Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 10, 1993 TAG: 9312100166
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The toy's creator, Japanese owned Bandai-America, took out large ads in major newspapers across the country last week to apologize for the scarcity of figures.
"They are being shipped 24 hours a day, and the factory is now going 24 hours a day," said Mary Woodworth, spokeswoman for the Cerritos, Calif.-based company, whose factory is in Thailand. "It's the same all over the country."
Toys-R-Us at Valley View Mall won't take any more reservations for the dolls and workers say they doubt they'll be able to fulfill the requests already on a waiting list.
Lee McMullen, manager of Hills Department Store on Hershberger Road, said he might get more Rangers in, but he doesn't know when or how many. And he's not taking reservations.
"Normally when we get a shipment in, it's gone in a couple of hours," he said.
Power Rangers cost about $10 apiece and each comes with a mini-biography.
One of the Rangers' key selling points, according to a company news release, is that "where most action figures have only five to seven points of articulation, Power Rangers have 22."
"Articulation is pose-ability," Woodworth explained. "They move at the elbows; they move at the wrists. Even the index fingers move, so they can carry their weapons" - called Megazords.
Mighty Morphin shortages appear to affect parents of preteen children most.
The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were spawned by a campy afternoon live-action television show that had its debut in September. It features five teen-agers dressed in tights and helmets out to save the universe from the Empress of Evil, Rita Repulsa.
The show airs in the Roanoke area on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. and weekdays at 7 a.m. on WJPR (Channel 21/27).
In the top-rated program broadcast by the Fox Network, the teen-agers "morph" into dinosaurs when called upon to rescue the galaxy, a demand they squeeze in between classes at the fictional Angel Grove High School.
Paul Valentine, a toy industry analyst for Standard & Poor's, said Power Rangers have appeal because "they combine two of the most powerful and dangerous forces on Earth: prehistoric dinosaurs and teen-agers with attitude." - From staff and wire reports
by CNB