Technic Sets/MOCs without Tires

[DrJB]

They say a man's first true love is .... his first car. While I fully understand that ... I feel there is a 'plethora' of Technic Vehicles out there, from MOCs to original sets. In fact I have so many rubber tires in my collection that I don't know what to do with (No, I'm not sending you any!).

But, seriously, what else can WE come up that is ingenious and does NOT use tires?

By the way, that will also solve the shortage (high prices) of the various suspension elements on BrickLink.

Edited November 21, 2014 by DrJB

[Blakbird]

But, seriously, what else can WE come up that is ingenious and does NOT use tires?

This is certainly something I've noticed while compiling Technicopedia. It is virtually impossible to find any official Technic set without tires (or treads). Even the boats have tires. I'd have to think about it, but I'm not sure there has ever been one.

If you want include Star Wars and/or Throwbots, then you can find examples with no tires.

Some of Nico71's fantastic contraptions don't use tires, like the braiding machine or tachometer. There are also quite a few kinetic sculptures out there.

[dr_spock]

They say a man's first true love is .... his first car. While I fully understand that ... I feel there is a 'plethora' of Technic Vehicles out there, from MOCs to original sets. In fact I have so many rubber tires in my collection that I don't know what to do with (No, I'm not sending you any!).

But, seriously, what else can WE come up that is ingenious and does NOT use tires?

By the way, that will also solve the shortage (high prices) of the various suspension elements on BrickLink.

What do you consider as ingenious?

[DrJB]

ingenious = smart, not ordinary ... out of the box, novel, never seen before .... ?

[jodawill]

There are a lot of great GBC modules that don't use tires. Actually, most of them don't.

[Lipko]

My jet-ski and dragonfly was mart, not ordinary ... out of the box, novel, never seen before

[jyd80]

Several helicopters have no tires, starting with the pioneering 852/954 which was particularly ingenious in my opinion. But it is true that the most recent ones all have wheels...

[EDIT] Actually even 852 features wheels, they are only used for the B-model though! [/EDIT]

Edited November 22, 2014 by jyd80

[weavil]

What about - 8268 - 8269 - 8046 - 8825 - 8640 ?

[DrJB]

What about - 8268 - 8269 - 8046 - 8825 - 8640 ?

True, but those are but exceptions that confirm the rule. My comment was 'statistically speaking', there are way too many tires in lego sets, and the majority of technic mocs are about 4-wheeled vehicles.

Edited November 22, 2014 by DrJB

[weavil]

But they got to do something to stay the #1 tire manfacturer in the world.

It is sad that tires rule Technic, but it is worse the the tracks/treads don't even put a dent in it either. The main thing to they need to stay in business and tires (in this case) sell.

[nerdsforprez]

This is where MOCers come in handy. TLG is bound by the pressure to generate revenue. Which is fine, because it generates all the pieces that are needed to create this whole community that we have. We often pooh-pooh TLG for not being more creative, and although I second that I also reconize that without market forces, the business-side of Lego, we would not have the billions and billions of pieces that we now have to support Lego-addics like ourselves.

[veryrusty]

Animals. Most of them don't have wheels. I for one would like to see a technic cat.

[DrJB]

Animals. Most of them don't have wheels. I for one would like to see a technic cat.

There were two versions of dinosaurs ... One technic the other creator.

[Carrera124]

8858 from 1980 also doesn't have wheels :-)

[Corvette3]

Technic is about vehicles primarily is it not? and i doubt there are very few real ones that don't have wheels or treads, although more technic boats might be cool.

[Cumulonimbus]

I’m fascinated by the “stationary” sets TLG made in the ’80s and ‘90s. Most of them were part of universal sets, the car engine set (858) and the harbor crane (8074) are the two most inspiring examples to me. I would love to see a modern interpretation of those.

There are some MOCs of assembling and sorting machines which are great as well.

Wheels and tracks are great, but you are right, a little more variation would be nice from the AFOL point of view.

[Corvette3]

I agree on the variation i've been in technic only 2 months and have noticed alot of cranes, they are pretty cool for what they are however.

Anyone think Lego should drop their "no military" thing? i love tank MOCs and an official one could be great!

[Blakbird]

Technic is about vehicles primarily is it not?

In practice, yes. But I think the point of this topic is that there is no reason Technic needs to be just about vehicles. It seems like a more core concept would be demonstrating how mechanical things work, and from that point of view there is a much wider list of possibilities.

[Carrera124]

But I think the point of this topic is that there is no reason Technic needs to be just about vehicles. It seems like a more core concept would be demonstrating how mechanical things work, and from that point of view there is a much wider list of possibilities.

Vehicles have a great advantage - they offer high playability, because they are intended to move them around. In contrast to City/Space/etc, Technic sets came and come without figs, which means that static technic models are not that "playable". Maybe that was the reason why Lego equipped many sets with technicfigs during the 90ies, but for some reason they don't do this anymore.

Non-vehicle technic models might need really cool features in order not to become boring right after building them. A crane might be a good idea, a windmill might not.

Something which is rarely seen, are minifig-scaled buildings that are combined with technic elements and features (motors, pneumatics, flex system,...).

[aol000xw]

Buildings, engineering, architecture, I don't really know how to express it, are a rarity in Technic. However not everything needs to be mechanical or dynamic. Bridges are perhaps the best example. some may pose an incredible challenge and look amazing.

[JGW3000]

Fairground Mixer is about as close as we are going to get, I think, and even then you had to purchase the motor and battery box separately

However, the whole Mindstorm concept could be considered Technic that doesn't necessarily need wheels, although that may be stretching the Technic definition somewhat.

[DrJB]

Here is a thought, there were the Ferris Wheel and Merry-Go-Round sets few years ago ... and none of them were under Technic ... Maybe Model team would have been a better fit, but both sets used building techniques/parts primarily from classical tiles/plates ... whereas the build might have been more interesting if they used primarily technic parts ... unless the Lego designers themselves (for city/else) are not yet fully versed in the technic abilities ... kinda like an architect vs. a civil engineer ... form vs. function.

Edited November 26, 2014 by DrJB