Toy Spotlight: Search for The White Ranger

1. Why did I choose this toy? 

I chose the White Ranger for two reasons: 1. It’s a story about looking for a popular toy for a child at Christmastime. 2. The recent tragic passing of the actor who played the Green/White Ranger, Jason David Frank. 

2. When was this toy first produced? 

Since they were available in the fall/winter of 1994, I’m going to guess it would have been sometime in 1993. 

The White Ranger we were able to find wasn’t an action figure. We were able to find the plush version of the character, more suitable for hugging and bedtime than action play. 

3. Is it still being produced (in some form)? 

Yes, there is a plush version of the White Ranger made by Funko. 

4. Was there a cartoon? 

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was not animated like most traditional Saturday morning children’s programs were. Most live action programs when we were growing up had segments with animation (Pee-Wee’s Playhouse). Most of them were either game shows or followed a sketch format like Hey, Vern, It’s Ernest. 

Watching MMPR felt a little more like watching a combination of Saved By the Bell with clips from a Japanese monster movie cut into it. Maybe that’s because I only saw parts of it between making peanut butter toast for my cousin and changing his little brother’s diapers. It was very different from what I was used to watching on Saturday mornings. 

5. Was there an established villain in the canon? 

The only one I saw regularly and remember was Rita Repulsa. Alliteration in character names always makes them more memorable for me. 

6. Where did I acquire this toy? 

My brother and I found the plush White Ranger at the same Winn Dixie Cody the Coca-Cola Bear came from (in the article from last summer). From September through most of December 1994, we had been looking everywhere we went for anything having to do with the White Ranger. 

Sometimes we were so desperate we even looked for the Green Ranger, but he was just as difficult to find. The rest of the Rangers were there. We would go through peg after peg through Pink, Yellow, Red, Black, Blue. Every color except White and Green. 

7. Was it a gift? 

Yes, but it was for my cousin for Christmas when he was four years old. 

8. Did I buy it myself? What store was it purchased from? 

My mom bought it when my brother and I found it during a regular weekly grocery run about ten days before Christmas. 

9. Do I still have this toy or anything from the original packaging? 

Since it was a gift to my cousin who would be in his thirties now, I don’t know if  he would have kept it or what condition it would be in. When you have Red Georgia Clay around, anything white can get an orangey tinge when it gets dirty. 

10. Did anything surprise me while researching this toy line? 

I didn’t realize the transition between Green and White took place as soon in the storyline as it did. MMPR was only in the middle of the second season when the Green Ranger made his face turn and became the White Ranger. 

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