Ohhh yes…. 42009, the Mobile Crane MkII, is finally here. Was it worth the wait ? Was it worth 150 smackers ? Was it worth spending my entire day off building it ? Read on…

Well, what do you think ? I mean, look at it. Before I get down to it, a quick word about how we do our reviews around here. LEGO doesn’t send us review copies (yet; hint, hint…) so we spend our own money on sets for review, but these are sets that we’d have wanted anyway. This might explain the usually positive flavour of our musings; we’re not going to spend our hard-earned on something we know we won’t like. I haven’t reviewed the 42000 Grand Prix racer because I won’t be getting it.

We do still try to be objective.

Enough already, get on with it!

So, to business. First impressions: Wow, that box is heavy! 2,600 pieces, plus motor and battery box would explain that. It’s the largest Technic set ever, by some margin. Not the most expensive, though, which remains the 8110 Unimog at a fiver more than this; which fact rather gives the lie to the notion of LEGO inflating their prices with each successive generation. You get 550 more pieces and a fiver in exchange for the ‘mog’s pneumatics.

Fortunately, the bags are numbered to reflect the three main stages of the build. This isn’t quite the advantage it might be with the chassis forming well over half of it… Many, many bags all numbered ’1′. Give yourself plenty of room. And time. That said, it never took me long to find a piece, and I never sort first as LEGO suggest.

There are six instruction books; 3 for the chassis, 2 for the crane part and the last one for the boom. Books 4 and 5 could have easily been combined to make it 1 for the crane part; book 5 is inexplicably slender. There were no mistakes, as we’ve come to expect, and this time not all the build steps are quite so tiny. There is nothing to confuse here as long as you concentrate and don’t forget to insert the 15 long beams alongside the stabilizers; causing you to perform major surgery part way through, or anything silly like that…

At the end of an enjoyable 6-8 hours of building, what have you got ? It’s a very robust, playable, multi-functional and impressive thing. There’s lots going on here, so I’ll break it down.

Chassis : Sturdy enough, although it will twist lengthwise under duress. This is probably the most impressive of the crane’s three sub-assemblies; thoroughly engineered and it’s functions work in perfect synchronicity (big word, feeling proud…) and will continue to do so. The sturdy base that any crane needs if it’s to be any use at all is delivered here.

Steering : Progressive rate movement on 4 of the vehicle’s 5 axles, with the rear axles countersteering compared to the fronts, it works very well indeed and this large and heavy vehicle manoevres with no tyre scrub. The control at the back is light enough, despite being very direct, and, as always, there’s not a huge amount of lock. That aside, this is a faultless system which shows that it can be done properly! Well done on that one.

Stabilizers : Well done on this one too. One of the four functions to be connected to this crane’s single L motor via the main gearbox, all four will slide out of the body (quite slowly) together at the flick of a switch. Flick another switch, and the four feet will extend groundwards (very, very slowly!) together as well. The lack of speed to this operation is explained by it’s ability to lift the entire body when the feet touch the ground, although the motor is straining when it does this. You can make life a little easier for it by substituting the two friction connectors at either end of a moving link in each foot for frictionless ones. Why, Lego, Why ?

Engine : A good old fashioned V8, driven by the centre (unsteered) axle, rather slowly as usual, but it’s a nice thing to have. I like the fact that you can see it, rather than having it buried inside the chassis – which is probably where it should be – although there really is no room anywhere but where it is behind the cab.

Cab : There’s enough detail here, but only just. They didn’t exactly go overboard. There’s the usual blue-and-grey seats, unconnected steering wheel, opening doors and moving mirrors, but little else. What’s more important than mere greebles though, is the fact that it looks right. At the other end, it’s not quite there. It’s a bit naked behind the last axle, lacking the grey panelling that tidies up the rest of it, or any styling save the simple light bar. Overall though, I’d call it’s looks chunkily effective, and that’s what we want from a crane, isn’t it… The extra length compared to previous cranes makes the whole thing much better proportioned as well.

Now let’s see what this can really do…

The box makes the proud boast that this is 77cm high when fully extended, and I can confirm this is correct. I can also confirm that it could, and should, be higher still. The boom doesn’t make the best use of the chassis’ length, the inner sections don’t fill it fully when retracted and the sections themselves are quite short. Still, it’s not all about size… it’s probably like this to ensure it’s stability and ability to lift significant loads at any elevation or rotation, and this it does very well – better than any previous LEGO crane – so I should probably stop complaining…

To the functions!

Rotation : Mounted on the obligatory large turntable, but without a mechanical means to turn it, you simply do it yourself…. it might have been cool to watch the motor do it for you, and given this model’s size that should be possible, but it’s an omission I can live with. The next three are all motorized and selectable via the main gearbox.

Boom Elevation : Raised by two linear actuators, this works smoothly and not too slowly to achieve an adequate level of verticality. (is that even a word ?) The boom is relatively light, and the LAs have no trouble lifting it, even with a load attached. I didn’t try anything really heavy (didn’t want to break my new toy!) but it seems to do what it says on the tin. A success.

Boom Extension : One of the things that most intrigued me about this model was seeing how they managed to communicate the movement of the centre section of the boom to the inner, allowing them to telescope in and out together from the single control. I won’t spoil it for you here, but it’s amazingly simple, seemingly fragile yet (slightly jerkily) effective. As well as a whole lot cleaner than the flapping length of chain I’d have used. Kudos also for the large selection of studded beams that make up the booms’ two inner sections. I don’t know why, but I always like seeing them… As already mentioned, I might have liked it to extend further but it works well.

Hook : Not the usual single moulded piece, this: it’s done properly, and the motor raises and lowers it agonizingly S-L-O-W-L-Y , again to allow it to deal with a bit of weight. I can’t help feeling that a stronger XL motor and faster gearing for this and the stabilizer feet would be an improvement.

So, what have we learnt ? That Lego Car Blog reviewers are picky blighters, possibly, but I am glad I bought this. Its real strength lies in its… strength, and it’s clearly been engineered to be useful and playable, and not just decorative; its compromises are all made in the direction of playability and robustness and for that I applaud it. LEGO’s best crane, bar none. 9/10

Following the launch of The Lego Car Blog’s new Lego Review Library it’s time for another trip back in time to take a look at one of LEGO’s great sets; 5590 Model Team Helicopter Transport.

5590 was part of LEGO’s three set line-up for their spectacular Model Team range that was launched in 1988 for US ‘Shop at Home’ customers, and in 1990 in European stores. We’re using the European name for the set as we can’t really bring ourselves to use the US one.

The flagship of the new range, 5590 took detail to a level previously unseen outside of the Legoland theme park (there was only one back then). Based on an attractive if slightly generic European cab-over semi the set was really two models in one, as the helicopter could easily be a unique set in its own right. 5590 also brought a few new pieces to Lego fans, chiefly those marvellous wheels, but also two new windscreens that would reappear in later sets.

The build is a relatively straight-forward one; whilst a there is no doubt 5590 is a detailed model the techniques used are fairly basic by today’s standards, but for this builder at least that is part of its charm. It features a few working functions too, bridging the gulf between System and Technic for the first time. Working steering, trailer support legs and opening doors all make appearances and certainly add a degree of playability to what could otherwise be simply a nice display piece.

5590 has, like most sets from the era, aged a little when compared to sets from the late ’90s. There is barely a smooth piece to be seen and SNOT (studs not on top) was but the dream of a madman back in 1988. However, it is still perhaps one of the best Model Team sets made to date, combining detail, a ruggedly playable exterior, and sheer scale that wowed children perusing LEGO’s catalogue back then, and continuing to wow collectors on eBay and Bricklink today. If you can find one for sale you won’t be disappointed, but you will likely be quite a bit poorer.

To read all The Lego Car Blog’s set reviews and comparisons, including the 5580 counterpart to this set, click the ‘Reviews’ tab in the main menu.

It’s a Review day here at The Lego Car Blog, and with much of LEGO’s latest product line-up covered we’re going to take a journey back to 1997, and to one of LEGO’s forgotten gems; the 8479 Technic Barcode Truck.

LEGO had successfully produced programable robotic models as far back as 1990 with the marvellous Control Centre and its mark II follow-up in 1995. Both sets allowed children to control a Technic model via a joypad and to program a series of functions into the system so that movements could be repeated. The only drawback was that the ‘brain’ control brick was a large black box that remained external to the models under its control.

For 1997 LEGO designed its first robot where the control brick and memory were integrated into the model itself, allowed by the continuing compacting of computer storage technology. Called the ‘Code Pilot’ it’s a neat handheld battery pack containing the model’s power source, memory, control buttons, and – rather inventively – a barcode scanner, just like you’ll find by the till in any shop. In short, this is LEGO Mindstorms’ genesis.

The Code Pilot allowed control of the vehicle in several ways; via the buttons on the unit itself, through the record function, or through the barcode scanner. The last of these three options was the set’s selling point, as it came with a large plastic sheet containing many ‘building blocks’ of possible functions; for example a motor direction, a time duration, or a noise command. The user could scan these codes in the order desired to build up a sequence of movements and sounds, which the model would then act out.

This is effectively the same process as today’s LEGO Mindstorms system, only it doesn’t require a computer to make the set operational. A wise move in 1997 when many children didn’t have a home PC, and one we actually think deserves a renaissance today: plug and play is always a winner.

So, to the truck: 8479′s main model is a large and quite good-looking European tipper truck, with a grab lift attachment fitted to the front. One of the first models to include the then-new and far more powerful 71427 motor, it also was also one of the first to feature the new design direction that used axels rather than solid beams for most of the bodywork. Hidden inside the truck are two touch sensors, which would become a mainstay of the early Mindstorms sets, and a gearbox to help multiply the functions available through the single motor. These include drive, the closing and lifting of the grab arm, and the tipping of the truck bed to unload the cargo.

These functions work extremely well, although the need to often switch the gearbox mid-way through a routine meant that the system wasn’t quite as automated as LEGO would have you believe. Blame this on the single motor – the set has capacity for two but the bean-counters probably vetoed a second one; even with one motor 8479 was a very expensive set in 1997. Besides the limitations of the single motor the only problems we’ve encountered in over a decade of use are the failure of one touch sensor and hand-of-God steering which isn’t always up to the job of controlling such a heavy vehicle. It’s stood the test of time then, which is not something that can be said about most other electronic toys from the mid ’90s.

In addition to the truck 8479 also included full instructions for second model (a slightly ugly buggy, but one that could reverse when it came into contact with an object, turn to avoid it, and then continue forwards) as well as ideas for many more, all within a single reassuringly chunky instruction manual.

As with all LEGO’s past flagship sets the Barcode Truck likely commands a high premium on eBay now. However, we think this set is hugely underrated when compared to others of the era. As a display piece it does the job as well as many of LEGO’s supercars, but using 8479 for this purpose alone would be a great shame. It’s easily as fun, and almost as capable, as a modern LEGO Mindstorms set, and because it requires no computer software the programming hasn’t dated at all – and there’s no need to find a Windows 95 PC to make it work.

A solid 8 out of 10 then, and a superb highlight in one of LEGO’s weaker years. If only they had fitted that extra motor…

You can find all of The Lego Car Blog’s past set reviews via the Set Review Library.

The story so far…

The Lego company make the 9398 Technic remote control Crawler. It works well and looks awful. Lego launch a competition to design a prettier body. Said contest is won by a talented Russian gentleman called Egor Karshiev, whose ‘Boss Crawler’ design gets the nod. Lego announce they will only make 20,000 of these sets, with many unique elements and extra features, and sell them for the same price as the standard 9398…

Cue the most ridiculous speculator-driven feeding frenzy since Beanie Babies tanked…

As I write, just one month after 41999 was released, these change hands, sealed, on eBay for around £350; or nearly three times RRP. Many are being bought by the same UK-based buyer (not me!) in the hope they’ll keep climbing.

I’ve just got the one, bought from Lego for a very reasonable price, for the purpose of building it, displaying it, even *gasp* playing with it… I’m willing to bet that more than half of these plastic building toys will remain forever sealed in their boxes in the hands of collectors or, worse, speculators; unbuilt and unloved. A shame, because it’s a really good set, and here’s why:

The box is pretty special. A simple, elegant design on the front showing a close-up of the distinctive dark blue panels that so lift this model; it’s made of sterner stuff than usual, too. Inside this treasure chest it’s fairly tightly packed with lots of good stuff; enough for a few hours of leisurely, pleasurable building.

There are four instruction books which are easy to follow, as we’ve come to expect, and there are no mistakes. The build is relatively straightforward, but there’s no shortage of cool features:

4 Wheel Drive: This is achieved using a new L motor on each axle, and although the name Crawler might suggest extreme slowness, I’ve seen slower; it goes fast enough and seems all but unstoppable. The engineering purist in me doesn’t like having the heavy motors on the axle assemblies and therefore unsprung, but the motors themselves seem able to survive the resulting onslaught; and this solution does help to keep the centre of gravity lower. A good system.

4 Wheel Steering : Activated by a Servo motor, which makes this a much more easily controllable RC vehicle than those steered by a normal motor, the rear wheels steer in opposite phase to the fronts, and to the same degree. This is just as well, since the lock is pretty poor: without four steering wheels it’d have the turning circle of a supertanker! As it is, it’s good enough – just. The system uses 8110-style gear blocks at each wheel to improve ground clearance, and although these hurt the steering geometry (forcing the pivot point away from the wheel) they do benefit this model’s go-anywhere ability.

Suspension : Live axles at both ends, sprung by the bigger, harder new Unimog-style springs, the system works extraordinarily well. Travel is huge, as is the possible axle articulation, and together with the grippy nature of the balloon tyres and low-speed torque of the drive motors, this thing can climb over almost anything! It really is impressive watching it work and it won’t stop until you put something really big in front of it.

Two little extras in this set that 9398 doesn’t have is a very nifty electric winch, controllable from inside the car, that’s just the thing if it does get stuck; and lights at the front. The winch fills the underbonnet space, but since the drive assemblies are confined to the axles themselves a fake engine wouldn’t be easily doable anyway.

Topping all this is, of course, Mr Karshiev’s stylish bodywork, and very nice it is too; especially after the horror of the standard 9398. The dark blue technic panels and beams are unique to this set – expect replacements to be very hard to come by! and the silvered elements at the front give it a real lift. The styling is reminiscent of any number of ’70s US Muscle Cars, but to these eyes it most resembles a Dodge Challenger. The doors and bootlid open – a nice detail – although the boot doesn’t have a floor, I guess one could easily be slotted in. The doors are clasped shut by a pair of rubber axle holders on each side; a system I expect we’ll see popping up in mocs all over the place pretty soon – mostly because it’s simple and works really well.

There is a sticker sheet, to allow you to give it the full NASCAR look if you want, but I think it looks better without…

Criticisms ? Nothing major, although the battery box could be more accessible (a fairly extensive operation is required to retrieve it) and the nicely made tan seats are really half-seats, since the floor is so high.

Overall, it feels like this set combines the best aspects of Technic kits (robustness, well proven functions) with the looks of a much more refined moc, and all for the same price as the inferior, uglier 9398. Lego themselves can’t have made any money with this; they didn’t want to: it’s a halo product created by a fan for the fans. If you can afford it, I’d still recommend it, for opening up and building! Remember, investments can go down as well as up, but when this bubble bursts we’ll still have a very enjoyable model. 10/10

Ever since they ripped open the delivery bag and saw the cover art on the 31006 Highway Speedster, the Elves have been playing the Miami Vice title music. Fortunately it’s on a TV Tunes of the Eighties playlist and we get to enjoy the Airwolf theme every now and again. Sharp little fingernails had soon ripped open the four bags of parts, eager to be zooming their white Ferrari lookalike across the floor and handbrake turning it on the tiles of the TLCB executive washroom & sauna. Once we’d helped the Elves rescue the tyres from under the TLCB deluxe minibar, they set to work on the 61 stages of the main build. As with the 31005 Construction Hauler this might seem like a lot of stages but this set’s starting age is just 7 years old and so the number of steps is understandable. Having said this, Step 61 is to turn the car the right way up, which even the Elves managed without getting too confused.

All three builds in this set follow a basic, studs up configuration, with some touches of SNOT work. The chassis for each of the models are two 16 stud, old-school Technic beams and the car gradually builds up using an impressive selection of slopes, curves and cheeses. The rear end has the most SNOT with a nice, Ferrari style lighting bar and a lifting glass cover for the engine. Disappointingly, the engine is perhaps the weakest part of the build, being made from just six 1×1 round plates and a couple of 1×2 grille tiles. There’s space for a lot more and it’s a great opportunity to do a bit creative building. The Elves got very excited at step 44, with the addition of a 1×1 round tile in trans-red. This sits inside the air scoop on the bonnet, almost like KITT’s sensor, which provoked a change of 80’s theme music for a while. Further steps build and attach the working, supercar style scissor doors and more body trim on the front of the car. This includes a neat front light cluster, which uses minifigure brackets for some SNOT. Surprisingly the wing mirrors aren’t colour co-ordinated with the rest of the bodywork, something of an omission for an expensive looking supercar. The glass roof neatly seals onto the windscreen, though the cockpit is hard to see into. This is no bad thing, as it is very sparsely furnished. Once the wheels are added, you’re left with a 10 wide by 22 long sports car. The build quality is well up to sustaining the odd crash into a skirting board or tumble from a table. The axles through the chassis (as opposed to clipped-on wheels) and low centre of gravity, give great performance for zooming across carpets in a straight line. The Elves managed runs of over 7 metres along the TLCB decking.

As with other sets in the Creator series, this set comes complete with an instruction book for each of the three builds. This will be a relief to parents and Elf keepers alike, as they’re spared the task of having to download and print instructions from Lego’s website. It’s a horrible sight to see an over-curious Elf dragged into the giant TLCB Lego instructions printer and rolled out flat on the other side. Apart from the waste of paper, it takes forever to get the pipe into their mouths to pump them up again.

The second build is a 16×8 tow truck. Again, this is a mainly conventional, solid Lego construction. A nice bit of SNOT work converts the sports car’s low profile windscreen into a flatter screen on the truck and clips it on quite neatly. The crane moves, pivoting on the back axle and friction pins. A few more parts could have added something more than the little tow hook but this set already has loads of parts for the price. The third build is a Lotus 7 type, front engined roadster. In common with the other models, this car is solidly built for zooming across floors, using conventional techniques with a bit of SNOT on the side.

This set provides good value for money. Its 286 parts currently retail in the UK for around £12.00 or $22.00 in the USA. For the same price, you get just 113 parts in the 79005 Wizard Battle set from the Lord of the Rings range. The set also includes some fairly rare parts. There are two of the white 93273 1x4x2/3 plate with bow, which currently sell on Bricklink for US $0.30 each and aren’t available from a UK vendor. A down side of all of the Creator series for younger builders might be the lack of minifigures. As we noted in the review of 31005, licensed sets are often minifigure rich but lacking in basic bricks with which to be creative and build your own creations. The 31006 Highway Speedster is a great source of a good variety of white bricks to help supplement any Lego collection.

With its value for money, variety of parts and three different alternative builds, 31006 is a great set for the young or old builder. It rates a 9/10 for value & contents and perhaps just an 8/10 for style because of the lack of detail in the engine bay of the main build.

To see the complete catalogue of The Lego Car Blog’s set reviews click on the ‘Reviews’ tab in the menu.

After their adventures with the 31005 Construction Hauler and the 31006 Highway Speedster, we thought that the Elves would like to practice their nascent building skills on something a bit more challenging. The 7345 Transport Chopper’s RRP is double that of the previous two sets at £24.99 from Lego.com, though we bought our set for £20.00 from Amazon. Inside the box, you get 5 bags containing 383 pieces, which amounts to ½ kg or 18oz of LEGO. This compares very favourably with the price per kilo of bulk, unsorted LEGO on eBay. Being a Creator set, you’re also getting the months of design effort from LEGO’s team, plus printed instructions for three different models. Value for money? Excellent!

The first stage of building, as usual for the Elves, is to rip open the bags and send parts flying everywhere. Next comes the part where we fish bricks, plates, tyres and greebles out of the TLCB executive jacuzzi. The final stage is where assorted Elves batter each other with the larger and pointier components, until they are settled down with a blast from the air horn. You can understand why we haven’t let them build anything from Technic, with all of those spiky axles and cogs.

The three models are rated as “Quick”, “Medium” and “Advanced” builds. The helicopter is the “Advanced” build and seems to be completed in just 56 steps but there are several extra sub-builds within this, plus another 8 for the little red jeep. As usual, some of the steps only add a couple of bricks to the construction but we have to remember that the target age range is 8 to 12. We built the jeep first and gave it to the Elves to zoom around in, whilst we got on with the serious business of building the chopper. As this set is aimed at younger builders, it’s a bit annoying that you have to use parts from four different bags to complete the first three stages of building the jeep. Perhaps this sub-build could be in a separate bag and the rest of the parts could be in numbered bags, like some of the other LEGO product ranges?

The first part of building the helicopter is its chassis, complete with retractable tricycle undercarriage. Strangely, the nose wheel is in a bag full of tyres but its tyre is in a different bag. Fortunately the Elves weren’t around to use their teeth to try to fit the wrong tyre. The legs of the landing gear fold down smoothly on Technic friction pegs and sit at a nice angle to give a stable base. When they are folded up into the fuselage, each leg has somewhere on it for a finger to hook into and easily fold it down. A sturdy, brick-built, studs-up cabin sits on the chassis, with curved sponsons for the main wheels.

There’s less SNOT work on this build than the other Creator sets that we’ve reviewed, with the engines being the main example. However, the windows behind the main windscreen are made from trans cheeses, attached to unusual trans-clear headlight bricks. The main rotor is sturdily anchored via two 2×2 tiles with Technic pins into a 1×3 Technic swing arm. The six-bladed main rotor and the tail rotor both spin fast and freely, though the heavy main rotor does wobble a bit. The finished build is 36 studs long by 12 wide. It is highly swooshable and fun to play with. It rolls across tables on its wheels well and the build quality is up to the odd impact with a skirting board or forced landing into the carpet. The Elves were soon planning missions for their HH-3F lookalike.

Moving on to the other builds; an incredibly useful addition to a set of this size, which wouldn’t add too much to the price, would be a brick separator. Perhaps LEGO assumes that if you’re building a big set like this one, you already own this vital tool? We had to prize some of the Elves off the helicopter, who were trying to prize off some bricks with their teeth.

The seaplane is a nice, strong aircraft, with spinning propellers and fold-down wing-tip floats as working features. Possibly the more fun of the two alternatives is the car ferry. The first part of the build is a neat little 4×8 Humvee type truck. The ferry has a working tail ramp, twirly radar thingy and wheels hidden under its nose. These wheels enable it roll across a table or hard floor quite smoothly.

Some younger builders might be put off this set by its lack of mini-figures but, as we’ve mentioned in other reviews, they often have lots of mini-figures from other sets anyway. The builds don’t use any amazing techniques but are good examples of getting colour blocking and proportions right. The helicopter is a solid and playable build: a nice toy in its own right. There is also a good selection of basic bricks, plates and slopes, plus some more exotic pieces, which would be a super addition to any builder’s collection. Going back to the start of this review, this set is also good value for money. If the LEGO builder in your life wants a big box of LEGO, which will build some fun things and add well to their collection, this could be a good Christmas present to buy for them.

With the red and green, it looks like it could belong to a jolly fat man… welcome to TLCB’s review of the Lego Technic 42008 Service Truck.

Not quite the latest in a long line of mid-range truck models that always seem to be the meat of the Technic range, this one with its 1276 pieces and £100 price is definitely edging upwards from mid-range, despite its still-modest size.

It’s got most of the sophistication of a much larger model too, as we shall see.

First impressions: Well, you’ll either get on with the green or you won’t… Personally, I think a grey or black (not red) chassis would have helped. Nevertheless, it is good to see Lego broadening the Technic colour palette once again – long may that continue! You get an entirely typical box, well stuffed with goodies and three instruction books. And a sticker sheet, natch. You’ll need that…

Building it is a reasonably familiar experience for anyone who’s had any other mid-range truck set in recent years, apart from the pneumatics, possibly. This may be unique in combining pneumatics, linear actuators and a PF motor in the same model – I can’t think of any others that have all three – and it’s this fact that makes the price seem pretty reasonable. It’s a fairly intricate and densely packed thing, with little wasted space, but the instructions are typically clear and simple to follow.

After a leisurely afternoon’s building, you’ll have a pretty impressive model with many functions:

Steering: A very well engineered progressive-rate system that operates on the first two axles via the usual gear on the roof. It works very smoothly, there’s a reasonable amount of lock and nothing for me to complain about. Technic steering systems would seem to be improving, at last.

Rear Stabilizers: Operated via the left hand gearbox and motorized, like all the following functions, these raise and lower via a pair of small linear actuators and are of limited use, frankly. They don’t lock in place and they’re not strong enough to lift the rear of the model. Next!

Hook: Anyone expecting this to take an age to raise and lower, like every other motorized crane, is in for a surprise. The thing fairly rips along, assuming you’ve lifted the stop-lever if you’re extending it…. which item won’t stay up on it’s own so you need three hands to do so. Grrr! It has the strength to pull a similar size model onto the ramp, so it does it’s job.

Boom Lifting: Done by a single large linear actuator and operated via the right hand gearbox, this works smoothly and well. It goes a lot further up than it needs to for a service truck, but I’m not complaining. Much.

The pneumatic compressor is actuated via the right hand gearbox and this powers the boom extension and the ramp lowering mechanisms. Each of these items uses a small pneumatic piston to actuate it, which works fine – if rather suddenly, as is the way with airtank-less pneumatics – without a load, but the small pistons don’t have enough grunt to do much actual work. The standard, larger, pistons would have been better.

That’s an impressive array of working functions for what is still a relatively small model; the more so because there’s a motor and battery box packed in as well. Most of them work alright, after a fashion, and it does make this an extremely playable set. The only major gripe concerns operating the motor via the switch on the battery box; you’ve got to be delicate to avoid switching it to the other direction when you want it off. Adding a PF switch would make this a much more manageable thing to use.

You can use it well enough, though…

Model Team trucks are pretty but they break down a lot…

42008 will never be called pretty, exactly, but it looks… purposeful. There’s a fairly minimal amount of detail around the cab, but there’s enough. The doors open to reveal the usual pair of angled-liftarm seats and a rudimentary dashboard and (unconnected) steering wheel. As for the colour, it’s certainly striking… I don’t usually apply stickers to my sets, but with this it’s very necessary; and they do successfully break up what is a big slab of green without them.

Overall, I like it. It ain’t perfect, it ain’t pretty, but it’s packed with features and you get a sense that the designers were being ambitious with it. Perhaps a little over-ambitious, but there’s a lot to admire here. 7/10

Welcome to the Lego Car Blog review of set 42023 – Construction Crew, one of the latest additions to the Technic range. We’ve got our finger on the pulse here at TLCB towers…

So, there I was in the Lego store, staring at the Technic range and torn between buying this and the Skip Lorry. I’ve seen women choose shoes faster. We’ll see if I made the right choice soon enough…

First impressions are good. The three vehicles do look cute on the box, and they all seem to do stuff. The box is quite elegantly designed as well. There is, however, precious little sign of any B-models shown on it; just one tiny picture of a laptop with a road grader model that looks like the alternate for the front end loader. Said laptop won’t help either, for as I write this, the instructions aren’t up on Lego’s website yet.

There are three instruction books and 3 pairs of numbered bags of pieces – one for each model – and a small sticker sheet that managed to survive the onslaught of not being protected by cardboard. Taking each of the three models individually, I’ll start with the blue one.

It’s a rather fetching looking tipper lorry, 9 studs wide and it features working steering and a tipping box, the latter raised and lowered by a small linear actuator. It’s not a difficult build, by any means, but it’s an enjoyable thing to put together. You build the front end first, then the box and the chassis rails that hold it all together come last. The resulting model does look nice, especially as attention has been paid to the colour of the fixings and blue ones have been used on the cab where possible.

So, it’s pretty, but is it clever ? In a word, no. The steering is rather vague and imprecise with a very limited lock, and the tipper bed has a few too many holes in the bottom – a shame as it did seem from the pictures that they might have designed this properly for once. It does work OK, though, and the hinged flap at the rear opens as it goes up. It’ll open before it goes up as well, unfortunately; there’s no means to lock it shut. So, an aesthetic success but not a technical one. Next!

A little red excavator, which wears stickers on the side that somewhat redundantly say ‘Excavator’, just in case we weren’t sure… this features another little linear actuator to lift the arm and it’s extended manually via a set of simple crossed levers. This aspect works well, and it’s got a control to rotate the body on the base. This is completely pointless as the thing will swivel around of it’s own free will anyway. If it was geared down it might have worked.

It’s got a pair of caterpillar tracks, using the older, small black chain link type – 40 per side so get clicking! – and I always like seeing these, although they appear to be made of a softer plastic than used to be the case. These need gears at each end to act as sprockets, and this model doesn’t have that – the chains simply slide over the ‘sprocket’ provided by pairs of bevel gears that don’t mesh with them, meaning the tracks have some free side-to-side movement, and will slip over the sprockets. They won’t slip right off, though. So, a partial success and, like the truck, it does look good.

The best of the three is undoubtedly the yellow front end loader. This looks very purposeful with it’s big yellow wheels, with new squarer tyres that’ll suit most of your truck mocs very well – and it features articulated steering and a lifting, tilting bucket at the front. The joint in the middle is very sturdy, it steers nice and smoothly and the bucket’s lifting mechanism is fine, although the bucket itself tips back as it goes up. The tilting action is a bit sloppy, however, and could not be more basic. That aside, this is a good model.

The three models are also provided with a small pile of round 2×2 bricks to dig up/load/carry. All great fun, although they had to be this big lest they fall through the holes in the truck’s floor…

If all this sounds a bit.. lukewarm, blame the reason I chose this set:

I already had 42004, the little JCB, and it’s a complete delight: the thought of three more like that in one set was extremely tempting. That wouldn’t be too much to ask either, as the 42004 costs £18 to 42023′s £50, and it has less than a third of the pieces. IT’S GOT AN INSTRUCTION BOOK FOR THE B MODEL AS WELL. If I shout maybe someone at Lego will hear me…

Whereas each of 42023′s models have 2 or 3 functions/moving parts, 42004 has 6 on it’s own, in a model that’s the same size. These functions are not perfect, but they’re at least as good as any similar systems on 42023. All this and cuteness; can’t ask for more.

So, to sum up, I should probably have bought the Skip Lorry… 42023 is a nice enough set, and it would make a very good starter kit for someone new to Technic, but there’s not really enough here for the seasoned builder at this price. 6/10. 42004 on the other hand, is an outstanding little model that looks even better value now. 9/10.

This is the Lego Car Blog. We make these mistakes so you don’t have to!

…We just have further to go. Meet the Curiosity Rover, LEGO Cuusoo’s latest offering.

Set number 21104; coming soon to Legoland Mars.

Of all the Cuusoo models to date, this is undoubtedly the one that stays most faithful to the original project. There seems hardly any difference between this set and Stephen Pakbaz’s proposal. Mr Pakbaz is not only a LEGO fan, but a Mechanical Engineer working on the Curiosity project, so we can trust him to make a faithful model.

So far, the Cuusoo project has been a bit hit and miss. It’s a fantastic idea, and I hope LEGO persist with it; models like this make the exercise well worth it. We probably don’t need all the IP-dominated models of wildly varying quality (DeLorean, anyone?) but at least this model shows you don’t need to exploit a popular franchise to get noticed.

One thing I really like about these sets is the presentation. They come in a sturdy, tastefully decorated Architecture-style box with a glossy, square-bound instruction book that includes some fascinating information on the model and its designer. You pay a little more as a consequence but it’s well worth it. That said, this isn’t too expensive – £30 for 295 pieces presented with this quality is perfectly reasonable value.

So, the build. You start with a little slice of Martian terrain for the vehicle to roll over and show off its suspension. Simple, but a nice touch. Next, it’s the body of the rover; a slightly irregular white box with plenty of greebles. Wait, they can’t be greebles – on the real thing, all this stuff does something… There are 17 cameras and many scientific instruments to analyse this vehicle’s surroundings. With much data to process, there’s no need for a fast machine – how does 200 metres per day grab you? – speed freaks need not apply, I guess, despite the nuclear power…

It’s a fairly quick build; reasonably straightforward with a smattering of SNOT and a touch of Technic to liven it up. It’s an enjoyable thing to put together. As you go through it, the book tells you little tidbits of information about the rover and its mission and it’s fascinating stuff. For instance, this vehicle can roll over obstructions up to 65cm high while keeping it’s body full of delicately calibrated instruments amazingly stable.

The model will do something similar. It features the same type of rocker-bogie suspension and it works brilliantly. Roll it over any uneven surface (not too fast…) and it really impresses with the stability of the body. It’s done fairly simply but it works superbly. So, an impressively realistic model at a reasonable price with a dose of playability – what’s not to like?

Criticisms? Come on, there’s gotta be something…. Well, if you’re going to push me, I could wonder why it has conventional truck-type wheels and tires when those hard plastic wheels you sometimes see in space sets might be closer to the real thing. Hardly a big issue, that, and it looks fine as it is. Can’t think of anything else to carp at.

Together, LEGO Cuusoo and Stephen Pakbaz have scored a home run. If the idea of exploring other worlds is at all interesting to you, you’ll enjoy this a lot. 10/10.

Highly Recommended.

And they’re the same lorry…

This is Technic set 42024, ‘Container Truck’ which will henceforth be referred to as a ‘Skip Lorry’ since I write this in the UK and that’s what it is. It’s a mid-market set that sits in the not-too-extravagant £60 sweet spot, so let’s see what it offers…

Firstly, Technic boxes these days look pretty good; a clear image of what’s inside and simple, elegant graphics. Shame you have to rip it to get into it. Now to empty the (un-numbered) bags into my customary unsortable heap and get building…. you may wonder at this point if a rainbow has vomited on your work surface…. Time will tell if all those colours work well (8860) or not (8865)…

It’s a fairly standard build that starts with a gearbox. This seems like an unnecessary complication, since it’s only switching between two functions and there’ll still be two controls, but there is a perfectly good reason for this. Be patient. There’s nothing too difficult here and the two instruction books give you completely clear guidance. What is refreshing is that it seems like there’s a few more pieces per build step than in many recent kits – a possible reflection of it’s intended age group (10-43 since you ask…)

After a leisurely hour or two you’ll have a skip lorry that looks quite nice, and your earlier fears over it’s colour co-ordination will prove unfounded. This is an attractive model. Although the feature count is quite modest, and nowhere near the let’s-stuff-everything-in 42008, what it does, it does well.

Even the stabilizers do a good job… they are linked to a connector that engages with a bar on the skip when left up. This enables it to tip the container, which is something I’ve never seen a skip lorry do; perhaps I’m just not paying attention. It’s an effective, well thought out system.

With the stabilizers down, two linear actuators move the skip in a graceful arc onto the surface behind, accompanied by much furious wheel twirling. As standard, this is a manual control model but said manual control is the usual black gear, when an old fashioned pulley and pin would be more ergonomic given the lowish gearing here.

Or better still, stuff a motor in. It’ll take a PF M motor and battery box with the greatest of ease – so much so I suspect that it was intended to be motorized all along (hence the gearbox). The only reason it’s not being that it didn’t hit it’s price point so equipped. Allegedly. This would be a much better set at £80 with the motor included, but I can see why Lego wouldn’t want it troubling 42008′s market position.

Now let’s talk about styling…

It does look good, and I think the colours help here, although it might be time for Lego to make a bit more effort in the cab area. There’s nothing bad here, but it’s a bit same-again. Detailing is a tad sketchy and ill-thought-out (if the doors had glass, the mirrors would go through it when they open, for instance). Presumably, it couldn’t be seen to out-shine the more expensive 42008. I prefer the grille treatment on 42024, though – those silvered grille tiles always look a little flat. Maybe I’m just pining for the 8292 Cherry Picker from a few years ago – an otherwise unremarkable set with a very attractive cab design. Or you can simply treat it as a blank canvas to put your own ideas on – it’s Lego after all!

One piece (or rather six pieces) of very good news is the tyres – new for this set (and the digger in 42023), they’re proper square-shouldered, not-too-wide truck *ahem* lorry tyres that greatly enhance this model compared to the smaller, wider items on 42008.

They enhance the B-model too – another grader! It looks pretty good though – at least as good as the 57,000 grader B-models that have preceded it… one of these days there’ll be a grader A model but I won’t hold my breath. You have to go online to build it, however, and that’s always a faff….

So, what have we learned? 42024 is quite stylish, in its multi-coloured, unadorned way, and it works quite well (if you add a proper handwheel) or very well if you put a motor in. 8/10 – if you’ve already got a motor. 6/10 if you haven’t.

I’ve just realized that I’ve done an entire Technic vehicle review without moaning about the steering. This lorry has a good system. It really does.

To see all the official LEGO sets reviewed by The Lego Car Blog, including 42008, visit the LEGO Set Review Library here.

Yellow building site stuff through the ages…

On the right, from 1989, Lego Technic’s first JCB; the 8862 Backhoe. A startlingly yellow confection and the perfect showcase for the then-new second generation pneumatic parts. On the left, 2003′s 8455, slightly less yellow, and an even better showcase for said parts – it has more than twice as many of them…

Both of these JCBs sat near the top of the range, and although the Technic range may seem incomplete without one, there has only been these two and the more recent 2011 8069. This latter model was a lot cheaper and not as accomplished as it’s predecessors. It’s a good enough substitute for less cash, although the little 42004 is as well, for a lot less cash.

Where were we ? Ah yes, 8862 and 8455. First, the builds. The early one is naturally more basic, with it’s studded Technic beams, although the bigger build steps of these older models keeps you on your toes. It was a rare pleasure to build with brand new, unopened 25 year old Technic in this case – no second hand teeth marks and dog hair to contend with, until I have to pull out those infuriating early tight fitting black pins that is… maybe I’ll get the dog to do it… Anyway, after decimating the value of this 8862, I enjoyed a couple of hours of good old fashioned building.

I then cracked open the 8455 (unopened as well!) and gave that my full attention; needed because this little machine’s many pneumatic components, especially the tubing, are VERY compactly packaged. In order to squeeze it’s 10 pistons, 7 switches, 2 pumps and several yards of tubing into a model that’s smaller than 8862, as well as being more functional; you must concentrate at every stage of the instructions on where exactly to route the various pipes and so on. The cleverness of this machine’s packaging is such that not only will it work faultlessly as long as you do this, but all of it’s pipes are very neatly routed on the finished model as well; something that can’t be said of the old stager. With that, it’s a very technical build, not to be rushed.

Both of these models came with pneumatic tubing in long lengths that you cut to size yourself. In both cases, it’s important to cut to the lengths specified; even small deviations may cause packaging and clearance problems, especially in 8455. As is often the case, follow the instructions faithfully and you’ll be alright. Round one is a draw.

To look at, these two are very different, and show the value of 14 years of progress. 8862 is a good effort but it’s oddly proportioned: too tall and under-wheeled. And very, very yellow! Even both buckets are yellow. The black contrast provided by the seat, stabilisers and grille are not enough to offset the overbearing yellowness. Perhaps if I was prepared to get it muddy, it’ll look better…. 8455, on the other hand, looks like this:

Better proportioned, right-size wheels…. and oddly, probably not yellow enough! There’s no pleasing some people… It does unquestionably look better, though. New technic wins at a canter.

As you’d hope for JCB models, both of these are fully functional. We’ll start at the front. 8862 has a system of angled levers and worm gears, manually controlled by wheels on the side, to raise/lower and tilt the front bucket. This system is not perfect. It won’t raise the bucket any higher than the level of the vehicle’s roof, although it does try to maintain the bucket’s angle as the arm is raised and lowered. It almost succeeds… 8455 has pairs of pneumatic rams to operate these functions: there’s a wide range of movement, it’s a strong system and the bucket maintains it’s angle regardless of elevation. The switches on the sides of the seat (if there was a seat) are a neat touch. This seamless operation hands new the win here.

8455 might not have a seat, but there is an engine; geared to turn quite quickly from the rear wheels; and this demonstrates yet more of that clever packaging that so characterizes this model. The steering system – via knob wheels and drag links – works around the engine, taking very little space and it works smoothly, if without quite the precision of 8862′s conventional rack and pinion. 8862 has no engine, despite it’s greater size. Another round goes to new.

The operation of their rear arms is naturally very similar: three single pneumatic rams to lift, reach and tilt the bucket each. 8862 has a manual control to rotate the arm, while 8455, in a display of wilful eccentricity, does this via another pneumatic piston. This is charming, although a lot harder to regulate… and good luck remembering which of 8455′s bank of unlabelled switches does what, as they lack the older model’s more logical arrangement. They are both very playable here, but I think the better ergonomics of 8862 hand old technic a much needed win in this round.

Both models are blessed with a pair of stabilizers that operate in unison from a single control. 8862 has conventional manually operated worm gear driven items that would take some force to budge, even if the feet are a little fragile… it’s been done better elsewhere, but also a whole lot worse. 8455′s feet are extended by a pair of (guess?) pneumatic rams, the operation of which is a complete delight, although they are quite useless, unless the switch is in the ‘down’ position and you’re pumping away… It’s worth noting that 8455 benefits from having 2 pumps, both compressed by pushing down the front of the cab’s roof. Although 8862′s ‘exhaust’ pump looks and feels more natural, there’s no substitute for twice the power. A draw.

B models: In both cases there are strong contenders. 8455 has a front end loader that has a clever extending arm at the front, as well as the usual tilting and lifting. A solid effort and it looks good. 8862 does even better:

Is it just me or does the combine harvester look nicer than the JCB ? Not quite as complex, but there’s enough going on to have given this model equal billing with the main event. Old wins this battle.

But not the war. 8455 is just too good. it shows that even in 2003, during Lego Technic’s ‘dark age’ , someone still cared enough to produce this brilliantly engineered jewel of a set, and it lit up an otherwise pretty bleak line-up at the time. It’s not flawless (unless it’s an 8043 with a smaller bucket, what is ?) but it’s very, very good and with all those pneumatic functions it feels properly luxurious. Expensive but worth it. 9/10.

8862 is very much of it’s time, although it’s not totally outclassed, and it will cost around half as much now as an 8455. A relative bargain. 7/10.

The time is probably ripe for another up-range JCB model, but PLEASE, LEGO, do it with pneumatics! And a compressor.

The Lego Car Blog Elves are spectacularly sulky today. The office went to the cinema to see The LEGO Movie and, sadly, we couldn’t take them.

Don’t feel sorry for the Elves though as it’s entirely of their own making. We’ve been banned from several cinemas and possibly still have an outstanding lawsuit from a particularly disastrous previous cinematic trip, so they’ll just have to wait for the DVD. However, you dear Readers, can go to see The LEGO Movie at the cinema. But should you? Read on to find out!

Synopsis:

The LEGO Movie was previewed here last June, and has been in development by Warner Brothers for the past six years. Set in a bustling and beautifully animated LEGO metropolis where ‘Everything is Awesome!’, The LEGO Movie is the tale of one mini-figure’s quest to save the world as he knows it. Emmet Brickowski (voiced by Chris Pratt of ‘The O.C’ and ‘Parks and Recreation’ fame)  is an ordinary construction worker following the instructions available for every aspect of life in the city in the vain hope of becoming a ‘somebody’. Success and popularity eludes him until, one day, his life changes forever.

Unbeknownst to Emmet, the World is under threat from the evil Lord Business (voiced by a wonderfully on-form Will Ferrell), whilst a secret society of Master Builders attempts to stop him. Emmet accidentally stumbles across the long-lost ‘Piece of Resistance’, fulfilling the Master Builders’ prophesy of a saviour, and is thrust into the apocalyptic struggle between good and evil.

Mentored by the beautiful Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and wise Master Builder Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), Emmet must defeat Lord Business’ plans to create his ‘perfect’ world at the expense of everyone that lives within it. Adults will find the plot faintly Orwellian and actually quite dark, but it’s punctuated with such humour and so many pop-culture references that you may not realise until the end the intelligence that lies within.

The stellar lead cast is backed up by an impressive roster of supporting voice-actors, including a brilliant Liam Neeson as ‘Good Cop/Bad Cop’, Channing Tatum as ‘Superman’, Will Arnett as ‘Batman’ and the delightful Alison Brie as ‘Uni-Kitty’.

TLCB Verdict:

The LEGO Movie looks like a stop-motion animation, though it’s really computer animated, and it is at times quite busy. However it’s created in a beautifully bright way that only LEGO as a subject matter could inspire. It’s also available in 3D, but to be honest the movie doesn’t really need it and we suspect it will be just as enjoyable in only two dimensions.

A sort of Toy Story meets The Matrix, The LEGO Movie is a superbly animated film that both children and – more surprisingly – adults will enjoy. It’s also a children’s film that is quite rare in today’s cinema, in that the key message isn’t just aimed at the children viewing it, but perhaps more at their parents in attendance. We certainly hope it’ll give a few LEGO collectors within the online community something worth thinking about. The live-action finale is undoubtedly one of the sweetest movie moments of 2014, especially when you realise who is really the author of the enthralling story just witnessed.

So is ‘Everything Awesome’?

We’d have to say yes. The LEGO Movie might just be the animated movie of the year, and thus gets a TLCB rating of 4 Stars.

The LEGO Movie is in cinemas worldwide now, and success at the Box Office also means we can look out for a sequel following sometime in 2017. We can’t wait!

Not just an excuse for a slightly rude title, but a comparison of Technic fork lift trucks….

We’ll start with set 850, just as Technic itself did, way back when the summers were warm and everybody was on strike. In 1977, this was the very first ‘Expert Builder’ set. In common with the other early sets, there were instructions for 3 models and a wealth of further ideas on the box. The model itself is very cute, if somewhat basic. A quick build, it uses the limited palette of pieces then available to good effect. The first technic model is still the one with the best steering system, for instance. Exceptionally smooth in operation, sensibly geared and with a generous lock; a system that simply hasn’t been bettered since. Ally that to the very short wheelbase and you have an amazingly manoevreable model.

Moving frontwards, things are less happy. The forks are too long and too close together, they don’t rise very far and the system to move them is very basic. Tilting them is but the fevered dream of a madman… as for loading them – you’ll need to put something heavy under the seat first. So, 850 the model is probably a 5/10. 850 the set is more like a 9. There’s a perfect mix of bricks and the new technic parts here to make all kinds of yellow building site stuff. The perfect starter kit.

Moving on to 1984, and a demonstration that original style pneumatics can actually work, in the form of the slightly unhappy looking 8843. Maybe it should just be red or yellow, rather than both… This time at least, the forks will tilt, and there’s even an additional hand-of-god steering control to supplement the one in the cab, which (praise be!) is still connected. It’s rather a pity, therefore, that the steering feels very stiff, because the system incorporates 8 bevel gears (4 of which are in the roof!) and these are the older, flat 14 tooth gears which seem to have more friction than the newer design. It doesn’t help that the cab’s wheel rubs against some of the pneumatic tubing as it turns.

Whilst it does feel somewhat churlish to criticize a feature that I’m always begging to see brought back, this would actually be better without it. Don’t think for a moment that this will stop me nagging to see it’s return on new models…. capricious, moi ?

At the front, things are better. The pneumatic installation is quite neat, there’s an extra long piston (not as illustrated; the one pictured is assembled from my collection, with period pneumatics from 8040) to facilitate a good range of movement, and the forks are linked to it via short lengths of chain. Operate the pump and they whizz up and down very happily, and will do so with a reasonable load, as well. To achieve this, millimetre perfect lining up of the chain is necessary – it uses tread link pieces wedged in holes and some of the clearances are very tight – but do that and it’ll work fine.

8843 is a good effort; in some ways a useful improvement on 850, but it’s lost that model’s best features – the B model here is a sketchy looking tow truck and the varied colour palette means there’s not enough pieces of one colour in this small set to make convincing alternatives. 6/10.

Fast forward to 1989; it’s goodbye, Berlin Wall and, somewhat less momentously, hello 8835. Much better looking than it’s predecessor, it also benefits from a lifting mechanism that closely mirrors the solution on real forklifts. Smoother steering too, although wouldn’t it be nice if there was a wheel in the cab….? (yes, yes, I know…)

The only demerit with this model concerns the jerky movement of the forks. The brick-built carrier that wraps around the spars is too tight-fitting to move smoothly, as if the designers had forgotten the far more elegant solution to this problem found on 8843. At least they hadn’t forgotten about the tilt function.

Although 8835 is just as multi-coloured as it’s predecessor, the colours are much more harmonious and this is a handsome model. The B model suffers in the same way as 8843′s, though. It’s a less-than-convincing tractor. Stick to the forklift though and this is a good set, with only one major flaw. 8/10

Still with me ? You’re doing well, don’t give up now…

At the far left of this picture is a model that serves only to remind us what a dark time it was for technic in the late nineties and early noughties…

I give you, and you’re welcome to it, set 8248 from 1998. It’s very rare that I find a Lego model that I actively dislike, but this represents all that went wrong in technic at the time. It’s an unfortunate looking mishmash of studded and studless parts that looks half finished. And not just because it’s the wrong colour – this is another build out of my collection. It actually looks better here than in the standard yellow and black. It doesn’t have the excuse of being smaller or cheaper either – piece count and price points are very similar to the others.

Why do I hate it ? Until this point, successive technic models had always aimed to improve on what went before. Success was by no means guaranteed, but the general trajectory was upwards. (like the three earlier models…) On this… thing, as well as looking just plain awful, the forks don’t tilt, they are lifted by a ridiculous scissor mechanism (actuated – with some effort – by rotating a front mudguard!) that promptly flops down again unless it’s right at the top, and the wheel choice is inexplicable.

Ah! But it’s got a figure! Don’t get me started…. These ‘Technic guys’ were an unwelcome distraction that meant technic models suddenly had imposed on them a uniform scale that didn’t exist before. The emphasis shifted from innovative functionality to simply ferrying these fellows around. Although they were highly poseable, they were all one piece; so there was no swapping of legs / heads / torsos etc. That’s not Lego, that’s an action figure.

Is there anything in this benighted model to give cause for hope ? Well, the steering is nice and smooth, and the B model – a telehandler, I think – does look slightly better. Which fact does not save 8248 from being (with thanks to the Comic Book Guy) Worst. Forklift. Ever. 2/10.

We move from a poor red model that should be yellow, to a good yellow one that should be red…. yes, it’s another build-up from my collection. Set 8416 from 2005, at which point Technic had fired the figures and turned the corner…

This is a much bigger set than the others with three times as many pieces, and they’re not all axles and pins…

Looks very butch, dontchathink ? Even in dayglo yellow with too-small wheels… functionally, it only does one extra thing over 8843 and 8835, but that thing is pretty cool. The lifting control extends the boom while the forks are fired up it at twice the speed. Very swish, and it works flawlessly. Great as that is, it’s probably not enough to justify the vast increase in size and price over the others; the tilting control in particular is pretty basic. Now, if it was motorized….

As it is, 8416 is probably not functional enough for it’s price point, although the systems it does have do work well. Looks good too, with the right wheels. 7/10

So, which is best ?

The answer is, none of the above….

The answer is to be found on the back of a lorry. For the price of an 8416, you can have two vehicles, 18 wheels, and some very nifty and playable functionality. Set 8872 from 1993.

The forklift here is similar in size and systems to 8835, but it fixes that model’s only flaw by using technic liftarms to wrap the fork carrier around the spars, thus affording it a bit of clearance and much smoother operation. It’s got a very four-square stance that gives excellent weight distribution, and with a simpler colour scheme it’s better looking. It should have those proprietary fork pieces as well, but I don’t have them in yellow. Yes, yet another build cobbled together from my collection…

It was well worth the cobbling, in this case. The lorry looks a tad sketchy, but there’s an excellent latching mechanism for the trailer hitch, it steers nicely, the trailer’s ramps fold down via the wheel on the side and there’s a lever to lock the parking feet in place. All very nice, and together these two vehicles make for an enjoyable build and an engaging playset.

With delicious irony, this is the right scale for those Technic figures Lego used to do. You know the ones… All this and twelve Model Team wheels… can’t ask for more. 9/10.

…Although I could ask for a new Technic forklift model – something at about the size and price of the 9393 tractor – the Technic range shouldn’t be without one.

… Is one that goes into space…

Until 1996, the top-of-the-range Technic set was always a car. Then Lego had another idea. Welcome to TLCB’s review of set 8480, the Technic Space Shuttle.

With only a handful of pieces more than the 8880 supercar, but the addition of some 9V electrics, this retailed for $30 or so more. Since I was recently privileged to put one together, I thought I’d tell you, our esteemed reader, all about it.

First of all, the box is huge. Ma-hoo-sive, as I’m told some people say… rather more than is necessary; although having a plastic tray to sort the pieces into is a boon. Unlike new sets of this size, there is just the one – thickish – instruction book, which covers both the shuttle and the submarine B-model. This naturally means that every build step involves quite a lot more than it would now… the assembly of this large and complex model is broken down into just 40 build steps.

You know that warm feeling of accomplishment you get when you complete a model? Well, you get a similar frisson for completing EVERY PAGE of this. You do need to concentrate, partly because of the relatively large amount of pieces added at each step, but also because there will be ONE piece added somewhere, at the other end of the model from most of the rest, that you will miss. It’s like  40 pages of ‘Where’s Waldo’… If this sounds like complaining, it isn’t; this was a properly challenging and very enjoyable build.

I do have a couple of TLCB Top Tips: At an early stage, you attach two 2×6 black plates with holes to the underside. Leave these off until much later, as you’ll only knock them off many times until they are attached at more than one end. It’ll spare your sanity, I promise… Another thing – make sure you test these near-20 year old electrics; especially the two long wires that are carefully routed along the length of the fuselage from an early stage of the build. If you discover one of these doesn’t work later on, it’s major surgery to remove it. This leads to swearing…

After many hours of careful assembly, you will have a Technic model of unusual handsomeness, and a (for the time) quite staggering technical density. Time to see what it does.

This was (I think) the first set to use a gearbox for purposes other than a car’s transmission; thus setting a template for every large motorized model since. This allows this machine’s single 9V motor to control any one of four functions:

Doors: The two cargo bay doors will whirr gracefully open in perfect synchronicity. In theory. In practice, the gears are prone to skipping; thus throwing them out of sync very easily. It seems to do this no matter how careful you are with clearances and ensuring freedom of movement. Best to just click it back when it goes…

Canadian Arm: So called because it’s the part that Mexico did.. wait, that’s not right… This will lift its load, and rotate it with a flick of the gearlever (OK, a careful guiding into place is not strictly a flick, but you get the idea..). This works very well, and at a seemingly authentic pace.

Engine lights: The fourth gearlever position operates the fibreoptics that snake through this machine’s three engines, flashing in sequence as the motor turns. Apparently. This is the one aspect of the electrics that appears, on my copy at least, to be defunct. And it’s not the long lead. I’ve checked…

Attached to the Canadian Arm is a dinky satellite, the arms of which will unfurl upon the operation of an even dinkier micromotor. It’s hard to believe this tiny thing has any torque at all; but it does! This is a little gem of a piece, with a thousand uses; if only they’d appeared in more than two sets…

Now that you’ve worn out the batteries, you may as well play with the manual functions. There are two levers, one either side of the fuselage, and these operate the flaps and the undercarriage. These are both blessed with an unusually well-damped and satisfying movement, particularly the undercarriage; assuming you’ve assembled the front wheel with the belt pulley it’s attached to precisely, otherwise the hoped-for haptic happiness will not materialize.

New batteries are easy enough to install, although partially removing the battery box is also necessary to turn it off and on. A minor inconvenience in the grand scheme, but an inconvenience all the same…

Also less than convenient is finding somewhere to put it – it’s not a small model. The best idea is to build a stand for it so it’s pointing at the sky; ready to explore new worlds, or maybe just hang around in low orbit… You can even put a spaceman in it – this might be unique among Technic models in being to (more or less) Minifigure scale, although it doesn’t look quite right if you do; his head will be poking out of the side window due to the motor being sited between the seats.

Whatever you do with it, you’ll be impressed. Not only does it do plenty of impressive stuff, but it looks good doing it. A strong contender for the best Technic set ever. 10/10.

…Well, what else was I gonna call it …?

Welcome to the TLCB review of the new Lego Ideas 21108 Ghostbusters Ecto-1 set.

I was in my early teens when this brilliant film was released, and I have fond memories of it. It was pleasing to find on seeing it recently that it’s aged quite well. Unlike some of it’s audience… and of course that 1959 Cadillac ambulance still looks effortlessly cool.

Turns out it looks cool in Lego as well.

This was always gonna be a day 1 purchase – I knew that as soon as I saw the preview pictures. Unlike the DeLorean model, Lego has stayed very close to the original designer’s idea, making it the most realistic minifig scale car I’ve seen from them by a long way.

You have to pay for this excellence. Forty five smackers is a lot for an 8-wide car, however you look at it, although as we’ll see, Lego have done their very best to make the outlay worth it.

First, the box. In common with other Cuusoo / Ideas sets this comes packaged in a sturdy, high quality Architecture set-style box that’s beautifully illustrated with an atmospheric shot of the car and the four main characters in Minifig form. On the back, we’re reminded that it’s the film’s 30th anniversary. Just in case anybody who saw it first time around doesn’t feel old already…

Instructions are a similarly high quality square-bound book with glossy pages, lots of interesting snippets about the film, the characters and the car, and the instructions themselves are interspersed with quotes from the movie to enjoy as you build. Take your time over it. It’s like doing an Architecture set, where you’re learning about the building as you, er.. build. The only thing that might annoy is the book’s inability to lie flat; but what are paperweights for ?

It’s quite rare for me to be remotely interested in a set’s Minifigs, so I’m no expert on such things… The four main characters do seem to be a pretty good representation of Venkman, Stantz, Spengler and Zeddemore. I have seen comments elsewhere about Venkman’s hair not being right but it looks fine to me. I told you I was no expert… I like the way his sardonic features do a passable impersonation of Bill Murray though. All of the heads are printed on both sides, to provide a scared face when the situation arises, which it will… The four all wear identical torsos with their initials printed thereon, which you’ll need a magnifying glass to read, but it’s a nice touch. They also have identical backpacks, well greebled with all their ghostbusting gear, and Zeddemore has his, er his…. ectomplasmic activity sensor thingy as well.  All in all, these are excellent. Probably.

The meat of the build is, of course, the car. A white ’59 Caddy ambulance fully equipped for any paranormal emergencies. Building it serves as an object lesson in how to form a perfectly shaped minifig scale car. Lesson one: you’ll need a lot of brackets. Lots and lots. Those new 2 stud long curved slope pieces will come in pretty handy as well… Anyone used to just building City style cars is in for a surprise: this is building at the very top level of moc quality, and it shows in the finished article. It’s scaled properly to the wheels, it’s stance and proportions are spot on, the level of detail is right for it’s size (the only thing really missing is door handles; but then I can’t think of anything that wouldn’t look clunky – that’s one of those things that’s better left out, I think), even the side windows have the correct ‘tumblehome’ and trimmed edges. All extremely impressive in a model this small, although that does mean that nothing opens.

Fortunately, the roof with all it’s… stuff comes off for playability. Three figs will fit inside (someone’s gonna have to walk, unless he wants to lie down in the back…). For such an intricate model, it’s surprisingly sturdy too.

One of the reasons it looks as good as it does is the use of silvered pieces for the bumpers, for that typically Cadillac chrometastic look. If they’d have stretched to silvered instead of grey pieces around the windows as well it would look fantastic. And be even more expensive… Another bonus is the fact that there are no stickers (Hallelujah!); everything that needs to be is printed, including four 2×2 curved slopes with the Ghostbusters logo and the ECTO-1 licence plates.

This is a model that screams quality. It probably wasn’t subject to the same cost constraints that may have hobbled the (cheaper, worse) DeLorean; and I’m glad that a lesson may have been learned. Collectors will pay for quality, and this is very much a display set; one to perch proudly on your mantelpiece and await the ‘wow’s from visitors. Or pose it atop your television and sit back to enjoy the film…It’s better value in the US ($50) but even in Europe, it’s worth the price of admission. 10/10.

…or the Elves go Technic. Regular readers of this blog will remember that the Elves have “helped” us to build some of sets that we have reviewed, including some of the 3-in-1 Creator series. We decided that it was time to let them go solo with the smallest, cheapest Lego set that we have ever reviewed (we have to buy this stuff you know!).

After the usual explosive opening of the two bags of parts in this set, we helped the Elves to gather the pieces up into a pile and then realised that there were no tyres. These are packed loose in the box and had all rolled under The Lego Car Blog executive beer fridge and champagne chiller. Fortunately a skinny Elf fitted under the fridge. He was soon forced into the gap by his colleagues poking him with the axles from the kit. He reappeared a few seconds later with all four tyres and a Malteser that had rolled under there two months ago.

The Elves then set to work on book one of the two instruction books that come with the kit. “What?!?!” we hear you cry, “Two instruction books for a set with just 100 pieces?”. LEGO have come up with a new concept for this model. The first booklet builds a common chassis and then the second booklet has instructions for two alternative bodies to fit onto the chassis. A novel, fun concept, with lots of play and re-building potential.

The instructions are in the usual clear, LEGO format, with just a couple of parts per stage. This is slow for a Technic set but remember the starting age for this kit is just 7 years old. By stage 6, a 5-wide frame has taken shape, with swing arms for each wheel. The Elves had to resist the temptation to bash each part down hard and tight, so that the suspension would work on the finished buggy. The first Elf-fight broke out at stage 8, with the adding of the two elastic bands which make the “springs” of the suspension. The temptation to flick the bands at each other was too great to resist and order was only restored when both bands had vanished under the beer fridge. Annoyingly, for a set aimed at kids, LEGO provide the usual spares for some of the smaller, cheaper parts but don’t give you a spare elastic band. The skinny Elf was sent under the fridge again and this time returned with the elastic bands and something blue and furry: possibly left-over cheese nibble from the office Christmas party. The last stage of the instructions is to turn the chassis the right way up, though even the Elves didn’t really need a page of instructions for this.

The first body quickly builds up in typical Technic style, with some 1×1 round trans plates for front and rear lights. Stages 3 & 4 have a bit where you have to do things in the right order or pieces won’t connect but that’s the trickiest part of the build. Stage 12 requires strong fingers to insert a 2 stud-long axle and we had to do this for the Elves. After 22 short stages the Elves were left with a nice-looking, orange and grey, short-wheelbase off-roader. It rolls across carpets and desks and its long-travel suspension bounces really well. There’s space inside for a few of the smaller Elves and they had great fun zooming around the office until two of them were car-sick into the jacuzzi (again!).

The seven stud long axle, which pins the body to the chassis makes a very handy tool for disassembling the body to build the second version. As this set is aimed at younger builders, the instructions could perhaps be improved by including some pictures showing tips and techniques for pulling the model apart. In the booklet, the first body just magically changes into a pile of parts, ready for the next model. Modern Technic components have quite high clutch-power and the Elves needed quite a bit of help to take the body apart, otherwise they would have used their teeth.

The second body is slightly trickier to build, partly because of the novel techniques used to get the sloping body bonnet and angled tail fins. The resulting body is definitely the “B” model and looks a little small for the chassis. Nonetheless, it is still a robust build, capable of sustaining the odd knock on its off-road adventures.

The Elves were really happy with their first adventure in Technic building and especially the solid playability of the finished product. The first body looks good on its bouncy chassis too. At £7.99 for 100 pieces the set isn’t bad value for money and is a cheap, fun introduction to Technic building techniques for young builders. If you’re an AFOL you could add this set to your next amazon order for a “proper” Technic kit: go on, have some fun!

Welcome to our review of LEGO’s latest set for gearheads. If you’re from the UK and of a certain age, there’s a good chance your first car was one of these. Probably ten years old, falling apart with rust, smoking like the Flying Scotsman… maybe that was just mine, but how I loved it!

I am of course talking of the ‘UCS’ Mini, set no. 10242. This model depicts one of the later 1990s Coopers with much interior finery that my plastic-seated ’70s example may have lacked, but the appeal is the same. So long as it IS a classic Mini, not one of those BMW-sponsored supertankers that should probably be called Maxis, really…

Where were we? Ah yes, 10242, what’s it like?

Comparisons with the 10220 Camper Van (still available but probably not for long…) are inevitable, and 10242’s 1077 pieces for £75 looks slightly worse value than the Camper’s 1332 pieces for £80. Naturally, the model’s smaller as well… still, all those rare pieces in dark green make up some of the difference for MOCers.

The box looks to be the same size as the VW’s, and it looks good, with a tempting pic of the Mini on the front, and the rear showcasing all the opening features and interior detail. Appetite suitably whetted, it’s time to liberate the instructions and get to building.

It’s a fun build, with not too much repetition all things considered, and there’s some neat solutions, especially in the way they’ve designed-in the half-plate gap behind the doors that enable them to close smoothly whilst keeping the curve at the top of the side panel. There’s not quite as much surprise-and-delight in this as there was in the camper, but there is some; the spare wheel under the hinged boot floor may not be realistic, but it is a nice detail that leaves this Mini with probably more boot space than a real one…

After a not-too-taxing couple of hours, you’ll have a good looking model.

The front looks excellent. The lights, grille and bumper are all in proportion and the sloped bonnet opens to reveal the detailed engine. This isn’t quite as detailed as it could be, but what’s there is nice enough. In answer to many a MOCer’s prayer, the headlights are about two and a half studs across which makes them exactly the right size. Hurrah! for that. The silvered pin joiners used for the bumpers are very pleasing too.

Moving rearwards, and things are not quite so rosy; the lower parts of the bodysides are fine – excellent, in fact, with the printed stripe on the curved elements that form the top part of the side panels – but the pillar / window treatment lets the side down, literally… It’s those slope pieces for the ‘screen pillars, with stickers that attempt to black out the portion of slope brick that shouldn’t be there. To my eyes, this doesn’t work at all, and yes I did put the stickers on straight…

Those green wheelarch pieces are brilliant, though. Nice going for what’s really a windscreen piece! The wheels are nice too, doing a convincing impression of the ‘Minilite’ design that was always popular on these.

At the rear, another nice and shiny bumper, above which is an opening bootlid that’s almost but not quite exactly the right shape. It’s a good try, though. Maybe it’s the too-steep angle of the rear screen that does it, but it doesn’t look quite right from some angles at the back.

If the above sounds like nit-picking, blame the VW Camper for setting the bar so high. While this model IS a good representation of a Mini Cooper, there are several areas where it could be better. The one area where the Camper could have been better has at least been nailed on the Mini…

And another thing; when are LEGO going to stop using tiny minifig levers where something three times the size would be better? Answers on a postcard please… It’s the roof-mounted aerial this time and it looks ridiculous.

Inside, it gets better. The roof lifts off to reveal the beautifully detailed seats with their chequered trim, and a perfectly detailed dashboard with the sort of late – ’90s wood veneer that was almost definitely not plastic… The front seats tip forward to allow your imaginary figures into the cramped rear bench. This is a couple of studs too far forward, presumably to give enough boot space for that utterly delightful picnic basket, complete with fabric towel. And a piece of ‘cheese’ that’s actually a piece of cheese; gotta love that Danish humour!

The only criticism inside is the massive steering wheel.

One very nice detail is a choice of number plates according to your chosen European country. The English ‘R’ registration makes this a 1997 model. Also very English is the colour: British Racing Green, no less, and it looks great with the white bonnet stripes and roof.

Overall, it’s a good model. A nice thing to have if you’re a Mini fan. It doesn’t quite achieve the dizzy heights of quality of the Camper set, though.

It’s still a Mini and Minis make you smile. 8/10

There was a time you had to watch out for Volvo drivers; unpredictable, incompetent pilots who felt ‘safer’ in their tank while putting everyone else at greater risk… then two things happened. The unsure drivers migrated to even more tank-like SUVs and Volvo started making decent cars. Terrible drivers don’t like good cars so the ones who didn’t fancy a 4WD got themselves a Peugeot, who as luck would have it stopped making good cars at about the time Volvos got better. So now you know who to watch out for. You, of course, are a perfect driver…

For the ultimate get-out-of-my-way, bog-off-Range-Rover experience you’ll need one of these…

Coming Soon To A Town Centre Near You..

Yes, TLCB has finally got around to reviewing the set that everyone’s talking about… last summer. It is of course the Technic 42030 Volvo L350F Loader.

The Technic range is always best topped off with something big and yellow and this is bigger and yellower than most. It’ll drive right over a Peugeot, and it rivals the 8110 Unimog for sheer size. So it should for 170 smackers….

At just over 1600 pieces, it doesn’t scream value at that price, but the 4 PF motors and remote control gubbins makes the outlay more palatable. And you do get a very big box for your money; not the fullest box in the world, exactly, but there’s plenty of good stuff in there.

One innovation I really like here is the single, thick instruction book. So much better than half a dozen thin ones… now how about another one for the B model? Anyone? Hello? Nevermind… let’s crack on and build the thing. What’s surprising here is how easy it is compared to other recent large sets. This is mostly down to each function having its own dedicated motor so there’s no complex gearbox arrangements to contend with. There’s not even that many gears… it’ll only take about 3-4 hours to assemble, but it still makes for an enjoyably lazy afternoon.

As for pieces, there’s little new here, apart from that huge bucket – the biggest Technic piece ever, apparently – although ‘Mog wheels in yellow are nice to have, and engine cylinders in green are a thoughtful and accurate detail. I did see some ‘5L axle with stop’ which fortunately are a different colour to the older ‘4L axle with stop’ but that’s about it for elemental innovation. Maybe Technic has enough connectors and brackets and beams and so on to be going on with. There certainly seems to be plenty of choice now.

You might think 170 quid is a lot to pay for 3 hours of building, but consider the many hours of playing this fully remote controlled beast will give you… this model actually does do quite a lot:

Engine: An inline six, as per reality, and it’s 4 wheel drive. It’s green too, but I don’t mean environmentally friendly… It doesn’t turn terrifically quickly but it’s always a nice thing to have. It’s impressively accessible too; the grille on the back will hinge open, as will both side panels. You can even unlatch the rear mudguards to open another panel and walk right in! It’s driven, as are all four wheels, by the XL motor beneath it, at what seems to be an appropriate pace. Not too fast, not too slow. Just right.

Steering: This is articulated in the middle, just below the operator’s cab, and it’s actuated by a PF Servo Motor. These do make the steering easier to operate than a standard motor, but with the standard remote control it’s all or nothing. I think I’d still prefer an M or L, geared down to make it controllable unless I had the speed controller. This is minor quibbling really; the system works very well and PRAISE BE! The in-cab steering wheel is connected!! There’ll be dancing in the streets tonight! Or maybe just in my house…

Suspension: Yes, there is some. Sort of. The rear axle is pendular, albeit unsprung. It’s one of those features that doesn’t need to be there but I’m glad they made the effort.

Bucket Elevation: Controlled by two large linear actuators driven by an L motor, the bucket will move up to impressive height, and it’ll maintain the tilt angle through the upper two thirds of the travel. All very good. The box makes the proud boast that it’ll lift up to 1Kg, and this it will do. It absolutely will not lift 1.1Kg however. You can’t fault LEGO for honesty…

Bucket Tilting: A single linear actuator, controlling the bucket’s angle through a wide range of movement via some clever leverage, this works seamlessly and well. An M motor does the driving and it proves to be strong enough. If you feel the need to lift 1.1Kg, I’d swap it for an L at the same time as stuffing in an XL for the bucket elevation though. Having said that, it sounds like the limiting factor is the LAs’ internal clutches rather than the motor.

42030 feels like a belated successor to the sainted 8043 Excavator, in that it does all it sets out to do, and it looks pretty good doing it. It’s not quite as sophisticated as that model, and styling-wise, while it looks enough like the actual Volvo to wear it’s stickers with pride, the areas beneath the cab and under the bucket are a tad sketchy. This may be just because the back half is so thoroughly detailed, with all the railings and panels and so on that give this some real visual heft.

The B model looks good as well – it’s an articulated, tipping quarry truck, modelled after another actual Volvo, for which there’s a complete second set of stickers; presumably you just have to peel off the A model’s stickers first! It’s got the typical Technic tipper see-through bed however… I’d stick with the better, more sophisticated Loader.

Overall, I’m very grateful that a Technic designer has a mate who works for Volvo (true story – it’s why this exists) and it deserves it’s place at the top of the range. Like all good RC vehicles, it’s excellent for spooking the dog. 9 and a half / 10.

Pawel Kmiec, better known as Sariel, has been busy…

Thumping onto the doormat at the TLCB Portakabin this week, has been a copy of his second Lego Technic book. It’s called Incredible Lego Technic and it’s clearly intended to show us just how incredible Lego Technic can be. 36 different builders, most of whom have graced these hallowed halls before, show you how. It showcases more than 70 of the very best Technic models out there and it’s designed to inspire.

It does. Running to 280 pages and printed on thick, glossy paper, it gives each model 2-4 pages of very high quality photographs, some accompanying text that gives details of the models’ various functions and a bit of background info about the prototypes. It’s a lot like flicking through the greatest hits of MOCpages, in a parallel universe where the photo resolution is high, and everyone presents their models faultlessly. And there’s no-one saying ‘come an chek out mi awsum tuner’…. although to be fair, that doesn’t seem to happen as much as it used to.

Anyhoo, this makes it the best kind of coffee table book; one you can dip into when the mood takes and probably refer back to many times when looking for inspiration. There are no instructions or building tips here (Sariel covered that in his previous book) but experienced builders will find the diagrams that highlight the motors and gears on a lot of the models quite helpful.

(Spoiler Alert!)

To whet your appetite, I’ve chosen two of my favourite models from the book:

Nice, yes? It’s Francisco Hartley’s Lamborghini Aventador and, like many of the builds here, it’s quite recent. The author admits that this book may date quickly due to ever more brilliant models being produced, but there’s also a smattering of truly timeless classics, such as this gorgeous MAN truck built by Jennifer Clark in 2003:

Brilliance on this scale doesn’t date. It’s motorized as well, using old 9V motors to do everything the real thing does. Impressive stuff and all the better for showing da studs.

There’s a lot more than cars and trucks here, with Aircraft, Watercraft and Farm and Construction equipment represented also, as well as half a dozen real oddballs that show amazing ingenuity – buy it and find out what they are!

Incredible Lego Technic is published by No Starch Press, and will be available from Amazon in the next week or so as I write. It’s fairly expensive at $29.95 (US) but you are definitely getting what you pay for.

Highly Recommended.

It’s time for another TLCB set review! Today we take a trip back into one of the darkest corners of LEGO’s archives. The year is 1997, Bill Clinton has been elected for a second term, Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule, Toyota launch the Prius hybrid, and The LEGO Company kill off their best loved theme – Town.

LEGO were in trouble in the late ’90s. Not enough children were buying construction toys, and the perceived threat from computer games and electronics pushed the company down a very dark avenue. Their response was to drastically simplify the Town range through a series of easy-to-build almost pre-fabricated sets, and to lighten (read cheapen) Technic construction.

Whilst there was a notable highlight in the 1997 Technic range it was mostly about as appealing as Chrysler’s late ’90s car line-up – picking a favourite was like choosing the best of the venereal diseases. So here was our pick at the time, the somewhat odd-looking 8437 Sahara Blaster.

8437 was a sort-of dune buggy, Paris-Dakar type thing, but so loose was its affiliation with the real world vehicles on which it was apparently based in some markets LEGO called it the ‘Future Car’ to hide its inaccuracies.

Ok, so first the good stuff. 8437 does actually contain some lovely Technic engineering. Rear suspension, a V4 engine, differential, and working steering all feature. The Sahara Blaster also came with the option of bundling in LEGO’s new 9V motor, which could be slotted into the rear in place of the piston engine in just a few seconds. This made the set a wonderfully playable thing, especially with its brilliant air-filled balloon tyres.

And now the bad stuff. Those huge tyres meant the steering was minimal, and it was further worsened by a very weak Hand Of God control mechanism, plus – for reasons we simply cannot fathom – the use of a flex-system for the steering arms. These components barely count as LEGO, being completely useless for any other application, and they’re also woefully inadequate for holding the steering together on what is supposed to be a tough off-road vehicle. If you crashed your Sahara Blaster into a sofa, the steering would break, and fixing it was like wiring a plug wearing oven gloves – immensely difficult and no fun at all.

Plus it looked like nothing in particular, the seats would fall out all the time, opening the doors would break the top of the roof, and we’re not even going to start reviewing the B-model…

And yet, somehow we still quite like 8437. Maybe it’s those tyres, maybe it’s because it’s blue, or maybe it’s because things were going to get even worse in 1998…

5/10