Why do I get them confused? Every time I go to say "Power Rangers", I say "Transformers". I mean, honestly! They are NOTHING alike but I've got them muddled in my head. Obviously, this is because I am A GIRL. I know nothing of these things. (We'll skip over the fact I am also too old for either to have been around when I was actually a girl.. cough) I am rubbish.
Monkey, however, being a boy and into all these things, knows the difference and laughs when I get it wrong. He can't even take pity on his own mother. Tut.
So, we were sent some Power Rangers in our last Toyologist box. Apparently, they're new ones - the Samurai Rangers first appeared on television earlier in the year looking much the same to me. But what do I know?
We got sent a 16cm figure in red and a Disc Cycle with a 10cm blue figure. Rumour has it that the blue one is called Kevin which doesn't sound very Samurai to me.
The bigger figure has a spinning head that Monkey thinks is "magic". Basically, you can change the head from "Power Ranger" to "Samurai" - that's the "morphin" bit. Or it could be "Paperboy", given that he looks like he's wearing a balaclava. Apart from that, he doesn't do much. His arms move from the shoulder and his hands are shaped to grasp whateveritis that Power Rangers grasp. But that's it - I was disappointed that the legs don't move so all you can do with it is have hands by the sides or up in full zombie mode.
The disc cycle looks quite striking. It has a big spinning engine that is operated by the front wheel, which means it spins backwards as the cycle moves forward. The figure doesn't do much - it's shaped to fit as a passenger on the cycle and again, his arms are jointed from the shoulder. I think that's a shame as that limits what a child can do with it and these things are fired by children's imagination, isn't it? Still, Monkey liked the design of the cycle - he liked the spinning engine - and the colour. This is, on the one hand, understandable as he loves blue, and mystifying - as he also loves red and never once mentioned the colour of the red figure. That's my children, you see - fickle.
Apparently, the cycles can be used with the Megazord if you have one. We don't so couldn't try it but the image I saw, it looks like you need two cycles to do this successfully.
Do we like them? Monkey, unequivocally, yes. Me, not so sure. Nothing against Power Rangers per se, but I would expect the figures to be manoeuvrable, thus giving a child more options when indulging in imaginative play.
And I really think they need to choose better names than "Kevin the blue ranger". I'm still sniggering, but then, as I said, I am A GIRL. What do I know?
(Photos to be added later, having technical issues!)
(I was provided with the above toys to review and have received no other compensation. The opinions stated here are my own, and have not been influenced by the aforementioned compensation.)