[REVIEW] 42131 - CAT D11T Bulldozer

[Maaboo the Witch]

9 minutes ago, nerdsforprez said:

 

I still reserve my right to complain. I don't expect TLG to comply with my every whim, that'd be simply delusional on my part.

But I will continue to voice my opinion and critique what I don't think works in a set or the theme in general. I'm not buying this set, or any other in this year's 2H wave. That hasn't happened since 2013.

Let that sink in. I'm voting with my wallet - let's see what 2022's 1H wave brings.

Edited September 14, 2021 by Maaboo35

[nerdsforprez]

7 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

I still reserve my right to complain. I don't expect TLG to comply with my every whim, that'd be simply delusional on my part.

But I will continue to voice my opinion and critique what I don't think works in a set or the theme in general. I'm not buying this set, or any other in this year's 2H wave. That hasn't happened since 2013.

Let that sink in. I'm voting with my wallet - let's see what 2022's 1H wave brings.

I know you will buddy.  l know.  Heaven forbid you do something other than what you want or deserve.  

My point was simply that I am glad TLG's purview and consideration of potential buyer's is larger than yourself.  That allows for a much larger product diversity and a much greater crowd to enjoy it.  That is all.  No one is trying to silence your sacred opinion....

 

[Maaboo the Witch]

15 minutes ago, nerdsforprez said:

I know you will buddy.  l know.  Heaven forbid you do something other than what you want or deserve.  

Heaven forbid I say anything that narks you off.

15 minutes ago, nerdsforprez said:

No one is trying to silence your sacred opinion....

Except you.

Edited September 14, 2021 by Maaboo35

[nerdsforprez]

19 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

35 minutes ago, nerdsforprez said:

No one is trying to silence your sacred opinion....

Except you.

actually my friend, my initial comment was piggy-backing off of  @Milan's comment.   You were not even in the picture when you chose chimed in.  You quoted me...and if I didn't know any better, your comments were coming in so as to silence ME. Not the other way around. 

Let's end the childishness.  If you want to discuss more PM me. No more on the thread.  

 

  

 

Edited September 14, 2021 by nerdsforprez

[dr_spock]

Thanks for the detailed review.  Gotta get those new track pieces. 

 

18 hours ago, Dylan M said:

This is a kind of review... looking for some FUN ,... specially when it's FREE ... 😄😄😄

It is not all free fun and games when LEGO sends you a set to review.  Building, writing, photographing, editing the review can take a huge amount of your time.  I find the bigger the set, the longer it takes. 

 

[syclone]

1 hour ago, nerdsforprez said:

My point was simply that I am glad TLG's purview and consideration of potential buyer's is larger than yourself.  That allows for a much larger product diversity and a much greater crowd to enjoy it.  That is all.  No one is trying to silence your sacred opinion....

 

Unfortunately it seems they are including a lot of temporary sales into that for those who have none to minimal interest in Lego, and losing a bit on the long-term buyers, who instead buy their competitors that do offer what they desire. But I know nothing about the works "behind the scenes" in TLG, just seeing more and more fans and parents no longer needing the red square on the box and an embossed logo on the bricks...  (I'd be ready to start an inquisition some time ago had someone mentioned that someone could make a better set than the danish )

Or maybe I'm, in fact, "too green" for the hobby, albeit that could also mean that older sets provide a must-have experience that is irreplaceable by the new ones, and I should start collecting those ASAWA (As-Soon-As-Wallet-Allows)  Anyways, I seem to find my ways to enjoy building. And making useless comments on the net about my personal dissatisfactions. Yeah, that too .

---------------                          ------------------- -                          -----------------------                            ------------------------

Amazing review as always Jim, although I do have a heavy disassociation in regards of the opinion on this set. Maybe if it weren't for financial reasons and there was an EU retailer that offered the set without the electronics, I'd eventually budge just because of the yellow parts, but even so 8043 or 8257 seem much more attractive  . Looking forward to more alternating beams in sets though, a much needed part, and very glad it's in a usable, neutral colour (blaketh the black) unlike... well y'know, a lot of parts 

I do wonder what they have against tilting rippers on bulldozers (since it has been omitted/faked at least twice or thrice. Perhaps even more...). 

As far as background goes: your usual, or even, signature (for me at least) gray works better (and I get it that you're still opting for it, which is good to hear). Blue&Yellow is a beautiful combo, that is true and I very much agree that the pictures are fantastic, but it can be a bit "too much". Perhaps too bright? Or just a bit into the eyes considering the vast amount of photos a detailed review like yours has - seems more suitable for a presentation photo (unlike, some, ehem, 18+, ehem, box artwork) But that means that I can take my time admiring both your photography and writing skills 

Edited September 14, 2021 by syclone
edited.

[TeamThrifty]

2 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

Folks don't understand that without this we don't have this hobby.  At least not to the extent that we do.  Someone with an average (more or less) yearly income can have a collection tens of thousands of pieces.  Thousands of us, from around the globe.  Perhaps tens of thousands.   

This leads us to pieces in the hundreds of billions.  Perhaps zillions?  You don't get to this level without the infrastructure, money, politics, etc. that TLG has.  They don't get to this level by listening to us AFOLs.  They get to this level by selling, selling selling.  

This is precisely why I think all the griping about sets is so silly.  TLG does not listen to us, or at least not to a large extent.  Nor should they.  And for smart AFOLs, WE SHOULD NOT WANT THEM TO.  

I honestly think that it is the novice builder/hobbyist who keeps on complaining so much about sets, that they do not meet their every whim and fancy.  Spoiler alert... they are not supposed to!   

I think more seasoned AFOLs understand this point.

There's a lot of common sense in here 

I have no evidence to support my view, but i wonder is the one's with the expectations of whims and fancies being met aren't an age demographic rather then a time-served group. Interesting to know... but ultimately we are privileged to have collections of 10's of thousands of pieces at relatively modest cost.

Either way, i'm a fan of this set for reasons previously mentioned.

8 hours ago, HydroWorld Outlook said:

But aren't these big construction vehicles becoming a little too...you know? Repetitive?

As a none-car guy, there's nothing as repetitive as the supercars. For me construction is much more varied and diverse. Just look at BWE, Liebherr, this bulldozer, 8043, 42082, 42114, Arocs(?).. All construction and very very diverse. I think its a great category and definitely not repetitive!! At least in my view... 

[Bartybum]

9 hours ago, Jim said:

I may sound a bit weird, but this set isn't overpriced. The Liebherr was actually "cheap". If you follow the regular pricing strategy.

You keep saying this is properly priced, and the Liebherr is cheap, yet I struggle to see how that’s the case. Can you elaborate on what your understanding of the pricing strategy is?

Edited September 14, 2021 by Bartybum

[nerdsforprez]

3 hours ago, syclone said:

5 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

 

Unfortunately it seems they are including a lot of temporary sales into that for those who have none to minimal interest in Lego, and losing a bit on the long-term buyers, who instead buy their competitors that do offer what they desire. But I know nothing about the works "behind the scenes" in TLG, just seeing more and more fans and parents no longer needing the red square on the box and an embossed logo on the bricks...  (I'd be ready to start an inquisition some time ago had someone mentioned that someone could make a better set than the danish )

Maybe.  I suppose they know.  You know they have their marketing folks working extra hard trying to figure this all out.  But I also wonder for long time buyers if they focus less on a single set and what that set can offer in terms of building (like MOCs and stuff).  

[2GodBDGlory]

3 hours ago, Bartybum said:

You keep saying this is properly priced, and the Liebherr is cheap, yet I struggle to see how that’s the case. Can you elaborate on what your understanding of the pricing strategy is?

I think it would be more accurate to say that the Liebherr was a bit cheaper than usual and this set is a bit more expensive than usual. I think both are reasonably close to the normal from Lego, but are just on opposite sides of the spectrum.

[nerdsforprez]

11 hours ago, TeamThrifty said:

There's a lot of common sense in here 

I have no evidence to support my view, but i wonder is the one's with the expectations of whims and fancies being met aren't an age demographic rather then a time-served group. Interesting to know... but ultimately we are privileged to have collections of 10's of thousands of pieces at relatively modest cost.

Either way, i'm a fan of this set for reasons previously mentioned.

Thxs.  Some folks may think I am taking shots at them.  I am not.  It just makes sense.  Thousands of Lego fans, with a need for collections of bricks in the tens of thousands in order to be creative and productive.  That means bricks in the billions. The producer of those will have to cater to the masses, not the esoteric few.  Me stating such is not trying to "silence" anyone.  Everyone is free to state their gripes (heaven knows I have had my own), I just think it is equally as important to know the context that unmitigated gripes may find themselves in.  

Many mouths to feed means pretty generic meals and little treats to go around.  Choose one mouth's favorite meal (say, pizza) means to disappoint another who likes spaghetti. The fact that we get some new treats (i.e. wave selector, new tracks, etc.) with every new wave should leave us happy, or at least such should be considered when we feel like griping.  

Here is just a hypothesized model.  I think an insightful AFOL should understand you can't have it all every new Technic season.  Just like if I'm a kid in a large family at christmas. I'm not gonna get everything I ask for.  Too many mouths to feed.  If I have a list of ten items, I should be happy to get 2 or 3.  And those items I don't get perhaps I should view as a trade-off rather than evidence my parents don't love me.  Or leave me somewhat satisfied that my brothers and sisters are getting something as well.  Something like ... you can have x and y, x and z, etc.... but not x, y, and z, because there are others who also have their x,y, and z's.  And something that every adult should understand is that no one can litigate preferences.  These typically are PREFERENCES we are discussing (sometimes complaints are more objective, like I think we can all agree, or most of us, that multi-colored LAs are not the way to go), and no one should think their PREFERENCES are any better than anothers. 

Similarly, I think that is how TLG approaches each new wave of sets.  AFOLs can have this or that, but not this, that and the other.  So, we get perhaps new tracks and recolored LA (partially), but not both these AND say 4-wheel drive in the Raptor.  Or perhaps new tracks, 4WD raptor, but then no new recolored LAs, etc... you get the picture.   The fact that we don't get everything is not evidence TLG does not love us, but rather is evidence there are many mouths to feed, and one's preferences are no more important than anothers, and a company that has several BILLION bricks to produce in a single year, for tens of thousands of fans from an age band that ranges from like 2 to what, like 100 (?) is going to need to cater to the masses and not the few.....

[Maaboo the Witch]

9 minutes ago, nerdsforprez said:

 

My primary concern with the Technic theme is that B-models are being phased out, at least in larger sets such as the CAT D11 (for now). I am aware of the statistics quoted by @eric trax, in that seemingly only twenty percent of Technic consumers actually downloaded digital manuals (a move I can only attribute to TLG wanting to make B-models less appealing and thus justify phasing them out), but still - that's a full fifth of the Technic fanbase that's been shut out. As well as myself, I can only assume Sariel is part of this fifth, given that he always marks "no B-model" as a con. And there are still others on this very forum who are unhappy with this.

In a tradeoff between B-models and new parts, I'd pick B-models every time.

[nerdsforprez]

13 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

I am aware of the statistics quoted by @eric trax, in that seemingly only twenty percent of Technic consumers actually downloaded digital manuals (a move I can only attribute to TLG wanting to make B-models less appealing and thus justify phasing them out), but still - that's a full fifth of the Technic fanbase that's been shut out.

Interesting. I did not know that.  I agree in sentiment with you.  The doing away with B models is a shame.  But, I see the 20% differently... though it is a shame for my personal interests (and yours), I think in most business models 20% is not a good number.  I am sure they also don't want to disappoint 20% of the fan base, but I think it needs to be compared with the other side of that equation.  How much it costs to generate them.  If it costs a ton to pay Lego designers to design the B models, disappointing 20% may be acceptable...

[Jim]

23 minutes ago, nerdsforprez said:

Interesting. I did not know that.  I agree in sentiment with you.  The doing away with B models is a shame.  But, I see the 20% differently... though it is a shame for my personal interests (and yours), I think in most business models 20% is not a good number.  I am sure they also don't want to disappoint 20% of the fan base, but I think it needs to be compared with the other side of that equation.  How much it costs to generate them.  If it costs a ton to pay Lego designers to design the B models, disappointing 20% may be acceptable...

Yup.

And the question is; "how many of the 20% won't buy the set because of lack of B-model?". So the actual sales miss because of omiting B-models is probably negligable.

[Lipko]

We are acting like at TLG managers are know-it-alls and they cannot make mistakes so every decision they make is perfectly valid business decisions. We haven't seen any big companies going bankrupt because of bad decisions, Lego never was near bankrupcy. So we, who have been into Lego since 20+ years should shut our mouths up and turn to clone brands if we don't like things, because Lego must be knowing that it's a good long-term business to please only casual and once-in-a-lifetime Lego buyers and to compensate the lack in quality with enourmous branding operations.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Lipko

[Maaboo the Witch]

3 minutes ago, Lipko said:

We are acting like at TLG managers are know-it-alls and they cannot make mistakes so every decision they make is perfectly valid business decisions. We haven't seen any big companies going bankrupt because of bad decisions, Lego never was near bankrupcy. So we, who have been into Lego since 20+ years should shut our mouths up and turn to clone brands if we don't like things, because Lego must be knowing that it's a good long-term business to please only casual and once-in-a-lifetime Lego buyers and to compensate the lack in quality with enourmous branding operations.

This. Love it. 

[Lipko]

19 minutes ago, Lipko said:

We are acting like at TLG managers are know-it-alls and they cannot make mistakes so every decision they make is perfectly valid business decisions. We haven't seen any big companies going bankrupt because of bad decisions, Lego never was near bankrupcy. So we, who have been into Lego since 20+ years should shut our mouths up and turn to clone brands if we don't like things, because Lego must be knowing that it's a good long-term business to please only casual and once-in-a-lifetime Lego buyers and to compensate the lack in quality with enourmous branding operations.

Without the snarky tone:
What @nerdsforprez says ("we should be glad that Lego isn't aiming at us but a much wider audience, so we can have all the parts for our MOCing operations for forever") is only valid in a world with no strong clone brand competitors. We have precedent of Lego copying a clone brand "invention": PLIFTARMs. So we are not in that world.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Lipko

[Ullum Zurt]

1 hour ago, Maaboo35 said:

My primary concern with the Technic theme is that B-models are being phased out, at least in larger sets such as the CAT D11 (for now). I am aware of the statistics quoted by @eric trax, in that seemingly only twenty percent of Technic consumers actually downloaded digital manuals (a move I can only attribute to TLG wanting to make B-models less appealing and thus justify phasing them out), but still - that's a full fifth of the Technic fanbase that's been shut out. As well as myself, I can only assume Sariel is part of this fifth, given that he always marks "no B-model" as a con. And there are still others on this very forum who are unhappy with this.

In a tradeoff between B-models and new parts, I'd pick B-models every time.

While B models are definitely a big plus, given the increased popularity of Rebrickable, and alternate model MOCs available there, the absence of an official B model doesn't bother me as much. In fact, nearly half the Technic kits I bought in the past year have been because of the availability of alternate MOCs which I found more appealing than the original A model by TLG.

With that said, 42131 is a clear pass for me. Neither the nature of the model, nor the lack of interesting functions, nor the presence of C+ help justify the high cost for me.

[Maaboo the Witch]

Just now, Ullum Zurt said:

While B models are definitely a big plus, given the increased popularity of Rebrickable, and alternate model MOCs available there, the absence of an official B model doesn't bother me as much. In fact, nearly half the Technic kits I bought in the past year have been because of the availability of alternate MOCs which I found more appealing than the original A model by TLG.

While meaning absolutely no disrespect to those who build C-models, these do not hold the same allure as official B-models in my opinion. The 42131, like all large models these days, just feels like half a set. If it is TLG's intent to leave creating alternates to the community rather than doing so themselves, then that's just lazy and distasteful.

And again, I'm not blaming the designers. I'm blaming the suits at the top.

[Milan]

58 minutes ago, Lipko said:

We are acting like at TLG managers are know-it-alls and they cannot make mistakes so every decision they make is perfectly valid business decisions. We haven't seen any big companies going bankrupt because of bad decisions, Lego never was near bankrupcy.

I wouldn't say it exactly like that. They have been staying in business for quite some time, so I would say they know what they are doing. They have had several very bad moments, and were almost near bankrupt.

58 minutes ago, Lipko said:

So we, who have been into Lego since 20+ years should shut our mouths up

We, who have been into Lego for 20+ years do not keep our mouths shut, as seen in various topics here, both regarding parts and sets.

58 minutes ago, Lipko said:

Lego must be knowing that it's a good long-term business to please only casual and once-in-a-lifetime Lego buyers

Their long term business plan is to survive and make a profit.
That means they do have to please the general buyers first, who don't know, understand, or even care about new parts, or could the dozer have had two more LAs in the ripper.

Sometimes it seems as we believe that we are entitled for every new part of a set that has every X and Y we want.
Being a long-time member of a highly specialized Technic forum, and being a great builder as you are, can only enhance that feel.
But in reality, we (fans that visit a highly specialized Tehnic forum) are just a tiny, tiny part of their consumer base. Really tiny.

Even most of the whole Technic consumer base doesn't really know, understand, or even care about new parts. Just look at one of the biggest Technic FB pages (170.000+ members). Most of the people there ask very basic questions, do now know about machines, mechanisms or cars in detail as most of use do, but that does not stop them from enjoying the hobby. And they are the majority of Technic consumer base.
Again, we here are just a tiny part of the whole. And that's why I said that I believe we do get enough new stuff and attention from TLG, given how really small we are.

[Maaboo the Witch]

10 minutes ago, Milan said:

I wouldn't say it exactly like that. They have been staying in business for quite some time, so I would say they know what they are doing. They have had several very bad moments, and were almost near bankrupt.

We, who have been into Lego for 20+ years do not keep our mouths shut, as seen in various topics here, both regarding parts and sets.

 

I think Lipko was being sarcastic. That's why I endorsed his post.

[Milan]

3 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

I think Lipko was being sarcastic. That's why I endorsed his post.

I was speaking generally about the topic. Not to confront Lipko, of course.
 

[Lipko]

22 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

I think Lipko was being sarcastic. That's why I endorsed his post.

Sarcastic and a bit tired of working. I like saying BS thins, just for making the bell icon shine.

With that said, I would like to see some statistics how we are the "minority". Before Lego was cool (some time before The Lego Movie) I didn't meet anyone who knew a thing about Technic, even if they were somewhat into Lego. There were a few guys who did remember something from their childhoods, guys who pronounced it as Thechnix (facepalm). I was in an exibitions with my models, even Lego AFOL builders didn't really get this Technic thing. I was sampling that wrong? From the majority we became a tiny insignificant minority in just some years? Are we sure? The majority of this forum is by mere change mainly consist of this insignificant majority minority? Is the sunscriber count on the biggest Technic FB pages really represents the market, and not only shows that there are a wast number of people who are throwing out subcriptions like seeds?

Or have we analyzing the market? In a world where Lego becomes a kind of investment (not only for a few chosen insider people, there are articles about how good investment Lego is in the biggest online news sites. I know a person who was never ever into Lego buying ALL the Porsche UCS sets he found in the biggest Lego shop. He spent thousands of Euros just for investment).
That's why I am not that convinced that the cirrent policy is that good for long-term business in a world of heavy competition, because this FB-stats obsession and Lego-as-investment bubbles might pop one day. 

So convince me 

Edited September 15, 2021 by Lipko

[nerdsforprez]

1 hour ago, Lipko said:

........ We haven't seen any big companies going bankrupt because of bad decisions, Lego never was near bankrupcy. ....

I know this is brought up alot as evidence of TLG lack of acumen at the time.  But I wonder if anyone has considered the alternative?  The fact that they did almost almost go bankrupt, but didn't, perhaps is evidence OF their acumen not the lack thereof.  If I am not mistaken, there was also a change in leadership, etc. at the time.  I know there was also a huge shift in philosophy at the time, i.e. going after the SW license, etc. Many AFOLs (at the time) clamored that Lego was losing its creativity, and that sets so specialized would encourage more assembly rather than actual building...but look where the company is now. 

Again, perhaps we should stop referring to the early 2000's in Lego's history as a dark age and more of evidence they know what they are doing. The mere fact they did not go under at the time, which happened to be a very challenging time for business btw... may be evidence of something positive, not negative...

Edited September 15, 2021 by nerdsforprez

[Lipko]

11 minutes ago, nerdsforprez said:

I know this is brought up alot as evidence of TLG lack of acumen at the time.  But I wonder if anyone has considered the alternative?  The fact that they did almost almost go bankrupt, but didn't, perhaps is evidence OF their acumen not the lack thereof.  If I am not mistaken, there was also a change in leadership, etc. at the time.  I know there was also a huge shift in philosophy at the time, i.e. going after the SW license, etc. Many AFOLs (at the time) clamored that Lego was losing its creativity, and that sets so specialized would encourage more assembly rather than actual building...but look where the company is now. 

Again, perhaps we should stop referring to the early 2000's in Lego's history as a dark age and more of evidence they know what they are doing. The mere fact they did not go under at the time, which happened to be a very challenging time for business btw... may be evidence of something positive, not negative...

You misunderstood. I only brough up that as an example that too many of us act like they must be knowing what they are doing, we just don't have the insight to understand their decisions and make no mistakes.
It can be a good example too, of course, that they can change. Rising of clone brands is a game changer, hopefully Lego does know what it's doing.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Lipko