JimDude

W.r.t. the 'wing-door' rumor: anyone else remember the initial 'UCS technic car' rumor, namely the BMW i8? Well, that has wing doors. (It's also uglier than a F&F Mitsu, but I digress)

It was actually even better than that. It was 25% off on their already low 'red prices' (i.e. they guarantee to match their price to the lowest from their competitors). Eg. the 42082 was red-priced to EUR 199 (i.s.o. the 250 it should be in Belgium), and then the 25% off, which is how I got my copy at 149 EUR :). But there was more: they had a concurrent LEGO-savings action where every 10EUR spent gave you a coupon. With 15 coupons, you got a free set (*) and a party pack (total worth according to them 70EUR). Since the 42082 got me the required 15 coupons, I essentially spent 149 - 70 = 79 EUR on it. (OK, not really. I'm still out of 149 EUR and got a set and a partypack that I don't need but the mind does work in mysterious ways). (*) Choice between a fixed city/friends/duplo set. The city set was the netshooting 'copter taking down the statue-stealing drone. I really just said "the netshooting 'copter taking down the statue-stealing drone", didn't I? Sigh. I should have googled the set number :lol: I don't remember the Friends set in detail (a large heart loaded with minifig things), and don't remember the DUPLO set at all.

There was a Belgian company which did exactly this: rent out sets. It was a very short-lived company...

Apologies for not having anything on-topic to add, but seeing my favorite classic-space set on that shelf both fills me with joy ("He chose ~my~ set and not that vastly over-hyped 928 (*)!") as well as with sadness ("they just don't make 'm like that anymore…"). (*) There, I said it. Feels good too.

If you go to a Carl's Jr to have a Double Western Bacon and Cheeseburger, I will not only officially hate you, but I will also utter some very harsh words in the privacy of my own basement while the rest of the family is soundly asleep. Some very. Harsh. Words! (enjoy yourself)

Hmz, once you see it, you can't unsee the ladybug in the logo. (torso's as such are nice, though)

Birdcage Maser?

The presentation for the 42100 Liebherr says 'real life sounds'. I had a bit of an accident in my underpants when seeing that. Of course, I quickly realized they'd be coming from the smartphone… Oh well. This thing is still epic. Any guesses on what all the -slightly ugly- yellow bits sticking out are? Especially in the undercarriage they look out of place (on the boom they could be fake lights, but on the undercarriage?).

I only have your movie above to go on, but it looks as if the problem is simply that the one of the "grabber-axles" couldn't extend all the way down since it got squished between the orange ball it was trying to grab and the white ball which lodged itself in the corner of the box. I'm guessing the actual issue would be solved by allowing the balls in that corner some more space. By adding bracing, I fear you may have worked around the problem by making the arm stronger (so the axle does push down in between lodged balls), which will have the unwanted effect of additionally wearing down that part of the module (or perhaps even the motor itself).

The arrows indicate that the pistons move up and down, not that the hood can be removed. Besides which, the picture is of the B-model - which is exceptionally well done I might add - which doesn't even have a hood.

The water canon appears to be pneumatic and it 'shoots' blue 'water tubes', which look to be of antenna thickness. Quite amazing due to possible eye injuries. I do hope the handpump/bellows is properly integrated, i.e. that you do not have to take it out of the truck to squish it [EDIT] Also looks as if the crane can tip over the lamppost which in turns hits a lever on the side of the building, which puts the entire place 'on fire' by popping up the flames.

Speaking of which, did I read correctly it is supposed to be at LegoWorld '18 in the Netherlands?

Well, yes. but the same could be said about the outriggers or the boom, but it's only the super-structure rotation that's "decoupled". Which, concerning the mass and size involved, is where most damage could be done. (Ironically, my sons' older nephew - whose idea of play is very Jeremy Clarcksonesque and therefore usually involves hammers - managed to rip apart the outriggers om my, ehr, his 42009 by 'operating them manually'. Nothing broke, but stuff did fall out. I'm now calling the 42009 crane the Alfa Romeo, which is very unfair of me since my son didn't brake it for a whopping 11 months - and it would have kept going for much longer if said nephew had not come along - which is about 10 months longer than my Alfa's would last prior to spilling parts) I also think there is an element of play value: when my son is playing with the 42009, he is always having to do manual micro adjustments to the superstructure position in order to properly outline the hook with whatever it is that he is trying to lift (said nephew, for example). Imagine the frustration if he would have had to do that through a gearbox that was always 'in the wrong mode' (i.e. motor routed to lift/tilt).

That should be TLGs' tagline :) It has been said this is by design because kids will rotate the structure regardless and then a whole bunch of little fidgety pieces stuff will get broken. I'd say that explanation makes a lot of sense.

I'm a bit disappointed that the rope doesn't extend or roll back together with the boom. I know this is also the case on my beloved 42009, but because of thanks to this forum, I understood this was not the case on its' predecessor, so it had to be possible. It also doesn't look as if the outriggers will actually lift the crane (not that I was really expecting it, but the (box-art-)pictures do sort of suggest it). And yet, I haven't looked forward to a set as much as I'm looking forward to this one in ages (the obvious dark-ages joke will be left to the reader).