Technic 2017 Set Discussion

[Sariel]

1 hour ago, Jim said:

I have a problem with the 42070. I like it...a lot.

Your magnificent photos make anything hard to dislike ;)

Edited July 16, 2017 by Sariel

[Globemaster8]

Nice photo Jim, looking forward to comparing your opinion of the set with Sariels. 

[Maaboo the Witch]

That photo is brilliant - if the rest of the review is that good, we're in for a real treat!

[Jim]

6 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

That photo is brilliant - if the rest of the review is that good, we're in for a real treat!

Oh you are making me nervous. It's dangerous, and disappointing, to live with hight expectations. Don't expect a review as elaborate as the Porsche.

41 minutes ago, Sariel said:

Your magnificent photos make anything hard to dislike ;)

Thanks buddy! 

8 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

That photo is brilliant - if the rest of the review is that good, we're in for a real treat!

Hopefully I can publish my review today, but I am nowhere near done yet. If Max will have bad luck in the F1 again, it will save me some time this afternoon  

[Ascius]

2 hours ago, Jim said:

I feel like an outcast. I sure hope I won't be banned from the Technic community  

Well they will have to ban me too, I enjoy it too, so you're not exactly alone xD

[Aventador2004]

3 hours ago, Jim said:

I feel like an outcast. I sure hope I won't be banned from the Technic community  

You wont, I like it too, but if you do get banned, can I be moderator? 

16 hours ago, Jim said:

 

Edited July 16, 2017 by Aventador2004

[Milan]

1 hour ago, Aventador2004 said:

You wont, I like it too, but if you do get banned, can I be moderator? 

He is admin, so you would have to take that position. And as an admin, you would have to promise not to talk about that poor bumper teddy and that half pin ever again , it's disturbing and inappropriate! Btw, can a regular big black pin fit in there?

On topic: all photos by Jim do the same thing: each one is so beautiful and clean and detailed, you just have to like the set much more than you should! Looking forward to the review.

[Jim]

I have never done Truck Trial, nor have I "played" with IR models outside, but I have heard about the lack of outdoor performance. I just wanted to shoot an outdoor video of the 42070 but that's hardly possible in bright sunlight.

[Aventador2004]

1 hour ago, Milan said:

He is admin, so you would have to take that position. And as an admin, you would have to promise not to talk about that poor bumper teddy and that half pin ever again , it's disturbing and inappropriate!

I would probably also have to arrange contests, and make sure the teddy fiasco is stopped.

13 minutes ago, Jim said:

 but that's hardly possible in bright sunlight.

It is pretty impossible, I tried once, but it barely moved.

On topic, Those are great photos jim!

Edited July 16, 2017 by Aventador2004

[1gor]

4 hours ago, Jim said:

If Max will have bad luck in the F1 again, it will save me some time this afternoon  

Well because (youngest) flying Dutchman is fourth, so review is probably on schedulle later 

And about your photography - you could make worst LEGO set interesting, so I'll be cautious about 42070 frpm now one, but I'm steal no fan of so many colors...

1 hour ago, LvdH said:

3L or 2L?  

Don't you know that animals have rights. Not to mention if Teddy is male, you'll have LGBT community on your back. Thankfully we are Technic community, what a relief.

[Vectormatic]

7 hours ago, Jim said:

Hehe, it seems that way.

Without going into much detail, I can already tell that I have a problem with the 42070. I like it...a lot.

I just watched Sariel's video, and seeing a shot like this... this thing really looks the business from the right angle

Not a snowball's chance of me getting it though, im not much of a truck guy to begin with, and once you look past the pretty (oooh soo very pretty, thanks jim!) pictures, the thing is overpriced, poorly designed and looks unfinished from other angles.

[Jim]

I haven't managed to finish the review today. Have been working for almost 12 hours now and I am nearly finished. Now I need a break and have some actual fun with the set. I will be replacing the IR Receiver with an SBrick first, so I can do some outdoor driving.

[Ngoc Nguyen]

By "work" do you mean doing a paid full time job or sth else? What kind of company would make employees work 12 hours a day...

[M_longer]

Just now, Jim said:

so I can do some outdoor driving.

Watch out for rubber chickens ;)

[rener]

5 minutes ago, nguyengiangoc said:

By "work" do you mean doing a paid full time job or sth else? What kind of company would make employees work 12 hours a day...

I guess working on the review, don't you? That gives thousands of bosses (on EB) and no pay, so some rest and play seems more than well deserved. After all, all work and no play makes Jim a dull boy!;)

I patiently await the review!

[JTS]

Seeing as my annual Lego budget is already almost completely depleted, I was considering building 42069 from my own collection, substituting dark purple pieces with orange ones.

Despite ~13k parts in my collection I still need nearly 200 parts to be able to build it (I swear TLG do this on purpose!). According to bricklink this will cost me £50-60, and almost £10 of that is on 52 of those silly little rubber grips on the treads...  does anyone have experience buying from Lego's customer service website? Is it any cheaper?

Now a quick question for those that have the set: do the wheel hubs used in the fake suspension (8x silver, 8x black) have a pin hole or an axle hole in the centre?

Edited July 16, 2017 by JTS
Spelling

[HallBricks]

4 minutes ago, JTS said:

Seeing as my annual Lego budget is already almost completely depleted, I was considering building 42069 from my own collection, substituting dark purple pieces with orange ones.

Despite ~13k parts in my collection I still need nearly 200 parts to be able to build it (I swear TLG do this on purpose!). According to bricklink this will cost me £50-60, and almost £10 of that is on 52 of those silly little rubber grips on the treads...  does anyone have experience buying from Lego's customer service website? Is it any cheaper?

Now a quick question for those that have the set: do the wheel hubs used in the fake suspension (8x silver, 8x black) have a pin hole or an axe hole in the centre?

I usually buy from both BL and Customer service/Bricks&Pieces. When buying from customer service, the manufacturing cost is pretty much the only factor that affects the price, which means rare parts or rare colors don't cost more just because they are rare. These parts tend to have very high prices on BL, and often available only in small quantities. 

On BL, the availability is pretty much the only thing that affects the price so widely available parts can get incredibly cheap, even though they might be more expensive for Lego to produce. Shipping costs on BL also tend to be pretty high depending on where the seller is located, while the sipping cost when buying from Customer service always is the same, no matter how big your order is which is great. 

One problem with Bricks&Pieces is that when new parts or new colors are released with a set it can take quite long until they are available to buy individually. They appear on BL almost immediately but often at quite high prices. 

[Jim]

39 minutes ago, JTS said:

Despite ~13k parts in my collection I still need nearly 200 parts to be able to build it (I swear TLG do this on purpose!). According to bricklink this will cost me £50-60, and almost £10 of that is on 52 of those silly little rubber grips on the treads...  does anyone have experience buying from Lego's customer service website? Is it any cheaper?

Now a quick question for those that have the set: do the wheel hubs used in the fake suspension (8x silver, 8x black) have a pin hole or an axe hole in the centre?

I'd skip the rubber grips alltogether. I have bought several bags in the Factory Store in Legoland Germany. But I have just discovered that they work marginally. Still a sliding vehicle on smooth surfaces. I wouldn't bother.
(okay, they do work, but that's only for heavy vehicles)

They have a pin hole (the fake suspension).

How many pieces do the 42068 and 42069 have? It has probably been posted here, but I can't seen to find it. Brickset doesn't have the information yet.

[Ngoc Nguyen]

42068: 1094

42069: 2382

[Jim]

Thanks mate! 

[DarkShadow73]

I have been mainly just reading posts on this topic for some time.  

Last 2 years (15 and 16) we're hot for 2H sets. I hear the for and against about 42070, not as much for 42068 & 69.  Seems to me the flagship this summer has sort of been adopted as 42069, which with more than 500+ pcs more than 42070.  i realize that 42070 has RC functions, but no servo?  That's just strange, and how about no large cog wheel mounted on the IR transmitter?  Had this for 41999, 9398, and 42030. And I also see not many functions are performed by RC. Kind of a disappointment IMO, and I really don't like the blue color. Like some have posted, there so many shades of blue now, but hardly models since 42042 are 'true' blue. The medium azure isn't bad, and I did buy 42066 (yes I'm in the US, but quite a few Amazon.com sellers had this available, importing it overseas from the UK I would imagine), but pics can sometimes be deceiving, it looked like it was more of a medium azure, but instead it was light, pale blue. I love the set, it has a few quirks but what Technic set doesn't? 

At first I was only interested in 42068, but I also wondered since the 42068 had an actual engine, if it was like most 1H models that may have an engine but instead of a diff, only had 1 axle and gear mating to another axle and gear turning only 1 wheel. Don't get me wrong, with the exception of 42064 and 65 I have all the 1H models, the larger kits of which for some reason weren't released in the US in January.  

After reading a lot of posts, 42069 has grown on me quite a bit. Since 2004, I have purchased every 2H set, but this year, not only because of the high price of 42070 and as many have pointed out, lack of design, complexity (even if it has 4 differentials, 2 that are old school ones in red, that's just odd) and from what I've seen of various pics, only pendulum type suspension (no shocks??) and finally low piece count, kind of turn me off, along with main color as mentioned above. So, this would be the first summer without purchasing the whole lineup.  At $289.99 USD, that's nuts. Look at what you got with 42055 for $279.99 USD last year? Over 2K more pieces, and a monster of a machine, both A and B models. Now, if sets go like they did last year in the US, I may consider it more for curiosity and lots of spare parts for my collection, maybe build it once, see if I like it, then disassemble and bag. I was rather upset when all 3 2H2016 sets went on deep discount at for long periods of time on Amazon, seeing as how I could spent far less since I did buy 2 of each since the B models we're all excellent, well even if 42054 used the same tractor, just with a different implement.

I looked very carefully at the pics of the inventory that Jim was so kind to post, that really does help a decision also, thank you Jim. Both 42068 and 42069, especially 42069 have a wide assortment of great parts.  I had thought Lego was just rehashing 42038 with a bit extra added in, well a lot extra.

I do have one question though...is it possible to put a regular wheel/tire setup on 42069 and take the track assemblies off?  I see they are using the 3 pin hub that has become common in recent years on larger wheeled vehicles.  If so, what size wheel would work. I was thinking maybe a large wheel that is common with the 81.6x38 balloon tires?  

Thanks, and I really did enjoy catching up on this discussion. 

 

 

10 hours ago, Jim said:

Still one of my favorite sets (42039). I definitely agree with the difference in price though.

I waited on 42039 and it is a great kit, both A and B models, but TRU had it on clearance for $99 when I purchased it, so that made it worth it. Plus, had a few Rewards coupons. 

[DarkShadow73]

According to US S@H website, the 2H kits aren't available until 1 Aug, but from some posts I read, members already are able to buy it, not just Jim and Sariel for reviewing. Are they available to buy, say in Lego brand stores?  I live in the US, and wonder if other US members have found the kits already?  I normally purchase from a Lego store about 3 hrs away, but I'd go TRU if they already selling there. I know in the past TRU occasionally puts kits out before Lego's release date, but also TRU tends to mark up also. They are selling 42056 for a whopping $369. It was MSRP $299 for a long time until recently it jumped $70, that's ridiculous.   

Oh, one other thing regarding 42068. I actually have purchased all 2H sets from 2003 on, not 2004, got mixed up as I do have 8454 Rescue Truck and 8455 Backhoe/Loader.  I am very curious to see how 42068 and 8454 size up together. 

Regarding the 42069, I wonder why there is no option for adding PF?  Whereas, there is for 42068, a much smaller kit.  Kind of odd...normally almost every medium-large set has either PF already included or the ability to add via a 8293 kit.  

[Ascius]

43 minutes ago, DarkShadow73 said:

According to US S@H website, the 2H kits aren't available until 1 Aug, but from some posts I read, members already are able to buy it, not just Jim and Sariel for reviewing. Are they available to buy, say in Lego brand stores?  I live in the US, and wonder if other US members have found the kits already?

Yes I've got a 42070, I live in Lithuania and as a girl in licensed LEGO store told me we here get new sets very early here (this time even earlier than review units got to Sariel and Jim. 

[barman]

Here are photo's of the 2017-2H sets 42068, 42069 and 42070. My photo's aren't as good as Jim's, but you can still see all the nice details.

42068_42069_42070 by Barry Bosman, on Flickr

And here is the link to the Flickr Album: 

I got these sets directly from LEGO, for the Dutch LEGO World 40 Years LEGO Technic display. Not only the sets of 2017 will be displayed, but also all available sets via Shop.lego.com.

I have to build all A and B-models and make some of the functions move so the display isn't so static. Fortunately I have some helping hands building all the sets.

Enjoy the photo's

Looking forward to Sariel's and Jim's reviews!

[schraubedrin]

54 minutes ago, barman said:

photo's of the 2017-2H sets 42068, 42069 and 42070.

Thanks, those are very interesting.

I don't know why, but until now i thought 42069 had an independent suspension