[REVIEW]: 70778 Protector of Jungle

[VBBN]

Set name: Protector of Jungle

Set number: 70778

Pieces: 64

Price: $9.99, €

Release date: 2015

Packaging and Contents

Box Front

At this point, we've all seen what the boxes look like, but I'm guessing all you guys want to see is the boxes on your local store shelves. Soon! As always keep in mind that the box is the European variant, so some differences may be present.

Box Back

The usual slew of features, from launching masks to launching studs to launching spiders.

Instructions

Once again, standard fare as always. Hey Protector, you're uh, firing in the wrong direction there buddy.

New/Interesting Parts

Gatling Gun

One of the more interesting parts that has made it's way into the Protectors is this new gatling gun. Unlike the Toa who feature gearboxes, these lovely little weapons offer a very awesome new choice of "bionicle launcher" that we have come to expect. The gun is made up of two parts, a dark gray barrel, and a yellow firing pin. Once put together, they do not come apart, at least not without a lot of needless work. The connection is very comparable to the Mata heads with eyestalks. As for the firing power of this new collectible, if anyone is familiar with the minifigure blasters first introduced in Star Wars this year (also seen in wave two of Hero Factory 2014), the force behind the stud is quite similar.

New Pieces

The new head piece, new eyestalk in trans neon green, piston add-on in silver, and new spider leg which is a modified version of a hero factory claw. Standard fare, every set in the wave except for Lord of Skull Spiders and Protector of Earth will come with this same slew of pieces, though colors of course will vary.

Recolors

One thing that quickly bumps the Protector of Jungle up there on the "interesting" scale is some of his recolored bits. He is one of the three Protectors to get the smaller kaiju feet in silver. he also gets two of the new keetorange 4-length shell that Lewa has four of. Even more interestingly, we get the second shortest unrestricted bone piece in keetorange (four of them) in the set. I do love getting new colors of bones!

Masks

Fire, Jungle, and Water all feature a color on their mask that isn't really on the figure at all. Water has dark azure, Fire has bright red (though he has one single red shell hidden under his armor), and Jungle has Bright green. Some will argue that it's fine because the color is close enough to the trans colors that they include, but to me, a solid and a trans plastic are different, they are supposed to be, and they do not substitute one another. With that said, the Protector of Jungle is the least offensive in this regard, bright green goes better with trans bright green than the other respective colors match their trans colors. Oh, and you get a dark blue Skull Spider.

Building process

Action Frame

The Protector of Jungle's torso bone structure is fairly similar to the Protector of Stone's.

Armoring

His color scheme is certainly a striking one, bringing in bright keetorange with the trans bright green.

Weapon

It's times like these when I just want to wonder "why?" We got some lovely recolored flame piece with the Protector of Stone, but apparently they ran out of budgeting with this guy and instead opted for the old blue and yellow pieces. Even though neither of those colors is on the Protector of Jungle. It's another case of pieces just being there to be there, their is hardly an point to their being on the weapon. You could pretty much stick any two weapon pieces on either side of the gatling gun and still have a decent looking "bow" of sorts. Ideally they should repaint these parts into silver.

Finished Set

Skull Spider

Both jungle sets come with a blue Skull Spider (not the Skull "Scorpion" as seen in the Stone sets.)

Front

Like the Protector of Stone, the Protector of Jungle has one piston on one of his arms, sort of acting as a shoulder-shield. I love asymmetrical shoulder armor, so this is welcome to me.

Profile

He does feature back armor. Also you can see he uses two of those minifigure piraka spines in lime green. Another random shade of green, I guess that's to be expected with Jungle.

Back

As I said earlier, Jungle and Stone both have similar torso builds, and they could have very easily given Stone the same back armor as Jungle has. Well anyway, at least this gives us two of those lovely new keetorange shells- Always nice to have an even amount.

Pose 1

I love characters with crossbows, longbows, bow and arrows, and even bowties. I'm not sure if that was the intent here, otherwise the flame pieces are even more random, but I like how it looks with the Protector of Jungle.

Pose 2

Also I really quite like this bone structure, it gives him a lot of options when it comes to poseability.

Skull Mask

Like all of the other figures, the Protector of Jungle can wear the Skull Spider on his face.

Conclusion

I like the Protector of Jungle. He's got a fun build, a decent weapon, And a good look overall. His color scheme is great, and I don't feel the trans-armor clashes too much with the bright green on his mask. Of course if you have lewa, this guy is a must have as the two look great together. Of the Protectors, I think Jungle would be my third favorite, right behind the Protector of Earth and Stone. What do you think?

[Kalhiki]

Looks great! The colors may be all over the place, but they all work together to make a nice looking figure.

And the bone choices just up his coolness. Love the posing possibilities.

[Rayskull]

Looks great...I'm liking the protectors more than the Toa, hands down...maybe I'll get POI and POJ. Getting rid of the yellow though if I get it.

[arc]

I keep going back and forth on which is my favorite protector, stone, or air.(say what you will, I'm calling it air) So I'm gonna call them tied.

Anyway, I really like this little guy. His color scheme and bow are very nice. Definitely picking him up.

[Rayskull]

You know I never thought about it...but you can make a villian with the spider mask. The green is really growing on me ....le sigh

Edited November 28, 2014 by Rayskull

[Bigger Fish]

I really like the blue and yellow on the bow. It just works for some reason.

[Aanchir]

I really like the blue and yellow on the bow. It just works for some reason.

Yeah, I feel the same. It doesn't match the other colors, but it doesn't really clash either.

And you can put me in the camp of "the solid colors on the Protectors of Jungle, Water, and Fire are just fine". I think the Jungle and Water protectors' Bright Green and Dark Azur ARE close enough to their Tr. Bright Green and Tr. Light Blue elements to fit in, and Protector of Fire has the red 5M shell as you mentioned. I do wonder whether Protector of Fire might have looked cooler with Tr. Flu. Reddish-Orange in place of Tr. Yellow on his mask, though.

In general, the Protector of Jungle is probably my favorite of the Protectors. His Air Elemental Flame Bow is a fantastic design that makes for all kinds of dynamic poses, he has great armor and proportions, and his color scheme is extremely dynamic.

[Logan McOwen]

Very striking colours, and fantastic weaponry! Not keen on those vines on his heels (kinda like toilet paper stuck to his shoes), but the rest is great! And that pose in the first photograph is awesome - why don't TLG do elbows like that more often?

[Shakar]

I think this guy might very well be my favourite Protector. The proportions, build and colour organization are flawless. The only things I don't like very much are the random looking vines on his/her feet (I'd rather have the character's element be recalled through subtler methods, like their colours) and the use of fire parts on the bow, I would've used a pair of small blades there instead. Both can be easily fixed, though.

[bjj8383]

This is probably my favorite, due to the weapon.