I’m not the biggest Power Rangers fan, but I do enjoy the Lightning Collection figures, especially the monsters. This monster has a super fun design and is basically M.O.D.O.K., but in pig form, so I had to scoop it up when I saw it on in-stock at Target.com. Let’s take a look at the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers monster, Pudgy Pig!
Pudgy comes in that snazzy Lighting Collection bright white box with the super cool artwork on the front that wraps around the side. There is a digital render of the figure on the back that is fairly accurate to final product, but the silver on the helmet and utensils is a way nicer silver on that render than the final product.
Pudgy comes with a giant fork and knife, an electricity effect, and two sets of hands (two grip, right fist, and left open). I like the variety of hand choices and I’m always looking for a fist with these types of characters. The fork and knife are gigantic and fit securely into his grip hands. So securely that I just leave them in there when I pop and swap the hands. They are cast in a slightly silvery metallic plastic that does catch the light well sometimes, but most of the time has that cheaper toy feel to them. The lightning effect feels familiar to the line and can be stuck on either utensil.
I could easily see the fist and open hand getting dropped from a figure like this, so I’m glad they are there for some nice fighting and gesturing. Variety is good.
Sculpting on this weirdo is phenomenal with some great angry eyes and proportions that match the show creature well, but also makes it a bit more detailed. I love that you can barely see his little curly tail sticking out under the helmet.
I like the texture details a lot on his skin and tongue and even the inside of his mouth is detailed. One thing I did notice on my figure is that it appears to be assembled with reversed forearms. It is one of those things that is tough to see on a less muscularly defined character like Pudgy, but the way I look at it the rounder part of the forearms should be on the inside and the flatter part with the indents for the should be on the outside. The below photos show the forearms as they were assembled:
I heated and swapped them so they look like this now:
I think it looks better after the swap, but I don’t think most people would even notice the difference or be able to tell from my pictures that I did anything unless you are an action figure super-geek.
Articulation on Pudgy is pretty nice considering his strange anatomy and he has:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, hips, wrists, and ankles
- Swivel thighs
- Double hinged knees
- Hinged neck
- Ball and socket waist and shoulder sockets
The forward leg movement is hindered by the shape of the figure and posing is limited by the need to balance that giant noggin, but he still moves fairly well. The mouth hinge has crazy huge range, but that can also over-balance him backward if too wide
Paint is decent with clean work on the hooves, eyes, teeth, tongue and helmet fringe, but he’s mostly cast in a solid pink plastic. There is some overspray on the snout and eyes, but a drybrush would have been awesome. The helmet is bit of a duller gray swirly metallic plastic that works fairly well, but could be slightly brighter.
Overall, I’m pleased with this figure and hope to see many more monsters from the MMPR show in the future. The designs are so toyetic and fun it would be a shame not to make some of these. This figure “debuted” as a SDCC exclusive with some additional food accessories and a lunchbox style carrying case at a much higher pricepoint (57.99 as opposed to this version’s $31.99. At the time they put up the exclusive version I didn’t know this version was coming, so I’m glad I was able to cancel the exclusive and get this version for much less. My review would be quite a bit less favorable if I had paid twice as much for this guy and I do resent when the toy companies pull shady moves like making you think that maybe the pricey exclusive is your only shot at a character when they have already produced and shipped an acceptable budget-friendly option.
Source: Fwoosh