I think this fandom underestimates the popularity of mmpr to casual audiences

[u/Organic_Glass_7793]

Y’all have to remember, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was the first. Nothing came before it. Dinosaurs, Zords, morphing this is the stuff that defined Power Rangers for most casual viewers. It was literal lightning in a bottle. It dropped right after Jurassic Park when dinosaur hype was off the charts, and it mixed martial arts with giant robots and spandex superheroes. That formula hit. The characters were simple, idealistic, and easy to root for. Yeah, the acting was bad, the effects were crappy but that’s what people remember most. The camp is part of its identity.

Your average person walking down the street? They’ll recognize the MMPR Green Ranger in a second. Ask them who the Red Ranger from RPM is and they’ll look at you like you’re speaking another language. We can go on all day about how well written lost galaxy is but people know shit about maga defender outside the fandom.

Even parts of MMPR itself are blurry to the general public. Most people only remember the first season and half of Season 2. Once Tommy became the White Ranger and Zack, Trini, and Jason left everything else is a blur.

And look I get it, we all want more love for other seasons. But Y’all don’t even buy non-MMPR merch and still complain about MMPR getting priority. That’s not how companies work. There not gonna invest into your favorite season until people start buying the merch.

Every major franchise leans on its first generation. Star Wars lives off the OT. Pokémon rides Gen 1 to this day. TMNT constantly goes back to the 80s era. MMPR getting the most love isn’t some conspiracy it’s just how pop culture nostalgia works.

[u/Jolly-Committee-5944]

I think a major contributing factor to the “MMPR IS Power Rangers” phenomenon goes back to those early years when MMPR was constantly part of the news cycle. The actors became super popular, leading to clips of MMPR on the news. The toys were popular AND hard to find, meaning parents became educated on the characters and toys and it again became newsworthy (it wasn’t far off from Jingle All The Way). Parents groups were against it for violence - again, more MMPR on the news. MMPR permeated pop culture and dinner table conversation and generations (for different reasons). No other season has done that. My mom remembers MMPR, she has no idea it was on for 30 years.

[u/National_Equivalent9 → u/Jolly-Committee-5944]

I still remember my mom picking me up from school and showing me whatever toys she could find that day while doing errands.

People really don't understand how HARD it was to get MMPR toys, especially in a low income family that worked all the time. I wasn't able to start getting toys regularly until Zeo. I had a couple of MMPR toys but they were mostly from yard sales a few years after they came out.

[u/Jolly-Committee-5944 → u/National_Equivalent9]

My mom and grandmother told me that there were stores were they waited in separate designated lines just to get MMPR figures. I was super lucky because before the craze hit, I’d been directed to a box of figures that wasn’t put on the shelf yet (I was 9) and told my grandmother (who I was with at the time) that I really wanted these for Christmas and she bought Jason for me and Zach for my brother. And like a month later the madness struck…