As many will have seen, there has been a change in the next season of Power Rangers and the Dino Fury Green Ranger will be played by Tessa Rao. This is a surprise to many fans since there hasn’t been a gender switch of a Ranger from Super Sentai since the early Saban era. This alteration comes with a set of new changes to the season that was adapted from its Japanese counterpart, Ryusoulger. Unfortunately, there are some concerns about what Hasbro will give fans for this highly anticipated series when it comes to the toys and merchandise.
Ever since the first season of Power Rangers, the show maintained a standard character ratio of 3 Males and 2 Females. This alteration of making a male ranger to a female character allowed a greater diversity with characters and the switch has been used in various early seasons. This also affected the toys too as now there was a significant difference between the American and Japanese versions of certain Rangers.
The last time this alteration was made was in Wild Force as most Yellow Rangers in the Sentai were male characters. However, when Super Sentai started using the same ratio for the core team members in a season, this adaptation was no longer necessary.
This alteration could have also been used in Power Rangers Dino Charge, but the difference was due to the show did having another female ranger planned to join the team later in the show. If it wasn’t for the Dino Charge Purple Ranger, it would have been likely that a Ranger would likely have been switched to a female character like Power Rangers Dino Fury.
RELATED: ALEXANDRA NUÑEZ CONFIRMS SHE WAS RECAST AS THE DINO FURY GREEN RANGER
The main reason for the switch is clear to many as Ryusoulger only primarily featured 6 Rangers in the show, with only 1 Female ranger. Due to this, it’s understandable why the alteration for another female ranger was used again by Hasbro since this gives the show more than one female character for fans to relate to. Although it’s great we are getting such an exciting twist to the characters, there are concerns for the show’s toy releases before its debut next year.
There are three primary concerns for Power Rangers Dino Fury, which include how much merchandise will be given to the Female Rangers, the product variation, and how fairly it will focus on each character.
Female Ranger Toys
Throughout the years, the toys released for Power Rangers have always been primarily targeted at boys. This is a result of the audience that the contents of the show attracted, but this is not exclusively the case. The franchise has always had a huge diverse fandom and it’s clear that there are many female fans too.
The main issue in the past is that the female ranger figures don’t do as well as the others and as a result, the female characters don’t get many releases. This is a shame as it limits the diversity of the toys for fans. Thankfully, we have seen female characters being released in the Lightning Collection but Beast Morphers have yet to have the Yellow Ranger and Roxy figures released.
Not having the Yellow Ranger and Roxy figures released during the lifetime of their season is a huge missed opportunity, since the figures will no longer have the hype they would have received from fans during the show’s duration. Hopefully, with the popularity of a Dinosaur season, Hasbro will see the potential of highlighting the female characters and allow all members of the Ranger team to shine equally.
Merchandise Variation
There is an issue with variation as most merchandise is mainly action figures. During the time of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, there were yellow and Pink Ranger Dolls released but these kinds of releases were only seen once. Other than more figures, it would be awesome to see Dino zord plush toys, Ranger-based accessories, or even something outside of the usual item range. Now is a great opportunity for Hasbro to release various products and expand their catalog of choice due to the Dino theme, especially if there are items that focus on the female Rangers, and their characters, as there are fans that these would appeal to.
Sharing the Merchandise Spotlight
Another possible concern is how fairly the Rangers will be given merchandise. Most releases of Beast Morphers toys consisted of toys linked to the Red Ranger, such as the Cheetah Claws and other weapons. This shows that there is still too much focus on the leader of the team and not enough given to the others.
There are many fans that love the other members of the team and everybody has their own favorites in each season. It is possible to highlight the other Rangers without leaving them in the shadow of another, although there is difficulty in supplying demand if there isn’t enough. Since it’s likely the Dino fury Green Ranger will join the series later, hopefully, she will be given the same variety as Pink and the other rangers.
With the dawn of Power Rangers Dino Fury approaching, we can only hope that an incredible series is coming along with the possibility of awesome toys to go with it. Hopefully, with our Green Dino Fury Ranger, we will see a lot of variations goods to collect or choose from. Only time will tell what Hasbro will bless the Ranger fandom with.
What are you looking forward to seeing in Power Rangers Dino Fury? Are you excited for the debut of the Dino Fury Green Ranger? What are you hoping to see and what are your concerns? Comment and share your thoughts with us and keep following The Illuminerdi for more Power Ranger news.
KEEP READING: POWER RANGERS SEASON 29 SEEMINGLY CONFIRMED
