henning47

This probably depends on where you live - here in Germany (and I guess to some extend in the rest of Europe as well), the "Crocodile" is very popular among model railroaders, and one of the most famous high-end models by Märklin. So it has a large built-in fanbase over here, and I also guess it's easier to do (i.e., within a nicer price range) than a steam locomotive. Anyway, still very happy with this one, looks great and drives very nicely!

Hi there, been a while since I posted here but this is a good occasion :-) This set was an auto-buy, I like trains and always loved the Crocodile locomotive. So I ordered it just after it became available and got it yesterday. We're about two thirds through the build, and it's very enjoyable so far. No set other than the Christmas stuff got that much attention from my family! There are many nice details and the way the model is put together from the different components seems very clever. Looking forward to finishing the build tomorrow, adding the PoweredUp stuff (ordered the motor as well). Did anyone try to make a color sensor fit here, so the croc can auto-stop and reverse on color-indicated tracks? Only downside is that I would have preferred the green one, probably unlikely that Lego will give us that one :-) Let's hope this one sells, so we'll see more of these in the future. I'm doing my part :-) Henning

Hi guys & gals, I don't post here often, but this is ridiculous... ly cool stuff! I first thought it was an April's fool, but the calender says otherwise. So it seems this worked for real, congrats to all involved for an unbelievable project! That must have cost quite a bit (time spent on this and I guess renting the real machine does not come for free either), so Lego seems to seriously invest in the promotion of this model, Hope it pays off! Won't work on me though, since I was getting the model anyway :-) Thanks for sharing, and mainly of course for doing this in the first place! Henning

Just to clarify, does this mean that the Powered Up app will be the only one that has programming capabilities? I had assumed Control+ will get this as well, but that was just my guess. What you are saying makes sense, since the PU already has elements from Boost and Wedo (eg the sensors), and at least the UI allows to control 4 motor ports (A-D). From a marketing perspective it seems a bit weird, since PU looks like the "kid-friendly app," but the programming interface in PU is pretty sophisticated already, so I'm not complaining. To control the Liebherr (or the MOCs I have in mind :-)) in October, they need to add multi-hub control to the app, though. Anyway, it's all looking pretty good to me! Looking forward to the off roader when it arrives here. Henning

I think that is the likely reason. If there were issues with the Control+ stuff, they likely would say something like "we want to further optimize the experience" or something, and not just say they want to make more money with the new release schedule, which is pretty much what they said in one of the videos I saw. And that's legitimate from my point of view. The "close to Christmas" argument probably also makes sense. Personally, with the new schedule I might get both sets, with the previous it would probably only have been the Liebherr. So I'm pretty sure their strategy works. My son thinks it's better this way, when Daddy gets both of these sets, so one more happy customer :-)

Thanks for the info, I guess I missed that! Seems promising, assuming the software makes use of these capabilities and can also handle the Boost distance/color sensor (and others). Given the PoweredUp app, I'm optimistic. I'm not that sure about the model itself (not saying it's not well done, just this type of vehicle does not interest me too much), but with the hardware in this set one can probably build some cool stuff, so I'm looking forward to it!

Hi Forum, and first of all thanks to everybody who contributes information on these new models, it's very much appreciated here. Originally I wasn't going to get the 4x4 but only the Liebherr - now that that one's delayed, I'll probably be too impatient to try out the new Control+ stuff, so the 4x4 it will be for me. So Lego makes some more money from me due to the delay :-) About the model - does anybody have any guesses whether it will have any type of sensors? Maybe the Technic hub will have an internal tilt sensor (as I think the Boost or the WeDo have)? Or maybe the motors also have sensor capabilities (I think the Boost motors have that)? If the set will not have any sensors, it will be interesting to see whether the Control+ app will have sensor capability. I would guess it does, since already the PoweredUp app has this, but we'll see.

Thanks a lot! I can understand people who are frustrated with the lack of compatibility to power functions. Since I only have 3 motors that still work (just getting back into Lego Technic after a >20 years break), this is not really a problem for me personally. In general, I must say the new system looks pretty fantastic. The Powered Up app (the one for the city trains / batmobile) already has a nice programming interface after the last update. I did not have time to play around with it yet, but apart from multi-hub connections, it seems to be able to do most of the stuff we would expect. I guess the Technic app (Control?+) will have multi-hub connections, since the Liebherr requires this. So, I'm looking forward to the introduction of Powered Up into Technic more and more. The Liebherr will probably be a cool demonstration of what the system can do, although I'm not sure it will come with sensors. But the Wedo/Boost sensors work with the Powered Up App, so that should work for Technic as well. So my project will be to make the Liebherr move autonomously, without bumping into walls etc. Should be fun! Henning

Hi forum, the Liebherr surely looks impressive! I agree with the concerns that there may be not too much interesting mechanical stuff happening, since there is a motor for every function, but on the other hand I've been waiting for a Technic set that showcases the Powered Up technology, and this surely is it! (Different name, but same framework as far as I know.) Looking forward to the build, but also to see what we can come up with ourselves with the new parts. Should be fun to integrate sensors and build an autonomous vehicle. The price tag of course is an issue, but the set surely shows that Lego sees potential in the Technic line and if this one sells well, we can expect more "monster Technic sets" in the future. I think I'll do my part to contribute to that, this set just looks irresistible :-)

Hi there, do the new pictures give any more hints whether 42095 will use the old power functions or the new powered up technology? I know the previous leak hinted towards old power functions, I'd be happy if the set came with powered up. Thanks, Henning

Hi there, this is my first post on this forum, so thanks for having me! Personally I am a bit disappointed that the first wave of 2019 sets does not seem to have Powered Up, since I think it's a great platform. I have the 42065 racer with the power functions from the PU batmobile, and that's a lot of fun. (You can even reprogram the remote control to put your own functions on the buttons, for example an automatic "rectangle patrol".) I also have looked into the train stuff, and you can combine the trains with sensors from BOOST, to e.g., make trains stop/turn/resume automatically when they see bricks with certain colors on the tracks. It should also be possible (though I have not tried it yet) to make a motor connected to battery box A start/stop depending on what the sensor in battery box B indicates. So you could program a tracked racer (like 42065) to avoid walls, and build big (stationary) models where what happens in one part of the model triggers what happens somewhere else, without wires. Lots of possibilities to play with! I know that the lack of stacking is an issue, but I see why they did this (stacking is hard with sensors). A multiplexer would of course be nice. (The official LEGO apps do not support the stuff I mentioned yet, but there are nice projects on github.). So I'm pretty happy about the PU platform, and if the 42095 comes with PU that's an auto-buy for me, even if it's just the two-port battery box we know from the batmobile/trains. But if they delay the PU roll-out in Technic in order to start with a bigger battery box (e.g., 4 ports), then I'm not complaining either, I'm (more or less patiently) waiting for the first PU Technic set. I'm sure it will be worth the wait!