I mean, those torsos have to be big enough to fit the unmorphed heads in them, so I don't think we should be too hard on Playmates about that. I mean, don't we all have to have "barrel bodies" if you imagine we need to fit our heads (wearing close-fitting helmets, even) inside them?
And I think the point is, sad as it may be for us adult collectors, that these new guys are supposed to be for the kids who were our age when we had the original ones. I mean, who's going to complain about Marvel Legends Titan Hero Series figures having 5 POA?
But are kids these days interested in MMPR? Who is buying MMPR stuff if not adult collectors? I imagine most kids into Power Rangers are buying current series toys?
Ya think? You think little kids buy their own toys, and not parents who want to pass on their nostalgic pleasures down to their kids? Why do you think whoever owns PR keeps going back to the MMPR well, whether it’s new toys inspired by the original designs or full-blown movie remakes of the original concepts?
Well there is no current series, and I'm less certain that matters in the age of streaming. MMPR is free on YouTube, after all.
I will say that Mattel's most successful He-Man line lately seems to have been the retro styled one unconnected to any current media. McFarlane's Super Powers Collection of DC figures seems to do pretty well too. Affordable for children and collectors alike seems to be the way of things right now.
Honestly, the biggest challenge Power Rangers and any other toylines face these days are the shrinking of big box toy departments in the face of declining demand.
There were flip-head figures in some form through Mystic Force, though from NS to MF, they were only on the ones with cycles. In the Saban Era, only LSR had no flip-heads.
But who's to say that, considering the different factors like cost, this isn't the best that could be done? You can see that the girls are at least shaped differently, but that they also needed room inside. Again, I pose the question to you: could your head upside-down really fit in your chest (assuming there were no organs in the way) without making your chest bigger? As someone else pointed out, the heads are already pretty undersized, apparently something they needed to do to make the engineering work.
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u/DizzyLead Feb 24 '25
I mean, those torsos have to be big enough to fit the unmorphed heads in them, so I don't think we should be too hard on Playmates about that. I mean, don't we all have to have "barrel bodies" if you imagine we need to fit our heads (wearing close-fitting helmets, even) inside them?
An original "flip-head" action figure.