#PowerMonth: Ninja Turtles/Power Rangers Lightning Collection

 

On Thursday, it was revealed Shredder/Green Ranger. On Fan First Friday, they had the design team and Ryan Parrott, writer for the Boom! Comics crossover. The design team clarified that they had to merge the various comic designs for Shredder to get the look for the figure. Artists drew him differently on the cover and comic pages. The Fan First Friday last week went over each figure and behind the scenes trivia. 

Pre-Order:

https://hasbropulse.com/products/power-rangers-x-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-lightning-collection-morphed-shredder

#PowerMonth: More Ninja Turtles Rangers

Michangelo and April O'Neal Rangers were revealed yesterday.

And today Raphael/Tommy 2-pack was revealed. This is based on the Power Rangers/Ninja Turtles crossover in the comics from 2 years ago. Tommy is dressed as a foot solider. 

Pre-Order today: https://www.entertainmentearth.com/product/HSF2968?&utm_source=Hasbro&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=product-20210805&utm_content=PRxTMNT

#PowerMonth: Leonardo and Donatello Rangers

 

This August is #PowerMonth and reveals every day (supposedly). I will believe it when I see it on August 7, Saturday is my birthday so I am hoping for a woozy, but who knows, it's all coincidence. Today's reveal is Leonardo and Donatello of the Ninja Turtles as Rangers. This is from the comics crossover two years ago. 

Pre-Orders online now
Entertainment Earth, Big Bad Toy Store, Dorkside Toys, The Chosen Prime, The Toy Source

35-21: Lavender Ranger's Top 100 Power Rangers Episodes

This episodes were accumulated by a mixture of two questionnaires I did, polls on the blog and ranking of best seasons. For example, the top 5 seasons were voted by you guys to be MMPR, In Space, RPM, Time Force and Zeo. Then with that base, they were ranked up and down and mixed up.

100-80: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2013/07/100-80-lavender-rangers-top-100-power.html

66-79: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2013/07/79-66-lavender-rangers-top-100-episodes.html

 66-51: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2013/07/65-51-lavender-rangers-top-100-power.html

50-36: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2013/07/36-50-lavender-rangers-top-100-power.html

35. From Out of Nowhere (In Space)
These two episodes were great in that it establishes the world of “In Space” with Dark Specter, Astronema, Andros and the Astro Megaship. Not only that, we see all the past villains together in one place. We went from something so terrestrial as cars the previous season to space ships and foreign planets, a space saga. What was awesome was to see Andros slowly turn around in accepting the Rangers.

34. Fowl Play in the Sky (MMPR)

This episode is important to me and it almost fell out of the countdown. Some people might think that 'oh, this episode doesn't belong here or how does it outrank this other episode?' but I don't think of it that way. It just belongs in the best episodes because it is so good. It might be underrated and have very little fighting in it, but Kimberly proves she is more than a just a 'valley girl' and can be brave when in a pinch. Alpha even helps in realistic airplane piloting instructions.

33. In or Out (RPM)

Scott joins Gem and Gema in a more offensive assault while Truman traps everyone inside the city while a bot sucks all the air out of the city. This episode makes fun of the trope of defending the city without getting old... for a second maybe.

32. Not So Simple (RPM)

Flynn wants to help but fails but doesn't give up. Gema writes in her dairy and discovers there is more to the eye to Flynn. Flynn and Gema work together on a zord and it turns out to be successful. While there is some romantic link with Flynn and Gema, Gem puts a wall against it pretty quickly and it is not mentioned again.

31. A Date with Danger (In Space)

Zhane and Astronema are paired off with hilarious results. Zhane saves Astronema from a monster who goes awry (and we never see again) and later Astronema disguises as a human to flirt with Zhane briefly. Later he gets an invite to a date. He gets new clothes and presents but Ecliptor sends a monster that makes him late and Astronema mad.

Ninja Turtles Next Mutation Volume 1 DVD Review

Since RangerCrew has reviewed the Power Rangers DVD boxes and the VR Troopers Volume One DVD, I don't see a point for me to do it (Unless you guys request it). I decided to do a review on Saban's Ninja Turtles the Next Mutation, which aired from 1997-1998 and was filmed in Canada. With the new Ninja Turtles animated series and movies coming soon, it is interesting that Saban Brands chose to release this now. There were only 26 episodes. Rumor is that it did fine in ratings but Fox Kids chose to cancel it anyway. This volume has the first 13 episodes. Since Shout! Factory is not letting people post episode captures, I can't add more pictures.

The menu is straight forward (it is better than the Liongate DVDs of Power Rangers Super Samurai that take forever to go through the Previews---it doesn't let you skip to the menu in the first few minutes) with no previews at the beginning. What is interesting is that the menu plays a song other than the theme song and sounds a lot like the Big Bad Beetleborgs theme song. The Closed Captioning is actually much better than the ones on the MMPR DVD Box set and the VR Troopers Volume One, both from Shout! Factory. Brian Ward, who put together the Box Sets for Power Rangers for Shout! Factory says the closed captioning was given in by Saban.

Story: We all know the story: little pet turtles that got in mutagen ooze and became giant humanoid mutants trained in the ways of ninja by Splinter, the rat. The first episode doesn't really go over this, it expects you to sort of be familiar with it. They live in the train station from the second and third movies and Shredder is still around (but is not Super Shredder from the second movie). Everything is turned on its head when Splinter is taken into the dream world and is sick outside. The Dragon Lord and his group known as the Rank is trying to escape from a mirror. The keeper of the mirror has trained his adopted daughter, Mei Pei Chi, who is also a mutant turtle. Splinter must have not picked her up and she ended up in China Town and then grew up in China.

So after a 5-parter, it is established that the Dragon Lord escapes the mirror and sets up shop in a castle. Dragon Lord, himself, has horrible mouth movements, looks like a reject turtle and isn't that much of a villain. He is pretty much in the same realm of Master Vile and Dark Specter, where he is touted as a Big Bad but is more like a one-note villain. What his evil plot? He wants to eat the Turtles! Pretty disgusting. And we not only him but other villains through the other episodes like the ape-like yeti gangster Silver; Simon Bonesteel, a crazy game hunter; and Dr. Quease, an evil scientist that Dontello first admired but no longer the case. There is also Vam-Mi, but she doesn't appear until Episode 14 so hence not in this set. Also interesting is "Mutant Reflections" aired after the "Unchain My Heart" four-parter but is in this set. "Turtles Night Out" aired before "Meet Dr. Quease" but is placed four episodes after it on the second DVD.  "Truce or Consequences" which aired before the "Unchain My Heart" saga is not in this set. "All in the Family" aired before but is put after "Meet Dr. Quease." These are probably the Production Order. Which is funny because MMPR is put in the Airing Order instead of Production Order.

Venus De Milo is a female turtle who only appears in this series. One of the TMNT creators hated her because Fox Kids had Saban add her and she was not related to the Turtles so had the idea that they could make more turtles and the turtles basically were one of their kind. Venus is a Shinobi, meaning a Ninja that has magic. She can astral project, bring out energy from her hands, mediate and other tricks. She is very reserved and is a mediator, which is contrast to the rambunctious turtles. She doesn't like to be called 'babe' and so forth. I actually like her, even though the whole fish out of water mispronouncing slang terms a bit tiring, it definitely creates a big conflict and interesting plot point of the female/male dynamic.

 I was a Ninja Turtles fan before Power Rangers so I have to say that this series is fun and Ninja Turtle fans should pick it up! Should Power Rangers fans pick it up? Well, it is not exactly like the other Tokusatsu series that it has a Monster of the Day or has something be destroyed at the end of each episode. It is still fun, quotable and even though the puppetry is laughable and not top notch, the writing and voice acting is pretty good.

Shout! Factory to release Power Rangers on DVD

 Above picture from http://www.homemediamagazine.com/tv-dvd/shout-factory-distribute-power-rangers-other-saban-titles-26645
 (Left to Right): Shout! Factory founders Garson Foos and Bob Emmer with Saban Brands President Elie Dekel and VP of Distribution Frederic Soulie.

This posted this on their Power Rangers Facebook, Sabans Power Rangers on Youtube and  Power Rangers News on Twitter:

We are excited to announce that Shout! Factory will be releasing classic episodes and seasons of Power Rangers on DVD starting this year, most of them previously unavailable on home entertainment shelves! Get ready to relive those awesome moments from your past, check out episodes you may have missed, share your love for the show with a new generation of fans, and stay tuned for more info!

We are excited to announce that @ShoutFactory will be releasing classic episodes and seasons of #PowerRangers on DVD starting this year!

Shout! Factory has released My Little Pony: The Power of Friendship and Transformers Prime, which are the newest incarnations of those franchises. As for older shows, they have released Captain N, Rocko's Modern Life, Reboot, Puca, Dinosaur King, Ahh! Real Monsters, G.I.Joe and Jem. They are also releasing Tennessee Tuxedo on DVD, which was highlighted on Entertainment Weekly magazine. I didn't like what they did for the Jem complete series box set because the quality was bad but maybe they will do better because judging by the quality from Netflix and Powerrangers.com, the quality is good.

 The multi-year alliance provides Shout! Factory with exclusive home entertainment packaged media (DVD/Blu-ray) and select digital rights to Saban Brands’ extensive catalog of properties including more than 700 episodes of Power Rangers (1993- 2009), 92 episodes of VR Troopers, 26 episodes of Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, and 88 episodes of Beetleborgs for home entertainment releases and digital distribution across select entertainment platforms in North America.

 “We are incredibly excited about this new relationship with Saban Brands. Power Rangers continues to stand as a global pop culture phenomenon to this day. We look forward to bringing these highly entertaining series with great packaging and extras to fans and on family home entertainment shelves,” state Shout! Factory’s founding partners in a joint statement. “Our partnership with Shout! Factory is important and exciting news for our fans. Shout! Factory will provide unequaled access to archived content from Saban Brands,” said Elie Dekel, President of Saban Brands. “Fans can enjoy past episodes they haven’t seen, relive some of the exciting entertainment in these episodes, or even share them with a new generation of fans.”
http://www.deadline.com/2012/03/power-rangers-owner-saban-brands-sets-home-entertainment-pact-with-shout-factory/

The deal reportedly does NOT include the current incarnation of the show, Power Rangers Samurai, nor does it include the theatrical films spun off from the program (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, whose rights have been retained all along by Fox Home Entertainment).  he HMM story by John Latchem reports that the "Initial rollout plans for the Saban are slated to begin in summer 2012, according to Shout! Factory, with single-season sets to start and potentially complete-series sets in the future."
Taken from: http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Mighty-Morphin-Power-Rangers-DVDs-Planned/16646#ixzz1owji2TGm

EDITORIAL: Children Shows are Half-Hour Toy Commercials

 Lavender Ranger Editorial

Now, how does that title make you feel? Does it make you angry? I didn't put the title to make people angry but to just be eye-catching. Yes I am guilty for exploiting that. Anyway, I bring it up because I am tired of that comment and it has been said every since the 80's when the boom occurred of toys for children series. The following shows and not only these (there are many many more) have been accussed to being 30-Minute Toy Commercials:

Transformers (All the Animated series, spin-offs and movies since 1984)

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1982-1992, 2002-Now)

She-Ra Princess of Power (1985-1987)

G.I. Joe (1964-Now, 1982 series)

Thundercats (1985-1989, 2010-Now)

Jem (1985-1988)

My Little Pony (1983-Now)

Pokemon (1996-Now)

Bakugan (2007-Now)

Yu-Gi-Oh (America: 2000-2007; Japan: 1988-2010)

Ben 10 (2005-Now)

And with those, goes Power Rangers has also been accused of this. Also whenever anything new from Power Rangers that was not in the original Super Sentai footage has also been accused to be 'To Just Sell Toys' like the Battlizers, bikes and other new arsenal. 

I have the DVD to Jem and in one of the audio commentaries by head writer Christy Marx, she also wrote for G.I. Joe and Transformers: Beast Wars; she spoke of how not only her but others have been accused of writing for toy commercials. She expressed how she tried to be creative even within the restrains of what she was being asked to do by her bosses, most likely Hasbro the toy company. So Power Rangers writers might feel the same pressure, to introduce something new from the footage or something new, promoting a new toy. Yes, it can said that they are only introducing a new arsenal or suit just for toys, but writers try to make it make sense within the context of the show. Or sometimes they don't.

Super Sentai, which PR comes from, can be said also was made to sell toys, but they make less amount of toys than PR and less amount in quantity but a higher quality because Japan is a much smaller market that America. It is believed that Bandai has to make more amounts of toys because of the American population and also, their toys (at least their version molds) are also sold in Canada, Mexico,  Central and South America, United Kingdom, Germany and the rest of Europe while the Japanese toys are re-made for other Asian countries like Korea and Thailand. (Or in the case of the Centaurus Wolf Megazord, in the UK and Philipines too). 

My point with all of this is that with complaints that certain things are added to Power Rangers is to sell toys, it has been said for many many other shows before it. So it can be said for any other show. Even characters that were not original made to sell toys like Superman, Batman, Ninja Turtles, Spider-Man and Spongebob, have done so years later. The first four were designed to sell comic books anyway. Everything is design to sell something. Shows like "Modern Family" or "Ice Road Truckers" can be said to sell ad space, but it is just a small factor of what they are and I think the selling toys factors is a significant part of Power Rangers but not the only part. I worked in Television and I love Television, I believe it is a platform for a lot of things including storytelling and entertainment. TV is a medium that is ridiculed for 'killing brain cells' but it spun my imagination. And I think you are capable of telling any story you want with Television, despite low budget.

New Saban Brands News: Ninja Turtles Next Mutation picked up

As some may already know, after Saban got the rights of Power Rangers, he acquired Beetleborgs and VR Troopers for Netflix. And as some may also know, he recently acquired Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, the only live-action the Ninja Turtles had and they guest starred in two episodes of Power Rangers in Space.

Articles:

C21Media: MarVista pick up Turtles

Worldscreen.com MarVista to rep trio of Saban Kid's Shows

Also about EmPower this week...

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/celebrate-every-body-walk-week---september-19-23-2011-130107663.html

Barbara Walters regrets her interview with the Ninja Turtles

Barbara Walters is calling it quits to her Academy Awards specials, that has been going on for 29 years. In TV Guide, she says one interview she regrets is her 1991 interview with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for their sequel, that was going to premiere. She was in the set with the four, it just goes horribly wrong when she calls them cold and slimy. They call Oscars racist for not nominating reptiles like Godzilla. When they say they are making money, she says they should spruce up their house, they get insulted, she can't get the word in edge wise because they all talk at the same time. She asks about their parents and Dontello's tears start gushing, which makes her laugh like crazy--thinking it is a prank, because of course she is notorious for making people crying. You can clearly see the tube to make his tears.

Toylines that continue after the show ended

Back in 9/13/08, last year, we got pictures and news of Power Rangers RPM and I reported it on the 16th, but now it is the 18th of September the next year and we haven't heard anything. It used to be, since 1999, we usually heard news on the title of the show by May and toy pictures by Fall season. But now, we haven't heard squat. Many fans still believe the show will continue, but there has been evidence that production stopped in New Zealand and there has been no news on the show continuing any time soon. If the show does get picked up by a new production company, it for sure won't be on airwaves by March of 2010, most likely much later. Anyhoo, I had slight hopes Bandai America would release a toyline based on Samurai Sentai Shinkenger anyway, since they claimed the show wasn't canceled back in April and also promised us a Pink Ranger Super Legends figure for Fall of 2010 back in late May.

I decided to cover toylines that continued after their popular television shows had ended in the past...

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
The series ran from 1983-1985 and a couple of toys were released from 1986-1987. Mosquitor above was released in 1987.


Transformers
These toys (Mircomasters) were released in 1989 and the first animated series lasted from 1984 to 1987. What happened was that the Japanese series continued and they kept making toys so they kept releasing toys. The Generation 2 toys came out in 1991, remember the green and purple Megatron tank and Pyro (Optimus Prime fire truck)? I don't think there was a year with some Transformer toy, maybe a couple of months or so. Maybe 1994.


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
This toy came out in 1997, the first animated series went from 1987 to 1996.

Related Topics: Power Rangers RPM | Power Rangers 2010 Toy Line Possible but doesn't mean there will be a show

Related Label: Shinkenger

Saban and his toys

We all know Bandai Japan produces the Super Sentai toys, Bandai America produces the Power Rangers toys, and that all Toei company shows toys are made by Bandai Japan. When MMPR hit big back in 1993, Saban tried a bunch of series, all from Toei company shows, but not all the toys were produced by Bandai America.

Spielban and Metalder
Spielban (1986) and Metalder (1987), both Metal Hero series toys were produced by Bandai.

VR Troopers
But when both series were made into VR Troopers (1994), it did not air on Fox Kids like Power Rangers. VR Troopers was syndicated and surprisingly, the toys were not produced by Bandai. The reason is unknown for this but the toys were made by Kenner, best known for being the first to produce the Care Bears in the 80's and also Batman. They were mostly new action figures produced. I don't know if the vehicles were the same mold, I doubt it. Some theorized Bandai Japan didn't have the molds anymore since the series were old (7-8 year difference) and Bandai America didn't want to make new molds, but that didn't stop them to do Masked Rider toys.

Kamen Rider Black RX / Masked Rider
Kamen Rider Black RX became Masked Rider in 1995, and Bandai Japan produced the Kamen Rider toys in 1989, Bandai America produced the Masked Rider toys in 1995. Masked Rider aired on Fox Kids and every other series Saban did after that aired on Fox Kids. Maybe the reason Bandai decided to do this with the six year difference was after not doing Metal Hero/VR Troopers.

B-Fighter / Beetleborgs
B-Fighter (Early 1996) became BeetleBorgs (Late 1996) and Bandai stayed on board, dunno if they were new molds, looks like yes. Maybe not the ATVs. I never owned any of these toys.

Ninja Turtles: Next Mutation
Saban acquired the Ninja Turtles for Ninja Turtles: Next Mutation (1997), but Playmates that made the toys for the Turtles, continue making them. In this rare catalog pictures, the colors are bit saturated but Venus is a orangey color other than her permanent light blue color.

Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog
Since Mystic Knights (1998) was completely original series with no Tokusatsu footage, Bandai America had to make new toys. Only one toy has been repackaged for Power Rangers, and that was one of their dragons for Mystic Force (2006).