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REVIEW: Jungle Bridge Rescue
Set number:
# of parts:
# of figures:
GBP 24.99	/ USD 29.99
Product URLs
LEGO S@H
Brickset
WARNING: this review may contain content unsuitable for children.
Promotional image
Time for another Friends review, and today it's the turn of another Jungle Rescue set: Jungle Bridge Rescue. Don't be fooled, it's not the bridge we're rescuing.
Unfortunately our camera started playing up during the shoot, and we were only able to get these pictures of the box. Do not adjust your eyes: Mia isn't nearly that attractive.
That's a bit better… Here's Mia lying on her side as the set's scale reference.
Moving swiftly on to the contents of the set: again we have some numbered bags, but these two things are loose. One is an 8×16 Medium Azure plate, the other is a surprisingly flat DSS. Even though I very rarely use DSSs in set reviews, I don't think this one is necessary this time.
Bag #1
Interesting parts
This first bag contains the majority of the Friends-specific coloured parts, with Medium Lavender making its presence felt. We also get the first of the "golden" (or rather Bright Light Orange) walkie talkies, and a pair of those Bright Light Blue syringes. The first aid bag, also seen in Jungle First Aid Bike, makes another appearance.
Matthew is back
TLG liked my review of Heartlake High so much, they brought Matthew back: along with Sophie from Heartlake Vet, Kate from Water Scooter Fun, Joanna from Heartlake Pet Salon and Andrew from Dolphin Cruiser, as well as one or two I've probably missed, he's part of the prestigious multiple appearance club.
This time around he's exchanged his sweater for a Tan shirt… because going on safari is the in thing this season.
Jungle Jeep
Bag #1 contains all the parts to make a safari-style jeep, which begins life as this plate-built chassis.
Be prepared to be horrified at the colour scheme used in the construction of this jeep: Lime here, Medium Lavender there, oooh a little Bright Pink in the middle…
Once your eyesight has recovered again, you'll end up with this jeep build, loaded with clean water, a first aid kit and a missionary flag.
It definitely feels like a jeep when swooshing it around, with the added risk of a minidoll falling out of one of the sides (although the footrests are there to keep them in place). If I were a wild animal, though, I'm not sure I'd want any help from anyone driving this thing.
A nice selection of spare parts, including a Bright Light Blue syringe.
The set provides another opportunity to obtain that bubble dome windscreen, which makes its second appearance in a set this year. The newer stretcher in White makes its fifth appearance in a set, with the only other non-City set being Earth Defense HQ from the Alien Conquest theme.
That Medium Stone Grey stretcher holder in the middle isn't a new part or in a new colour, but its last appearance in a set was in 2008 – and so far only appears in this set for this year.
Finally, there's at least one part that's currently exclusive to this set: our friend, the 1×1 flower plate, this time in Magenta. Make some more room in your storage for these!
Blue Mia
Mia's outfit in this set is very similar to the one in Jungle Tree Sanctuary, except her shirt is blue this time. Solely to one-up Matthew she's also been given a pair of detachable headphones, which originated from last year's City theme.
… okay.
Mia's helicopter starts out looking like one of those swamp boats, then becomes a re-purposed time machine for girls from the 70s.
See, they even incorporated its original display stand!
Of course, the helicopter has to serve a purpose if it's going to be used in the field. This winch reminds me of all those old school functional parts from Town sets, such as the crane parts and racks, that I tried to find some excuse to add to a model.
You don't have to tie a knot in the string, as the Technic pin does a good job of keeping it in place.
The rear rotor blade is a Technic affair, making use of a long Medium Stone Grey axle. That propeller has been spotted in my nearest PAB wall, if anyone's interested.
Not even before the main rotor blades are added, Mia is ready to take to the skies, complete with Bright Light Orange walkie-talkie.
The stretcher hooks to the helicopter's winch as pictured, and provided Mia doesn't go crazy it shouldn't fall off so easily. The Yellow/Black joystick allows her to fly the helicopter one-handed, while carrying the walkie-talkie.
We can tell this helicopter was meant for Mia because only she can wear the protective headphones; if you have a spare hairpiece from the S8 DJ, Matthew can safely take control instead.
When you hear Emma's battle cry…
THIS… IS… HEARTLAAAAAKE!
…switch over to Tape 2.
Tape (Book) 2
We now continue with Jungle Bridge Rescue.
Bear's Cave
We get to do some landscaping now, starting with this piece using a Tan 4×8 plate.
When the Medium Azure 8×16 plate comes into play, we can finish building what turns out to be a cave for the bear. Look how intricate it looks.
We get a spare pair of headphones, although you can also find them (if you're lucky) in Build A Mini stations at your nearest LEGO store. The joystick with Yellow base may be worth holding on to.
Making their return from older and no longer available sets are the 1×1 round bricks, 1×4 plates and 1×4 tiles in Dark Orange; only the long retired 7194 Yoda has as many of these parts as this set does. The 1×1 round bricks were also seen in Jungle Falls Rescue.
Once again we also have the new vine part in Lime, as well as two more swordleaf plant parts.
Sand Blue Bear
The other exclusive part to this set is this version of this year's bear, which is the same shape as the one in Brown Bear's River, but this time is in Sand Blue. It looks more like a grey bear, but it definitely has a blue tint to it.
Completing the scenery
A signature tree build is the first thing to be built and added from this bag, using the swordleaf plant parts.
On the other side of the water, work begins on another patch of land: this time containing a hidden cave, with another one of those mysterious jewels. I'm not going to say anything about this.
As a matter of fact, there's another jewel strategically placed in the entrance of a shoddily boarded up abandoned cave, beckoning all those in need of cold hard cash to venture inside. There's even an overgrown flight of steps into the cave.
Let's just put this contortionist vine here, to make it look like this cave hasn't recently been discovered. Some other bits of foliage are also added to the scene.
The last thing to build is the classic wooden bridge, where many an adventure has taken place. Both sides of the bridge hook to the scenery, but if you like you can have an entirely broken bridge.
The bear just loves to tear off the planks on the bridge, so much so that people got tired of repairing it. The planks of wood floating in the river are perfect for trapping big juicy fish.
More elements for landscaping are here for your disposal. I still have no use for cherries just yet!
The Completed Set
Put it all together and you'll get something like this. Yes, I've used a PAB cup to simulate a flying helicopter.
The strongest part of this set is easily the main build, the scenery. It almost looks like something that microfigures (the figures from Games sets) would inhabit instead of minidolls, but in any case I like the level of detail, and it's worth just having this bit on its own, I think.
I wasn't keen on the helicopter design at all, even though it has the winch and the stretcher to carry. I'm not too impressed with the jeep's colour scheme, even though the jeep is the better looking vehicle. I definitely think that one or the other as an improved build should have been included in the set, with any remaining parts going toward the scenery. I do get, however, that both figures might have required access to a vehicle.
I prefer the Mia minidoll in this set to the one in Jungle Tree Sanctuary, only because she has the unique blue shirt instead of Olivia's Lavender one in Jungle Falls Rescue. While it's great to see another Matthew minidoll, it also sucks that only the torso is different this time – though it's not as big a rip-off as Robert in Heartlake Horse Show, who is virtually Matthew from Heartlake High with a different hairpiece.
In the end, I would recommend getting this particular set for its parts (especially the Dark Orange parts, Magenta flower plates and the Medium Azure plate), which save this set from just being okay, and if you absolutely must complete your minidoll or animal collection. I'm giving it 7.0/10.
Fun with the set
Mia: "Isn't this, like, so cool?"
Matthew: "Is very relaxing, it remind me of home."
Mia: "So how are you, like, finding Heartlake City?"
Matthew: "Is very nice, I like it here. Everybody so friendly!"
Mia: "You must really, like, miss being away from your family."
Matthew: "No really, I speak to my mother everyday on the phone. She doing very well, she take care of everything with my father."
Mia: "I would love to, like, visit your country one day…"
Matthew: "That would be nice, you can come see my farm."
Mia: "I wanna, like, ask something…"
Matthew: "Sure."
Mia: "What do you think of Stephanie? Like, what do you really think of her?"
Matthew: "I like Stephanie, she very pretty. She so nice to me."
Mia: "What about Andrea?"
Matthew: "I like Andrea, she very pretty. She so nervous, I no understand why."
Mia: "Well, like, what do you think of me?"
Matthew: "I like you."
Mia: "…"
Matthew: "Oh no, I have to go – Lupe is stuck in the well again."
Matthew: "I see you later!"
Mia: "… well fine! I think you're, like, so ugly! And you smell like icky beefy tacos!"
* CRACK *
Mia: "Aaaaaaaagh!"
* SPLASH *
Mia: "Like, aaagh! Somebody help me! It's, like, so cold!"
Mia: "Emma! Like, help me!"
Emma: "No, rescue yourself! I'm not falling for any more tricks!"
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41011 Stephanie's Soccer Practice
41042 Tiger's Beautiful Temple
41046 Brown Bear's River
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