Set Review ➟ 71738 Zane’s Titan Mech Battle
I recently received set 71738 Zane’s Titan Mech Battle, and thought it would be fun to compare it to the white mech from 2015’s 70737 Titan Mech Battle as both are from the Ninjago theme, based on the fifth season of the show, and are ostensibly the same mech from the show. The newer set contains Zane’s mech and four minifigs while the older set contained Zane’s mech, a similarly sized villain mech, six minifigs, and two smaller side builds…a spring-loaded shooter and a rock formation. Understandable for a set to be called a battle when it’s mech against mech, but when it’s mech against two minifigs…I’m not so sure!
This is a battle?
Cosmetically, both mechs use white as the primary color. The older version used gray as the secondary color while the newer rendition uses sand blue in previously gray areas. Gold highlight pieces are used more extensively and the transparent light blue accents, except for one plate, are entirely replaced by dark azure.
2020 mech (left), 2015 mech (right)
The ‘engine’ details on the back of the 2015 model have been moved above the ankles on the 2020 set and use beehives for cowling detail.
Back mounted engines.
Ankle mounted engines.
The cockpit of the older mech is far more open compared to the new mech.
Another difference is the new mech is substantially larger. Both mechs contain launchers of some sort, with the older mech having a pair of stud shooters on the chest, and the newer one having a pair of spring loaded shooters flanking the head. The two shoulder pad blades of the 2015 version have been reduced to one and placed on the back of the left hand. The right arm sports a movable elbow blade instead of the static blades of the old mech.
Minifigure access is achieved on both mechs by lifting the heads. The older model additionally has an opening chest panel. Even though access is greater on the old model, removing the minifigure is more difficult because the figure’s hands press up against a pair of slopes.
Functionally, both mechs have ball-jointed ankles, movable fingers, and ratcheted hips. The 2020 version has a fairly restricted range of movement backward and outwards at the hips as compared to the unrestricted movement of the older version. The newer mech includes knee movement, allowing it to have more posing possibilities, but lacks the waist rotation of the older mech. The arms on both mechs have mostly the same movement at the shoulders and elbows; the wrists rotate on the 2020 version. The ankles on the newer mech are fairly loose and cause the mech to be unstable compared to the mechs in sets 70615 and 70613 which are of similar size. These other mechs don’t have this problem because of a different part placed in the ankle.
Ankle socket of 70615
Ankle socket of 71738
Minifigure-wise, both sets include Zane, Jay, and Ghoultar, while the older set also included Samurai X, Bansha, and a Skreemer. The newer set has a generic ghost ninja named Soul Archer to round out the villains. The Jay from 2020 is the collectible for the set, and comes with a plinth; the older Jay has just the standard suit for the year. The Zane figures are fairly similar in their prints, but the 2020 Zane comes with an optional hair piece. Aside from the cosmetics, the difference in Ghoultar is the shoulder armor and the weapon.
Soul Archer
2015 Jay
2020 anniversary Jay
2015 Zane
2020 Zane
2020 Zane with optional hair
2015 Ghoultar
2020 Ghoultar
In conclusion, the mech in Zane’s Titan Mech Battle from 2020 is a more elaborate design than the relatively brutalist design from 2015. More mech is more mech with the newer set, even if it’s wobbly on its feet, but you can do so many more things with the older set’s side builds and villain mech.
Thanks to LEGO for providing this set. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
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