Because skateboards and animals with wheels for legs are just too awesome. XD
So Sis wanted me to review her cobweb covered, dust choked, but otherwise in perfect condition Jungle Master Megazord, which is the Zord upgrade for the Jungle Fury Rangers in the TV show. Humor her and feel free to read the review. As usual I crack some lame (butt) jokes and delve into the realm of insanity. This is the second DX Megazord in the 2007 Power Rangers Jungle Fury line, and I'm pleased to announce that nothing was changed from the original Japanese mold. It is completely identical to the DX Jyuken Gattai Geki Fire from the Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger toyline, probably because it didn't require turning chrome to plain plastic or some other stupid modification to comply with child safety laws or cut down on cost of production. Sparky approves of this very much, because not too many mecha these days get to be sold on US toy shelves without being raped in some way. (On the drastic side of things, Torozord's tail had to be cut off, probably because it resembled a *cough*manly body part children shouldn't be curious about at 5 years old*cough. Another face-palm moment was when BOA decided to sell a Zord that was clearly an orca--it even had the white spot above the eye and the horizontal shaped tail--as a shark. AND THEN THIS YEAR we got Kyouryuu (Dinosaur) Origami turned into a shark again, but this time they added fins and a tail to make it look convincing, but the mold retains the legs of the dinosaur.
A shark with legs? Bandai, I think a visual exam should be mandatory for some of your employees. That, and a degree in zoology. :P Just a suggestion.)
We'll start with Geki Gorilla. As you can see, he is the biggest of the three Zords because he makes up the torso, head, and arms of the Megazord. Like Geki Tiger, he has an electronic feature, but this enables him to spin his arms and propel himself across a solid, flat, preferably smooth, surface. I do like the roller skates he has for legs, which makes him pretty unique. I also like the flame motif he has on him (which is more visible in Megazord form). The "pinwheel boobs" as I like to call them are kind of distracting though. O.o Articulation wise, his head can be moved up and down, and his arms lock in place every 8-10 degrees all the way around, with loud clicks that kind of sound like firecrackers going off. Thankfully unlike the Jungle Pride, the internal motor does not squeal and protest as I move him manually and make me feel like the next time I play with it I'll break the electronic parts.
Geki Penguin is summed up in one word: CUTE. It is just adorable with its molded on earmuffs (or are they headphones?) and a giant silver painted heart on its chest. Articulation wise, the head can be tilted up (this is mostly for the transformation) and its flippers can rotate 360 and flap up and down (manually, no electronics in here). Its skateboard has 6 wheels on the bottom so you can pretend it's zooming up on a half pipe or something (assuming you have one big enough to accommodate the length of this skateboard), or just running up to trip people on their way to the kitchen to cook food. :P (I think I accidentally hit somepony's foot by shooting Geki Penguin across the room...I guess that's why I don't play with it much now? XD) The only thing missing is a mini iPod accessory...or at least a mp3 player. But whatever. That's just my opinion. Also shown attached to the skateboard is the helmet for the Megazord. Yes, a helmet. Safety comes first, even if you're trying to save the world!
I like Geki Gazelle (or the Antelope Zord) the best. Its proud, regal face looks back calmly at you as it zooms up for a photo op. Wheels on its legs enable it to roll back and forth at high speed. I think this is probably going to be the favorite of kids due to the fact that it's so easy to push around and stuff (who doesn't like toys with wheels?) The legs lock in place every forty five degrees and the front legs are harder to move than the back ones (which are just floppy and swing about easily). Geki Gazelle also can do something very weird but cool at the same time:
Kick the Penguin out of its butt. No, seriously. The big blue button you see directly behind Geki Penguin, when pushed, will cause a spring inside Geki Gazelle to shoot the skateboard with the penguin on it a good foot or so in a straight line. In the show, the Gazelle will kick the Penguin's board at the enemy, but the toy can't replicate that very well. I daresay at least one person has made a butt joke, and I shall try not to make this thing sound more humiliating (poor Gazelle, it didn't deserve this), so let's just move on. Nothing to see here.
The Rin Lion and Chameleon set can also be attached to the Jungle Master Megazord. Since the huge stickered chest gets in the way, Rin Lion's head must reattach to its body on the shoulder. Rin Chameleon also has to shift her weight onto the back of the hand, as opposed to the fist itself. Other than that, it is totally possible to make this formation that did not appear in the show.
And if you thought you couldn't get more playability out of this set, if you have other DX mecha, you can swap the legs or the shoulder armor (sadly, I do not own Geki Elephant, Geki Bat, Geki Shark, or Geki Wolf to show you the other combinations). Shown here is the Jungle Pride and the Jungle Master's legs switched. It seems as though the Tiger's leg connectors are a hair thicker than the ones on the Gorilla, because it is so easy to detach legs from the latter, while the former requires a good yank to remove. Don't worry, Sparky's careful and nothing has broken...yet. O.o I don't want to see how mad Sis can be if I told her I broke something...
And lastly, how about one more Ultrazord pic. Bandai America failed to advertise on the box that you can do this with the Jungle Master, but from seeing Gekiranger, I know you can do SaidaiGekiFire. Again, due to the lack of Geki Wolf, this formation is incomplete. I must rectify this. Luckily there's a million of them (and other Geki Beasts) on Ebay that time forgot, so as soon as I have some income, I'll start getting the rest of the Gekiranger line. Thankfully I'm just missing the auxiliary Zords, so it shouldn't be too hard to complete my Gekiranger collection. ^_^
EDIT: Did some research on my Rhino Steel Megazord. If you try to display it in Rhino Mode like I do, please make sure you put it on a shelf longer than 21 inches, which is the length of the Zord from horns to back feet, or risk someone walking into it and knocking off the horn, or hurting themselves on it. ^^;