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Well I received the 6-pack today, and I want to preclude this post by saying I wasn't a part of the Playmates pile on when the figures were first revealed. I adopted a wait and see attitude, as pictures often don't do toys justice, or toys may not look great in photos, but are fun in hand. My expectations were low given some choices I wasn't a fan of (namely the hips). In spite of those lowered expectations these are bad figures.
The quality doesn't feel cheap. The QC isn't horrific like Hasbro. I think the overall sculpting is good. The body proportions aren't cartoonish like old Bandai figures, and all the details in the suits are sculpted in, something Hasbro didn't even do for their collector figures. So what's the problem?
The articulation. This is a $58 dollar set, so less than $10 per figure. That's a great value for 2025. For less than $10 per figure I don't expect things like double knees/elbows. ankle rockers, etc. I expect basic articulation, and based on photos I thought the articulation in these figures looked more than satisfactory for the price. At 21 points of articulation, these figures looked to be more poseable than what Bandai and Hasbro were offering for a similar price point, but numbers don't tell the full story.
The engineering of said articulation is frankly awful. The heads are on ball joints, but there is almost nothing there beyond left and right movement. Arms can't hit a T pose, they get maybe 45 degrees of outward movement. Elbows also only get around 45 degrees. Unlike Bandai's Action Heroes, these figures have swivels at the elbows, but the elbow range is so bad that the Rangers can't strike the classic hands on morphers pose, something even the original Automorphins could do. The arm possibility feels so limited it's frustrating. Pic shows outward arm and hip range compared to Bandai Action Hero buck.
