Jan

I bought one two or three years ago (the 2928) on a short flight within europe. flightcompany was KLM i think.

Well I have a link here with a range of bluetooth adapters (dutch website), just for indication. Prices start somewhere around 10 euro

I don't no much about this wired connection, and I know it's not exactly the answer to your question. But for just a few Euros, dollars or whatever currency you like you can install a bluetooth stick to your usb port. Hope it's of any use to you, it seems to me that wireless is far more preferable for use with robots.

I think it's this part used for instance in city set 7630

Of course, and it is in no way a personal attack. But I don't think it'because lack of functionality or playability, but more of the lack of challenge as you mention now. I haven't had these new actuators in hand, but it could be that as they are smaller there are less revolutions required to extend them. Which could add to the usability in manual operated devices

No idea what you are talking about, I think the minicrane is nice example of how much function and playability you can put in such a small space. The backhoe might not be pf driven, but has lot of functionality, and therewith playability within a nice price. secondary models of almost all the set look also nice as well. And in my opinion the 8070 ads a lot of motorised functionality. 4 motorised functions with just one motor within a good looking frame. And whos says you can't add yourself an extra motor here and there.

I will try this tonight, and see for myself. The only downside I see, is that it takes up more space. and of course congratulations for winning the challenge

What could be the the benefit of using this method compared to using an universal joint?

The Lego games series don't have these agemarks, but similar to the mentioned jigsaw they have 7+ or 4+ or 5+ on the box. Maybe there are more exceptions

Well mainly I think the upper age range is to give a view on the expected period of use. (see it as an period for investment). For instance to help people decide when to switch from giving Duplo to Lego. Aside from that there are also a lot of themes (Harry Potter, Star Wars, Indiana Jones for instance) which I guess have age tags corresponding to the film age ratings. I don't think it has a lot to do with the building challenge itself anymore. The manuals are so well layed out today that virtualy anyone can build anything of the current productrange. So mainly I think that the age range is just not there for you, but for the less informed customer, parent, grandma etc..., keep in mind that it is also a toy.

Hi aeh5040, I like your build, but I can't seem to figure out how you did the switching between driving and turning and then driving again. Any change you have more photo's or some explanation. To add something to the discussion, I will try to make a small movie of a "car" (it has wheels) I recently put together, based on the driving crane in the 8888 ideabook. It goes forward, backward, left and right using one motor and "cards" with Technic Gear Racks 1 x 4. I would like to use some kind of mechanical switching to reverse my card reading system. Jan

All confirmed.

Thats correct, I use the shorter one, but it looks the same. What I meant was, that there is no easy removable black endcap on it as shown in the movie.

Wow, what a lot of replies, I went through them all and want to thank you for your help. Things I conclude, and please tell me if I am wrong, are: - my pneumatics are aged, and leak air at a certain pressure. replacing parts of it leaves me with an outdated and more difficult system. - new pneumatics are stronger, or at least as strong as a lineair actuator. @Dluders, my pneumatic cylinder looks different than the one shown in the movie, and seems unopenable. @Blackbird, I liked the informative text on your website a lot, and havent't come across it earlier. I need to check out your site more thoroughly. thanks so far, Meanwhile I stopped with the crane and put all my energy in a mixed up supercar from the studded era before the 8880. See if that gives me some extra insight in the Technic innovations over the years. After that I really need to invest in some new parts. Jan

A week ago I got my old TECNIC Lego down from my attic as I thought my son is now old enough to have fun with it. While he was making the models I once made (851/ 854 / 855 / 8859) I suddenly found the all new box number 8287 again. I bought it one and a half years ago for little more than 10 euro's at a removal sale. Mainly for the nice amount of bushes gears etc I would need to replace the broken and missing ones in my old sets. So the first thing I did was looking at peeron to see what TECHNIC models have been making use of this motor. Besides some RC models I only found one other model, the 8421 mobile crane. After downloading the manuals I found out that it is also using the driving ring, the idler gears and all the other goodies that came with the 8287. As well as pneumatics, that I got as soon as they hit the stores back then in 198?. So with all the TECHNIC stuff my son collected in the last years, which is quite a lot as you get TECHNIC material in almost each City, Powerminers, Atlantis set, we started building. First the upper part, as the motor is there as well as the driving ring and the pneumatics. Well and that's where the problem comes in. As you can see on the photo I have only one pneumatic cylinder instead of two, but the fact that the boom doesn't fully erect doesn't bother me to much, as this is just playing around with the new TECHNIC parts. The problem is that cylinder doesn't get up by pressing the pump, and that it can't bear the load of the boom. (I hold it up with my hand on the photo) So what is wrong? Is it the cylinder from 198?, or the fact that I use an old type of pneumatic block, valve and pump. Did the pneumatics evolve over time? Or is it just that because I only have one cylinder the attachment point is not good. And having said that, what would you advise me to do. Just buy new pneumatics, or leave the pneumatics for what they are and choose for the new linear actuators? Aside of the above, is it correct that when using the motor in the crane, in both positions of the lever the wire is moving, with or without retracting or extending the boom? Thanks in advance for any input, Jan

great interview, good questions, you seemed quite prepared. I hope they will follow a new trend and release more smaller updates instead of letting us wait for a new version. They gave some hope that it may happen that way.

Well, that's quite a general question your asking. What could be a possible way to go is by starting to write a small history about your town. This could at the same time be your city developement, as I guess it will be growing as you buy and add new mocs. Once upon a time...... There was a castle, a few farms and small village houses surounding it. in ancient style. surrounded by trees and forest. Years later the castle got bigger walls and surrounding a larger area. There is need for more buildings and functions, maybe a mill, a church a hospital, a townhall all in more recent cafe corneresk style. Nowadays these old buildings are still part of the modern city life but surrounded by a more recent building style, bigger roads, trains monorails and such. This way you can try your skills on different styles, and see what suits best, and at the same time it gives a nice blur of different building types. and gives a more layered view of your city. Don't forget to show us what you come up with. good luck

Looks absoltely great with these smarts, you added a lot of nice details, especially like the realistic looking cabin. Just one remark, I would give the carrier part a little space above the cabin. With that space its a little more articualted, and the top half isn't flat anymore and will look a bit more dynamic Take a look at this brickshelf brickshelf link it's just brilliant and fully functional.

Great new feature, allready works like a charm.

Is this in all stores in the Netherlands, or just specific stores, and when does the action start, and when does it finish?

Allthough there are a lot of great entries, It didn't cost me much time to chose my personal winners here. 9) Tribal Hunter & Traffic Cop Entry (Build by Fugazi) 2 points This is so brilliant, I hadn't seen the pictures of this one earlier, so when I saw the used photo in this thread I was wondering what it had to do with the the Tribal Hunter & Traffic Cop. When I clicked and saw the other side of the MOC all fell in place. Just great 12) Diver & Surfer Entry (Build by squiz) 1 point Great photo (the second one), what a viewpoint, what an action. and besides it's a very nice and clean build.

Well, finally found the time to watch all contributions. I scanned them carefuly and came to the folowing conclusion I picked two where I almost directly felt the absence of the proposed minifigure. 4) Lifeguard Entry (Build by Dan Church) 2 point great build, simple and clean. You simply can't watch this without thinking of pamela running through the sand, rescuing some poor actor. 34) Witch Entry (Build by Athos) 1 point This gingerbread house is just great fun, without any hinting you immediatly see what it is, and which minifigure is absent

Ha ha, Just curious, how do you know I am from the Netherlands, it's not stated in my info, is it? At least I don't see it on my own posts. the Leonard cohen version for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjuBLgxEkUM

Well, I see your point, but I think with the addition the House of Falling water in the architecture series, things are coming together. The architecture range doesn't have a uniform scale for the sets, and leaves room for models in all different scales. At first I thought that with the architecture series they wanted to show buildings of great importance for architectural developement worldwide (or at least all of the states). But with the addition of the spaceneedle and the whitehouse in the series this idea is no longer valid. The whitehouse is an Landmark and an icon, but architectural totaly uninteresting, nothing is really achieved or developed with the build of it. The space needle is more of an achievement, as it it high and large but also more an icon and a landmark. The Eiffel tower perfectly fit the architectural range, as well as the towerbridge and Taj Mahal I think. In general it would be nice if they merge the two series, as they have one thing in common. They are build after real buildings, and within the set limits of size and parts they all want to get as close to the real thing as possible. Jan

There is allready a discussion going on this very topic over here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=43048, and the Saint Basil's Cathedral has been mentioned there aswell. Would be a nice challenge for TLG to design it as an affordable set.