LennyRhys Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 Hi everyone, So as some of you already know I haven't bought a new Technic set for a very long time, and that may be about to change. I'm really keen to get started on some Power Functions MOC projects using the IR receiver and remote control however I have absolutely zero experience of Power Functions and none of the parts. Which brings me to my question: I see that Power Functions elements are pretty expensive, and I've done some research using ebay/bricklink as a guide. To buy (individually) the PF parts that come with set #42030 would cost me close to £100 (if not more), and the set itself can be bought new for about £125 and used for about £100. What do people suggest for somebody like me who has a lot of building experience with Technic but is new to PF - should I start small, or get what seems to be an extraordinary deal on PF elements and get the Volvo? It seems (to me at least) that the set represents exceptional value for money considering how many PF elements are included (particularly 2x V2 receivers and 2x remotes), but I have nothing to compare it to. TIA Dave Quote
dr_spock Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 I won a 42030 last week. I would say get the set. It'll give you parts like linear actuators and gears assuming you like yellow. Quote
simon48 Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 I'm in the exact same position you are. From what I can tell 42030 is the set to get if you're going that route. The one thing I'm worried about is that 42030 comes with the v1 IR Receivers. As another person wanting to get into Power Functions, should I try to only get V2 Receivers if I'm starting my Power Functions collection? Quote
Blakbird Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 Buying a set is not only better value for money, but will also give you some valuable experience in using PF. If you have not bought Technic for a long time, you are in need of a refresher on the other parts and building styles as well. Get the Volvo and build it per instructions, then part is out. You'll have a great starting point and lots of parts to work with. Quote
LennyRhys Posted July 10, 2015 Author Posted July 10, 2015 (edited) Welcome to the forum Simon! I'm afraid you'll probably find it VERY difficult to get V2 receivers as they are not available separately and are difficult to find on the second hand market. I don't mind going with the V1 because it does what it's meant to do - it's not as though V2 fixes faults that V1 had. At least one commenter reports that the V1 has better range than the V2, althought I'm not sure that this is a common observation. Having spoken to my wife about this it's looking very much like I'll be the proud owner of #42030 relatively soon. I don't like to rush big purchases like this, but the lure of Power Functions and the prospect of building many exciting remote controlled MOCs is really enticing me, and I may very well make a purchase tomorrow. Reading up about Power Functions has also been really interesting because my knowledge of Lego electric motors extends to the stuff that was produced in the late 90s and that's about it. After that, I have no clue! Edit: Blakbird, thanks for the comment. You are absolutely right that the new set will be a great refresher for me, considering my experience of Lego Technic is "bricks and plates with studs and holes, and some liftarms", which is more of a relic for all you folks I think! My plan is to build the Volvo as it is and get used to Power Functions, and once I've done that I'd like to play around with PF parts and see what I can come up with. Edited July 10, 2015 by LennyRhys2 Quote
Karle Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 (edited) If you are going to build the model I suggest that you build the V2 version by Catweazel. It replaces the servo motor with an M-motor an 2 small linear actuators. This will give much better steering control. The instructions may be buried here in this string or someone may have the link. Edited July 10, 2015 by Karle Quote
LennyRhys Posted July 11, 2015 Author Posted July 11, 2015 If I was buying primarily for the model I'd definitely consider the mod, however I'm buying primarily for the PF parts so I don't mind building the model in its original form. M motors are very cheap and I was planning to buy at least one extra, however I'm not sure about buying small linear actuators. Perhaps later! Quote
Foggy Posted July 11, 2015 Posted July 11, 2015 A couple of months ago i bought on amazon the 42030 for 174 €, then decided to buy a second one for the b-model and found a guy in germany was selling it without PF for 90 € and i bought it. Thinking later maybe i haven't done a big deal considered i should pay about 100 € for the pf parts but for now i consider the idea to build the model without motors, so all manual, then we'll see. Anyway it's a great model with lot of useful parts and of course all the PF elements ;) Have a good one Quote
LennyRhys Posted July 11, 2015 Author Posted July 11, 2015 Foggy - your story makes me sad! I'm glad I found out the value of the PF parts first, and my decision was to buy some of them or the entire set! As a small update, I was watching an ebay listing of 42030 (used but 100% complete) this evening and it sold for £96 including shipping, which is VERY cheap. I tried to bid on it in the last few seconds but I was using my phone and something went wrong - ebay told me I entered an "invalid amount" so I wasn't able to place my bid, and then the listing ended. So now I wonder... could I have had the set for under £100? I'm aware that the set can be bought for as little as £125 new, so in reality it's not a great loss; I just love bargains, particularly Lego ones! But £125 for a set with 1600+ parts and nearly £100 worth of PF elements... I need to just buy it, right? The most I've ever spent on a Lego set is about £70 or £80 (I bought 8880 on ebay back in 2005). But I'll happily spend £400 on diecast model cranes... Quote
Foggy Posted July 12, 2015 Posted July 12, 2015 Don't give up, you'll get the deal soon, keep, watching on ebay, it never disappoints ;) Tmost i spent till now is 240 € for the sydney opera house, but it's amazing and it's worthing :D Quote
LennyRhys Posted July 12, 2015 Author Posted July 12, 2015 (edited) So I did find a good deal. I found 42030 on Tesco.com for £127 and they were offering 1,000 extra Clubcard points on Lego purchases (which is a lot like £10 or £20 cashback), so I figured that was an amazing deal and went ahead with the purchase. I'll be going to the store tomorrow afternoon to collect it and have yet to decide when I'm going to start building it. I also need to pick up batteries... LOTS of batteries! Edited July 12, 2015 by LennyRhys2 Quote
dr_spock Posted July 12, 2015 Posted July 12, 2015 Excellent. You'll need at least 6 AAA and 6 AA batteries. Figure about 4-5 hours non-stop build time. Quote
LennyRhys Posted July 13, 2015 Author Posted July 13, 2015 Yeah, I took a trip to the hardware store this morning and got heaps of batteries (40 to be exact - 24 AAs and 16 AAAs, long life variety!). I quite like to mess around with electronics and I might do some modding at a later stage, but alkaline batteries will do for now. Sadly, when I went to the store this afternoon to collect the Lego set I was informed of a 24hr delay, so I'm going to have to wait another day. Patience doesn't get any easier when you're older... at least not when Lego is involved! Quote
LennyRhys Posted July 14, 2015 Author Posted July 14, 2015 Just off the phone to Tesco who have informed me my order appears still to be at the warehouse (two days after order was placed), however they can't track it properly which means they just don't know where it is. Fingers crossed it will be delivered to the store by 3pm today, failing which another one has been ordered to come by 3pm tomorrow. This is testing me to my limits, honestly! Quote
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