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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, 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, Super Sentai

Another image from Figuroh magazine has surfaced. While this page might be featuring the forthcoming Figuarts Black RX and Acrobatter renewal releases the scan reveals that following Mammoth Ranger, the next of the Zyuranger and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers figures will be none other than Tricera Ranger!

Unfortunately, the image is so small that none of his release details can be made out more on that when it becomes available.

under Conventions, Other Conventions, Power Rangers

As many of you know, we’re really big in to conventions. Each year we travel to the big shows to bring you images, news, and galleries of all the exclusive toys that are for sale or on display. But every once in awhile, something hits close to home that gets us excited. At the 2014 Denver Comic Con, the show is going to be morphin … Mighty Morphin!

Denver Comic Con has confirmed our earlier report that Jason David Frank would be in attendance at the 2014 show. What we DIDN’T know is that Robert Axelrod, the voice of the villainous Lord Zedd, is also going to be in attendance. The show is truly going to be Mighty Morphin with these special guests lined up!

– Jason David Frank (Mighty Morphin Green Ranger, Mighty Morphin White Ranger, Zeo Red Ranger, Dino Thunder Black Ranger)
– Walter Jones (Mighty Morphin Black Ranger)
– David Yost (Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger)
– Robert Axelrod (Lord Zedd in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, and Power Rangers In Space)

If you live anywhere close to the Denver, Colorado are and you’ve always wanted to attend a Comic Con, then do yourself a favor – register right now and join us at the show! Denver Comic Con runs June 13th thru the 15th in 2014 at the Denver Convention Center. Tickets for each day and full 3 day passes are on sale now. Join TokuNation.com owner and administrator Kickback at the show!

under Conventions, Other Conventions, Power Morphicon, Power Rangers

Thanks to a posting on his Official Facebook Page, the legendary hero of your childhood, Jason David Frank, will be attending a number of shows for 2014! Among one of his stops is one of the fastest growing and popular shows – Denver Comic Con! Jason David Frank will join Walter Jones (the Mighty Morphin Black Ranger) and David Yost (the Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger) as the first tokusatsu related guests at the third annual Denver Comic Con June 13th-15th 2014.

For those who don’t remember off the top of your head who Jason David Frank is – he played the Mighty Morphin Green Ranger, Mighty Morphin White Ranger, Zeo Red Ranger, Turbo Red Ranger, Dino Thunder Black Ranger, and is set to reprise his Mighty Morphin Power Rangers roles in the 2014 series Power Rangers Super Megaforce in a special episode.

But now for some sad news – based on the scheduled date for Wizard World Chicago, it would appear that Jason David Frank will NOT be attending 2014’s Power Morphicon convention (the official Power Rangers convention). Power Morphicon takes place August 22nd-24th 2014, and Wizard World Chicago takes place August 21st-24th 2014. Jason is currently scheduled as a guest at Wizard World Chicago for their 2014 show and the dates conflict.

If you live in the middle United States and would like to experience a great show, be sure to register for Denver Comic Con as tickets are going fast. TokuNation will be in attendance at the show to bring you pictures and any news that comes up at the show.

There has been no official announcement from Denver Comic Con regarding Jason David Frank’s attendance, nor is there any update from Power Morphicon on whether or not the iconic Power Ranger is or is not attending the official convention. As soon as there is we will bring the news to you.

under Super Sentai

Jeff Pruit, a director and stunt coordinator for early Power Rangers episodes, has released some video footage of the filming of Dairanger (recorded in preparation for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2).

This gives us some incredibly rare firsthand looks at the extensive work that goes into filming a Super Sentai series, examining everything from suit work to stunt filming!

under Power Rangers

Happy Thanksgiving! And to celebrate, here’s a video encode from our good friend Fury Diamond of RangerCrew.com! Check out the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers join forces with the Power Rangers Super Megaforce!

The video contains both the encodes from NBC as well as CBS. It’s important to note that CBS was obviously reading an out-dated fact sheet, naming the Power Rangers Samurai characters instead of the Power Rangers Megaforce characters.

Are you excited for Super Megaforce? Let us know! And be sure to check out all of Fury Diamond‘s stuff at his blog, SamuraiCast Blog!

Go Go Megaforce!

under Conventions, Other Conventions

If you haven’t heard of Denver Comic Con then it’s time you got yourself familiarized! The first show happened in 2012 and was met with great praise for being well-organized and a fun experience. Then in 2013, they were met with record number increases, so much that they had to turn people away from entering the show, as it was entirely sold out (we’re talking an increase from a few thousand to TENS of THOUSANDS with people getting in line for tickets at 1am)!

And now in 2014 they are finally dabbling in the genre of tokusatsu, announcing David Yost (the Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger) and Walter Jones (the original Mighty Morphin Black Ranger) as special guests. Both Yost and Jones are still relatively new to the convention circuits, only recently in the last year or so getting in to conventions.

Denver Comic Con will be held June 13th, 14th, and 15th at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver, Colorado. Tickets go on sale Cyber Monday (Monday, December 2nd).

Click here for more information on Denver Comic Con!

I will be at the show – will you?