mostlytechnic

Ah, darn. Yeah, I realized too late that if we were wrong, we'd lose since the scum would nightkill a townie and it'd be 1:1. I almost convinced myself that Lily had to be the liar (2 cops was just too much) but didn't. Partially because I really DID find a game setup on mafiascum called the Yoguraimee C9, which is 7 players (2 cops, 1 doc, 2 vanilla town, 2 scum). I figured maybe Bob watered down one of the cops to parity cop since we only had 6 people. I also for some reason didn't really put much thought into why no scum kill night 2, but that's good since it was an unexpected vest that I didn't know I had :) If I HAD known, I probably would have guessed that they tried to kill me and maybe played day 2 and 3 a little different, like claimed right away day 3 with the info I knew. It's been ages since I've played a Mafia game, so I was seriously rusty. There's no way I should have fallen for that cop claim. Tariq, any particular reason you claimed to have investigated Shadows? That's really what did it - since I'd checked him out too, I fell for your claim way more than I should have. I feel like 6 is a tough way to play. It was way too quiet since there weren't many people, which means not much to actually go on or make accusations from. Normally by the time a game is down to 6 people, there's been days and days of talk to go over. Also, for what it's worth, I thought my parity cop role was fun but had the potential to be SUPER swingy in a game this small. Basically I learned nothing night 1, and then on night 2 I could potentially win the game if I happened to investigate the right people. In this case, I DID investigate one of the scum, but it was the one we lynched. If I'd only investigated Tariq instead of shadows (and I almost did) we would have won since I've have caught him. Oh well. Tariq and Duvors, congrats! And Classic_Spaceman, sorry we killed you by mistake, but you were fun to have around. I think you did the best character roleplay in the game.

So, we've got our 3 votes and now it's been so much silence.

After a bit of thought, I'm going to keep my vote as stated because it is possible that Lily and I are both telling the truth and we'll win with this lynch. However, there is a fair chance that Lily is lying. In that case, we'll know in the morning and can lynch her tomorrow. I'm a bit hesitant to believe that we would have two different cops in such a small scenario. I actually stopped at the MafiaScum.net store, looked through all their micro setups, and only found 1 that had multiple cops. Here's how Lily lying could work... this whole section is hypothetical. The scum have a tracker/watcher type role that saw me investigate Heather. Therefore Lily claims to have investigated Heather since they're assuming I know her alignment (they couldn't be sure WHAT role I have, but have to play it safe). She can claim anything about Robert since he was dead night 1, and Lily could be a killer who actually killed Robert, so claiming to have investigated in case someone from town saw her visit him that night. The lack of kill last night would be either because they alternate killing (Lily was night 1 and Sam supposed to be night 2), have limited night kills (only kill every other night or something), or we have some sort of protector.

I will believe your claim for now, because it matches some things I know. I am a Parity Cop. I can investigate someone every night and learn if they have the same alignment as the person the night before. Night 1 I investigated Sam. At that point I only was told my investigation was successful, not blocked by anyone. Night 2 I investigated Heather. I was told they were of different alignments. That's why I was quick to lynch Sam - learning his alignment after being lynched would tell me Heather's. Since Sam was scum, Heather is town. I therefore know the scum has to either be Lily or Phil. If we lynch Phil today and both Lily and I are telling the truth, we should win (I can't imagine a 50:50 town:scum mix). If Phil does flip town, then Lily must be lying and we lynch her tomorrow. Yes, I could be the one lying, but I'm not. Unvote: Lily (Tariq J) Vote: Phil (Classic_Spaceman)

Doesn't the scum kill move when the killer is killed? The other scum should get the ability. It's also possible, given how few people this street has, that the scum only kill every other night or something like that. Whatever happened last night, I'm looking forward to the post-hunt discussion to understand some things! Doesn't the scum kill move when the killer is killed? The other scum should get the ability. It's also possible, given how few people this street has, that the scum only kill every other night or something like that. Whatever happened last night, I'm looking forward to the post-hunt discussion to understand some things! And as promised earlier today.... Vote: Lily (Tariq j)

Yes, but I was a second vote on Sam, not a 4th. If anything, I created the bandwagon, not jumped on it :) Phil was the 3rd, and I don't see a scummo being the lynching vote on a fellow scum, unless they thought it was sure enough Sam was getting voted out and he wanted to have it as a defense. So yet another WIFOM situation... and that's why I pinged on Phil as also a likely scum, just not as likely in my estimation as you.

It is mandatory, but it doesn't mean you have to just jump on the bandwagon. Putting a bonus vote onto someone that flips scum is by no means definitive, but it does ping on my scum-dar. And to the second part, that's the point of WIFOM - it keeps us going in circles but at some point you just have to make a call. Again, not definitive, but it's about all we have to go on.

Woo, we got one! So now we have some actual data to look at. Yesterday he was clearly getting lynched, so he threw a vote on Lily. Time for the regularly scheduled (almost as regularly scheduled as my mail delivery!) WIFOM debate. For those new, that means "wine in front of me," referring to the classic Princess Bride scene with the poisoned wine. Sam knows if Lily is scum or not... would he have voted for her to throw suspicion on her or to protect her? At a simple level, scum wouldn't want to vote for scum. But this was a safe vote, so would he vote for a fellow scum, hoping we'd think he would not vote for scum? Or would he know we'd think it was safe and suspect the person, so he voted for an innocent person? Ack! You can go round and round for days. Looking at day 1... He put the first vote of the day on me. It was a logical, normal, "Get this quiet person to talk" vote. Nothing really there and made him look like a good little townie. Next, there were two votes on Phil. Sam could have switched his vote to Phil, but he didn't. He changed it to someone with no votes. That makes me think Phil could be the other scummo. But maybe it was just too early in the day. In that case (Phil is innocent), then I would have to think that Lily is scum since she put a 3rd vote on Phil near the end of the day, trying to finish him off. But no one else was around I guess to join. I guess all that wordiness is to say.... my gut read with a little bit of vote analysis is that Heather is a fellow townie with me and either Phil or Lily is the scum. It's just a gut feel from looking at how the other days went. But then I look again at yesterday. Heather and I had voted for Sam. He was in definite danger. Phil put on vote 3, which doesn't feel like something a scum would have done. There was time to try and turn things around or at least split the vote. Lily put an un-needed 4th vote on Sam. THAT does feel like something his partner would do... so when the time comes, I'm going to be voting Lily today unless something else comes up. Thoughts from others?

I think we do need to make progress so we don't just die off from starvation. I'll join you, Heather, and Vote: Sam (Duvors)

Here was his vote. I believe the first line was speaking about me (not Phil), and not wanting to vote me off just for not being around. I believe he did mean to vote for Phil, since at that point, there was one vote on me (from Sam) and one vote on Phil (from me). He wanted to vote with one of the existing votes, in order to hopefully get a lynch and not have a split vote, so he went Phil.

#$%^@#, now where are we gonna eat? More seriously.... I didn't see anything suspicious in Robert's talk yesterday. Mostly about his restaurant, and then a vote with just "to get a lynch" reasoning. About as bland as you could get for day 1, but then, with so few of us, it's hard to get a good read on anyone.

Yeah, did you vote for me by mistake here? You said Sam was suspicious but voted for me. Did you quote wrong or vote wrong? You confused me too. Are confused by Robert's vote on Phil "to get a lynch"? He did give a reason I guess, though it wasn't much of one.

You mean the fewer people around to catch you? Importantly, anyone else gonna vote? We've only got 3 of 6 having voted, and those three are split. Not looking great....

Man this town is quiet... guess that's what happens when there's only 6 of us hunting those mafia goons. When I've been on these hunts in the past there have been so many more people around. Guess all these lynchings and other hits have killed off too many people in this world :)

Eeek! My apologies all, I've been making the rounds delivering the mail. I really am here to hunt mafia. And I give you my assurance that I want to see the Don rot in jail for ever and ever and anyone trying to help him escape should be hung from the nearest lightpole. In fact, I suggest that we use the Parisian Restaurant for that. Not inside - I enjoy the food and would not want to disturb the other patrons. But if you go up the stairs on the outside, there's a nice pole at the corner that could be swung around to hang those scum off the side. Uh, yeah, that's why we're here! We've got the find those mafia and murder them. Ok, we call it "lynching" as if that sounds better.... but still, find them and string them up from the lightpole. Or a tree. Or just shoot 'em in the head. Doesn't really matter. For now though, I will Vote: Phil (Classic_Spaceman) It feels like maybe you're not up to the task. Or maybe you're trying to avoid the killing because you're one of them and hoping you can just pick us off at night while you come up with a rescue plan.

Jerry here, bringing the mail just like always.

Wow, long time no Mafia. I'm in!

Technic Heavy Duty Excavator Thanks to Lego and EB for this review set. Over the years, Lego has made LOTS of excavators. Bricklink lists 25 of them. There's City excavators on trailers. There's Duplo excavators for the little kids. There's even a Lego Dimensions tiny excavator from the Lego Movie. What we care about here though are the 9 previous Technic excavators. They range from 1984's pneumatic excavator to the massive 4000 piece Bucket Wheel Excavator in 2016. The new Excavator fits into the middle of the range, and below, I'll compare it to two of the older versions. Name: Heavy Duty Excavator Set Number: 42121 Pieces: 569 Price: $39.99 Minifigs: 0 Theme: Technic The Box Front There's some decent construction graphics in the foreground and background, but what is this pose? The set photo is taken with a wide angle lens from close range, so it's MASSIVELY distorted. The bucket appears to be almost as big as the rest of the machine. The Box Back The functions appear to be quite standard - rotation, rolling, and control of the arm in 2 locations. Check out that B-model though! Like the Hovercraft, this set has a GREAT looking alternate build. Sure, the arm is a similar function, but the rest of the vehicle looks great and completely different. I'm looking forward to trying it out when the instructions are released. The Box Top Remember what I said about the distorted front image 4 seconds ago? They used the bucket for the 1:1 sample on the top of the box! That really makes it hard to judge size for anyone not familiar with Lego and Technic in particular. The Contents 4 sets of bags, and I like that the tread links are in separate bags of their own! There's a couple extra in each, so you do still have to count (or just see what fits) but it's still nicer than having them all mixed in. The sticker sheet is nice and small. Also, there's not much yellow, which makes sense when you realize how much of the part volume goes into the arm and treads. The Build, Part 1 In an unusual move for Lego tracked vehicles, bag 1 doesn't start with the chassis. It starts at the other end and builds the arm. That's a great way to start off with the "interesting" parts. I also REALLY liked that it reaches a nice, functional point here. You can turn the two grey axle connectors and make the the arm function. That's useful to verify that you did it all right, and it gives the builder a chance to see how things work one section at a time. There are two mini-LAs here to move the arm. There's also a fake hydraulic cylinder on the end of the arm. It's made from an axle and connector, so it's all in light grey. Which made me wonder... why did Lego design the mini-LAs with the colors that they did? The piston part should be light grey and the outer body should be darker. I'm sure they did it this way to match the regular LAs, which have light grey body and a metal piston, but I'd prefer the colors be reversed. The Build, Part 2 Bag #2 adds the body of the excavator. Here's the bulk of the yellow parts, and it makes a decent shape. There's not a ton being hidden underneath. This is directly controlled - the knob on the back and one on the right side each drive a segment of the arm. The Build, Part 3 That is a lot of non-color in bag 3. Since there's no motorization or connection between the tracks and the body of the excavator, these are pretty simple. The Build, part 4 Bag 4 adds a few cosmetic parts and provides the 1x2 liiftarms and cones. I have to say, why both with the arms? They're nearly impossible to scoop up with the excavator. On the other hand, the controls on this set are easy to use and work well. It takes a reasonable amount of turns on the knobs to move the arm, and it's plenty easy for kids to use. The Driver? This is way smaller than minifig scale, but just look at that cabin! It is so well done. A big windscreen for visibility... a nice red seat... a couple control levers... and a decent panel. The Family I currently have the 42121 (2021, 569 pieces, $40), the 8294 (2008, 720 pieces, $60), and 8419 (2005, 286 pieces, $20). They all use essentially the same arm, with 2 movements (none of them have independent control of the bucket). The 42121 uses 2 knobs to directly control 2 mini-LAs. The 8294 has a single knob, run through a simple 2 position gearbox, to control two full-size LAs. 8491 uses two knobs on the rear, both driving worm gear setups, to move the arm via linkages instead of linear actuators. I find these a fascinating comparison. The first two are semi-close in part count, but 8294 is SO much bigger. I think that's due largely to simply using bigger pieces. It has fewer tread links, but it uses the large ones instead of the small ones. It has full-size LAs instead of mini. The liftarms making up the body and the arm are longer. The two yellow sets look so close in size from this angle, but are so different in part count and price. 42121 has a lot of parts used in cosmetics (the cab, a fully enclosed body, fake vents, etc). 8419 is old-school Technic. It's just an outline of the vehicle, not wasting pieces on decoration. It also used rubber tracks, saving 80+ pieces from the new version. The Reach From overhead, 42121 is clearly the mid-size of this group. It's also clearly a newer generation of Technic. Both the older sets are skeletal. The Ratings Design: 8 Build Experience: 9 Features: 7 Playability: 7 Parts/Value: 8 Overall: 8 As always, my ratings are based on the size and target market for the set. This is another nice 8+ Technic set. The build was easy but both looks and works well. This is a pretty good playable set, although I actually dinged it for including the 1x2 liftarms. They just don't work to scoop up. You have to hold them in place for the bucket to get them up. For some sets, having "material" makes sense - the cement mixer and the bucket excavator are great examples there. For these smaller sets, don't waste the piece count on that. If kids want to dig in Lego, they've probably got a box full of parts to dig in that'll work much better than a few pieces included here. Also, as usual, the tracks don't move if you're pushing it on a smooth surface (table, hard floor, etc). It needs to be on carpet for the tracks to work correctly. Despite those minor dings, I think this is a great set for its target market. This isn't meant to compete with the $100+ sets like the motorized 8043 or massive Bucket Wheel Excavator. This is a set kids will get and love. I particularly appreciate that the instructions start with building the arm and even call out to test the functionality before moving on to bag 2. That's a great user experience right there.

Built it over the weekend and love it (have an original 497 here as well to display with it). However, WHY oh WHY did they use a 1x2 yellow plate in the nose? It's the only one in the whole set and it's visible under the 2x6 grey tile. Grey or black would have been much less ugly when they peek out there.

App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle Thanks to Lego and EB for this review set. Over the years, Lego has made a lot of motorized, remote controlled vehicles. Most have been in the Technic line. At a glance, this looks like another tracked, remote-controlled racer. But.... flip the box over.... Name: App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle Set Number: 42140 Pieces: 772 Price: $139.99 Minifigs: 0 Theme: Technic The Box Front That is a lot of text on the front of the box. The name, well, not a fan. "Transformation Vehicle"? What is that? And then you have all the warnings that you need batteries and a smart device to make it work. Lego fans could guess that just based on the price - $140 for less than 800 pieces? Must be motors in there! The Box Back Wait, I thought we already saw the front. Where's the features and functions (I'm not even expecting a B-model anymore, sadly...) Ok, so this is the back since you have the perforations to open the end, and you don't have the batteries not included notice. However, it's definitely a different way to do the back. For this set, it makes sense though. Clearly, this is a tracked vehicle with two different sides that can flip over. I remember having RC cars like that as a kid. But wait... those did it by having the body be very thin so the wheels were always above/below the body. This orange cab is definitely higher than the treads. And so was the race car body on the other side. I guess there's more to the transformation than just a flip. The Sticker Sheet Here's a closeup of the stickers. There are a lot of them to decorate both sides of the vehicle. The Interesting Parts NEW PART ALERT!!!! Let's start with the biggie. That is a 3x19 frame piece there on the left. I see SO many uses for this. Think how much easier crane booms, vehicle chassis, or anywhere you need size and strength. It has pinholes going all directions, so it will be pretty easy to attach anything you want to it. It's also NINETEEN studs long - making it the longest beam currently made. That also will simplify structures! Moving on - not all of these pieces are new, but they're uncommon or interesting at least. There are several of the liftarms with perpendicular holes in the set. In the top middle, those are two new gears. They're 20 and 12 tooth, but not double-beveled. I'm not really sure why they're necessary - the existing double-beveled gears work fine as standard gears. Plus I'm old-school - not a fan of the blue gears in multiple shades like this. Give me black and two greys for my gears please, with the occasional tan or white Below that - 3x3 "biscuit" pieces in unusual colors, along with wire clips in the same. None are new, but they're uncommon. Moving along - new 2x1x1 curved panels, to match the other recent new panels. These are included in blue and neon yellow. The liftarms are also neon yellow. It's a difficult color to photograph accurately. But think of a yellow highlighter and you've got it. It's a VERY bright color, new for 2022 found here in Technic and also in some of the City sets. Last in the line is a 2x5 quarter ellipse piece. That's new for 2022. You can find it in dark grey in the small motorcycle set, but this has it in blue. The Build, Part 1 The build starts with a solid core, using the battery hub as the center and adding some beams around it, holding two motors at the back. Everything will be color coded - you have the biscuits on the ends of the motor indicating right and left, and more will be added to keep the wiring organized and correct as we go. The Build, Part 2 The new frame piece makes for a very solid connection across the body of the vehicle. The wires are neatly clipped into place so they don't get caught in the "transformation" mechanism later. And unsurprisingly, the two motors just drive the two treads almost directly. There is a slight gear reduction, but not much of a geartrain to be found. There's certainly no transmission or gear selection or anything like that. The Build, Part 3 The frame for the treads comes together quickly. There's not a whole lot to it, but there's definitely been some geometry work done at Lego designing this. The Build, Part 4 Now we can sit the frame aside and start on the body. There's a long beam with dual cabs on the end. This side is - very blatantly - for RACING. I think the paint roller pieces for dual-lever throttle controls look great. (and note, there's a little wheel built into the top of the cab above the seat...) The Build, Part 4 (flipped) On the other side, there's a very orange cab. It also has wheels on the roof, plus we have a pair of shock absorbers.... The Build, Part 4 (flipped, closeup) Here's a better look at this cab. There's a yoke-style steering wheel, just for looks, and a lot of gauges on the sides of the seat. The other stickers are, well, interesting. I think they're supposed to be industrial, like construction-equipment-style, but there's a little sci-fi looking too. Why are there fake yellow and pink lights at the back of the cab? Boats and aircraft use red/green lights to indicate left and right sides, but nothing uses yellow/pink. The Build, Part 5 The dual-cab piece gets attached to the wheel/motor frame and a lot of cosmetic panels are added. It pivots at the back and has the shock absorbers connected at the front. It can pivot and the shocks make it snap up or down - that's the transformation function. As a bonus, the racing side has a spoiler at the back. It uses that dark grey liftarm pressed against the battery hub to push it up. When the vehicle flips, the rubber band around the two red balls pulls it down flat. Simple, but very effective. The Build, Part 5 (flipped) The other side doesn't have anything else added yet. There's not much to come, since the battery box has to remain exposed for battery replacement (and yes, this has the new version with the battery door screwed on. FOUR tiny screws. It's a pain.) The Build, Part 6 There's a simple "truck bed" built around the battery box, plus some heavily-stickered panels sticking out the sides. In the most repetitive part of the build, you make 8 of these bogies that attach to support the treads. The Finished Vehicle The last step is adding the treads, which thankfully DO include the single-stud rubber pieces to give some grip! There's just under TWO HUNDRED pieces of the part count right here. This is also a rare case where a motor gets stickered - since it's exposed here at the back, the graphic designers decided it needed decoration. Thankfully, it's pretty generic and won't look out of place elsewhere later. You can also see how important the cable management is. The wires from the motors go right under the treads, so if there was too much slack, they'd get easily caught. The Handstand? Just "The Stand?" The vehicle CAN stand on the spoiler like this and balance. But just barely. I tried getting it to do this by driving up a wall and could not. The momentum from going up always carried it the rest of the way over. Even if you could, it won't be stuck. Just drive a little and it'll flip down. The Drive I had to drive it with a handicap - the Control+ app has not been updated yet to include this set. That makes it difficult to operate an app-controlled set. I had to use a user-customizable app. Using the basic controls there, I was able to drive the vehicle around. It's reasonably quick, but not blazing fast. According to the Lego description, when the app is updated, it will recognize which way is up and change the controls (both functionally and visually) to match. That will help, and it's a great usage of the sensors in the battery hub. The transformation works very well. You can drive into a wall and the car will climb (thanks to the rubber grips on the tracks) to vertical and fall over backwards. The center section pops into place and it's ready to take off. You can of course also just grab it by hand and flip it over. Thanks to those tiny wheels on the roof, it doesn't scrape up anything doing this. The Ratings Design: 7 - The two sides manage to look VERY different, and they also are pretty well hidden when the other side is up. The racing side looks like a weird toy racecar, so I think it hits the mark. The orange side is less successful, mostly due to having to leave the battery box accessible. Build Experience: 5 - It's pretty short, very simple mechanically for a Technic set, and over a quarter of the part count is consumed in the tracks! It is though a 9+ set, not an adult-oriented set. Features: 8 - I was very torn on how to rate this. The car works well, it flips well, the functions work well. My issue is really the name. "Transformation" to me implies more than just flipping over and a hinged body. If they'd called it a Flip Vehicle, I'd have been much happier. Playability: 9 - I see kids playing with this for a long time. It's a well-working remote controlled car (though I'd prefer a physical control over a phone screen) and they'll enjoy the flip function. Parts/Value: 4 - I have to mark this down. Yes, it has a hub and motors. However, the aftermarket has valued these much lower than Lego. At Lego, the hub retails alone for $90! You can get them brand new on Bricklink for under $20. Overall: 8 - I'm rating this here from the target market's view. This is a 9+ set. It has enough pieces to make other tracked vehicles. It works well for what it's intended to do. It's a fun toy.

Technic Cement Mixer Thanks to Lego and EB for this review set. Name: Cement Mixer Set Number: 42112 Pieces: 1163 Price: $119.99 (US) Minifigs: 0 Theme: Technic The Box Front Yup, it's a cement mixer alright. I really like that it's something so different - we've never had a Technic truck like this before. It's something other than a crane, forklift, or airplane. Got a mix of blues with a splash of orange highlights. Looks pretty decent to me. (Unsurprisingly, Lego picked the best angle as the front of box image. They do know product photography.) The Box Back It's not the most functional set ever, but it covers the necessities. Looks like it has the ability to rotate the drum either by rolling the truck or manually cranking it. Dual axle steering - wonder if that's got proper steering geometry or not? And that is a super organized array of Technic Pin Connector Round 2/3 there.... I guess that's supposed to be a nice cement slab being poured? The Opening Unfortunately, the box is sealed with thumb tear-holes rather than tape seals. And when you open it, it looks surprisingly empty. It's only about 2/3 full which is less than most sets I've gotten recently. The Contents Dumped out, there's quite a bit here. There are bags divided into group 1, 2, and 3. There's a small bag of the joiners as bag 4, and there's an un-numbered bag of tires. And there's 2 more parts not in a bag.... The New Parts The cement mixer barrel itself. It's 2 identical parts that connect with 4 pins. Once mated together, the only connection points on them are a pair of 1x3 pinhole connections at the closed end. They are printed with a C logo. I appreciate the detail of having the dimple from the molding process right in the middle of the C, so it actually looks like it belongs there. And oh yeah, they are HUGE! Here's a bunch of comparisons to show just how big these pieces are. I think this year's 42108 Mobile Crane might struggle to pick up something this huge (not really; the barrel is very light weight, but it sure LOOKS heavy) The dump truck from 42055 Bucket Wheel Excavator is puny next to it. No, you won't be using this as cargo on a train layout. It stands as tall as the Lunar Lander set (and I know the flag and astronaut figs are missing - my kids "borrowed" them and I need to get them back) Finally, it dwarfs the cement mixer barrel from City sets. In fact, you can open the Technic barrel and put the City barrel inside. The city barrel has been used more as other things than it has as a cement mixer - it's been engine shrouds on helicopters, spaceships, etc. It has the advantage of having more connection points since the end is anti-studs allowing both studden and Technic connections to it. Huge Technic parts often don't get any other official usage - think of the huge buckets made for the Volvo Loader or the Liebherr set. The Papers The instructions are split into 2 books and there's a small sticker sheet. And a Legoland promo - not sure how much those will be redeemed with the current events (although it doesn't expire until 2023), but it's in there. Or at least it's in the European box that I received for review, but the website that the brochure references covers all the Legoland resorts and Discovery Centers worldwide. The Build, Bag 1 Bag 1 builds the chassis of the truck, more or less. Up front there's a tiny inline-4 engine representation. There is also the dual-axle steering. Yes, the two axles steer at slightly different angles. To my eye though, it's barely noticeable. The steering mechanism is also redundant. There's both a black gear rack AND an orange 1x2 liftarm pushing each axle. I'm not sure why there's both. The gear rack is the normal and better method. Either one alone though should work. The double axles in the rear are both connected to the driveshaft. The instructions are very clear to make sure you get the two differentials facing opposite ways so it works correctly. It even goes so far as to put a white round joiner in the back corner to give a reference as you build the otherwise very symmetrical structure The Build, Bag 2 Bag 2 adds the supports for the barrel, the gearbox and driveshafts that connect the wheels to the barrel, and a few cosmetic parts. The driveshaft going to the barrel has one of the new linear clutches in it. Until now that part was only available in the massive Leibherr 9800 set. And oddly, they have you put the wheels on now. Most sets save that for last. The Build, Bag 3 Bag 3 finishes off the cab, fenders, and water tank. All that's left is to add the barrel: Oddly, as huge as the barrel parts are, it seems slightly undersized to me on the model. I suspect that's just my American view - this is clearly a European truck with its dual steering axles. Here in the US, I virtually never see cement mixers that rear-dump like this anymore. They've all been replaced by larger trucks that discharge in the front, allowing for a larger, longer barrel: The Front I totally get the rugged vibe that is intended on this truck. However, there's so many little details I don't like. First, I hate these grill stickers. They're not too bad here, since they're divided by the grey bar. But I've seen other sets (42098 Car Transporter) that use multiple of them stacked up, and it's ugly. They're impossible to get all aligned exactly the same, so they look bad. Then there's the dark blue sticker right above that on a black 1x3 liftarm. That part in dark blue has only been in 2 Bionicle sets 15 years ago - so they used a sticker instead. Edit: There ARE two dark blue 3L liftarms in the set, so why on earth not use one here? I also don't like how the dark blue curved panels with stickers don't match up with the curves of the white round parts below. And the orange lights on the roof are too small. The Gap There is a reason the main photos on the box are from angles. The back of the cab might be the biggest offender on the set. There's a huge hole between the cab and the mixer. Why? It feels like just empty, wasted space. The smokestacks don't come all the way down - they just end halfway down the cab. And worst, what is up with that exposed yellow axle for the steering? At least use black, but better yet, move it forward into the back wall of the cab. You can also see an example of wasted parts there. There's a grey Technic Pin 1/2 in the grey liftarm that the steering axle goes through. It's there JUST to fill the hole and make sure people don't try to run the axle through the wrong spot. There's quite a few of those throughout the set. I'm not sure why Lego feels that's necessary - this is a 10+ rated set and I guess they want to help out the younger end of that range? The Function There's a lever on the right hand side that switches the barrel from wheel-driven to non-driven to crank-driven. Here's how it works with the crank. This also shows one thing that should have been improved. You've GOT to hold the truck with your other hand while cranking, or it bounces all over. It really needed some functional chocks or outriggers to stabilize it while discharging the "concrete." The Turn Radius Here you can see both the wheel-driven barrel function and the terrible turning radius. Trucks like this aren't known for being maneuverable like a sports car, but still, this is barely able to turn at all. A slight redesign of the steering axle system should have allowed sharper turns. The Chute In the definite plus column is the discharge chute. This is a very clever design that gives it a great deal of flexibility to aim the concrete. The chute itself is an interesting design to get the V-shape. Given how fast the parts come out and how bouncy they are, it'd have been nicer to be a little deeper V though. Ratings Design: 7 Build Experience: 7 Features: 6 Playability: 8 Parts/Value: 6 Overall: 7. Overall, it's a nice addition to the Technic range of construction vehicles. It's unique and will attract a lot of builders for that reason alone. The build is not overly repetitive and provides an array of beams in two shades of blue. The build isn't perfect though. I'm looking forward to seeing those barrel pieces being used in a future Iron Builder competition. And for value, it's ok. $120 feels a little steep for me, especially for a Technic set where not only are there the usual hundreds of pins but also 100 joiners in the part count. I'd personally have waited to purchase this set until I got a sale or at least a nice freebie from Lego with my purchase.

Fantastic! As soon as I saw the first picture I knew exactly what it was because I remember the toy from when my kids were little. That works so well, and I love the design of the tiny train. The pulley drive system gets the right speed, but it also looks cute.

Technic Jeep Wrangler 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: 1977 had a Jeep CJ-5: There was the 1997 "Open Top Jeep" that no one would say looks like a Jeep: 2010 brought a couple of green Jeeps in the Toy Story line. 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 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 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 The Box Top 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 Just 5 bags (split into two groups), some tires, a manual, and small sticker sheet. The Prints 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 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 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 Here's everything included in the set. The Build, Part 1 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 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 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 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 The steering mechanism is simple but effective. No gears involved. The Suspension 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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! 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.

Technic All-Terrain Vehicle Thanks to Lego and EB for this review set. Over the years, Lego has made a lot of ATVs. However, most of them have been small, minifig sized models either as a vehicle in a larger set or as a small set on their own. Usually they're police or fire themed (as are most City sets), such as 2015's ATV Patrol: They have taken the ATV name quite literally though, all the way to other planets' terrain: Now though, Technic is tackling the ATV concept and taking the scale WAY up. They're sticking to Earth terrain though. Name: All Terrain Vehicle Set Number: 42139 Pieces: 764 Price: $79.99 Minifigs: 0 Theme: Technic The Box Front At first glance (especially if you don't look at the set name) it looks like a squashed truck. I think, after looking at actual ATVs, that the problem is the black handlebars being too low and blending into the black seat, black bed, and dark background. Compare the set to a real 6-wheel ATV that's currently on the market - the handlebars are FAR higher in the air. Also, from what I found, virtually all the 6-wheel ATVs are dark green/dark tan/black. They're primarily intended as working vehicles, so they stick to serious, dark colors. The ATVs that are in bright red/orange/white/blue are sportier, 4-wheel recreational vehicles. So given that, I'd rather see this set in dark colors rather than orange with aggressive stickers. The Box Back Since there's no B-model, the entire back is showing the functions. There's going to be some suspension, a 2-cylinder engine, a gear shift, and a tipping bed. The main photo though is just slightly a different angle from the front photo. Why not give us a new view? Is the other side weirdly ugly for some reason? (hint - nope. It's almost identical) The Contents The bags are for 3 numbered steps, plus an un-numbered back with wheels and tires. Like so many Technic sets lately, there is a very busy sticker sheet. It looks like a lot of the color in the set (what little there is) will be from stickers! There are only 13 orange beams or panels in the set. The Sticker Sheet Here's a closeup of the stickers. Clearly, lots of panel #21 and #22 are getting stickered in this set! Overall, the vibe seems to work for an ATV. The Build, Part 1 Bag 1 builds the core of the mechanisms. As is typical for Technic sets, this is a very solid block of parts to provide strength for the rest of the vehicle and the gear mechanisms. The Build, Explained Here's the functionality collapsed into this block of parts: Knob on side of ATV for manually controlling the winch Pair of bevel gears to route the rotation to the front of the vehicle The red bush acts as a stop to keep the winch from unwinding on its own This red ball is a handle you can press to pull the red bush away and let the winch extend Another set of bevel gears to change the winch control direction again There's a connection down this hole for the steering. Eventually the handlebars will attach here The steering routes through the middle, pushes the front dark blue grey beam side to side, and that causes these axles on the ends to steer the wheels. It's a classic Technic steering mechanism, using the "Pin Connector Perpendicular 3L with 4 Pins" with an axle through it This is the gear selector, to change the speed of the piston above when the vehicle is rolled along This frictionless pin is a connection for the suspension that's still to be added The Build, Errors in the Instructions! It's nice when Lego instructs you how to test what you've built to make sure things are working before you get them too buried to easily fix. However, look at steps 18 and 19 here. If you have built it as shown (with the dark grey driving ring centered) then turning the orange connector in step 19 will NOT make the pistons move! You have to push the driving ring to one end or the other to make them move. The Build, More Instruction Interestingness A few pages later, you'll find this diagram. Why do they show the driving ring just slightly off-center, so NOT engaged either end still, but also not centered correctly? They're very consistent - the red shift selector is angled in both the blown-up diagram and in the instructions off to the left - but it's still an odd position. But it's even slightly angled in the assembly steps above - step 7 in the yellow box! (While we're on the topic, anyone know why the red selector part is designed the way it is? The axle hole isn't quite deep enough, so when you insert something like the grey axle with ball, it doesn't go flush like it would in other parts. Why not make the selector a hair longer? I'm guessing that in some designs it'd hit something if it was longer, but I'm not sure) The Build, Part 2 Back to building... Both rear axles are connected together with mini turntables, so they can pivot. There are shocks on both sides to keep them centered normally (ditto for the front axle). It's not independent suspension, but it works for this scale vehicle. The base for the tipping bed is also in place. There's a small lever on the other side that twists the red liftarm in the center. A very direct and simple mechanism, but it works and adds a function to the set. The Underside Here's a better shot of the pivoting axles, if you're not familiar with this style of Technic construction. Each of the rear axles uses a 5x7 frame to hold a differential. There are axles going lengthwise connecting them through the center of the mini turntables. This takes the rotation of the 4 rear wheels forward, through the central gearbox (the red and blue gears with the grey driving ring between them) and then up to the piston engine. The Finished ATV Here's the finished set, and from the opposite side than the box. The only real different on the sides is that this one has the winch knob and the other has the winch release and the gear selector. The Front Lots of headlights. And unfortunately, they look bad. Why on earth do they insist on using the blue pins to mount these clear pieces? Lego, you make those pins in light grey. That'd look a TON better. Or even better - do what you did just on the center-most lights and put a white stud behind them! It'd make them pop against the mostly black front end. Instead, they're almost invisible, which is better than when you notice the blue pins. While we're here, let me point out one more ugly bit. Look way at the back - see the red piece? Not the red tube below the orange beam; that's the lever to tip the bed. I'm talking about the red axlepin sticking out the side of the black bed. There's one on each side, and they visually stick out so much. Now, scroll back up to the start of the review and look at the box photo. NO RED AXLE! It's black in the photo! So even Lego knew it looked bad, but decided (probably late in the design process, after marketing had taken their glamour photos), to use red pins. My guess is that originally they used the black "Axle 2L with pin" to go all the way into the bed of the ATV, but since it doesn't actually then click into the vertical side, they switched to the red "Axle 1L with Pin 2L" for a slightly more solid connection. It's also possible that they looked at photos of ATVs and saw that some have a red reflector on the side of the bed and used that to "justify" the color. But I'm not a fan. The Suspension The ATV has pendular suspension on all three axles - and 6 shock absorbers. Overall, it's a pretty stiff suspension. As you can see here, it's too stiff for the lightweight vehicle and so the back wheel doesn't touch the ground when there's something under the middle axle. However, the design of the suspension is pretty good and it's certainly something kids can learn from. Being pendular, the ATV can rock side to side but it cannot push straight down, like a vehicle with independent suspensions could: The steering works, but there's not much range of motion. Thanks to using a pair of knob gears, it also has quite a bit of delay and slop. However, like the suspension, the idea is there and pretty well done for the size: The Chainsaw Usually, ATVs in Lego are side builds as part of a bigger set. Here, the ATV is the big set and it comes with a chainsaw (and logs) as sidebuilds. The chainsaw is pretty small, but it's recognizable even without the blatant CHAINSAW stickers. However, I can't help but feel that the chainsaw and logs are filler. They're about 10% of the part count! There are 20 brown 2x2 rounds to make the logs, and the chainsaw itself is about 50 pieces. Almost half of those are the chain links. The Ratings Design: 6 - it's recognizable and overall looks ok, but there's a few misses (handlebars, blue headlights, red pins). For kids though, they'll be fine with it. I try to remind myself that this is a 10+ set, not an 18+, but on the other hand, these are so simple to do better. Build Experience: 8 - it's easy enough for kids, but not repetitive or boring Features: 7 - what it has works well, but some are just "why" - like why have the gear shift? It's a mostly useless feature in most Technic vehicles, and here, it's just a 2 cylinder engine with little difference between the two gears Playability: 9 - It's swooshable, sturdy, and works well. The chainsaw and logs may be filler-ish, but they do add playability to the set. However, is this something a kid would want to play with vs the usual crane / racecar / etc? I'm assuming that Lego's research says yes, and they've certainly made enough unusual vehicles over the years (hovercrafts, etc) to have some experience behind it Parts/Value: 9 - I originally rated this lower, since it has nothing new, but then I reconsidered. This is a GREAT parts pack or intro set to someone new to Technic. There's 6 wheels, 6 shocks!, lots of panels, and plenty of other assorted parts including a bit of chain. It's a solid parts pack for making your own vehicles, and it's a good primer on building with suspension, steering, differentials, etc. Overall: 7 - It's something Lego hasn't done in Technic before, and it's done mostly well. The flaws are mostly minor and common to a wide variety of Technic sets. I compromised on the rating - for experienced Technic builders, I'd rate it lower. For younger people or anyone newer to Technic, I'd rate it higher.

Now that I have the updated Control+ app, I can confirm that the controls are well implemented. It handles flipping very smoothly - so it flips over and goes forward again as it should. There's some cosmetic changes to reflect the orange or blue color, and there's shortcut buttons that spin it around quickly. However, it's still not nearly as nice as having a physical controller.