When we first started the planning process for the Lightning Collection, we knew that we wanted to bring in the fan-favorite Pink Ranger from the Mighty Morphin era. But adding Kim into the line posed a unique design challenge. The team strives to make the Lightning Collection the most screen-accurate Power Rangers figure line that’s ever existed, and in order to do that we’d have to sacrifice something else in the figure: articulation.
Why does articulation matter? It lets fans pose the figure in a way that more accurately represents how the character looks on the screen. Kim’s signature weapon is the Power Bow. In order to make it possible for her to pose out correctly, we’d need to add something called a butterfly joint in her shoulder, which would allow for a more realistic looking bow pull.
The problem is that Kim is a female character and figure, with a smaller frame and different body proportions than male figures. The butterfly joint takes up too much real estate in the figure, which means that if we included it, she’d end up with shoulders that are too broad for her frame.
But our team wasn’t going to let that stop us. We know fans want screen-accurate, highly poseable figures, regardless of the character… and we want that, too. So, our Product Design and Sculpting teams tackled the challenge head on, working to refine the butterfly joint to fit it into the Pink Ranger figure.
