Worlds collide when the infamous Halloween costume is given Putty Power.
When the Lightning Collection did crossover toys
with TMNT or Street Fighter, those were at least based on existing material - comics and games, respectively. But for this Target-exclusive line mashing the Power Rangers up with Cobra Kai, there's literally nothing; no comics, no video shorts, no game cameos, no dream squence in the show, probably not even any fan art ahead of time. Hasbro just decided to jam these two together with zero logic.
Following the characters from The Karate Kid now that they're adults, Cobra Kai initially aired on YouTube Red, that premium service you have to click a button to say you're not interested in every time you start a new video. Unsurprisingly, no one watched it. But then it moved to Netflix, a service people actually have, and suddenly it exploded in popularity, which is how it's now on Season 6. And it never had anything at all to do with Power Rangers outside of these toys. Which is probably at least part of why they didn't sell.
Having no tie-in media means the Karate Kid Rangers have no story, and thus the designs have no meaning. Is there a villain? The Putty Patrol normally worked for Rita and Zedd; is there a villain behind them here? Previous crossovers had Shredder and M. Bison, but who would even be a baddie for Cobra Kai now that Johnny Lawrence is the protagonist? Small business loan paperwork? Incomplete tax prep? Zoning board regulations?
Hasbro did two different Putties in the normal line, and this is based on the Rita version, not the Zedd: you can tell, because
the upgraded versions Zedd made wore a vest and kneepads with his Z on them, and lace-up boots, while the originals just had a belt and smooth boots. The face and stony hands were sculpted by Sarah Lynn Reynolds, though the older figure got alternate weapon hands that this one doesn't. The wrinkles on the suit are subtle, but present, keeping this from being either a plain tube or an exaggerated superhero physique.
Instead of having a plain gray body, this Putty is dressed like Johnny and his friends when they decided to commit assault
in the first movie: a black suit with cartoony white bones painted on it. A skeleton Halloween costume. Oh, that's why they call this a Skeleputty! I thought it was because the Cobra Kai dojo was haunted by the ghost of famous 1950s comedian Red Skelton - remember, there's no media to support these figures, so nothing we say can ever be proven false. The bones are painted both on the front and back, despite how much Hasbro hates painting the back of any Power Rangers figures, and there's a large Cobra Kai logo right between his shoulders, lest you think this is Fortnite cosplay.
The Lightning Collection moved well,
while it lasted, so the Skeleputty has a balljointed head, hinged neck, pec hinges, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel forearms, a balljointed chest, hinged abs, balljointed hips, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, swivel shins, and swivel/hinge ankles. There are no wrists, thanks to the rocky design of the "gloves," which was a weird choice even when this was just a Putty figure (this toy is a combo of regular and Z molds) - did Putties never flex their hands in the show? That seems silly. We do get alternate hands, at least: a pair that could hold accessories, a closed right fist, and a clutching right hand.
Beyond the alternate hands, the figure includes two effects pieces: a fireball type thing that can fit on the fist, and an explosion that fits on his chest. Both those come from the Z-Putty toy, but they're molded in a pearly white to best fit the aesthetic here. They almost look like they should glow in the dark, but no, it's just the color of them. The stock photos showed the punch effect as translucent blue, and made the chest burst look clear, but if that was ever the plan, it was changed before release.
The Mighty Morphin X Cobra Kai figures were exclusive to Target and originally retailed for $27.99, but since nobody was that interested in Cobra Kai and the toys didn't actually look like Power Rangers at all, they didn't sell. (You get the feeling this project was dreamt up entirely as an excuse for Hasbro to reuse the Ninja Ranger molds, but that meant there was nothing "Ranger-y" about any of the characters; they could have been dressed as any regular ninjas.) I only picked up the Skeleputty when it went on deep clearance, and then only because the skeleton design looked kind of neat and generic enough to be an enemy for almost any character. Maybe if there'd been some story tie-in, there would have been more appeal, but this is absolutely one of the weakest crossovers Power Rangers has ever had. The toy's fine, but there's zero to it beyond what you see in a photo.
-- 10/09/24
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