Rabbit Ranger: You've certainly been known in the cosplay community for some time, but I don't know how well the Power Rangers fans in the Czech Republic know you. Could you tell us a few words about your group? How long have you been active, how many members do you have, how did the idea to found this group come about, what do you attend as a group, what events do you participate in? Just come and introduce your group to our fans a little.
OSC: Hi, we are a group of 5 cosplayers operating in Olomouc and the surrounding area since the end of 2016, whose main activity is free attendance at children's birthday parties, children's days, camps, hospitals and basically any events related to children, and fun activities for them. We also go to weddings and other social events, we try to cosplay for a good cause and, above all, bring a smile to the smallest, most needy and sick children, whose children's world we try to brighten up with real heroes, whom we also wished to be at their age, but we did not have the opportunity or the means. We go in costumes of the main and most famous superheroes and fairy-tale characters, but we are able to fulfill almost any character that a child invents and orders, we also present our heroes at movie premieres in the cinemas and wherever we are needed. We actively participate in the Olomouc Cosplay Festival in the Šantovka Gallery, we give lectures every year about our activities at Comic-Con Prague, Comic-Con Junior in Brno, Animefest, Maker Fair and other sub-festivals. We were founded as an open group for the purpose of creating and sharing cosplay creation procedures under the name Olomouc Suit Craze (OSC). After our first competition in the Olomouc S-club, we were approached by the mother of a sick little Kryštůfek, who was undergoing leukemia treatment, and we could not refuse such an offer. After this powerful experience and joy caused by our visit from Iron Man and Spider-Man, we decided to continue this activity on a regular basis, free of charge for children, wherever needed, and that is how our Universal Superheroes were created.

Savrill: Hi, I'm Savrillcosplay and I've been cosplaying for about 3 years. I'm from Prague, I work as a technician and I'm a retired floorball goalie. I go to bigger events and only a few a year. I have a family and even though my wife and daughter sometimes go with me, I have to be at home for them.

Lu2_cosplay cosplay demonstration

Rabbit Ranger: It is very nice and generous of you all to do such charity events for the needy. How often do you visit hospitals like this? Do you do it with any regularity? How time-consuming is this activity? Or do you have a schedule where people can see you? If someone wants to book you, how should they proceed and what is needed?
OSC: Thank you for the beautiful words of appreciation, which always make us happy and push us further. Over time, interest and awareness of our visits to children grew, and we reached the stage where we go to children's parties practically every weekend, sometimes even all three days (Fri-Sun). As for hospitals, visits are less regular here, because there is not always a suitable opportunity for this and we rather have to wait for an invitation from the hospital itself, because our initial efforts on our own initiative did not go very well in the beginning. But now we are ready to cooperate with any organization for sick children and will be wherever we are needed. It follows that all reservations of our heroes are made via OSC - Universal Superheroes Facebook page and sometimes via the Instagram of the same name. However, a pre-booking is not a 100% confirmation of participation with regard to duties other than superheroes. Finally, we need some initial information such as how old the child will be expecting us, how far we will go, what we should prepare, whether we will be handing over a cake, etc. Then we just put together a team and the children can look forward to us. We announce larger public events in advance in posts.

Rabbit Ranger: When you say that you were originally created for the purpose of creating and sharing techniques, can aspiring cosplayers contact you with questions or requests for advice on creating cosplay?
OSC: They definitely can and we are open to any cooperation and we will be happy to pass on our experience and advise novice cosplayers as much as we can. We would have appreciated such help in our early days and gradually it came in abundance from various sides.

Rabbit Ranger: What was the original trigger that made you decide to do cosplay?
OSC: I think I can safely say for the entire team that we wanted to become our beloved superheroes who accompanied us our whole lives, and cosplay just opened our horizons to that. The added value of giving joy to the children we were, and still are, came naturally.

Savrill: I'm not original in this regard. I've been to a few "nerdy" events and decided to enhance the experience with a costume.

Rabbit Ranger: What cosplays started it all for you and what costumes do your members have at home?
OSC: The first costume was created by one of the founding members,Ludvík Urda, a replica of Iron Man, at that time made of sleeping mats, which he worked on for about a year. At the first event, David Ritter joined as the second founding member with Spider-Man (bought, not sewn, with minor modifications that he innovates to this day). Subsequently, other members joined us, such as co-founder Jan Skácel in the role of Deadpool, but also other members, such as Petr Kraus as War Machine.Jan Müller remains the main character with an arsenal of costumes from Star Wars, but also with Venom, Ant-Man, or Black Panther. The fairy-tale side of the team is our little dragon Toothless, completely created byPavla Gyurkovská, who fills the hearts of especially little girls at parties with happiness. As for the overall list of our characters and heroes, the aforementioned characters represent the main roles for each of us, in many variations. In addition to them, we have almost the entire Avengers team in various lineups, several characters from the DC universe, such as Batman or the Joker, as well as a number of rare and lesser-known heroes, such as Spawn. All of them can be seen on personal and team Instagrams, or on our Facebook page (note: links can be found at the end of the interview).

Spideros.Cosplay cosplay demonstration

Savrill: The first costume was Aragorn from Lord of the Rings, but I didn't make it myself, a friend made it for me because I got married in it. The first costume I made myself was the Green Ranger, because I watched the series as a kid and this character was the one I loved the most. And I like the color green. I also have Wolverine, Van Helsing and Bandit.

Savrillcosplay cosplay demonstration

Rabbit Ranger: What does cosplay mean to you these days? How does it feel to be in a mask? Do you put yourself into the roles of the characters and try to act like them?
OSC: The opportunity to present ourselves in our favorite superhero characters that we always wanted to be, and at the same time to make children and others happy. Being in a "mask" is a feeling that fulfills us, and we can be ourselves without inhibitions. In addition, we meet people who have a common interest and the same passion for cosplay, in a world without prejudices, and it is also an escape from reality and everyday duties for all of us. We try to present each of our costumes and characters not only through the appearance of the costume, but of course also through our performance, sometimes we do it better, sometimes worse. Some of us were born for our character, like our Deadpool Jan Skácel, who is such a great actor and chatty joker that sometimes you don't know which of the two is talking at the time. We strictly adhere to the role of real superheroes at children's events and performances. At Comic-Con and festivals too, but we fall out of character more often, mainly due to interactions with friends.

Savrill: For me, it means fun, starting something, planning, creating and being happy with the final product. At the same time, I enjoy the attention the most when people like the costume. That's the main reason why I do it. I try to roleplay, but I'm not very good at it, I always stutter and fall out of character. The best experience was when a fan saw us in an Aragorn and Arwen costume and her eyes lit up. And it was a really warm feeling to make her so happy. Or when I first had a guardian, dads would send their sons to take pictures with me and it was clear that they didn't know who I was. But I was big and colorful, so they went.

skaci_the_pool cosplay demonstration

Rabbit Ranger: What would you say to aspiring cosplayers? What to stick to, what to avoid...
OSC: Don't be discouraged by other more advanced cosplayers or initial failures in creating costumes. Everyone started somehow and gains experience that way. Above all, enjoy cosplay and take it as fun, regardless of negative reactions. It's all about having fun for all of us.

Savrill: I would definitely tell newbies not to be afraid to go out in costume, the nervousness will subside with the first person who wants a photo. The community is very friendly and you will make a lot of friends. I can't think of anything to avoid. Just be nice to others and don't be afraid to say NO.

ho_za_mu cosplay demonstration

Rabbit Ranger: Who came up with the idea to make a Power Rangers cosplay and why?
OSC: It was practically a collective idea of ​​the whole team, when we wanted to go in a more nostalgic direction, and have another full-team cosplay for a wider presentation at Comic-Con. Most of the team grew up on Power Rangers, so we had a closer emotional connection to these superheroes of our childhood. Therefore, we also practiced the entrance from the original series and the RollCall moves of each individual Ranger.

Savrill: I like to make costumes that I haven't seen before and are original. Tommy is the coolest, he's green and has a Dragon Zord. I love dragons.

OSC - Universal Superheroes as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Rabbit Ranger: Were you a fans of Power Rangers before?
OSC: As mentioned in the previous question, most of us grew up watching Power Rangers, and either watched the entire series regularly or at least some episodes randomly. However, we stuck with the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which are our favorite, and we are less familiar with the sequels.

Savrill: Of course... when I was little, my mom had to record episodes for me when I wasn't home.

Rabbit Ranger: Did you have to study a lot of information to be prepared for questions from the audience? Or did you believe you had enough knowledge?
OSC: Although we had knowledge from watching the series, we needed to supplement some deeper knowledge so that we would be prepared for any question and not be caught off guard, which ultimately wasn't such a problem when preparing the lecture and we rather just refreshed our knowledge.

Rabbit Ranger: Have you also used the Czech website Power Rangers - Strážci Vesmíru CZ to refresh your knowledge? Are you aware of its existence?
OSC: We were aware of the site, especially our Red Ranger, but until we started cosplaying Power Rangers, we didn't really care about the broader content. However, when preparing for the lecture and performance, Power Rangers - Strážci Vesmíru CZ site was a source of information and, above all, the necessary episodes from the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series, which completely shocked us with its YouTube channel, in a good way. We highly recommend it to all die-hard Power Rangers fans of all kinds and admire the passion and dedication that is unmatched in other fandom communities. We are so honored to be the subject of this discussion.

Rabbit Ranger: At Comic-Con, Honza Tomáš joined you as the Green Ranger. Have you known each other for a while and did you know about his Green Ranger? How did the idea for there to be seven of you come about?
OSC: We have known Honza for a few years from various cosplay events, but mostly from Comic-Con. We also saw his Green Ranger there for the first time last year. Once we decided to make our entire Power Rangers team, it was a clear choice for us to include Honza as the Green Ranger, so that we could have his original "evil" version of Tommy Oliver with our White Ranger. He also brought our Rangers' performance to life and completed it with the Dragon Dagger, for which we are grateful to him.

Savrillcosplay as the Green Power Ranger

Rabbit Ranger: Can you describe the process of making your Ranger costumes? What was purchased? What was made? What was the production process like? What worked, what didn't? How long did you spend putting together the costumes in total? Was there enough time, or were you too tight on the deadline?
OSC: Apart from the basic fabric costumes (we're not very good at sewing yet), all the costumes of all the members are completely made by ourselves. The helmets, individual weapons and Blade Blasters are made by 3D printing and assembled by ourselves. That is, endless sanding, gluing, gluing individual parts, painting and fine-tuning individual details, after repairs with EVA foam, after lining the helmet with foam, and after thinking up details on how to make the visor of the helmet. In the end, we managed to do everything as we imagined, even though there were complications with the visor and fastening the helmet, which some of the team have differently. Some with buckles, some with clips. Our weapons broke a few times, which we had to repeatedly glue and repaint, as well as the details on the helmets (the teeth of the saber-toothed tiger, the bow of the Pink Ranger, etc.). We had been planning the costumes since the last Comic-Con, when the completion of the material for 3D printing took place throughout the year. Intensive preparation and creation was with increasing intensity during the last 2-3 months before this year's Comic-Con. Most of us were finishing the final adjustments until late in the morning the night before the Con itself. We had several costumes for the Con itself, so everything was time-consuming as usual. Likewise, learning the set for our appearance, which took us about a month to come up with and execute, with two intensive meetings and rehearsals.

  
The group training and performance

Savrill: I can't sew, so I bought the fabric parts, as well as the shoes. The helmet is 3D printed, the model can be downloaded from the internet. The gloves are just white work gloves. I made the armbands from EVA foam, as well as the Dragon Shield. I bought the Dragon Dagger/flute from Hasbro on eBay. The entire assembly, including searching on the internet, took about 4 months. The last 14 days were classically stressful. The helmet didn't print, so I finished it at the last minute. I sprayed the last layer of varnish an hour before the con opened. Unfortunately, if you want the purchased parts of the costume to look nice, it doesn't pay to save too much. Paradoxically, if these parts can be bought, it usually costs less than making them. So the total price of the costume climbed to about 685 USD.

Rabbit Ranger: I would like to stay with this question, there are a few things that interested me. Let's clarify it a little more. I would like to know what material you used to create the visors, what colors did you use to paint the helmets and weapons? Was it an airbrush technique, classic sprays, or paint? At Comic-Con I heard that someone helped you with 3D printing, do you want to mention someone, thank them here too? How much does one Power Ranger costume cost in total with his weapons?
OSC: The visor was one of the biggest obstacles for us in finalizing the helmets. Originally, we had the idea of ​​making visors from car sunshades. After ordering two versions, neither worked as it should. Either the necessary shape could not be cut, or the material was impossible to work with at all. Moreover, it was not possible to see well enough through any material, even through the vents in the helmets. The final option was a polycarbonate protective visor for work purposes and eye protection. We modeled the shape of the visor from these shields with an electric cutter and glued it to the helmets with a hot melt gun. Painting the helmets was an alternating game with spray (aerosol sprays, acrylic paints) in several layers and fine-tuning the smallest details with a brush. Airbrushing is not part of our regular repertoire, for now. As for the 3D printing, it was carried out by a person close to us who shares the same charitable ideals as us, and with dedication to our group, completely without any claim to credit, not only here, or fees, she carried out all the printing to perfection down to the last detail. We are immensely grateful for this, and she made a significant impact on the final appearance of the costumes. With the price, we can only describe the range of the costumes themselves (fabric suit, gloves, belt, shoes), which was around 180 USD|. Unfortunately, we are not very good at sewing. We wanted to create the helmets and weapons ourselves, either by 3D printing or by creating from EVA foam, and here we cannot estimate the cost, we drew mainly from older stocks of materials.

The Green Ranger cosplay production

Rabbit Ranger: How did you choose the colors? After all, it can be seen from the photos that the White Ranger ended up with Yellow and not Pink, and Pink with Red...
OSC: Despite some initial disagreements over the choice of colors, we eventually agreed based on the popularity of both the characters and the colors, to everyone's satisfaction. We added the female Power Rangers characters with girlfriends for our two Rangers (White and Red), and we went purely based on the popularity of the colors, not based on story relationships, so as not to make it even harder for our girls.

Something isn't right here...

Rabbit Ranger: Do you know how many episodes the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series has?
OSC: I would guess around 150 episodes, although the series previously seemed much longer.

Rabbit Ranger: Without the follow-up miniseries Mighty Morphin Alien Ranger, there are 145 episodes. I'm asking because you chose a roughly 30-second dance from episode 144 - The Sound of Dischordia, for your introduction. Was it a coincidence, or how did you come across this part and decide to use it?
OSC: We watched the aforementioned episode together, but the origin of the choice of starting was much funnier. In the initial stages and mentions of the intention to do a joint Power Rangers cosplay, almost a year before the Con in question, we often and later regularly sent each other in conversations on social networks that dance sequence that we found so funny and characteristic of the craziness of our party, that we eventually kept it in the final performance.

The Sound of Dischordia spot

Rabbit Ranger: Do you plan to improve your costumes in any way, to make them fit better? Will we be able to meet your group as the Power Rangers somewhere else?
OSC: Our current Power Rangers costumes will likely remain the same as seen at our Comic-Con panel for the foreseeable future, and we plan on having other team costumes with similar numbers of members by next year. However, this is definitely not the last time we'll see them, and we plan on bringing our Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to other festivals and events this year. No doubt there will be tweaks and innovations over time, and perhaps other versions of the Power Rangers, or other panels with the same look and lineup, but we don't have a specific idea at this point what they will be and when.

Savrill: Well, mostly not, but all costumes would need it.

Rabbit Ranger: I understand that you don't want to stay in one place and move on with your cosplay. Would it be possible to inform the Power Rangers fans through me when you are going somewhere in Power Rangers costumes, so that the fans can have a chance to take a photo with you if you are nearby? This also includes promoting your participation on our website, FB and Instagram pages.
OSC: In this regard, we have opened up a world that we definitely do not want to leave just like that. Thus, we will look for opportunities to show ourselves as Power Rangers again, whether as a complete team or just a partial one. We can guarantee that if we are going to show up anywhere as a whole team, we will inform about this well in advance on our social networks, as we do about any public event where we will show up. The only exceptions are private events, especially celebrations. We would be honored if sharing and announcing our appearances through the Power Rangers - Strážci Vesmíru CZ website would work, and we will share back in the same way. We always strive for the greatest possible mutual reach. As already mentioned, we greatly appreciate these services and support and they pleasantly surprise us, and we are honored to be part of this world.

Rabbit Ranger: I thank you all very much for your time and willingness to do this interview with me. It is great to know that we also have our own team of Power Rangers in the Czech Republic. You do a very worthy job with your visits to hospitals and children in general. Personally, I hope to meet you again sometime in a place where it is not so hectic and there will be more time to get to know you better. Is there anything you would like to say to your fans, or to Power Rangers fans in the Czech Republic?
OSC: We sincerely and with pride in our superhero souls thank you for your helpful behavior and interest in our group, not only with regard to the topic of Power Rangers. Every sharing of our thoughts pleases us. The privilege of being the first (complete) Czech Mighty Morphin Power Rangers team is an even greater surprise and honor for us. Of course, it is also an even greater responsibility and we will try to fulfill all wishes and expectations in this regard. The aforementioned "work" in the form of visits to hospitals and other events for children is not work for us, but a joy that we will continue to pass on so that this joy lasts precisely and above all where it is needed most. We are open to another meeting and will welcome you under any conditions.

We would like to say to the fans of the Power Rangers (especially the younger generations) not to dismiss these series or any of their depictions at first impression (whether in design, script, or animation and effects). To this day, the original Power Rangers series remains a phenomenon that carries a charm and quality that may not be obvious at first glance, but still carries deep thoughts, as well as humor, which are factors that even today's modern superhero films draw from. To the fans in general, we would like to send only and above all a deep gratitude for your unwavering support and favor, which surprises us in many situations, but never ceases to amuse us, and as long as you are here for us, we will be here for you.

Will there be 8 Power Rangers next time?

Rabbit Ranger: For all readers, I have links to the pages of the OSC - Universal Superheroes group, their members, and other useful links, including a photo gallery from Comic-Con Prague 2025.
 

OSC - Universal Superheroes

OSC - Universal Superheroes
White Ranger
Green Ranger
Red Ranger
Blue Ranger
Black Ranger
Yellow Ranger

Pandora's Workshop