10 replies to this topic

[RupeeClock]

Why hello there, it's me RupeeClock. I haven't got around playing with Lego and posting here for almost a year because of school, but here I am to review my favorite Technic set: Front-end loader 8453. I will only review the main model.

General information
Product #: 8453
Year: 2003
Price: EUR 30,00
Pieces: 212
Minifigures: 0

BEFORE BUILDING
Instructions booklet

Nothing to say really. Nice and clean.

Parts

That looks great! 8 different colors: lots of yellow, black and light grey, And some blue, dark grey, tan, trans yellow and trans red.

Instructions inside

Again, nice and clean. Piece call-out, page numbers and not too much building per step.

BUILDING

The fun thing with Technic is that in the beginning you have no idea what you are making and what purpose it has in the final model  


yay gears  


More gears!


The steering mechanism starts taking form.


And we already blew half the pieces.


Here you see the mechanism for lifting the arm, featuring a worm gear.


The cabin is finished.


As with a lot of Technic sets, that light is for steering.


We're almost done ..


See it's really taking shape now.


This is the lifting arm with the bucket.


Only missing the wheels now!

Finished product






Functions
Steering



Lifting the arm




Emptying the bucket




CONCLUSION
It's a medium sized Technic set, so it's not too challenging but it's enough for hours of fun! The functions are fun and it's good looking. I just think EUR 30,00 is a bit much. Also the yellow black color scheme is getting a bit boring after a while.

If you see this set, I recommend you to buy it.

Cleaning the streets of Lego City


.... don't ask me why I did that  

Edited by RupeeClock, 24 May 2009 - 05:48 PM.

[ILikePi]

You need to resize your pictures.
They're way too huge.
The maximum size on Eurobricks is supposed to be 800 x 600 pixels.
I waited for over three minutes for it to load, and it still didn't finish.
No one will be able to read the review until the pictures are resized.

Here are the links to the tutorials:
http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=20787
http://www.eurobrick...?showtopic=6809

When you resize them, I'll read your review. I'm sure it's a good one.  

Edited by ILikePi, 24 May 2009 - 04:14 PM.

[CP5670]

Yeah, I would like to comment on this, but those pictures are so massive it's hard to make out anything. 640x480 is generally a good size for forum images.

[WhiteFang]

This is a very good review, but I am sure the rest of us will love to comment this review much faster. Could you resize these images by following this tutorial?

Thanks.

[RupeeClock]

I am sorry guys. I hope it is fixed now, enjoy.

[WhiteFang]

RupeeClock, on May 25 2009, 01:34 AM, said:

I am sorry guys. I hope it is fixed now, enjoy.

Great job!  

Thanks for doing it so fast. It certainly made the viewing much better.

Viewing this technic review, reminds me of one Classic Town set back in the 1980s that has similar mechanism such as it swivel mechanic. The built does look kind of complicated, but looks nice, and it can be integrated well with other sets of the similar size.

[CP5670]

This looks pretty nice and is almost minifig scale. I like the articulated steering, but the bucket mechanism is a little lacking. The tipping is not really a "proper" function in itself, unlike most of the earlier front end loaders which had a separate control for it. I guess they had to compromise somewhere given the size of the model.

[RupeeClock]

CP5670, on May 24 2009, 10:25 PM, said:

This looks pretty nice and is almost minifig scale. I like the articulated steering, but the bucket mechanism is a little lacking. The tipping is not really a "proper" function in itself, unlike most of the earlier front end loaders which had a separate control for it. I guess they had to compromise somewhere given the size of the model.

I was able to find this picture:

You can see a pnuematic pump on the lifting arm, but on this little set, a pump or even just gears, wouldn't fit.There are always more functions on the bigger sets.

[CP5670]

Well, I wasn't thinking about that one (which has a lot more functions) so much as something like 8828, which is only slightly larger and has a second crank for tipping the bucket.

Also, in the last few pictures, it would be good if there was some bad guy manning it. Dr. Inferno would work well.

Edited by CP5670, 25 May 2009 - 07:21 AM.

[RupeeClock]

CP5670, on May 25 2009, 07:10 AM, said:

Also, in the last few pictures, it would be good if there was some bad guy manning it. Dr. Inferno would work well.

Well with little deconstruction you could fit in a minifig! Too bad I don't have a Doctor Inferno minifig, because that would be priceless  

Spoiler

topic is 20 days old I am sorry if this counts as BUMP

[DLuders]

On his Brickshelf gallery, Fabsail posted 6 pictures and a stop-action YouTube video of his alternative Front-End Loader 8453 design:

     

Edited by DLuders, 30 May 2011 - 02:53 PM.