What's happening with Technic?

[Auroralampinen]

But i have hopes that volvo L120 electric loader will bring back from the airbus the motor and battery box and this year racing boat had the motor ready pump so i think lego has some big plans in summer sets because i dont think lego releases that unique and rare piece for one weird set wich maybe dont sell that well to justify bringing back that rare and costly piece so i have hopes:) 

6 minutes ago, Auroralampinen said:

But i have hopes that volvo L120 electric loader will bring back from the airbus the motor and battery box and this year racing boat had the motor ready pump so i think lego has some big plans in summer sets because i dont think lego releases that unique and rare piece for one weird set wich maybe dont sell that well to justify bringing back that rare and costly piece so i have hopes:) 

I think personally that with the motor ready pump lego maybe releases some old truck my hope is new version of the 2009 crane truck with motorized pump and suspension because the airbus retired so i have strong feeling the airbus motor and battery box follow up set is pneumatics set with motorized pump pneumatics:) 

Edited December 13, 2024 by Auroralampinen

[pow]

6 hours ago, Lipko said:

Lego is a still toy for kids. And you are just tired of pretending it's not.

Can't disagree more!

1. Lego (the company) has many product lines (City is for kids, there are bricks for architects, serious play is for adult education, there are even flowers for people who love plastic flowers, ...and many more themes of course).

2. And Lego (the interlocking system) is just a tool to build things. It is also used in science: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/199259-fyi-technic-for-science/

But back to the topic: In my opinion TLG is selling parts packs, with an instruction for a single design. And we as a community build whatever we want from it. And as TLG isn't producing B-Model instructions anymore, they completely rely on MOCers. Which i think is acceptable. Not good, but acceptable.

There's no need to be worried about TLG producing bad sets, AS LONG(!) as Lego releases well thought parts packs in three to four (five?) price categories. Do they do that, at the moment? No idea! What I think is missing at the moment are payable sets following the legacy of the 42139 All-Terrain Vehicle, that combines many different parts into one single set with a customer friendly price tag. I mean, it comes with shock absorbers, chain pieces, turn tables, different gears, two differentials - in one set! And don't get me wrong, I'm not restricted to special parts. I did more than 30 builds for the 42147 Dump Truck. Brilliant tiny set and huge fun. And 6 builds for 42164 wacky Offroad Racer with it's many obtuse-angled liftarms(which is super annoying tbh). But i wished these sets had, at least, more gears!

Edited December 13, 2024 by pow

[Auroralampinen]

1 minute ago, pow said:

 

 I did more than 30 builds for the 42147 Dump Truck. Brilliant tiny set and huge fun. 

Well i personally loved the snow groomer better pieces tracks more gears and rare pieces and the snow groomer was so fun set yes the dump truck b model is better i agree with that but still my best 10€ set is the snow groomer:) 

[Mikdun]

On 12/3/2024 at 9:08 PM, Lipko said:

Or it's just a reflection of us. We became old. If you really look at those old models, you'll find how much Technic has evolved since.

I think this is the reason.

When I go 8055 back then I could play and rebuild it for weeks without getting bored. Now I'm happy to have build 8043 mod (the ultimate one ) and it's great, but not enough time to play, and few other excuses....

Sure TLG could improve the sets, we can see how many proposals there are inside "X set improvements and modifications" topics, but maybe it's intentional? 

On 12/3/2024 at 11:46 PM, allanp said:

Mechanics in a Technic set should be treated like minifigures in a star wars set. They should look cool and good enough to be eye candy in and of themselves, and shown proudly somewhere on the box.

Couldn't agree more. It doesn't have to be 100% authentic, but it should work.

[allanp]

Just now, Mikdun said:

I think this is the reason.

When I go 8055 back then I could play and rebuild it for weeks without getting bored. Now I'm happy to have build 8043 mod (the ultimate one ) and it's great, but not enough time to play, and few other excuses....

Sure TLG could improve the sets, we can see how many proposals there are inside "X set improvements and modifications" topics, but maybe it's intentional? 

Couldn't agree more. It doesn't have to be 100% authentic, but it should work.

Well, to be 100% authentic they would need most of the pieces to be made of metal, and the gears to be precision ground, and encased in cast aluminium alloy casings which are then filled with oil and yeah, that's not gonna happen! But they surely can be more authentic than they are. The parts pallet is really getting good in some areas. For the gearboxes, they are only a few more gearsizes and a rethink of their utilisation in sets and colour scheme away from perfection in the eyes of this hardcore fan right here! It's really not that far. I'll have to agree to disagree with some of the incorrect comments made in this topic and others like it. They do listen to us in this forum. I have no insider knowledge of what's coming, but was given some inside knowledge years ago of how my comments on this forum directly influenced the development of the Arocs. You can thank Markus' brilliance and willingness to listen to my persistent whining about wanting longer pneumatics for that! I don't see myself as being part of TLGs target audience, but my whole existence isn't defined as merely a member of a relatively small group of Technic enthusiasts either. I am not a group, big or small. I am one individual, and that's all it takes to have an idea that someone in TLG reads and thinks hey, I'd like that too!

So all I can say is keep on making these topics and commenting on them, and make your criticisms constructive. Don't just say "I want less cars". Instead say what you do want, and let them decide if and how they might include it amongst the lineup of cars! If what you want is a telehandler for example say "I want a telehandler", but don't stop there. A telehandler could range from being a ground breaking game changer (First RC fully pneumatic or even actual hydraulics!), pretty decent (interesting, complex and intricate geared mechanisms with ungeared motors and a return of belt drives and/or flex system) all the way down to awful (all the mechanics are pre built in the factory in the form on linear actuators and gear reduction inside the motor). Pitch your telehandler idea and explain why it's worth the monetary investment TLG would have to make to bring it into reality. 

If you really don't like what is happening with Technic then these are the comments that do have a small but very real chance of steering the ship towards better things.

 

[gyenesvi]

8 hours ago, Lipko said:

I'm asking again. Are you sure it's only Technic changing? And not you too? It's normal that you loose interest in something.

If I wasn't MOCing, probably I wouldn't have bought even the first Technic model, the container truck. It was shockingly crap, a total disappointment after my 10 year dark age. But didn't feel sorry, because the parts were actually important.

4 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

  Not to mention when you are just building the official sets you really aren't a builder.  Not a creator.  You are just an assembler.  They are different.  Assembling something gets boring over time.  It could be the most complicated machine in the world and it would still get boring over time.  

These! We do all loose interest in everything over time, that's natural. But I think there's a big difference in this respect between people who design / build themselves, and people who just assemble sets. The latter is more sensitive to official sets and gets bored much sooner. For the former on the other hand, it is all about the creative process and the challenge of designing their own ideas. And as long as they haven't tried out everything possible (and interesting) with the existing bricks, there is always something new that's exciting (and adults usually have less free time than ideas to try out). And new parts feed this process, because more and more builds / realistic mechanisms become possible, and even rebuilding something that has previously been built is completely different with new parts. That's what I really like about Lego, as long as the possibilities evolve, there's always something new to build.

[Jockos]

44 minutes ago, Auroralampinen said:

But i have hopes that volvo L120 electric loader will bring back from the airbus the motor and battery box and this year racing boat had the motor ready pump so i think lego has some big plans in summer sets because i dont think lego releases that unique and rare piece for one weird set wich maybe dont sell that well to justify bringing back that rare and costly piece so i have hopes:) 

I think personally that with the motor ready pump lego maybe releases some old truck my hope is new version of the 2009 crane truck with motorized pump and suspension because the airbus retired so i have strong feeling the airbus motor and battery box follow up set is pneumatics set with motorized pump pneumatics:) 

For its price I wouldn't expect wonders (i.e. PUp), maybe pneumatics.

I really miss the times when we had HoG functions (e.g. by turning a knob) instead of directly operating them.

[Paul B Technic]

These are my thoughts:

 

[Maaboo the Witch]

Too many cars, no B-models.

EDIT: Still!

Edited May 27 by Maaboo the Witch

[Lego Tom]

"There's nothing inherently wrong with cars....but they also represent just one small slice of what technic can should be."

[Toastie]

On 5/27/2025 at 1:05 PM, Maaboo the Witch said:

EDIT: Still!

Oh yes ...

"There are unsmiling faces in fetters and chains
On a wheel in perpetual motion"

Certainly not from me, but from Alan Parsons ...

Car on, guys, and have fun.

Just now I am totally fed up (yes, bold and italics! DAMNED) figuring out how to get a decent loan for a PV installation on our roof ... man.

All the best
Thorsten 

[recovering_from_dark_ages]

@Amt0571 Have you considered getting 42175 and building some of its alt build MOCs? It costs $200 and has 2274 parts. Its combine harvester and snow plow with tow plow MOC alt builds easily beat the original set in terms of functionality and require zero additional parts. Each one is arguably a higher quality, more functional rendition of a combine harvester and snow plow (respectively) than any official Lego set or MOC ever made. Imo both of those builds are also substantially better than 42157, because they have more functions and pieces. And I'd say that with its authenticity and many functions, 42145 is well worth its current market new price of $250, although you definitely get more pieces per dollar with 42175 since it's still in production.

[Auroralampinen]

Ok, i have seen now the new catalogue. And its really depressing to see 5 pages just for cars. And only 2 pages for not cars:/. 

[Jockos]

1 hour ago, Auroralampinen said:

Ok, i have seen now the new catalogue. And its really depressing to see 5 pages just for cars. And only 2 pages for not cars:/. 

I agree, but that seems to be the new trend for Technic. Also, as I got fed up with almost all 'normal' car sets (except NASA and 1:8s), I managed to cut down my buying. Basically, my only interest(s) this year might be the Volvo(s).

[howitzer]

Yeah, the current trend makes it quite easy to save money on Lego. Very few truly interesting sets and those tend to be on the smaller end so cheaper too.

[PG52]

Also, only one set that's not a vehicle... Quite sad, as there are so many fields they could develop. GBCs, drawing machines, other types of transportation like lifts, mechanical stairs or ropeways, woodworking and metalworking tools, other types of cranes like gantry cranes, robots, tunnel boring machines, music boxes, mechanical reproduction of ancient calculation machines like the Babbage machine or the Pascaline, theme park machines and so on.

[msk6003]

Instead, the number of sets themselves seems to have definitely increased. Previously, technic would barely fill 2-3 pages, but now 7 pages are devoted to technic.

[TechnicRCRacer]

What magazine is this where there are seven pages of Technic? In the USA the most recent official catalog has only two.

[Auroralampinen]

25 minutes ago, TechnicRCRacer said:

What magazine is this where there are seven pages of Technic? In the USA the most recent official catalog has only two.

This was german catalog

[Toastie]

4 hours ago, msk6003 said:

but now 7 pages are devoted to technic

Devoted to vehicles, of which are mostly cars, isn't it? These are certainly technical devices, though ...

But doesn't that reflect to some extent the distributions of thread themes in this forum, taking into account that it is the "LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling" forum?

Did not do any analysis yet, but it would be fun to see some sot of statistics.

Best
Thorsten 

[Jundis]

On the last of the seven pages, I like that they at least included some scenery.

Why not also a building site for page 6?

Why not a sandpit for G500, Audi RQ, Ford Bronco and the 2 pullback Monster Trucks?

Why not a racetrack for the race and formula cars?

I know there are not all in the same scale, but still some are and can be placed next to each otther.

[Jockos]

6 hours ago, msk6003 said:

Instead, the number of sets themselves seems to have definitely increased. Previously, technic would barely fill 2-3 pages, but now 7 pages are devoted to technic.

By abandoning B models it is natural. There isn't enough capacity (and maybe interest for most people, which was discussed in another topic) to have B models designed.

[Satisfied]

On 6/25/2025 at 5:03 PM, Auroralampinen said:

Ok, i have seen now the new catalogue. And its really depressing to see 5 pages just for cars. And only 2 pages for not cars:/. 

Speed Champion Technic Edition

Looking forward to next year's scenery

[howitzer]

On 6/26/2025 at 9:09 AM, Toastie said:

Devoted to vehicles, of which are mostly cars, isn't it? These are certainly technical devices, though ...

But doesn't that reflect to some extent the distributions of thread themes in this forum, taking into account that it is the "LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling" forum?

Did not do any analysis yet, but it would be fun to see some sot of statistics.

Best
Thorsten 

I haven't done any analysis either, but it seems true that significant majority of MOCs presented here in this section of the forum are indeed cars and the remaining are mostly other types of vehicles. I think this is also evident in our various contests: the small car contest had I think highest number of participants of all time while other contests like the recent non-vehicle contest or the earlier GBC contest had quite low number of participants.

Part of this phenomenon may be related to the difficulty of building different kinds of things. Cars are easy, they all share the same basic functions (4 wheels of which front steerable, fake engine, drive train with or without gearbox, etc.) while stuff like GBC's require some novel ideas and thinking, combined with difficult mechanics and time-consuming fine-tuning. So in a sense it's not surprising that people tend to build lots of cars and little of other things, and TLG's set portfolio seems to reflect that. Construction machinery is somewhere in the middle so there's more of them than non-vehicles but less than cars.

[Maaboo the Witch]

I was talking to my hairdresser about Lego the other day and Technic was mentioned - she called it "the theme with all the cars".

Sad that that's what it's become, really.