Speculations about 2h 2012 sets

[Crtlego]

So you have never bought a set with belts, like For example the excavator or the buldozer? Then you have missed some really good sets.

I forgot that I had purchased the 8043 excavator, which was a very nice set. I am surprised that I could have forgotten that set so easily.. But other than the 8043, the few Lego sets I have purchased in the past 4-5 years have all had wheels in them.

[sama]

I removed all my 2h 2012 Technic pictures from BS because I am not allowed to disclose them.

[antsiranean]

Am I the only one not being excited by RC models? If I were to choose between the helicopter and the Rock Crawler it would easily be the helicopter, since I find the RC a drawback. If I wanted an RC-car, I'd a a proper one, from Kyosho. I find that much of the fun with lego is actually feeling it, feeling the friction as I rotate the HOG-steering, crawling on my knees as I drive around the floor, feeling the bumps as it moves over the carpet. RC takes all that away from me.

Not that I have much experience with Lego RC, I only have the 8043 excavator and the (non RC) wheeled loader 8265. I really like the gearbox of 8043 and it is fun playing with, but I miss the hands-on feeling I get with 8265.

Am I all alone in this?

[aposaric]

...crawling on my knees as I drive around the floor, feeling the bumps as it moves over the carpet. RC takes all that away from me...

Am I all alone in this?

It was fun for me 20 years ago, but If I did that now, my girl would probbably ask me to wash the floors while I am down there on my knees and I am pretty shure it woulndn't stop on that I like rc, because I don't really swoosh my models around, I like to build them, look at them for a 5 minutes, and Then I destroy them and build them again. With pf, the experience last a little longer and there is a new dimension, of getting over a new obstacle every time, and making a model more capable

[rener]

Am I the only one not being excited by RC models? If I were to choose between the helicopter and the Rock Crawler it would easily be the helicopter, since I find the RC a drawback. If I wanted an RC-car, I'd a a proper one, from Kyosho. I find that much of the fun with lego is actually feeling it, feeling the friction as I rotate the HOG-steering, crawling on my knees as I drive around the floor, feeling the bumps as it moves over the carpet. RC takes all that away from me.

Not that I have much experience with Lego RC, I only have the 8043 excavator and the (non RC) wheeled loader 8265. I really like the gearbox of 8043 and it is fun playing with, but I miss the hands-on feeling I get with 8265.

Am I all alone in this?

No, you're not. I really like 8043 because of the multitude of functions en intricate gear mechanisms, but I got rid of the 8275 Bulldozer for exactly the reasons you mention.

In my opinion, most models lose in playability when RC-'d, although it really can be fun to build/MOD these.

That helicopter should have PF, as "batteries not included" is mentioned on the pics, which makes me very curious about which functions are electric. I suppose winch and landing gear are the most suitable candidates. Motorized propellors would be nice too, since rotating them manually and simultaneously using the control stick in 8856 and 8412 was a bit of a pain...

[davidmull]

I wonder when will we get better pics :)

[Robert M]

I highly doubt that it would be propellers that are motorised because of the Health and Safety rules that would probably prevent such a thing happening. JUst my view on this, could well be the propellers though.

[davidmull]

I highly doubt that it would be propellers that are motorised because of the Health and Safety rules that would probably prevent such a thing happening. JUst my view on this, could well be the propellers though.

I'd say ur probably rite

[AVCampos]

If the rotor spins slow enough, it should be OK. The 4895 helicopter is an official model and it has motorised, slow-spinning rotor.

[imajor]

I doubt that the helicopter will be motorized. Either the text "batteries are not included" was put on the box by mistake, or the orange area on the right with the "power functions" text is missing by mistake. I bet is it the former.

[Paul Boratko]

If the rotor spins slow enough, it should be OK. The 4895 helicopter is an official model and it has motorised, slow-spinning rotor.

The Rotors on the 8485's Helicopter Model spin pretty fast... Or so it seems that they do...

[davidmull]

I doubt that the helicopter will be motorized. Either the text "batteries are not included" was put on the box by mistake, or the orange area on the right with the "power functions" text is missing by mistake. I bet is it the former.

Or maybe they don't want us to see the functions

[Paul Boratko]

Or maybe they don't want us to see the functions

I still think that Lego purposely leaks these early photos just to create discussion and hype... Then they "claim" to get mad when people post the pictures everywhere... If they didn't want photos to leak out, they could prevent it from happening... There are many companies that use this similar tactic..

Edited December 22, 2011 by Paul Boratko

[aposaric]

This is exactly what I wanted to say. All companies do this when they intend to launch new products. They hear and listen what the reactions are and then they adjust the model regarding to the feedback they get. So, LEGO, I really hope that there is going to be some new kind of motor in the crawler

[andythenorth]

[speculation - Rock Crawler]

1 high torque (XL) motor driving both axles: high torque load on drivetrain - likely to break gears; requires an additional centre-diff - or axle windup will eventually shear axles.

2 lower torque (M?) motors, one per axle: lower torque load on drivetrain - less likely to break gears; no centre-diff needed.

M motor will stall out before breaking gears - as shown by 8043 where TLG are happy to stall the M motor that switches gears.

XL motor will happily split gears before the tyres slip.

I built this 8x4 truck driven by a single XL motor. http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=307640

Most of the reduction is at the hubs (reduces stress on first stage of drive train). With diffs locked, it will climb over a vertical obstacle of several inches. It also breaks the gears nearest the motor very easily.

Edited December 22, 2011 by andythenorth

[Cwetqo]

Helicopter is too big and too cheap (79,99 euro) to include any motors. I might be wrong, but I doubt it.

[Jim]

Helicopter is too big and too cheap (79,99 euro) to include any motors. I might be wrong, but I doubt it.

Agreed. There is absolutely no reason to believe it will include Power Functions.

Maybe I missed it, but do you have an indication for the price of the Rock Crawler?

[Alasdair Ryan]

One new small motor? 'L motor' ? ,one pf small motor is £6 uk pounds ,£12 euros.

Edited December 22, 2011 by Alasdair Ryan

[LEGOMAN132]

The helicopter might have a sound and lights function maybe thats what the batterys are for.

[jadedomg]

The helicopter might have a sound and lights function maybe thats what the batterys are for.

the light and sound bricks have always come with batteries so it has to be some sort of battery box for it to not have batteries

[AndyC]

the light and sound bricks have always come with batteries so it has to be some sort of battery box for it to not have batteries

But equally it doesn't have the big orange Power Functions stripe, which suggests it's not a PF set. I'm thinking it's probably just a mistake on the prelim box art, I can't see how it could be anything else.

[jorgeopesi]

May be a normal set with extra instructions if you already has a motor and a battery.

[Alasdair Ryan]

May be a normal set with extra instructions if you already has a motor and a battery.

If this is the case it would not show the battery box on the box.

[trekman]

The Rotors on the 8485's Helicopter Model spin pretty fast... Or so it seems that they do...

I think it would be unlikely that the new chopper will have motorised blades. On 8485, the chopper was on a deck, arms length from where it was being operated. Due to torque on blades, unless there was a proper clutch mechanism, you could do some damage to parts if rotating blades collided with a foreign object.

By the way, 8485 was an awesome chopper, especially as it was part of a multiset. I added extra degrees of freedom, which added more playability to the model.

[sama]

The helicopter isn't so "huge," it is only 11-13 studs wide, slightly wider at the rear landing gear area.