It hasn’t been announced yet, but our first look at Hasbro’s Power Rangers Lightning Collection Tommy Oliver’s Master Morpher has dropped. Six months after we exclusively revealed the Master Morpher to be part of the Lightning Collection, Toy Scope on Facebook has revealed the first images of it.
The Power Rangers Master Morpher
The Master Morpher stands as an advanced iteration of the Power Morpher, designed solely for Tommy Oliver. Through the morpher’s innovative crystal frequency transducer, Tommy gains the remarkable capacity to seamlessly morph into any of his five distinct Ranger forms at his own volition. This cutting-edge technology enables rapid cycling between the Dragonzord, White Tigerzord, Zeo, Turbo, and Dino Thunder Power Coins, all seamlessly stored within the Morpher.
Tommy initially employed this Morpher in the Power Rangers Ninja Steel episode ‘Dimensions in Danger’ in order to mark the franchise’s 25th anniversary.
In the episode, an android Tommy replicant took on the mantle of Dino Thunder Black, which Tommy mirrored in the initial confrontation. However, the clash culminated in the defeat of the Dino Thunder Black entity, resulting in a visor-shattering impact on Tommy’s helmet. Swiftly adapting, Tommy transitioned into the Zeo Red mode to counter his robotic doppelgänger.
The sequence of transformations persisted as he adopted his White Ranger form, succeeded by the Green Ranger guise, ultimately ensuring the permanent dismantling of his duplicate.
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The Master Morpher also plays a key role in Tommy’s final Power Rangers story, as depicted in the Soul of the Dragon comic book.
In the years that followed ‘Dimensions in Danger’, Tommy found himself facing an unnamed monster as the Mighty Morphin Green Ranger. A single powerful strike from this creature shattered his spine, which left him severely injured,. But when he transformed into the Mighty Morphin White Ranger, his Master Morpher fell from his belt and broke upon hitting the ground. Despite this setback, he managed to defeat the monster, and then he stored away the damaged Morpher for a period of eight years.
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Two decades after putting the Morpher away, a situation arose that compelled Tommy to retrieve the Master Morpher once again. J.J. (his son with Kat, as confirmed in the Netflix special Once and Always) was in danger, prompting Tommy to morph into Dino Thunder Black to protect him from a group of aggressive bar patrons. However, it was revealed by Anara that the Morpher’s power-selection mechanism had malfunctioned.
This meant that Tommy could only morph in a predetermined order, which posed a challenge. Adding to the predicament, the Morpher had suffered significant damage. The mechanism responsible for changing Power Coins was causing them to be destroyed rapidly, rendering the Morpher almost useless. Despite the impending risk of complete failure, Tommy chose to use the Morpher to save his son.
As the events unfolded, Tommy had to relinquish his Red Turbo Ranger powers due to an unexpected attack. Employing the Zeo powers, he forcefully entered Pasten’s Tower and confronted Scorpina’s gang. Although Scorpina managed to escape, Tommy pursued her and ultimately defeated her using the White Ranger powers.
In a critical moment, Tommy passed on his final morph, that of the Mighty Morphin Green Ranger, to his son J.J. This act saved J.J. from Scorpina’s grasp, but it also led to the destruction of the last remaining Power Coin within the Master Morpher.
With this loss, the Master Morpher’s capabilities came to an end, marking the conclusion of Tommy’s tenure as a Power Ranger.
How Does It Look?
It looks good!
As with the other morphers in the collection, it comes with six coins, but all of these are Tommy focused – the canon Dragon, Tiger, and Falcon coins, plus coins created specifically for the Red Zeo Ranger, the Red Turbo Ranger, and the Black Dino Thunder Ranger.
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The box art shows the Morpher open with green lights flashing while the green coin is inserted. The back of the box confirms that (like the other morphers in the collection) the lights change color based on the coin that has been inserted. Green Dragon, White Tiger, and White Flacon all have green lights, Red Zeo and Red Turbo use red and Black Dino Thunder has pink.
If we compare the box art to the Green Screen Master Morpher images, it is fairly screen-accurate. The only part that throws it off is the thickness of the red lines outlining the coin, but at this stage, it feels like I’m being nitpicky.
What Will It Cost?
At the moment, we have no further details on the price. However, some fans have raised concerns about the ‘Tommy Oliver Mark-Up’ – that is the increase in the price of Tommy toys after Jason David Frank’s passing. The Yellow Power Morpher is still available on Hasbro Pulse UK, retailing for £61.99 (approximately US$79 plus tax) and a conservative guess would place the Master Morpher at a similar price point.
With the Lightning Collection going on hiatus, this will be one of the last pieces we can purchase for a while. Are you planning on getting it? Do you think it will suffer from the mark-up? Let us know in the comments and on social media.
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Source: Toyscope on Facebook
