While organizing my closet I stumbled upon my old might
morphin power rangers morpher. It looks old and beat up, and I remember someone
in college telling me that they go for a hefty sum on ebay. I checked, and they
average $164 USD. I am debating on whether to post it up there or not for that
price, but let’s get to the point of this article.
The battery still has a charge after… 21 years? It’s on its
last breath though, and we will need to replace the batteries. This guide will
serve as a walkthrough on how to restore a Bandai 1991 Mighty Morphin Power
Rangers Morpher. You cannot sue me (but you can certainly bitch, and I will
laugh) if you break yours, so follow along at your own risk.
The toy is fairly clever in design: upon removing screws (I
had to break a screw hole because of a rusted out screw) you will notice the
simple electronics and the clever cross bar mechanism plus a spring which
allows the thing to slide open.
Cleaning parts
The first step will be to clean off any gunk, residue, sweat, I don’t know what it is- from the toy. This means getting in nooks and crannies with a toothbrush, q-tips and isopropyl alcohol. Before doing this, bag up all of your part so that you don’t lose them.
The first step will be to clean off any gunk, residue, sweat, I don’t know what it is- from the toy. This means getting in nooks and crannies with a toothbrush, q-tips and isopropyl alcohol. Before doing this, bag up all of your part so that you don’t lose them.
Paint
You will have to decide if you want to paint this thing or not. On the front you will notice a few stickers: two that have “Mighty Morphin” and “Power Rangers” on them, and then black lightning bolt stickers. The latter stickers are peeling off on mine, and fixing them is a matter of masking off and painting them, since I build plastic models (ironically, a brand I buy my model kits from is the manufacturer of this toy, Bandai, go figure).
You will have to decide if you want to paint this thing or not. On the front you will notice a few stickers: two that have “Mighty Morphin” and “Power Rangers” on them, and then black lightning bolt stickers. The latter stickers are peeling off on mine, and fixing them is a matter of masking off and painting them, since I build plastic models (ironically, a brand I buy my model kits from is the manufacturer of this toy, Bandai, go figure).
Make sure to sand areas properly and to clean them before
painting. I am masking off the mighty morphin stickers. If they appear too worn
out, your best bet is to remove them (with isopropyl alcohol) and paint the
plastic red. I can’t offer any advice on making decals, stickers, etc.
I’ll post more as I move along with the restoration.
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| The morpher in its parts. |
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| shelf pic. The light up square I got from thinkgeek.com. The upper right LED is out of sync, however. |
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| ALWAYS bag small parts, screws, and springs. |
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