42056 - Porsche Speculation

[roppie11]

Really crazy comparing prices in the U.S. to my good friends in Austrailia..

42039 24 Hour Race Car

U.S. $129.99

Austrailia $159.99

Doesn't seem too bad.

42056 Porsche

U.S. $299.99

Austrailia $499.99

Woah..

Wow that's ridiculous. just wondering, is it cheaper to buy it via the internet and shipping it to australia?

Edited May 29, 2016 by roppie11

[suffocation]

Really crazy comparing prices in the U.S. to my good friends in Austrailia..

42039 24 Hour Race Car

U.S. $129.99

Austrailia $159.99

Doesn't seem too bad.

42056 Porsche

U.S. $299.99

Austrailia $499.99

Woah..

Does that take currency exchange rates into account?

[charlesw]

@roppie, you should add customs, and those may not come cheap at all...here in France small boxes are not checked...but bigger ones are almost every single time, and I do think it's the same in Australia. I was once asked to pay up to 70€ for a chinese tube amp costing 150€...

@Lipko the model assembled by the non-technic fans at AutoBild seems to work just fine. At the end of their (edit: timelapse) review video, we can hear no wheel locking themselves, no grinding gears...and yet the engine do spin properly. Maybe - just maybe - some of the reviewers were going too fast without paying attention to important details (they might not have been well documented though). As far as I can tell, other paddleshift sequential gearboxes do suffer some issues when not set up properly. I can reproduce the rear wheels locking themselves anytime I want by de-tuning a single gear (eg : mis-align one single axle on the gear selector mechanism) on one of the only supercar MOC equipped with such kind gearbox. (edit : it may prevent the gears to engage properly and is documented by the creator of this MOC though).

As we do not have more informations this is pure speculation, and if the gearbox can be made to work properly, this is clearly a bad documentation issue that could have been spotted by TLC.

Edited May 29, 2016 by charlesw

[Ngoc Nguyen]

Upper body

[MRP_]

where'd you find it? either way I saved it just in case...

[Ngoc Nguyen]

where'd you find it? either way I saved it just in case...

I just image-googled "Lego 42056", photos from the latest week. That photo is linked to the premature pictorial review of some guy in Flickr.

[charlesw]

We've got that one too

[Didumos69]

As far as I can tell, other paddleshift sequential gearboxes do suffer some issues when not set up properly. I can reproduce the rear wheels locking themselves anytime I want by de-tuning a single gear (eg : mis-align one single axle on the gear selector mechanism) on one of the only supercar MOC equipped with such kind gearbox. (edit : it may prevent the gears to engage properly and is documented by the creator of this MOC though).

My experience is that when you build a gearbox you need to have a good understanding of how you make rotating axles and gears with clutch run smoothly. When you put the gears just a little too tight or the clutch gears don't have exactly the right amount of play, your setup won't operate as expected. This is something that can not be read from normal instructions. This is why I will base my choices on the reviews from Sariel and Jim.

Edited May 29, 2016 by Didumos69

[charlesw]

Exactly

(edit : on a side note the big question is - will Sariel's hamster fits the driver seat )

Edited May 29, 2016 by charlesw

[Zusammengebaut]

Unboxing and buiding instruction (quik look)

[Kman860]

Ok, 1-can we please stop complaining about price differences? It gets really old really fast. Also, 2-would everyone be complaining about the gearbox if it wasn't called Ultimate?

[Paul Boratko]

2-would everyone be complaining about the gearbox if it wasn't called Ultimate?

If the gearbox has issues, I don't think anyone would overlook these issues because of the Ultimate tag being omitted..

Maybe - just maybe - some of the reviewers were going too fast without paying attention to important details (they might not have been well documented though).

I can see non Lego or non Technic reviewers being completely unaware of issues that the majority of us will easily spot..

[therealjustin]

Agreed, there is no excuse for an official Technic set to have gearbox issues and especially for one that costs this much. LEGO has a bunch of smart designers, a large budget to play with and they had years to develop it.

[rumpletump]

Wow that's ridiculous. just wondering, is it cheaper to buy it via the internet and shipping it to australia?

Sometimes it is depends on local sales and exchange rate at the time..

Does that take currency exchange rates into account?

No it is far worse than that. A couple years ago we were the same as US dollar but the Lego sets over here were still a good bit more at the time. must be shipping an GST tax and stuff added to the cost as well.

The only hope for a better buy on this one for us Aussies is for it to be sold somewhere other than the Lego official on-line store and wait for a discount.. I doubt a discount from overseas seller and then currency exchange and postage costs will make much difference on this one at the moment..

[Didumos69]

Sometimes it is depends on local sales and exchange rate at the time..

No it is far worse than that. A couple years ago we were the same as US dollar but the Lego sets over here were still a good bit more at the time. must be shipping an GST tax and stuff added to the cost as well.

The only hope for a better buy on this one for us Aussies is for it to be sold somewhere other than the Lego official on-line store and wait for a discount.. I doubt a discount from overseas seller and then currency exchange and postage costs will make much difference on this one at the moment..

Could you please continue the pricing-buzz on the Porsche pricing-topic? If it's about price in relation to value okay, but when it's about exchange rates and posting costs etc., I think it's a bit off topic.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Didumos69

[Appie]

Also, 2-would everyone be complaining about the gearbox if it wasn't called Ultimate?

I would give the model aloooooooot of slack if they didn't advertise it as ultimate, minor flaws in the gearbox I'd even allow too (something like: works 90% of the time). But 'ultimate'? Be prepared to be compared to the best.

Lego's mistake imo is their marketing.

[DrJB]

Let's face it: Would marketing have called it 90% ultimate? ... knowing (maybe not) the gearbox and other issues? Unfortunately, it seems (to me) that the technic functions have plateau-ed a long time back and now TLG is pursuing the 'looks' aspects. Maybe Ultimate refers to the most looks-authentic vehicle. Yes, there were other Lego sets based on actual vehicles (Ferrari), but the Porshe is much closer to the real thing. Of course, There is nothing authentic about the gearbox, suspension, steering, or fake engine ...

TLG replicated the outer shape as much as they could, but then crammed whatever functions they could inside such envelope. To many of us that is not a genuine approach ... but this ship has sailed. And I'm sure they'll build many more because many people out there will buy this set, for its looks only.

[Didumos69]

And to add to that: If the goal was to generate buzz, the term 'ultimate' has done its job already. See the 2527 replies - and counting - to this topic. It made me decide to buy this set, because now that I have been dragged into this I want to judge all the vehicle's aspects by myself. Reviews are only going to help me decide when.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Didumos69

[MRP_]

So, can someone really clarify what the issue with the gearbox is? I've heard it doesn't shift, and it doesn't spin in low gears, but does that mean in low gears the engine doesn't turn when the car rolls, or when it's in low gears the car can't roll? I'm just kind of confused with the specifics.

[Kristof]

42056 Porsche

U.S. $299.99

Austrailia $499.99

Woah..

In Czech Republic where I live, the RRP is 8999 CZK. That is to the date exactly:

516.54 AUD

...and...

370.854 USD

Now if you take into account that there is a tax included in Czech price (we pay 21%) and I'm guessing that also in the Australian price (around10%?). With the customer friendly 'Sales tax' in the U.S., which you can easily avoid, that pretty much explain the price advantage. So It's not really TLG to blame. I think that what they actually get from sold product usually vareies just a little and it seems they involve the changing exchange rates quite dynamically. It is the tax system what makes the differences.

[Didumos69]

In Czech Republic where I live, the RRP is 8999 CZK. That is to the date exactly:

516.54 AUD

...and...

370.854 USD

Now if you take into account that there is a tax included in Czech price (we pay 21%) and I'm guessing that also in the Australian price (around10%?). With the customer friendly 'Sales tax' in the U.S., which you can easily avoid, that pretty much explain the price advantage. So It's not really TLG to blame. I think that what they actually get from sold product usually vareies just a little and it seems they involve the changing exchange rates quite dynamically. It is the tax system what makes the differences.

EDIT: Removed lines referring to the same thing Jim is addressing in the first line of the next reply.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Didumos69

[Jim]

There's a separate topic for discussing the price. Let's stick to non-price discussion here.

So, can someone really clarify what the issue with the gearbox is? I've heard it doesn't shift, and it doesn't spin in low gears, but does that mean in low gears the engine doesn't turn when the car rolls, or when it's in low gears the car can't roll? I'm just kind of confused with the specifics.

Sure, I can. Just wait a day or two.

[brunojj1]

I've heard it doesn't shift, and it doesn't spin in low gears, [....] the car can't roll? I'm just kind of confused [...]

I´ve heard it doesn´t steer as well... But it offers 4 x reverse in its gearbox - that´s the new achievement we have to pay for . Maybe it won´t hurt so much if to sell the stickers, the book and the box after the purchase which I won´t need after unboxing... I hear a lot of bitter sarkasm and disappointment, but the final judjement can´t be made this way.

Seriously, after all the previous hype now we see all the complaints even before it´s in the stores - that´s exactly what I personally had expected. The poor designer of the car must have nerves out of steel now to endure the critics (no real compassion here). Hopefully after this one we will see another supercar though at some time ever.

Sometimes I really have the suspission that it´s part of the philosophy to make a not-perfect-model and leave some room for playing and "improvements", at least for me it increases fun a lot. Seems to me like the Porsche delivers a perfect base for MODing and MOCing variations such as B-models or PF upgrades to make it a real ULTIMATE.

[Lipko]

&BrunoJJ:

There's a big difference between "leaving space for improvements" and making something a wrack so you HAVE TO improve it to make it work at all.

For example, not including a complete gearbox only including a bunch of parts and gears. Or making the model much more modular, like 8448. Or only include instructions for the frame and the body, and include just an idea book about different gearboxes, suspensions, steering systems, etc.

Dunno, something.

[efferman]

The interiors doesnt work perfect? sure that there are no building errors like wrong side diffs and similar?