First Impressions
Surprisingly, Bandai America managed to surpass its own standards again. The Samurai Megazord was a marked improvement from the RPM DX Formula Megazords in terms of both plastic quality and joint structure. Despite the light weight, the whole Megazord was very solid and sturdy. In comparison, the RPM Megazords were kinda flimsy... (You may have noticed that at this point, I have yet to touch on the functionality aspect).
After all, the Samurai Megazord is manufactured in the same Thailand factory which is responsible for many quality Bandai Japan products. Again, the US$30 price point could have been a factor in the increased quality.
The paint applications were decent in the Megazord mode, but glaringly lacking in their individual Folding-Zord modes.
Design and Prototyping
A considerable amount of redesign was put into the Megazord torso and legs which resulted in a more streamlined outlook (highly consistent with Bandai America's methodology for Megazord aesthetics). This has its advantages in certain aspects; the Samurai Megazord was able to hold its own when displayed beside its Japanese counterpart, Shinken-Oh.
To fit the cheaper price point, 4 Folding-Zords lost their Emblem Modes (except for Turtle) and also had some drastic changes to the appearance and transformation mechanics.
The Lion Folding-Zord somewhat resembled the Shishi Origami despite the major retooling in the transformation mechanism. Unfortunately, the obvious missing paint applications hurt the overall presentation.
The Dragon Folding-Zord (or Puppy Folding-Zord) looked nothing like a dragon. It had the most drastic retooling in structure which gave it the crappy looking form, plus the missing paint applications didn't help at all. Like the Ryuu Origami, it can house the Megazord Helmet and as an added bonus, the Megazord Katana can be used as the tail?! How "impressive"!
The Turtle Folding-Zord is the only functional Zord which managed to make the 100% transition over: Emblem Mode and Full Paint Applications.
The Bear Folding-Zord was relatively decent but still had the same issues of missing paint applications.
The Ape Folding-Zord looked terrible with minimal paint applications. The stripping of the Emblem Mode would proved problematic for future combinations, notably DaikaiShinken-Oh and Samurai Ha-Oh.
Having said, the 5 individual Folding-Zords were rather unimpressive (or pathetic) but this shouldn't matter to kids who would mainly play with the Megazord mode. In terms of accessories, the Megazord Katana (Sword) was a little nice touch as the blade was sharper and both sides managed to retain the same calligraphy design. Noted that there was no Shield included with the Samurai Megazord which doesn't seem to make sense until... (the BeetleZord will act as the Shield)
Conclusion
The DX Samurai Megazord is a remarkable piece of toy for kids to connect with the popular Power Rangers Samurai series. It is unlikely that they would notice the lack of the Emblem Modes as well as some of the transformation functionalities. However, I don't foresee paying more than S$50.00 for it given its playability.
For collectors on a budget, the Samurai Megazord serves as a good display piece since it is more streamlined in the looks department. As long as they do not mind the lack of Emblem Modes, the Samurai Megazord can be considered as a decent representation of the in-show version. Another added bonus would be the ability to swap the arms and legs with the MMPR 2010 Dino Megazord (American-Exclusive).
At first, I was a little apprehensive towards getting the Samurai Megazord because of the uncertainty to combine into the Samurai "Ultrazord" (Samurai Ha-Oh). However, the good news is that Bandai America will release the Bull-Zord to enable that combination, so budget collectors who cannot afford the expensive Japanese Shinkenger Mecha can settle for the American version instead.
Compared to the RPM series, I would say that the Samurai Megazord isn't really an actual improvement (except for the plastic quality and joint designs) because I am very particular about core features which are the inaccurate transformations and Emblem Modes in this case. The 4 RPM Megazords still win in this regard. Therefore, the Samurai Megazord is really just for leisure playing.
For fans of Shinkenger, it is certainly more rewarding to get the Shinkenger Mecha especially when they offer more accurate functionalities and Bandai Asia is now re-issuing them at a cheaper price.
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