As we celebrated the 20th Year of Power Rangers there were many many hot topics that shook the Power Rangers Fandom!
These stories kept us captivated, stirred and rocked conversation & caused wars on Twitter and Facebook!
Here is a countdown of the top 10 most talked about and best moments of 2013!
10. The Great Legacy Morpher Search / Gold Legacy Morpher Release
Nothing could stop the fandom from freaking out a little each day in the beginning of 2013 as Legacy Morphers began appearing on Toys R Us shelves! As time went by it became harder and harder to acquire the long awaited addition to the Legacy Collection! To make matters worse; word spread fast that poachers began purchasing all of the Morphers on the shelves and selling them at extremely inflated prices. Sometimes nearly 4X the Retail price.
Luckily, as the morphers became widely available many collectors finally got their hands on one!
But, it was soon after that the San Diego Comic-Con Exclusive Gold Legacy Morpher was announced and a whole new debacle began.
These morphers are set for pre-order from Toys R Us, with a release date of January 2014, but I predict another rush to stores is in the works!
9. Power Rangers Action Card Game Released
For the first time in years, since the Ranger Strike cards, the 20 Year History of the Power Rangers became center-stage in a Card Game!
With the introduction of the ACG Facebook and Twitter, along with the cooperation of the fandom’s major blogs, previews of each card were shown to much anticipation!
As stated above most of the anticipation from these cards was due to the fact that they couldn’t be found in stores easily. The second and third sets became much easier to obtain but the most talked about set of the year was, Series 4; Legends Unite.
This set featured many of the teams that were generally disliked by some fans such as Operation Overdrive, but included many highly anticipated cards as the Titanium Ranger, the Spirit Rangers of Jungle Fury, the Psycho Rangers and Dr K of RPM!
Sadly, this set was the set that was hardly meant to be; never (in my experience) appearing on shelves. Many acquired these cards online from card stores or private sellers. To this day I do not own 1 card from this series and that saddens me greatly.
8. MMPR Fan Film Clips and Teasers
During 2013 you were most likely on one of two sides of the fandom regarding the upcoming MMPR: Fan Film series; you either are anxiously anticipating it or completely and utterly despise it.
The Fan Film boasts not only upgraded suits, voices from Robert Axelrod among others & a darker view on the Power Rangers universe.
Twitter and Facebook, as well as the message boards, were a buzz when a Kickstarter for the project was launched earning the film makers more than $41,000!
If you are an active member of the fandom you know the messes that followed not only from the Kickstarter but the previews trailers and images as well. I’ll let you remember on your own, but remember this; let us not judge until we’ve seen the project!
I’m sure we will be talking about this in mass during 2014.
7. Milo Cawthorne and Olivia Tennet Marry
It was the Instagram heard round the fandom!
Many were completely unaware they were even dating but in June of 2013 Milo Cawthorne (Ziggy, RPM) & Olivia Tennet (Dr K, RPM) were married!
Milo wore an orange tuxedo jacket with black trim while his bride wore a classic white dress with flowers adorning her hair!
Several RPM and Jungle Fury alums were seen at the wedding to celebrate this momentous ocassion! Congrats again to the happy couple!
6. Amy Jo Johnson Announces her first Con Appearance
In October, Amy Jo Johnson announced that in March of 2014 she would finally be making her first convention appearance at Lexington Comic and Toy Convention joining several of her MMPR cast-mates such as Walter Jones and David Yost!
This was a big announcement for the Power Rangers fans who have been dying to meet her! With this announcement it gives us a little hope that she may be visiting with us in August at Power Morphicon 4!
5. Shout! Factory Unveils Legacy Helmet Collection
The cumulative collection of the last 20 years had finally arrived! Boasting 20 Seasons & a 767 Episode series in a 98-DVD set, the Legacy Helmet Collection releases in January, after a few delays! When the set was first unveiled the price tag was a hefty $650 and limited to 2000 copies which caused many to be turned off almost immediately. Personally, I was very excited that the entire collection was being released but was turned off by the bulky helmet and the fact that I had already purchased 2 of the Boxsets!
However, it can be said that the amazing packaging, inserts, cases and extras almost make the collection worth paying for!
4. Ranger Actors Receive Super Megaforce Letter / the Declines
Setting the fandom on fire even more was this little gem from mid-2013 when we first began getting news of the Rangers who would be making cameos in the latter half of Super Megaforce. Before the cast was re-introduced to us it was revealed that many Ranger actors either reached out to the production or were offered roles via a general invitation.
It was later revealed that several of our favorite Rangers were invited but then later rejected such as Rhett Fisher, who was highly wanted for a return by the fans. Several Rangers declined and cited that an amicable agreement could not be reached such as Karan Ashley and Steve Cardenas. It was even found that several actors may not have been reached at all.
These agreements put Saban Brands under a lot of fire over the following months from accusations of being cheap to the ever prevalent accusation of mistreatment of their cast members (David Yost, for example).
Luckily, these arguments died down as soon as the chosen Cameo Rangers were revealed!
3. Saban and Nick Sign Deal Into 2016
In October it was revealed that the love/hate relationship with Saban and Nickelodeon would not be ending anytime soon.
Saban signed another deal with the network until 2016 which, at best, gives us hope that Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters and perhaps Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger would be adapted into Power Rangers.
How Nickelodeon will treat the brand remains unseen but one thing can be said, Power Rangers lives for another 2 years!
2. Legacy Dragonzord and Dragon Dagger Announced
Announced with great fanfare at SDCC 2013, Coming in 2014 was one of the best announcements in a long time!
We are finally getting a Legacy Dragonzord that we’ve all been waiting for!
The Dragonzord will come with die-cast parts and will be compatible with the Legacy Megazord and 2010 Megazord and Titanus!
Announced with it the Legacy Dragon Dagger which comes with die-cast parts as well! Both will retail at $79.99!
With the success and high demand of the Legacy Megazord and Morpher, as well as the Gold Legacy Morpher’s release, this was a huge announcement to the fandom! I cannot wait to own these and I know that many of you can’t wait either!
1. Cameo Rangers Revealed
Selwyn Ward, Patricia Ja Lee, Jason Faunt, Sean CW Johnson, Reggie Rolle, Melody Perkins, Danny Slavin
Alison MacInnis, Hector David Jr, Jason David Frank & Brittany Pirtle!
Our Chosen 11 were revealed in May of 2013 and soon after began a whirlwind of Instagram and Twitter images from the actors coming from New Zealand! Jason David Frank uploaded many videos from the set and off-time adventures with his fellow Ranger cast mates as well!
This was one of the most exciting times of not only 2013 but as my experience of being in the Ranger Nation as a whole!
It has been quite a long time since such a large group of former Rangers have come together for a cameo.
Even though their scenes will not air until almost a year from now, you cannot deny that this time period was electric!
It’s been an exciting and boisterous year to be a Power Rangers fan with only a brighter future to look forward to in 2014!
What was your most talked about Moment in 2013?
