Instructions for my Excavator

[legolijntje]

Correct! Netherlands has more than twice as many sales as any other country.

Dutch people are enormous technical

But I'm wondering; was there any other advertisement for these instructions than this topic?

[jorgeopesi]

Well, the results are in and my long-time suspicions have been confirmed. People from the USA do not like Technic. So far, people from the following countries have purchased JS220 instructions. You will see that USA is not on the list. I knew it was less popular in the USA than elsewhere, but I expected at least one! My other big surprise was that I always thought Germany was the most popular place for Technic, but they are not on the list either. Maybe they don't read Eurobricks..... Can you guess which of the countries below had the most copies?

• Denmark
  
• France
  
• Netherlands
  
• Spain
  
• Switzerland
  
• UK
  

Wow be with these countries is much to be so little regarded by Lego, until recently our country was not shown in their surveys.

Edited January 2, 2013 by jorgeopesi

[DLuders]

People from the USA do not like Technic.

I wouldn't go that far. Perhaps the lack of American sales are due to several factors:

(1) The parts are hard to obtain --> great expense on Bricklink.

(2) People are "broke" from buying expensive Lego sets for Christmas.

(3) Some people are not Lego Pneumatic fans.

[DarkShadow73]

I wouldn't go that far. Perhaps the lack of American sales are due to several factors:

(1) The parts are hard to obtain --> great expense on Bricklink.

(2) People are "broke" from buying expensive Lego sets for Christmas.

(3) Some people are not Lego Pneumatic fans.

Just a couple thoughts on your reply DLuders -

Most parts are available overseas, American Bricklinkers do have a lot of parts, but nowhere near what sellers overseas have stocked in their stores. But, like you said great expense with shipping, customs, etc. Luckily, I found a Bricklink seller right here in my city who had a plethora of parts that were valuable to me, but I kind of cleaned him out of more rare Technic parts.

Does seem like we get left out of a lot of Technic in stores. Used to be you could go to any independent toy shop (which are all gone in my area now due to TRU) or TRU and find all the larger and smaller sets all the time...in the past several years TRU usually stocks a large selection before Christmas, gets rid of them, then they only stock the smaller Technic sets, usually geared more for children, then when the 2H offerings come out in mid-summer, I have noticed a re-surgence, but only temporarily, then they are gone again. Occasionally, I have gone in on a whim and saw a set or two that maybe didn't sell fast online I'm guessing, such as the 8043 and 8070. Saw both of those come back late spring in 2012, but only a couple of each...

That's probably why they don't sell much and mark them down about mid-January around here because people are broke after Christmas.

I have a love/hate relationship with pneumatics. They can be real touchy and always need to be pressurized (aka 8455, great set, but needs a couple airtanks, just no room to put them), whereas LA's are more precise and more easily operated especially if PF operated.

Edited January 2, 2013 by TechnicFreak

[Meatman]

People from the USA do not like Technic.

The U.S. is all about minifigures. And I don't mean to insult my own country, but from the feedback that I have seen over the years on various forums is that most builders from the U.S. write Technic off because it is too difficult. I just don't think the U.S. has as many developed minds as the rest of the world. This can be argued, but the numbers don't lie.

The top IQ in the world Rankings have Netherlands as 6th and the U.S. 20th. I think in the U.S. many people hate Technic because they just don't get it.

[Meatman]

Has there ever been a Technic designer employed by Lego?

**EDIT** I meant, has there ever been someone from the U.S. employed by Lego as a Technic designer?

Edited January 2, 2013 by Meatman

[legomuppet9]

Has there ever been a Technic designer employed by Lego?

You mean like someone who's been building their own MOC's beforehand then is employed by Lego? if that is the case, then yes, and very recently too. Milan Reindl, who is known a "Grohl" in the Technic Community has been employed by Lego since April however it was announced in November, refer to this TechnicBricks article for more information. http://www.technicbricks.com/2012/11/an-afol-made-lego-technic-designer.html

[Meatman]

You mean like someone who's been building their own MOC's beforehand then is employed by Lego? if that is the case, then yes, and very recently too. Milan Reindl, who is known a "Grohl" in the Technic Community has been employed by Lego since April however it was announced in November, refer to this TechnicBricks article for more information. http://www.technicbr...c-designer.html

I am sorry, I meant to say someone from to United States employed as a Technic designer.

[Blakbird]

But I'm wondering; was there any other advertisement for these instructions than this topic?

Not much. I'm struggling to find ways to advertise it. Of course, it has been blogged on TechnicBricks which was a big deal, but we'd love to appear on some other blogs as well. I just don't have time to promote it via eBay at the moment.

I wouldn't go that far. Perhaps the lack of American sales are due to several factors:

(1) The parts are hard to obtain --> great expense on Bricklink.

(2) People are "broke" from buying expensive Lego sets for Christmas.

(3) Some people are not Lego Pneumatic fans.

Those things are all reasons for low sales in general, but they are not unique to the USA.

The top IQ in the world Rankings have Netherlands as 6th and the U.S. 20th. I think in the U.S. many people hate Technic because they just don't get it.

I would think that actual intelligence averages would be pretty constant all around the world. I don't think it is a matter of lack of intelligence in the USA, I think it is lack of interest. For some reason students in the USA are not interested in mechanical things any more. The smart kids are more likely to go into electronics or programming rather than gears and engines. Obviously it was not always so.

Anyway, sorry to sidetrack the topic. I'm not trying to start a big discussion about the lack of engineers in the USA, I just thought it was an interesting observation that we have literally zero sales from the USA.

[Saberwing40k]

Well, I'll just say that I would buy the instructions, that is if I had the parts, which I don't, and if I had money to spare, which I also don't. (I'm trying to buy a laptop computer.) Also, in regards to students in the U.S. being adverse to mechanical engineering, I have to say I'm an exception. I've always been interested in how mechanical things work, be it clocks or cranes.

[jorgeopesi]

I think in U.S. is more easy and less expensive build and modificate real cars, at least is the impression I have.

[Anio]

I wouldn't go that far. Perhaps the lack of American sales are due to several factors:

(1) The parts are hard to obtain --> great expense on Bricklink.

(2) People are "broke" from buying expensive Lego sets for Christmas.

(3) Some people are not Lego Pneumatic fans.

1) C'mon ! Lego parts are cheaper in the US on BL, and on the s@h

3) Technic is not appreciated in US because Americans do not like pneumatic ? You are kidding right ?

Edited January 2, 2013 by Anio

[Tkavan01]

I think in U.S. is more easy and less expensive build and modificate real cars, at least is the impression I have.

I was just about to respond with this, most of my engineer friends(all of them are, bc i'm an engineer) spend their free time building race cars and doing outdoor hobbys...

Well, I'll just say that I would buy the instructions, that is if I had the parts, which I don't, and if I had money to spare, which I also don't. (I'm trying to buy a laptop computer.) Also, in regards to students in the U.S. being adverse to mechanical engineering, I have to say I'm an exception. I've always been interested in how mechanical things work, be it clocks or cranes.

I feel the same way, I would love to build this set, but I don't have a vast catalog of parts, esp ones with stud... I started looking at what it would take to build han's dump truck and realized trying to source the parts from 25 stores in europe was too big a task to take on now.

Technic in america needs to be shoved in stores more, so people have the chance to buy them, if you have to go online to get it forget about it, not happening, also very few are ever sold used for reasonable prices, unlike europe where i see second hands set come up often for very cheap.

Love this set, maybe someday i'll acquire enough parts to build it :(

[DarkShadow73]

The U.S. is all about minifigures. And I don't mean to insult my own country, but from the feedback that I have seen over the years on various forums is that most builders from the U.S. write Technic off because it is too difficult. I just don't think the U.S. has as many developed minds as the rest of the world. This can be argued, but the numbers don't lie.

The top IQ in the world Rankings have Netherlands as 6th and the U.S. 20th. I think in the U.S. many people hate Technic because they just don't get it.

Guess I can agree with that, and like you not insulting my own country, but Technic seems to be more of a hot seller overseas than it is here in the States and it is well known that a lot of European and Far East countries do have higher IQ rankings. The majority of store aisles nowadays are made up of other themed sets, hardly any Technic except TRU, and like I said above a rarity except around Xmas and right at the 2H, and even then there isn't much. I actually saw Unimogs and Logging Trucks for the 1st time ever at TRU before Xmas, but I'm betting they are sold out by now and not to return.

I was just about to respond with this, most of my engineer friends(all of them are, bc i'm an engineer) spend their free time building race cars and doing outdoor hobbys...

I feel the same way, I would love to build this set, but I don't have a vast catalog of parts, esp ones with stud... I started looking at what it would take to build han's dump truck and realized trying to source the parts from 25 stores in europe was too big a task to take on now.

Technic in america needs to be shoved in stores more, so people have the chance to buy them, if you have to go online to get it forget about it, not happening, also very few are ever sold used for reasonable prices, unlike europe where i see second hands set come up often for very cheap.

Love this set, maybe someday i'll acquire enough parts to build it :(

I see the new Excavator is now available at TRU online, but naturally at a higher cost than MSRP, $89.99 I believe it was, but I'm willing to bet it won't hit store shelves now that everybody's out of money after the holidays. From what I can tell, and I visited 2 area TRU's, they didn't sell much of any of the larger sets before Xmas, smaller ones we're a bit better sellers, so I would guess they would have to clean out the shelves before adding more Technic, if they planned to. A lot of the big sets were beat up too from handling. I don't much like online ordering just because of the shipping costs and during the winter its a touch and go proposition with carriers.

[DLuders]

@ Blakbird: I just ordered the USD $21.72 Building Instructions from Crowkillers' website, since it won't do to have "zero sales from the USA" ! I will gradually accumulate the parts over time and try to build it sometime.

[Phoxtane]

It'd be great to play around with this model, but I don't have the time or the cash to source the parts now

[DLuders]

I just downloaded Blakbird's 247-MB PDF Building Instructions for Jennifer Clark's JCB JS220 Excavator (via Crowkillers' website), and I must say they are SUPERB. The 164 pages are extremely well done and full of background information about the real equipment, and the model. The images are high-resolution and sharp, and are laid out just like official Lego building instructions. I really like the color-coded hoses and electrical connections to help with the final assembly. Thanks Jennifer, Eric, and Paul!

Edited January 3, 2013 by DLuders

[jantjeuh]

I might tackle this bad boy when my Technic stash has increased, for now I'm simply lacking too many parts :-) I hardly have any System bricks.

[jadedomg]

Well, the results are in and my long-time suspicions have been confirmed. People from the USA do not like Technic. So far, people from the following countries have purchased JS220 instructions. You will see that USA is not on the list. I knew it was less popular in the USA than elsewhere, but I expected at least one! My other big surprise was that I always thought Germany was the most popular place for Technic, but they are not on the list either. Maybe they don't read Eurobricks..... Can you guess which of the countries below had the most copies?

• Denmark
  
• France
  
• Netherlands
  
• Spain
  
• Switzerland
  
• UK
  

I was looking at buying them but my lack of parts and to buy the needed parts on bricklink being almost $500CDN between parts/shipping kinda put a damper on it. It is an amazing model I would love to build. I did leave all the parts in my bricklink wanted list and when I buy other parts I will be buying what I can for this set as well while I am shopping. Eventually! I am sad to see no canada on that list as well, but it is hard to find technic sets in stores here as it is so they are definitely underpromoted/lack of interest.

[AVCampos]

Thanks Jennifer and Eric! Even though I'm more of a MOC maker than a set collector (I buy sets for their mix of parts and to absorb some of the techniques used), from what I read these instructions are well worth on their own, even without building the model itself. I see myself reading them for the background on the machinery and getting ideas from the techniques.

I think that, just like I hinted at my girlfriend to receive Sariel's book for Christmas, I may try pitching the idea of these instructions to her and my parents. I suppose there are printing services to print and bind books from document files, right?

[Blakbird]

I suppose there are printing services to print and bind books from document files, right?

Yes, there are many places you can get custom printing done. However, the cost is very high for a single copy because a large portion of the cost is setup. The cost goes down exponentially with many copies. I had intended to print a copy of this for myself but it is probably not economical for a single copy. I might do more if I thought people wanted them, but it would still not be cheap on a per copy basis unless you did thousands of them.

[DLuders]

Part 2 of the two-part TechnicBRICKS interview with Jennifer Clark is posted.

[Jennifer Clark]

Thanks for posting the link DLuders!

It will be interesting to hear feedback from people using the instructions :-)

Jennifer

[Alasdair Ryan]

One think that I noticed is that the rams are connected under the main arm.

Now I do operate diggers my self but only the small ones,and I can tell you that on the bigger machines like this one that you modeled the main rams are connected at the sides.

Its not due to the stroke but it seams more down the space,which makes me think that its not completely scaled right?

[Milan]

Alasdair,

On the model, cylinders are placed inside, rather than on sides, mainly because LEGO cylinders are too wide in scale, compared to real ones. Also, the boom itself is a little bit wider than it should be. Boom+cylinders on side combo would be too wide.