NevynPA

I got an 8868 for my 7th birthday. Nobody said it was too complex or only for adults or out of my age range. Parents buy $500 game systems for kids, why not a $300 LEGO set?

I'd like to sign up for Reviewers' Academy as well, please.

Starfighter, as in The Last Starfighter?

Where does one find this 'Reviewer's Academy'?

No, it was available from Toys R Us as well.

It's going to be a new body shell that fits on 8070 and/or 8448.

I have seen it at both Barnes & Noble and Target!

I'm surprised that there's been ZERO news on Technic out of the NY Toy Fair. All the other lines, yes, but not Technic.

He saw photos of both, is probably a better way to say it.

I was just at the King of Prussia, PA LEGO store yesterday and the one employee there said that they were shown some information that had the car in orange or the teal/aquamarine of the drag racer.

https://www.mattracks.com/ Anybody can buy them for their vehicle - they're just CRAZY expensive. If you want highway capable, they're about $10,000 EACH.

This is exactly what I've been trying to say as well as hoping for!

What if they had already chosen purple in negotiations w/ Porsche, and used the go-cart as a 'test bed' for the shade of purple, as well as to spread the color cost over multiple sets?

Why not make a LEGO model of a real prototype, and include stickers that are true-to-life for real prototypes? I hope that's what they do.

The Helicarrier and Tumbler were both "display models" with a price quite close to this one. My personal feeling is that it'll be a 'display car' possibly with some lights. While there are kids who will receive this set, it really isn't targeted towards them for the price point and complexity it has. But that's just me.

Hmm, there's an idea. I might get into that...after I finish Nico71's braiding machine...

So I did this forever ago, but I haven't been around much for months now, and I finally both remembered and decided to take pics and post this. Ever since I got 8868 at the ripe old age of SEVEN (23 years ago!) I've felt that the air pump in it is noisy, weak, and slow. Also, it never really had the capacity to keep up if you wanted to try and run more than one cylinder at a time. Well, I finally splurged back in 2014 and bought some parts to help bring it up to snuff. I took the "fuel tanks" off of each side of the truck, and replaced them with white pneumatic air tanks I ordered from LEGO Education. A couple extra tees and hoses, a few axles for mounting, and BOOM! Air storage to spare, and you can barely tell it's been changed! Two tanks is a LOT of air storage - and when pumped up to full capacity, it actually can whip the cab slew around fast enough to shake the whole truck! It's a simple mod, and I didn't pretty up how the manual pump is attached, but I'm pretty proud of how imperceptible the change in tanks is - I think these actually look better than the built ones. Driver Side: Passenger Side: View from underneath, looking towards the back of the truck. You can see the gray hose going between the rear ports on each tank to connect them together: View with one tank partially removed. The stud holes on the bottom of the tank are formed to grip an axle. View of the manual pump:

Has anybody tried basic enhancement of the photos at all? Quality suffers a bit, but I didn't know if it made anything else stand out more:

Some thoughts I had: 1. There's a red bushed pin in the doorwell - they normally are used (in red) to indicate which ones to pull out to remove something (battery box, body/frame separation on 9398). Might this be some sort of body-on-frame chassis? or maybe used to hold some sort of sectioned build fast to the car that is inserted from the bottom? 2. The seeming 2-position 'gear lever' in the center could be a "hi range/lo range" speed selector, if it is motorized.

I loosened the "T" piece pressed in with a pair of 4L axles with stop, and it made a huge difference. I guess I had it a little too firm and the gears were overmeshed. Thanks!

So I'm FINALLY starting to build the braiding machine. I wanted to ask quick if the gears at the hand crank are supposed to be forced/tight - I got it together without issue, but when I crank it there seems to be a LOT of resistance. Here's the area in question: http://www.nico71.fr/wp-content/gallery/braiding_machine_instructions/DSCF4389.JPG

What about the Dodge Intrepid? It was a real-life longitudinal layout engine to transverse front wheel drive transmission. What does it count as? I argue that if it counts as longitudinal, then the inverse (as the Mini is) counts as transverse. If by your standards it doesn't count, then my argument is null and void. :D

8868 also required cutting of tubes.

If you want to sort those Power Puller wheels into a postal box and send them my way, Alasdair, I'll keep them organized for you...

I have LEGO #001 in my basement! My mom bought it (complete in box!) at a yard sale for $1.