mostlytechnic

[REVIEW] 42122 - Technic Jeep Wrangler

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Technic Jeep Wrangler

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Thanks to Lego and EB for this review set. EB has a team of reviewers working on all the new Technic sets, so keep your eyes out for a bunch of reviews in December!

 

Over the years, Lego has produced quite a few sets called "Jeep." Among others, there was the 1968 Jeep: 

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1977 had a Jeep CJ-5:

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There was the 1997 "Open Top Jeep" that no one would say looks like a Jeep:

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2010 brought a couple of green Jeeps in the Toy Story line.

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Now, in 2021, we have a MUCH larger Technic licensed Jeep model. The official announcement said "Designed to emulate the iconic look, design and legendary off-road capabilities of the actual vehicle, this first-ever LEGO model of a Jeep SUV – the LEGO Technic Jeep Wrangler is ready to face any epic adventure." That makes me believe the previous sets weren't licensed Jeeps. They were just using the term generically. The CJ-5 set is the only one that I can find that actually says "Jeep" on the box or manual. 

Name: Jeep Wrangler

Set Number: 42122

Pieces: 665

Price: $49.99 (US) / €49.99

Minifigs: 0

Theme: Technic

 

The Box Front

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It's... a Jeep. Clearly. With the set name, the logo in the corner, and the stickered Jeep and Rubicon logos on the vehicle, it's pretty clear this is a licensed Technic vehicle. It's a great box design though - it looks like something from a Jeep advertisement with the rocks and mountains and trees. It also hints at the functionality, since you can see the winch and the axle articulation. Unsurprisingly, they put quite a bit of thought and time into the box art. 

 

The Box Back

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It's a pretty standard Technic box back. Show another angle of the set, show the functions, and have a plain background. Here though we get a box with a small photo and stats of the real vehicle and a cute design twist with the winch pulling at another photo. Interesting that even though this is the European box, it still gives the stats in horsepower and pounds. No metric for Jeep I guess :snicker:

 

The Box Top

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The top of the box has the same stats (minus horsepower for some reason), but this time in a variety of languages and units. 

 

The Contents

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Just 5 bags (split into two groups), some tires, a manual, and small sticker sheet. 

 

The Prints

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There are only a couple printed parts - 2 of the 3x5 L liftarm and 5 of the 1x3 liftarm, all with the same print for making the trademark Jeep grill. I get why they'd want to make it that way, but I'd prefer they'd done it with thin liftarms and other parts to be actually three-dimensional. 

 

The New Panels

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This set includes a few new for 2021 Technic panels. There's the 3x7 panel (includes 3 in yellow and 1 in black) and 3 of the small 2x3 panel. I have no idea what the Bricklink naming will be for that panel, since it only has connectors along one edge, it's curved so that the other edge doesn't line up with anything, and the 3 connections it does have are all axle holes in 2 directions. 

The set also includes 5 new tires. It's a 56x26 tire with a tractor tread pattern. They're VERY offroad tires, not really a passenger vehicle tread, but they get the idea across. 

 

The Real Vehicle

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There's no Ideas-style intro section to the manual, but at the end, there's a single page of pictures of the real Jeep. 

 

The Contents

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Here's everything included in the set. 

 

The Build, Part 1

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Like many Technic sets, we start by building the core of the vehicle. The steering system is partially in place, and we have the small turntables front and back (behind the seats) that will allow the axles to move. 

 

The Evil Stickers

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It's partially due to my large fingers (I'm 6'3", 275 lbs), but these seat stickers are possibly the worst stickers I've ever had to apply. They're on an inside curve, with the connection points making it even harder to reach. I probably should have gotten out tweezers to put them in place but I didn't. I totally get that the marketers at Jeep would want the cool seat stitching as part of the set, but what a pain to apply. 

 

The Build, Part 2

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This is the end of the #1 bags. There's a lot of bodywork still to go on, but the core of the vehicle is done. There's functional steering, suspension, and a winch. 

 

The Front Detail

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Before we move on, here's a closeup of the front of the Jeep. The grill is in place. The headlights are there (although in front instead of properly recessed). I don't like the grey connectors at the top corners of the front end though. They've never made them in yellow, but even black would have been better IMHO. Also, the winch. Why? I can't find any reference on the Jeep website to a factory winch being even an option on the Wrangler Rubicon. I guess Lego wanted another function, but it's such a pain to do. Again, I've got big fingers, and I HATE anything using string from Lego. Getting the knots tied in the tiny string is a pain. That's honestly the one thing in the build that a kid would likely need help with. And it's not even a cool function here! You just turn the gear next to the reel with your finger to wind it back in. There's no mechanism involved. 

 

The Steering

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The steering mechanism is simple but effective. No gears involved. 

 

The Suspension

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There are two shocks in the rear, attached to pivoting liftarms. This doesn't allow for typical vertical suspension travel. Instead, this vehicle has pendular axles that can rotate side to side. The shocks keep the Jeep level unless it's being pressed to the side. 

 

The Angles

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The Lego designers worked to make some unique angles on this set. There are grey beams here through the engine compartment, whose sole purpose is to make the front grill lean slightly back instead of being vertical. There's another set of unusual connections done to give the "windshield" the slight angle they wanted. It's some interesting complexity in an otherwise pretty blocky model. 

 

The Build, Finished

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The #2 bags basically just put a body on the vehicle. There are some interesting design choices and a few things that make me wonder why they did it that way. The model includes a roof rack, which is not standard equipment. There is an option for one, but I haven't found a good picture of it yet. Look at the base of the windshield - why are those perpendicular connectors light grey? Why not black? Ditto for the ones in the roof rack. I know we're never going to convince Lego to give up on the blue pins, but why oh why are all the 3L pins with stop bush ORANGE in this set? Use the grey ones! No kids are going to get confused; there's no other grey 3L pins in the set. 

 

The Comparison

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Does this set really look like a Jeep? If it didn't have the stickers, and you showed it to a random person, would they think Jeep? Personally, I'd think Hummer before Jeep. It's not a BAD representation of a Wrangler, especially given the scale, but that scale made it lose most of the things that distinguish it from the boxier Hummer. The sides of the hood (where the Rubicon name is) aren't curved. The front end doesn't taper in to be narrower at the front. The roof feels too low (and I checked it - to be accurate to scale, the roof should be 1.5 studs higher than it is). 

 

The Side View

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There's one function that isn't mentioned in the manual at all, but works fine. The back seat folds down if you want to have cargo space in the rear. Super simple, but super effective. There is a surprising issue visible from the side though. The doors do not go all the way down! There's a full stud of space between the bottom of the door and the black base of the Jeep. There's not an easy fix though. It needs a 6L liftarm, which Lego doesn't make. The easiest fix would be using a pair of the 1x6 thin liftarms on each door. Once upon a time, that would have cost a fortune, since the Power Puller in 2000 was the only set to include that part in yellow until it came back into a bunch of sets starting in 2014. Now they're just a dime each. 

 

The Underside

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From the bottom, there's some definite color issues. The red and blue liftarms aren't hugely noticeable from the top, but they're in full view underneath. This also shows the simplicity of the functions - there's no differentials, no "engine," no axles running the length of the vehicle for some feature. 

 

The Axles

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The pendular axles are designed to make this model very "off-road" feeling. The front axle can twist enough to sit on the spare tire while the vehicle stays flat. If you do that in the rear, the Jeep sits at an angle, but still, all 4 wheels are on the ground. 

 

The Steering

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This set uses a simple gear in the back seat area for hand-of-God steering. It works well enough, except it barely turns. The front wheels here are at full steering lock. This small toy feels like it has the same turning radius as the real thing! :rofl:

 

The Ratings

Design: 6

Build Experience: 6

Features: 4

Playability: 7

Parts/Value: 6

Overall: 6. You have to keep in mind though, what is the target audience? I was pretty critical in the sections above, because I was looking at it from the perspective of an adult. This is not meant to compete with the Lambo and Bugatti as a shelf decoration. It's a much smaller set, for a younger owner. This set is a toy, first and foremost. It's ruggedly built. I tried dropping it, rolling it over, and being rough with it. Nothing fell off. This set is ready for kids to take it outside, drive it through the dirt, and treat it like a toy. On a pile of rocks, it's right at home. To me, it doesn't have the features to be a fun Technic model nor the looks to be a visual model. For a kid, it's fantastic as a toy. 

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Nice review! I would scored the parts higher since there's some unique parts, too.

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Just now, JintaiZ said:

Nice review! I would scored the parts higher since there's some unique parts, too.

That's reasonable, but I also don't think any of them are going to be rare. The tires are also in a city tractor set. The 3x7 panels will be all over the new sets (in a range of colors). I'm sure the curved 1x2x3 panels will be too. It's a decent random Technic parts pack (assorted beams, pins, etc) but low on axles/gears, and it's worse value (in a price per part measurement) than the new McLaren will be (similar size set), so I didn't rate it higher. 

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Thanks for your time on this review. I appreciate the detail you give the the build, and the new parts. I really like those new little 3x2 curved panels.

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I know the parts will likely become more common, but that's a good thing, and as they were first seen in this set I personally score this set higher for parts.

But now that I have seen a few reviews I am a little underwhelmed by the basic way it's functions are done. It's main selling point is the suspension but neither axle can move up and down, they only pivot. I don't think that'll make it feel good going over small obstacles. At this scale, without any drive train to worry about, a fully live axle on the rear seems plausible, and possibly, maybe 42005 type suspension at the front? Also, the steering has no mechanical advantage, but that can be improved by swapping the 12t gear for a 20t gear, I think that would make it feel much better, if it still allows room for your fingers of course.

But I do love the new tyres, I'm very excited to get those, and the choice of standard yellow colour is also appreciated. 

Edited by allanp

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1 hour ago, allanp said:

I know the parts will likely become more common, but that's a good thing, and as they were first seen in this set I personally score this set higher for parts.

But now that I have seen a few reviews I am a little underwhelmed by the basic way it's functions are done. It's main selling point is the suspension but neither axle can move up and down, they only pivot. I don't think that'll make it feel good going over small obstacles. At this scale, without any drive train to worry about, a fully live axle on the rear seems plausible, and possibly, maybe 42005 type suspension at the front? Also, the steering has no mechanical advantage, but that can be improved by swapping the 12t gear for a 20t gear, I think that would make it feel much better, if it still allows room for your fingers of course.

But I do love the new tyres, I'm very excited to get those, and the choice of standard yellow colour is also appreciated. 

With the steering angle being so minimal, there's no need (IMHO) for fine control of the steering that you might get with a larger knob. 

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The parts contents page has 1x5 beam thin with axleholes, instead of one image being 1x4 beam thin with axleholes. so thats an error.

Edited by SNIPE

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Very nice review. I like this set, although it really is no more than a toy, nice parts pack. The only thing not ok are the front lights.

 

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Great review!

I did spot a building error though. You properly aligned the stickers for the front grill, while the box clearly indicates they should be misaligned :tongue: :wink:

I absolutely love this set btw. Not sure why, but for me it's somewhat reminiscent of the 8846 - Tow Truck. Just a simple good looking car with nice bodywork.

And of course those tires! Will be picking it up as soon as I can.

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Yeah, but the 8846 actually had technical functions, loads to boot. This one does heck all and is really ugly. There was much nicer looking yellow "jeep" in the Creator range some years ago (and that one also had more technical functions!)

This seems to be all about the license :thumbdown:

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39 minutes ago, 1974 said:

Yeah, but the 8846 actually had technical functions, loads to boot. This one does heck all and is really ugly. There was much nicer looking yellow "jeep" in the Creator range some years ago (and that one also had more technical functions!)

This seems to be all about the license :thumbdown:

I think it's a great looking set. It has working suspension and steering (and a winch, but that doesn't count). And I love the wheels. For me, this is a winner, especially in this price range.

I do agree this set could have easily been released without a license. I don't get that either.

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This kit is just gross. As a big Jeep enthusiast I have been hoping for years to see a Creator Expert Wrangler model and when I first saw the headline of this article I could hardly contain myself...until I saw the pictures. Lego has put out some "meh" sets/kits/models before, but this is awful. The gimmicky features don't come close to making up for how this only loosely, at best, resembles an actual Jeep. I didn't think Lego was capable of putting out a set based on something from the real world that is so lacking and disappointing.

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10 minutes ago, sfakajones said:

This kit is just gross. As a big Jeep enthusiast I have been hoping for years to see a Creator Expert Wrangler model and when I first saw the headline of this article I could hardly contain myself...until I saw the pictures. Lego has put out some "meh" sets/kits/models before, but this is awful. The gimmicky features don't come close to making up for how this only loosely, at best, resembles an actual Jeep. I didn't think Lego was capable of putting out a set based on something from the real world that is so lacking and disappointing.

Welcome to EB!

Obviously you are entitled to your opinion, but it always makes me wonder what people expect of a Technic Jeep in this scale? I'm sure 99% of the potential customers will immediately recognize this model as a Jeep. And again, this is a Technic model. Not a scale model or something.

Maybe the problem is that you are too much of a Jeep aficionado :tongue:

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For its scale it’s not a bad model, with Technic getting shapes at this scale is on the difficult/impossible spectrum. Just compare it to the Corvette and McLaren that aren’t perfect either.

I don’t think I’ll purchase the set but I’ll definitely be after some tyres and also interested in the new 3L curved panel as to how this can give a better flow to bodywork.

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PS @mostlytechnic your floor works really well as a background. Next year we will be changing the hobby floor to a combined office-hobby-storage-floor and my permanent photo setup will probably not come back. So, I'm looking into other solutions and your's seems to be working well :wub:

Your floor kinda matches the photo's TLG is including with the press releases nowadays.

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As a rubicon owner this piece totally missed the mark. It doesn’t even look like a Jeep. They could have done so much better with this like the ranger rover. Yes more expensive but it would have been so much better. The old school 80’s was more accurate for time and way more detailed for the time. I can’t post the pic. Won’t let me. It’s the 80’s yellow technic one. I was disappointed cause it would have been nice to have them side by side in my kids room. 

Edited by jimim
Typo

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7 hours ago, 1974 said:

Yeah, but the 8846 actually had technical functions, loads to boot. This one does heck all and is really ugly. There was much nicer looking yellow "jeep" in the Creator range some years ago (and that one also had more technical functions!)

This seems to be all about the license :thumbdown:

Nah... I wouldn't really call it ugly. Even though there are some parts that looks a bit crude the details are still captured well.

Also, how did you vote in the poll? It doesn't seem to be working for me...

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Thank you for your honest review!

I am a huge fan of Jeep and, to me, I think Jeep Wrangler looks great with some unique parts. It doens’t look ugly at all tho as other users here said so.

I probably would purchase this set eventually! 

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In my oppinon only bad thing is less function. I think remove rear suspension and put differential and simple engine is more good than now.

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9 hours ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

I am a huge fan of Jeep and, to me, I think Jeep Wrangler looks great with some unique parts. It doens’t look ugly at all tho as other users here said so.

Glad I'm not alone :sweet:

16 hours ago, JintaiZ said:

Also, how did you vote in the poll? It doesn't seem to be working for me...

Unfortunately, the poll is still broken. We're planning an upgrade, which will hopefully fix this issue.

17 hours ago, jimim said:

It doesn’t even look like a Jeep.

I don't understand this comment. Maybe it's not to your liking, but it clearly looks like a Jeep.

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I am a little bit distracted by those different coloured Technic pins and axles. Can't they all just be black for uniformity? Other than that, I think this is a really good model for Rubicon.

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