Thrift Justice: Zord Ratchetness

I’m pretty sure that @Classickmateria is the only one who’s gonna get that title. Anyway, as we’ve covered in the past, a lot of my personal thrifting quests involve tracking down Power Rangers toys that I missed out on. More specifically, I’m looking for deluxe zords (Ranger vehicles, for those not “in the know”) and morphers. Well, I’ve had a bit of luck recently, so I thought I’d share those with you. Let’s go in order from worst to best, shall we?

First off, I give you the WORST Carrierzord in Power Rangers history. Again, for people not into PR, all you need to know about a Carrierzord is in the name: it’s a zord that carries other zords into battle. In some cases, it can help them form an Ultrazord, but mainly it CARRIES.

This is the Deluxe Zenith Carrierzord from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy. Transformers toy fans are familiar with scale concepts, as they have Scout, Deluxe, Voyager, and Leader Classes. Power Rangers is nowhere near that complicated, as all you need to know is Deluxe; Deluxe zords are the ones that are combined to make different combinations, like Megazords, Ultrazords, etc. Or as a kid would put it, “They’re the ones that go together and break apart.” Everything called “Deluxe” is supposed to be compatible within the same line. So, in theory, the Deluxe Galaxy Megazord should be in scale with the Deluxe Zenith Carrierzord. Not so, my friends. You see, near the end of the series, the Rangers acquired the Stratoforce and Centaurus Megazords (gotta keep those parents emptying their wallets!). Based on an ancient shark, the Zenith carried the composite zords of the Stratoforce and Centaurus Megazords (you’ll remember pieces of the former from here) into battle. Yes, Bandai America created deluxe versions of both Megazords, but can their composite pieces fit into the deluxe carrierzord? NO! Instead, the Zenith comes with miniature plastic versions of the zords that cannot combine, and were easily lost. Sure, it had to hold 10 separate zords, but that’s a concept where you either go big or go home. If they couldn’t keep in line with the Deluxe scale, they either shouldn’t have made this toy at all, or they shouldn’t have put it in the Deluxe class. Sure, in scale it would’ve been huge, but as you’ll see later, it could’ve been done.

These next 3 shouldn’t really be considered “thrifty” purchases. After my last TJ zord installment, you may remember that I was missing a few pieces. Well, as luck would have it, I was perusing Craigslist and found a guy who had EXACTLY what I was looking for. So, while I paid a bit more than I would’ve liked (I mean, I’m used to getting full Megazords for $5), these were needed pieces for my collection.

This is the Condor (corrected by @exveebrawn) Zord from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, so now my Galaxy Megazord is complete.

This is the shuttle/head for the Astro Megaship along with the sword, all from Power Rangers In Space. So, now my Astro Megazord is complete!

Here’s the Deluxe Alligator Zord, which was piloted by the douchiest Ranger of all time. No, seriously, he had a soul patch. Anyway, Merrick from Power Rangers Wild Force had this guy, and I can now form a few different alternative Megazords with it.

Now, back to REAL thrifting. The following were just random, cheap pickups from the local thrift stores.

Here are the Red and Pink zords from Power Rangers SPD‘s Deluxe Megazord. I managed to get this in a couple of grab bags for about $2, so I guess that’s my next Deluxe Zord project.

Another random mixed lot, this is the Red zord from Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, and the Blue Rescuezord from Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue. I actually have the latter zord, but this one is in better shape than mine, and I just can’t leave an orphaned zord behind!

So, you ready for my best find? I’ve wanted this one for the past 10 years or so. This came out when I had gone off to college, and couldn’t really justify spending $60 0n a zord. Still, it’s probably one of the best designed zords from the American seasons, and I’m glad I can finally add it to my collection. From Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, I give you the Deluxe Supertrain Megazord.

The Supertrain Megazord is an interesting character, as it’s essentially a carrierzord that becomes a Megazord. While previous carrierzord tended to have robot/warrior modes, they were never given the designation of “Megazord”, as they weren’t piloted by the entire team. These zords debuted as the “Rail Rescues”, which carry the Lightspeed Rescuezords into the city. According to Deluxe zord standard, each train car here actually opens up to hold a deluxe zord from the Lightspeed Megazord. Later on, when the Rangers needed more firepower, the Rail Rescues, themselves, combined to form the Supertrain Megazord.

This, by far, is one of my favorite zords. You may not be able to tell in the pic, but it’s at least 2 feet tall when formed. It’s funny how I came across it: I had already made several passes through the toy aisle of the local thrift store, and there was NOTHING. I was about to give up, when I noticed one of the Rail Rescues underneath a shelf. I looked closer, and saw that there were actually two. Now, it’s rare that people give away TWO zords, so I felt there was a good chance that the others might be there. I paced up and down the aisle, and saw nothing. I was prepared to just leave with the 2 (can’t leave an orphaned zord behind, remember?), when I noticed something at the end of the doll aisle. There, on the bottom shelf, in a pile, were the other 3 zords. I snatched them up and rushed to the register. They had been priced separately, with each car going for $1.91. So, I ended up with the completed Deluxe zord for a little less than $10. When I got home, I noticed that I was missing the very front of the Blue car, so I can’t hook Rails #1 & 2 in train mode, but that’s not a huge deal to me. Everything else was great, and I’m almost done tracking down all of the Lightspeed Rescuezords (still need yellow and green), so I’ll be able to house them inside when that’s done. In all, it was a pretty great acquisition, and one of the jewels of my Power Rangers collection.

Finally, I leave you with this. While not exactly a morpher, this is a roleplay toy that still fits in with the theme. This is the Time Force Badge from Power Rangers Time Force. Basically, you push the button on the side and you get light and sound. I’ve always loved Time Force, and the badge is almost as important as the morpher (even though it doesn’t have Judgement Mode of the SPD Morpher, from the other cop-themed season of Power Rangers). I like that they didn’t really try to Americanize it. Back in the Mighty Morphin days, anything that was originally a Japanese character was changed to a lightning bolt on our toys. This thing would look horrible like that, so I’m glad they didn’t try to fix what wasn’t broken.

OK, that’s enough Ranger talk from me. Tune in tomorrow, when we’ll talk about…um…just tune in tomorrow!