Samurai Sentai Shinkenger

A deliberate reboot of the series: in terms of content and structure, Power Rangers Samurai sticks very closely to its Japanese source material, which is clearly reflected both in the story and in the Zord concept. Thematically, samurai traditions, a sense of duty, and a clearly defined good-versus-evil framework take center stage.

The Samurai Zords pick up on this theme directly. Animal motifs are still there, but they are heavily stylized and combined with clean, angular shapes. The designs come across as more symbolic than functional, and are less technical in feel than in the immediately preceding seasons. Each Zord is firmly assigned to a specific Ranger, which once again makes the structure very easy to follow.

The ShinkenOh remains the central main Zord throughout large parts of the series. It is complemented by several additional standalone Megazords.

This toyline also marks the beginning of the Zord Builder System, which would go on to shape several seasons from this point forward. Instead of clearly delineated, self-contained Zord sets, the focus here shifts to a modular building concept, in which individual components, even from different seasons, can be combined with one another.

Since I personally only collect vehicles like motorcycles or similar add-on models in exceptional cases, I have deliberately not listed them among the Auxiliary Zords. The many bikes in particular I tend to see more as extra gimmicks that offer no real added value for my collection. For the sake of completeness, however, I still want to mention them, since they can be combined with the Zord and are part of the toyline:

Disc Cycle Fire

Disc Cycle Water

Disc Cycle Forest

Disc Cycle Light

Sword Cycle with Mega Ranger Fire

Sword Cycle with Mega Ranger Water

Sword Cycle with Mega Ranger Forest

Sword Cycle with Mega Ranger Light

From a collector's perspective, Samurai thus stands at the start of a new phase in which modularity and compatibility are given more weight than clearly defined individual Zords. For me personally, this development is interesting, even if it doesn't hit my collecting focus in every respect.

With Power Rangers Super Samurai, the season was for the first time officially split into two parts. Building on Samurai, this second phase not only continued the story but also consistently emphasized continuity on the toyline side. The already introduced Zord Builder System stayed in place and was further expanded.

In the process, nearly all of the Samurai Zords were reissued and appeared in new Super Samurai original packaging (OVP), in some cases with slight color changes. Technically, the Zords remained largely unchanged, which makes the reissues appealing above all to completionist collectors, but less so from a functional standpoint. Since OVPs are only incidental to me and I have the Japanese versions, these hold no interest for me.

On top of that, several Zord Builder add-on models were released again, which I personally don't collect but which should be mentioned for the sake of completeness:

ClawZord and Samurai Ranger Light

Scorpion Creature and Deker

Tiger Tank with Samurai Ranger Fire

Particular caution is warranted with the Samurai Gigazord. The real Samurai Gigazord is made up of nearly all the Zords from the Samurai and Super Samurai lines and represents the complete deluxe combination. Often, however, all that is offered under this name is just a large action figure. It is, in a certain sense, Zord Builder compatible, but it isn't a genuine Zord and holds no collector value for me, yet it is not uncommon for it to be traded at prices that should really be reserved for deluxe Zords.

So my tip is very clear: if a listing mentions a "Samurai Gigazord Set," it pays to take a close look. In some cases it really is the complete deluxe Zord combination in a very large OVP, meaning the true full package for serious collectors. But that's genuinely rare, and as a rule it's the action figure, which isn't worth the money (my opinion).