Morphed Shredder

Green and purple really do make great villain colors, don't they? Shredder uses the power of Tommy's coin and morphs into a twisted, evil version of the Green Ranger. After three Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles two-packs, the final release in the line is a single. When Tommy infiltrated the Foot Clan, Shredder already knew who he was and why he was there. Tommy was allowed to climb the ranks, getting deeper into the organization and closer to Shredder, all so he could be knocked off the Morphin' Grid and his Power Coin stolen. You're a dope, Tommy. Simone di Meo did a terrific job desiging this blend between Shredder and the Green Ranger. The ridge that normally runs over the top of the Green Ranger's dragon helmet plays perfectly into the shape of Shredder's sharpened kabuto, with the dragon's red eyes framed by Shredder's crest, and the dragon's teeth around the edges of his faceplate. Really nice stuff, all very intimidating and sinister. Way to go! He still has the spiky armor on his forearms and shins, but it's gold now rather than silver, matching the stolen Dragon Shield worn over his chest and shoulders. You've got to have a big purple cape, of course, but here it's paired with the purple sash belt that's using the Morpher as a clasp. The shield is a new mold, with jagged lines along the outside edge and a texture on the base layer rather than being smooth - one that's matched on all his gold armor, even the bands around the biceps. The Power Ranger suit isn't an actual garment, it's some kind of pseudo-mystical item that surrounds your body; so even with big blades on his armor, it's not quite correct that Shredder should have bare arms, but it definitely does look cooler this way. The toy doesn't perfectly match the comic art. The jagged edges of the Dragon Shield should point outward, not just be a sculpted pattern, and though the initial designs included the straps that run under the Green Ranger's arms, but clearly di Meo realized those would never work with a giant cape worn beneath it. We're also missing the white panels on the ribs of the green suit, which would make broken up the colors a little. The art showed Shredder with unique gauntlets, not just recolored versions of his normal ones, and he was wearing white gloves, rather than being barehanded. Finally, the flares of the crest on his helmet should stick out away from the head rather than staying close to it, and the "nose" should come down a little farther. So nothing major, but a slew of small things. Shredder doesn't reuse any existing Lightning Collection body, because he's got that sort of superhero physique rather than looking like normal cloth. The articulation still remains as high quality as the rest of the line: a balljointed head, hinged neck, pec hinges, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, a balljointed chest, hinged abs, balljointed hips, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, swivel shins, and swivel/hinge ankles. The Dragon Shield plugs into the figure's back, but can still shift around enough to keep the arms' range of movement free, and will even let the head tip in different directions. His ragged cape is softgoods, so it doesn't get in the way at all, but if you don't like it, just pop the head off and remove it. The figure includes both open hands and fists, with his usual blades on the back of the hands. Like the rest of the releases in the line, the set includes translucent energy effects. In his case, they're light blue slashes that can fit onto the claws on his hands. Either set of hands. They make less sense on the gesturing hands than the punching ones, but they'll still fit. Hasbro's Lightning Collection MMPR x TMNT line has been a lot of fun, even if it wasn't as extensive as it could have been. Definitely a lot better than if Playmates had been the ones making them, yeah? Having five heroes and two villains isn't the most balanced lineup, and there were other characters that would have been fun to get, but there's a sequel comic starting later this month, so maybe we can look forward to more figures in the future. -- 12/01/22

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