers after Power Rangers. And you would agree, as you’ve voted him the 2nd Best Power Ranger of All Time.

So who will be number one? Pretty sure if you’re a Power Rangers fan you can figure this one out. If you’re not, you’ll still want to check back tomorrow when we announce the individual that TokuNation users have voted as the #1 Best Power Ranger of All Time. See you on New Year’s Eve!

under Power Rangers, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

In continuing the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Power Rangers, we had our users nominate their Top 10 Power Rangers of All Time, and from that, we created a Top 20 Power Rangers of All Time list. These updates are the results of what TokuNation users submitted. To start this entry off right – yes, we’re aware that it has been reported that Austin St. John’s real name is actually Jason Geiger. And we’ll touch on that later. But for now – TokuNation users have voted that Austin St. John/Jason Geiger is the 4th Best Power Ranger of All Time!

Jason Lee Scott was your ordinary teenager – great in school, totally ripped, martial artist, probably the head-everything in every sport – and to top off his normal teenage life, he was selected by intergalactic being Zordon to be the Red Ranger for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers once it was discovered that the evil Rita Repulsa has escaped her prison. He controlled the mighty Tyrannosaurus Dino Zord and led his friends and teammates, the other Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, in to battle anytime the forces of evil attacked.

Jason’s greatest challenge came when Rita Repulsa revealed that she had the Green Dragon Coin, and used it to create her own evil Power Ranger … the Green Ranger. She selected a new kid in town named Tommy Oliver, and he was nearly a match physically and martial arts ability against Jason. Jason and his friends would prevail and save Tommy from Rita’s evil spell allowing him to join the team. His greatest failure in his own eyes was when Rita used the Green Candle to drain the powers away from the Green Ranger. Jason was within grasp of the candle but his friends were on the brink of being destroyed, so he left. To save the Green Ranger powers from being lost back to Rita, Tommy gave his coin to Jason, and Jason gained the ability to summon the armor and weapon of the Green Ranger.

Time passed – Jason received the new Red Dragon Thunderzord – but at the cost of having to fight new villains under the evil of Lord Zedd. When push came to shove, the Power Rangers agreed they needed another Ranger to help. It was then that the White Ranger was revealed – created by Zordon and Alpha 5 – and Jason was stripped of his leadership of the team as it was given to the White Ranger. Soon after, Jason – along with Zack and Trini – would be selected to be part of a peace conference, and would leave the team.

It would be a couple of years until we saw Jason again. During Power Rangers Zeo, the Gold Ranger was in a dire straight – he had lost his focus, and thus, was unable to use the powers and needed to pass them to a pure of heart individual. When the power transfer failed with Billy, Tommy knew just who to call – and Jason became the Gold Ranger, helping the team fight King Mondo and the Machine Empire, even leading the team when Tommy went missing. In time, Jason’s body was unable to continue to hold the powers of the Gold Ranger, and it became a life and death situation – Jason’s life force was now connected to the powers, and if the powers left, so would his life force. With the help of the other Power Rangers Zeo, Jason was able to pass the powers back to Trey of Triforia.

Jason would have a guest role in the Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie film, and would not return again to the show until Power Rangers Wild Force, taking part in the Forever Red anniversary episode. It was never explained on or off screen just how exactly he got back the original Mighty Morphin Red Ranger powers.

Austin St. John is the screen-name for Jason Geiger. The reason for this is not officially known, although co-star Jason David Frank has stated that Jason Geiger was unhappy that so many “Jason”s were working on the show (Jason David Frank, Jason Narvy) … so wanting to stand out from his co-stars, he had his name switched to Austin St. John. Geiger states he left the show to take care of his mother, while other reports have stated it was over money. Geiger also states he returned to the show during Power Rangers Zeo because he received a phone call that ratings were down and they needed a boost. His appearance in the Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie was part of the contract he signed. His acting career never took off after Power Rangers, and it is now reported that he works as an EMT somewhere in the Baltimore/Washington DC area. There is apparently a feud between Jason Geiger and Jason David Frank, and while Geiger has been relatively quiet and a non-participant in anything Power Rangers related, Frank talks about it anytime someone asks a question about their work relationship.

We are now down to the final three results! What do you think of this result? Are you surprised the original Red Ranger ranked 4th and not 1st or 2nd, or even 3rd? Chime in! And stay tuned for tomorrow when we reveal your choice for third best Power Ranger of all time!

under Power Rangers, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Power Rangers, we asked our users earlier this year to rank their top 10 Power Rangers of all time. We took a hundred or so nomination lists, compiled them, and created from it a Top 20 Power Rangers of All Time to correspond with the 20th Anniversary. And as we wind down to our Top 5 list, we’re happy to state that TokuNation users have voted Daniel Southworth, who played Eric Myers the Quantum Ranger on Power Rangers Time Force as the 5th Best Power Ranger of All Time!

Eric Myers came from a “dirt poor” family, struggling and working incredibly hard to barely make ends meet. Attending the same private school as Wes Collins, Eric grew to despise Wes, who “had everything handed to him on a silver platter”. Eventually leaving the school to find bigger and better things, Eric would join the Silver Guardians, a private police force created by Wes’ father. Upon learning that Wes was the Red Time Force Power Ranger, it became Eric’s mission to somehow gain such a power like that for himself. He learned that the Power Rangers were searching for a device of incredible power, the Quantum powers. Eric found it first and became the Quantum Ranger. With his new power, he quickly convinced Mr. Collins to give him leadership of the Silver Guardians. Soon after, Eric was able to gain control of the Q-Rex Zord, the most powerful zord of the futuristic Time Force civilization, and his quest for “bigger and better” things had finally come to fruition.

Eric did not ally himself with the Power Rangers Time Force. He would assist them from time to time when they battled the same enemy, but Eric defended Mr. Collins and his questionable ethics and frequently butted heads with the other Power Rangers. It wasn’t until the final battle that Wes and Eric finally had a moment to speak their minds, declaring that while they grew up differently, they had both worked hard to change their destinies and became Power Rangers. The bitterness finally put to rest, Eric and Wes teamed together only for Eric to jump in front of a blast meant for Wes and his father, sacrificing himself to save them both. Eric would recover, but Wes would finish the fight without him.

Mr. Collins would offer the leadership of the new Silver Guardians to Wes, who would accept only if Eric would be his partner. Eric (along with Wes) would make multiple appearances in the next series, Power Rangers Wild Force, both for the annual team-up episode and for the special Forever Red 10th anniversary episode. The Quantum Ranger was the first (and only) 6th Ranger to achieve a “battleizer” power-up mode. Daniel Southworth, who played Eric Myers, was an accomplished stuntman who performed a majority of all the stunts for his character.

Daniel Southworth is an accomplished stuntman, actor, and is beloved among the Power Rangers fan community. Many have listed him as their favorite Power Ranger, and he consistently gives Jason David Frank a run for his money as peoples’ favorite 6th Ranger. He has attended numerous conventions over the years and has always treated his adoring fans with kindness, respect, and gratitude. Daniel has never stopped acting since his role in Power Rangers Time Force, having been in movies, television shows, short films, and voice work in video games like Marvel vs. Capcom and Devil May Cry. The list is long, almost too long to post, so head over to his IMDB profile and take a look at some of his credentials.

We’re winding down to our final 4 positions in the Top 20 Power Rangers of All Time list! Is Daniel Southworth in the correct spot? Should he have been higher? Lower? Talk about it! And see if you can figure out who the remaining 4 entrants are and, more importantly, what position they ranked in our polls!

under Power Rangers, Super Sentai

For the Power Rangers fans who have looked at, dissected, analyzed, and maybe even obsessed over the era that is known as “the final episodes of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers season 1 and the first handful from season 2″, this is, honestly, akin to finding the Holy Grail. For those of you who do not follow Power Rangers that closely, you’re probably wondering what the heck “zyu2” means. Well, let’s get in to that real quick.

When Mighty Morphin Power Rangers first hit the airwaves, no one expected it to become the huge pop-culture phenomenon – not Fox, not Saban, and not TOEI. The thing was it DID become the huge major success that has lasted 20 years now. Now for a bit of a history lesson.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was an adaption of Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. The Sentai show lasted 50 some episodes, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers took just about every usable piece of footage they could from its Sentai counterpart. And that’s when the unthinkable happened – there was no more Zyuranger footage to use – and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers had become the biggest toy line and kids show of the 1990’s. Frankly, Saban couldn’t afford to let the show end. It was at that time that Saban reached out to TOEI (the creators of the Super Sentai franchise) and they struck a deal – new footage would be filmed by TOEI for use in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Saban then negotiated the rights for use of Gosei Sentai Dairanger, which result in both the Thunderzords and the White Ranger, as well as all the monsters.

That footage that TOEI created became known to the fandom as Zyu2 – short for Zyuranger 2 – and for years fans have speculated on a literal frame-by-frame analysis. See, there’s a number of monsters from the Zyu2 period that were filmed fighting the original Megazord and Dragonzord, but Saban introduced the Thunderzords early (yay toy sales!), meaning a handful of monsters at the tail-end of the Zyu2 footage had cut/paste battles (ie: you see the Thunder Megazord throw a punch, then cut to the monster who sparks and falls back). The editing was sloppy and at times you can easily make out the original Megazord in the battle when the Thunder Megazord is what the show is intending you to think is fighting the monster. Or in some cases, the monster didn’t grow to super-size to fight the Megazords, which was almost a 100% certainty in the show.

And an announcement came from GrnRngr of GrnRngr.com that he has come in to possession of never-before-seen Zyu2 footage and will release it via his website soon. To prove his point, he released a short video clip show-casing the Bloom of Doom and Invenusable Flytrap growing for a Megazord battle – something they didn’t do in the actual episodes. The footage is in forms of episode blocks, and he states that for each block, there is anywhere from 20% to 50% brand new footage that has never been seen. This could be anything from fight scenes with the Power Rangers to Megazord battles with the Dino Zords and Dragonzord that was cut out in favor of copy/pasting Thunder Megazord footage.

It’s kind of a big deal for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fans. You have to see it to believe it – click here to check out the GrnRngr.com teaser! So what do you think? Are you excited about this never before seen footage? Do you care? As GrnRngr.com updates the fandom on the Zyu2 footage, we will feature his updates. Until then, check out his site – it is an excellent resource for toys and Zyu2 and Zyu 1.5 footage.

under Power Rangers, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

The celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Power Rangers continues! The users of the TokuNation forums listed their Top 10 Power Rangers and we compiled all their nominations in to a giant list and picked the Top 20, and now, we present to you the TokuNation Users’ Top 20 Power Rangers of All Time! And as we get closer to #1, it shouldn’t be surprising to see more of the original cast make their presence felt. With that, TokuNation users have voted David Yost, who played Billy Cranston the Blue Ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, as the 6th Best Power Ranger of All Time!

Billy started off as, honestly, a really big nerd. He had the super thick glasses, the rather cowardice persona (especially in battle), and spoke using really big, giant words. As the show and his character progressed, he would lose the glasses, lose the suspenders, and become quite an accomplished martial artist in the show (he even had more love interests than Zack, Jason, Rocky, or Adam). He created the communicators, allowing the Power Rangers to stay in touch with Zordon. He created the Rad Bug as a means to travel great distances when teleportation wasn’t available (whatever happened to that anyway?).

During the third season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the evil Master Vile turned back time causing our heroes to become children. No longer able to morph in to battle, Billy figures out a way to use the Ninja Power Coins to revert the Rangers back to their adult selves. But before he can use the technique on anyone other than himself, the villains manage to destroy the coins, leaving the Power Rangers without any power (and they were still children). The only other way to save the world was to go back through time and recollect the pieces of the Zeo Crystal, which was shattered and sent through time and space to keep Lord Zedd from using the power for his own purposes. With the help of Billy and the Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers of Aquatar, the Zeo Crystal was reunited and the Power Rangers Zeo were born.

However, Billy chose to take on a mentor role, giving his crystal (that’s the quote!) to Tanya, who became Zeo Ranger II, Yellow. When the mysterious Gold Ranger appeared, the others suspected that Billy may actually be him. Much to the disdain of kids everywhere, despite all the obvious hints that it was, the Gold Ranger turned out to be an alien, and eventually the powers went to Jason, the original Mighty Morphin Red Ranger. The after-effects of the “turn you back in to an adult” experiment that Billy did ended up backfiring, as he began to age uncontrollably. Special water was brought from Aquatar to try and stop the process, but it wasn’t enough … he would have to go back to Aquatar for treatment. After he got there, he announced he had fallen in love, and was not returning. And thus, the Age of Billy came to an end.

David Yost is the actor who played Billy Cranston. He was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa (Iowa natives represent!) and landed his first major role in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. For many years fans speculated why David Yost left Power Rangers Zeo as the final two episodes with him had his character played by an old man and a horrible voice dub with static, previously-recorded footage in the final scene. In 2012, David Yost broke his silence with an interview stating that he was gay and that he left the show because of the constant harassment from the production staff nearly drove him to be suicidal. A former production member of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Power Rangers Zeo chimed in very briefly that David was selfish and left the show after not being offered “Power Ranger money” for a non-Power Ranger role, which his character had developed in to. Whatever the case may be, the Power Rangers franchise lost a great piece the day David Yost left the show. David has gotten in to production, with his last big project being a segment producer on the show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

David Yost was offered a chance to return for the anniversary episode of Power Rangers Super Megaforce, but declined citing the non-personal invitation (the letter started “Dear Power Ranger”) as well as horrible grammar throughout. A later statement hinted that a number of individuals involved with the show when he left were back with the show again, leading to the assumption that he had no desire to reunite with those that tormented him in his youth.

For those wanting to see David Yost in 2014, there’s good news – he’s on the convention road! You can see him, as well as the entire cast of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (exceptions being Thuy Trang -RIP-, and Jason Geiger/Austin St. John) at the next Lexington Comic Con. You can also see him at this summer’s Denver Comic Con, appearing with Walter Jones and Jason David Frank. TokuNation will be at both those shows – so we’ll see you there!

What are your thoughts on David Yost’s placement in our Top 20 Power Rangers of All Time? Should he be higher? Lower? Or is he right where he should be? Post your thoughts! And stay tuned for the next announcement on our placement, coming sooner than you think!!