[REVIEW]: 70779 Protector of Stone

[VBBN]

Set name: Protector of Stone

Set number: 70779

Pieces: 67

Price: $9.99, €

Release date: 2015

Packaging and Contents

Box Front

Like all of the Bionicle sets in the first wave, the protectors come in smaller versions of the hexagonal shaped packaging. The image on the packaging showcases the Protector giving that skull scorpion a very bad day, and a nice desert village scene in the background. Do note that this is the European version of the packaging, so there is no parts count, and instead of a massive choking hazard logo, well look at the back...

Box Back

...Where you will find the choking hazard warning in almost every language you can think of. Unhappy onion is also back here. Oh, and you can also see some of the sets features, like a firing gatling gun, launching masks, face-hugging skull scorpion, and power-up mode. huh, I guess that does sound more exciting.

Instructions

Instructions are the usual fare, nothing fascinating to report here.

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.

Recolored Bits

For those wondering if there are parts worth obtaining, oh there are. You get some of the 4 length shells in dark orange, a bone piece in trans neon green, a flame piece in trans neon green mixed with clear, and the smaller kaiju foot in silver.

New Pieces

The new head piece, new eyestalk in trans light blue, 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.

Masks

Each Protector comes with two masks. First is the Protector mask itself, which is the same for all six Protectors, but each set has it in a different primary color, mixed with a different trans plastic. In this case, we get it in dark orange mixed with trans neon green. This is a very striking color scheme, one that I wasn't a fan of in original photos, but I must say it looks extremely cool in hand. I'm not sure how much I'll MOC in this color scheme which could reduce the usefulness of the mask, something I fear about all multicolored parts, but anyway. We also get the skull spider mask in dark blue, and does it ever look beautiful.

Building process

Action Frame

The Protectors don't have very complicated builds, and are all built in relatively the same fashion with the exception of Fire and Earth. You can see the layout of the bones here, which use identical bone structures for the arms and legs, similar to Protector of Jungle.

Armoring

Similar to his Toa counterpart, Protector of Stone has a silver arm on one side. Unlike Pohatu, this arm does use trans neon green.

Weapon

Each Protector has a different way of mounting the gatling gun. In this case, it is built onto the end of a staff, and uses those really striking flame pieces. Turning the handle will fire the studs, one at a time.

Finished Set

Skull Scorpion

While I don't give three cares if the skull spiders are accurate to real spiders or not, this one is definitely not a spider, given the desert theme we have a Skull Scorpion. The dark blue is an awesome color for the mask, and the new leg piece doesn't look half bad as a stinger.

Front

He uses an asymmetrical build for his arms, using spiked armor on one side and a sort of paladin shield on his silver arm. I don't know why the Stone sets are starting with this silver arm trend, but I'm interested to see where it goes.

Profile

The chests do stick out quite a bit on some of the Protectors, but I don't mind it so much.

Back

I guess somewhere along his build, something ended up using the budget for this guy, because he didn't get any back armor even though it would have been incredibly easy to give it to him in the exact same fashion as Water, Jungle, or Ice.

Pose 1

I like his weapon, it's menacing, a good build, and a great way to implement the gatling gun into the end of it. And as you can already tell, I really like those electric/flame pieces in trans neon green and clear. The only thing I find slightly odd is the dark brown handle. I don't believe it exists in dark orange yet, but it is in silver and black, both of which would have made more sense here.

Pose 2

Something else I like is how well he poses with it. The lack of armor on his lower arms gives them a great deal of articulation to hold onto the weapon in a bunch of difficult to achieve positions.

Pose 3

The color scheme is really a love/hate thing. Some will love it, some will hate it, and boy do I love it. Some people have tried to give reason to why the trans neon green is there- I don't care much for why, but I want to see more of it.

Skull Mask

The Skull mask can of course also connect to his fact. Even the dark blue goes surprisingly well with the color scheme.

Conclusion

Overall, the Protector of Stone is one of my favorites from the Protectors. I'm really liking the color scheme although many are going to hate it, and the recolors you can get from the set are quite nice. His weapon is one of the best looking, and he poses quite well with it. If I had to give complaints, the lack of back armor is a bit disappointing, but again you have to wonder what part of the set that we got would be cut otherwise to give him that missing element.

[Aanchir]

Good review! The Protector of Stone is a very cool design, even though it's not all that unlike the Protector of Jungle. The weapon is nifty, and I love the color scheme. It's interesting the way the shells on the legs are aligned. They sort of force the figure into a bit of a bowlegged stance, but I don't think it's a bad look for him.

One thing that puzzles me is the eye color. It definitely looks cool, but it's a bit puzzling why the designers didn't use Tr. Fluore. Green eyes like Pohatu. It can't be that they thought matching the eye color to the mask color would be a bad thing, because the Protector of Ice DOES have eyes the same color as the transparent portion of its mask.

[Mesonak]

Pretty spectacular! This dude looks like a great set in most regards, but as you said, I feel he's going to be very polarizing with people. I was a bit apprehensive about the color scheme until I got Pohatu; he won me over to it, and I feel much the same about this guy (although he has much more trans-neon green than Pohatu does).

Not too sure I enjoy how far the chest armor sticks out. I think I'll do something about that.

[Chro]

I don't get why he's got blue eyes, and I don't get why he has no back armor, but otherwise this is a really cool set.

[Ventum]

This is a Protector I've been rather curious about. It meets my expectations well, and looks like a fun set. However, it wouldn't of been hard to give it back armor. Otherwise, great set.

[Aanchir]

I don't get why he's got blue eyes, and I don't get why he has no back armor, but otherwise this is a really cool set.

It doesn't surprise me one bit that this set had to cut some corners some places. He's already got the highest piece count of any of the Protectors (and a higher piece count than Pohatu). So I can see how back armor might have pushed the set over the allotted budget.

[Kalhiki]

Hm. Not bad. The color scheme is actually pretty great, so that's good. Overall, can't say much about him. Loving the Protectors so far, but I'll need to see them all before I decide which is my favorite.

Say... is it possible to attach a shell to the torso balljoint on the back? That'd be an easy way to armor the back, and I don't think it'd interfere with the chest armor.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Kalhiki

[Toa of Gallifrey]

I really like this set! At first I was bummed that he didn't have trans yellow but trans neon green looks really nice with dark orange so I'm happy. Shame about the back armor (or lack (thereof) but I can see why the designers thought he was already a little too piece-heavy (though it woulda been nice to have something there).

Hm. Not bad. The color scheme is actually pretty great, so that's good. Overall, can't say much about him. Loving the Protectors so far, but I'll need to see them all before I decide which is my favorite.

Say... is it possible to attach a shell to the torso balljoint on the back? That'd be an easy way to armor the back, and I don't think it'd interfere with the chest armor.

I think you'd have to add one of those balljoint extenders like on the front, even with the smallest shell size.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Toa of Gallifrey

[KopakaFan116]

Wow! I like the color scheme on this one.

[Ql97]

Anyone else notice how the artwork looks like he's trying to kill the spider with a pepper grinder?

[Logan McOwen]

Absolutely fantastic little set. Shame about the empty back, but who cares? He looks fantastic from the front, I wouldn't want his back turned to me!

[arc]

Really like this little guy, the green actually goes pretty nice, I think stone may be my favorite protector. just above jungle.

[Xeros610]

This one looks great, also, great review!

--Maybe the lack of back armor is due to the high piece count on the gatlin-staff?

[Takanuinuva]

This is the only Protector set I will be getting for certain. I'll be using him for pieces to modify Pohatu. On his own though he is a pretty good set.

[Csacsa234]

Fantastic, from the released boxarts I liked This Protector the most, and except the empty back the figure looks excellent. Love the color scheme and the assymetric arm armoring. Thanks for the great and detailed review VBBN!

[bjj8383]

I'm not sure what green fire/electricity has to do with stone...

[Crabster]

I think this is good that LEGO produces new colors of pices. I would like to see them in this color.

Thanks for this and other reviews. VBBN, you are the best reviewer.

[EVO97]

I like this one a lot more than I thought I would, I just wish that he had one more brown shell, that way you would have the option of giving him symmetrical arms. Other that that, he is one of my favorite protectors

[Aanchir]

I like this one a lot more than I thought I would, I just wish that he had one more brown shell, that way you would have the option of giving him symmetrical arms. Other that that, he is one of my favorite protectors

Couldn't you make his arms symmetrical just by swapping the silver metallic shell on his arm with the dark orange one on his torso?

[Zenerius]

It's cool. Really cool. Cmon Target, break those street dates!

Edited December 15, 2014 by Zenerius

[EVO97]

Couldn't you make his arms symmetrical just by swapping the silver metallic shell on his arm with the dark orange one on his torso?

I guess that you could, but I don't think that it would look as dynamic without the main elemental color in it's torso

[TheDesuComplex]

Couldn't you make his arms symmetrical just by swapping the silver metallic shell on his arm with the dark orange one on his torso?

On him and Pohatu, the asymmetrical shells are starting to grow on me and have given me an idea.

My current idea is that the Stone Villagers are master craftsmen of the more minute kind then in G1, and they are experts in robotics. (Which would also explain the silver feet/hands on some Protectors as robotic gloves/boots). The Protector of Stone is one of the most skilled in robotics, and his entire right arm is enhanced by robotic attachments (ala Deus Ex). My idea also involves Pohatu's high strength, agility, speed, etc. coming from equipment given to him by the Stone Village. Another idea that I have is that long ago Pohatu was critically injured (thanks to his tenacity and stubbornness) and his lower legs and right arm had to be replaced.