Way back when Saban was trying with every fiber of their being to retain the original
costumes for the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, they tooled around with the idea of
having Toei make more of their own footage again, as they had for some of the final
episodes of the first season. But rather than going back to the costumes Toei already
had on hand, and which had already passed in seasons two and three, they wanted to have
all new designs made for the Zords that more resembled their original forms.
The following crops are taken from some of the filler "Extras" pages or the
2002 Sentai Robo book.
Type A
These are the new concept designes the book refers to as Type A. Notice that the
Pterodactyle is bit more robotic than it's originaly mostly-aircraft incarnation.
The Triceratops, however, is still designed around the concept of a treaded vehicle,
like the original. Notice also, the gold crest on the chest of the Pterodactyle.
The new incarnation of the Megazord, Type A. The Tyranosaurus's tail would have
transformed into two different weapons. The Drill Tornado, or the Final Arrow.
The new incarnation of the White Tiger would have transformed into a robot mode on
its own, just as the original had, and also combine with the new Mastodon, Triceratops,
and Sabertooth Tiger for form a new incarnation of (likely) the Mega Tigerzord.
Notice how the shoulders of the Tiger would have come together in a Dragonzord-like
fashion to form the new chest plate.
Type B
The second concept for the Tyranosaurus was a lot spikier. In the Megazord design,
this mostly just led to the prominent blades sticking up over the shoulders, but also
the Pteranodon seemed to be almost completely remolded to fit against the new
Tyranosaurus design. Notice also, that though the crest seems to be the one visible
portion of the Pteranodon that stayed the same, it was altered from gold to red.
The Mastodon appears unchanged from designe Typ A. As the image doesn't show lower
than the hips, we can only assume that the Sabertooth Tiger and Triceratops are
similarly unaltered. With those three the same, the Mega Tigerzord pictured above
fits the Type B designs as well as Type A.
Type C
The third concept for the Tyranosaurus seems to be a sort of compromise between
the previous two over-all. However, it has a completely differently molded chest
(Type B appearing to be the same mold as Type A, recolored) and a Megazord face
that is altogether different than either of the previous two, although it did go
back to the mouth-plate like Type A instead of another visible mouth like Type B.
The Pteradactyle appears to be identical to the Type B version. As before, it seems
the Mastodon, Sabertooth Tiger, and Triceratops are unchanged. We have more solid
support for that belief in the Sabertooth Tiger and Triceratops, below.
Here we see the version of the White Tiger that fits with the Type C Zords, as well
as the Mega Tigerzord formed from the same four Zords. The Tiger is completely
redesigned, however they did keep the idea of the shoulders coming forward together
to make the new chestplate.
The White Tiger would no longer have its own robot mode apparently, but it would
have the ability to transform into a large shoulder cannon for the Megazord. It is
this picture, in which we can see the distinctive head fins, that matches this second
itteration of the Tiger up with the third version of the Tyranosaurus, and of course
the second version of the Pterodactyle. This picture also shows us that the Type C
Sabertooth Tiger and Triceratops are as unchanged as the Mastodon.
Type D
While the Type D Tyranosaurus is a combination of very similar visual concepts to that
of Types A, B, and C (with the most similarity a throwback all the way to Type A),
all four of the other Dinozords are entirely different concepts with this design.
Notice that the Pteradactyle now forms the helmet of the Megazord, while the Mastodon
forms the new chestplate and arms, rather than the back and arms. Instead of the
drill or bow weapons, the tail of the Tyranosaurus is the scabard of a new Power Sword.
Sadly, there do not appear to be any color representations of Type D.
There are actually six different prospective versions of Titanus shown in the book,
but the presense of a tiger (albeit somewhat lion-like) makes this one the most likely
to fit with Type D. Apparently, this incarnation of the White Tiger would not have
combined with the Dinozords, but instead combined with Titanus, becoming Titanus's
new chest-plate and tail.
Other Versions of Titanus
These two depictions of Titanus were obviously ideas for Season 3. The version on the
left has shoulder guns that become handheld weapons for the Shogun Megazord, a tail
that splits into shoulder cannons for the Ninja Megazord, and a chest plate that
becomes a shield weapon for probably the Ninja Megazord, though it's difficult to
tell from the image. The version on the right has a tail that can become shoulder
cannons on Titanus (like his original tail), or a cannon that fits onto the arm
of the Ninja Megazord, or an axe weapon for the Shogun Megazord.
These incarnations of Titanus are just plain inexplicable. The upper right version
is very aquatic looking, while the upper left is quite draconic. The lower version is,
well, still draconic, but more radicaly different than any of the others. If any of
these three belong to Types A, B, or C, it's impossible to tell.
You know you were wondering about this one.
Appearing as a sketch, rather than in color places it more likely with Type D than
any of the others, but it was with the Titanus images, so it's not easy to say. The
text indicates this design may have even been intended for use as early as the 2nd
season, when the rest of the Zords were those from the Dairanger footage. This
reincarnation of the Dragonzord would have transformed into its own robot mode, called
the Samurai Zord.
What an interesting look at things that might have been, but were abandoned when
Saban just gave up the goat and went with Zeo.