I only just saw that post, John. It is very helpful!
Thanks!
I do wonder about Dark Thunder being canon. Official vs. canon and all. MMPR: TM is official, but not canon. I would personally consider it canon. I only wonder about the community of fans in general.
Mentioning the movie and Zords, since it is a different timeline/dimension (Sliders, anyone?), I assume something changed the timeline so that Zedd and Rita hooked up 10,000+ years ago, for some reason she not needing to/not coming up with the idea to make a Green Ranger. With the added threat of Zedd and Rita early on (and they DID have some good plans before and including Rito destroying the Thunder/Dino Zords), Ninjor forged even more powerful coins, including a sixth (why it is a White Tiger I don't know, ask him?) to answer the threat. That could be why they have added armor/abilities. I would think they have variations of the Dino Zords before Ooze, with Tommy having a White (Sabretoothed?) Tigerzord (imagine the White Tigerzord in Battlemode, or the Mega Tigerzord ^_^ ).
I guess it would be possible that the Shogun Zords were what were dismantled if the Thunder/Dino Zords are under control of the Dark Rangers (barring being canon), since they couldn't be used. Ninja Zords are intact with Ninjor, Battle Borgs with Aquitians. If Dark Rangers AREN'T canon, then I guess the Thunder/Dino Zords were what were dismantled.
I guess we should also add Serpenterra to the list of Zords active/non-active.
Judging by Serpenterra's "size" in Forever Red, my personal bias is that the info the remnants of the Machine Empire are slightly off, and that was just a prototype of Serpenterra and the real, BIG, thing is being taken care of by Squatt and Baboo at Master Vile's old house. *wink icon*