Toastie

Yeah, MK bricks are "different", I can tell. My experience is from building their Flying Dutchman. It appears as if these are GoBricks bricks, as per comment of a usually well-informed YTber in one of the OE reviews. Take your time and enjoy!!! Best, Thorsten

Hi Willy, I just checked: The electric pinholes line up with a technic 1x2 brick with (two) holes; the center of the middle pinhole is in line with the center of the two electric pinholes, and is thus in the center of a technic 1x2 brick (with 1 hole). Best, Thorsten P.S.: I don't have access to the two links you provided, so I don't know what they show.

That's one thing one has to get used to, when ordering from the dark side: A full box. Full of bricks ... and not air. I am curious about your building experience. Some reviewers actually cancelled the build, as they were frustrated particularly with the lighting - others are simply in love, as they did see that one coming and were prepared. It is an expert building set - no smooth ride, i.e., 1 piece per step build, I believe. Please let us know. I trust Bricked4You a lot - his review is on the far positive side Best wishes, Thorsten

This. In my opinion, the PUp hardware including (tacho) motors, sensors, and hubs AND their firmware - is simply amazing. I believe all the hassle really originates with the other side of the BLE connection. I know that this is quite the task with Android etc. For one, there is all the graphical stuff; more importantly though, the correct functionality of these "blocks". Android systems may not be the best choice for this purpose and I firmly believe this is the reason, why PUp in general is regarded as failure. When you use BLE stacks in Windows, and follow closely TLGs LEGO Wireless Protocol 3.0 - there is hardly any problem with the combination "PUp + Windows". However, this needs a computer as server. And fairly good programming knowledge. You can sign up the PUp remote (or many such remotes) to control a lot of motors/actuators and (automatically) respond to things that happen. But again, this is programming heaven (or hell, depending on which side you live). The same thing is true for the combination: PUp (LWP3.0) - Legoino (freeware, running on a $10 ESP32 device) as server - and then optionally a couple of PUp remotes and hubs as clients. The remotes transparently talk to the hubs via the server - and blistering fast. Again, you need to have some - if not a bit more - programming knowledge - here it is C++ This is where TLG failed: Providing a stable and user-friendly human interface to the other end of the PUp connection. And I bet they have massively underestimated the task of doing that. PUp hardware and firmware and the whole concept of PUp is, in my opinion, the top product line in the evolution of smart devices TLG made (beginning with the RCX). Then we have PyBricks - in this case though, you create a new firmware for the hubs. That is a totally different thing. In the end this is the best solution, as the firmware is tailored towards your needs, which translates to "best efficiency". But this may not be what TLG wants to pursue. So as far as I am concerned, they should stick with the BLE approach, stick with the hub+firmware, develop even more PUp actuators and sensors. But they should put a huge effort is making that remote (or even different kinds) many of you wish to have, and in creating a stable human programming interface aimed at a) children, b) beginners in programming, c) people who find it fun to program. Well, delete c) we have that already. This latter system is rock-solid. It never failed on me (Windows system+BLE and Legoino+ESP), it was always me who failed. Best regards, Thorsten

This is very nice! I love Dune (the books) - and some scenes of the movies (but they can never ever get to the depths of Frank Herbert's worlds). You perfectly captured the essential functionality and appearance of such an ornithopter very well! Thank you very much for sharing! All the best, Thorsten

Yup. Best, Thorsten

I totally agree on this. Experienced the same. For me, this is a wonderful place. There is moderation, there is freedom. And when you ask staff here, you always get a thoughtful reply. I also tend to take it rather easy. If someone is "policing" you, don't reply immediately. What I do is look at the post count. Not the rank, duh. Then I look at other post of that member. Are they of the same "kind"? Well, if so, I simply put that post mentally into the bin "yeah, whatever" Best, Thorsten

The PUp train motor you mean, right? "PoweredUp" was made for many things, particularly Technic stuff. I believe monsters like the Liebherrs weigh more than 1 kg and generally feature medium, L and XL PUp motors, all of which have built-in rotation sensors. Best, Thorsten

I certainly believe that: The stress test is revenue, what else? Come on, there were so many TLG trains not living up to physical stress tests. I simply don't believe in QC issues, my guess it is pricing that PUp stuff in, coherently. Put the PUp stuff in there, and it gets out of control, in TLG world, that is. The PUp hardware and firmware(!) is simply brilliant. TLGs software is not, and it appears it will never be. As it (again coherently) was in the past. Well, just my take. Best, Thorsten

As far as my experiments went back then, no. I was rather disappointed to notice the slow-down in curves (not pulling any coaches, it wasn't that serious), but when holding it by hand nothing with regard to power ramping happened. As you know, the L-motor is a rather high-torque motor. Nevertheless, it becomes much more interesting when using speed (rpm) control. Best, Thorsten

I am using Legoino (Author Cornelius Munz on Github) on an ESP32 Dev kit1. I can also provide some code that works. However, as said, you need such an ESP32 as well as the Arduino or the like IDE to program the device. The hub's firmware remains as it is. I am pretty sure PyBricks works as well, @Lok24 is one of the experts here on EB. No clue whether TLG has fixed their PoweredUp app in this regard - chances are they did, but I am again not sure. If they did not, the app will crash after some arbitrary time when using the SetSpeed code block with tacho motors (88008), at least this is what happened before. Best, Thorsten

@Mondo-TRON, in addition to what @kbalage said - and simply because I like to stress that as it IS one of the most advantageous PoweredUp features - it is not only the torque and terminal speed (expressed as no-load rpm's): The thing for me when using #88008 and #88013 (others will work as well, but >not< the PUp train motor) in combination with a smart hub, 2port City or 4port Technic hub, is the SetSpeed programming feature. I know that I am annoying as I wrote this over and over again, I just want to make sure. Just trash this post ... The SetSpeed command has essentially 2 relevant parameters: Speed (desired = regulated speed), and max. power to be used to maintain that speed. For trains, I usually use whatever speed and 100% max power. The latter is critical only, when your build cannot withstand max. power of the motor. In addition, you can set acceleration and deceleration profiles, which essentially is a time interval as variable to reach desired speed from the initial speed value. To start a train, I set the acc profile to 10 sec (for 0 speed (stop) to desired speed; scale is always 100, so let's say 40 is full speed. Then I issue the SetSpeed = 40 command and nothing more is to be done: The train will very smoothly start a follow that profile, always with regulated speed. No issues with initial additional friction, no speed changes in R40 curves, as the hub regulates the power fed to the motor. This has its limitations as well, of course: When either friction is too high or slopes are too steep, the regulation cannot work, as the power delivered by the hub to the motor simply maxes out. It really works nicely. I tried to illustrate that here; others have done similar things: Best regards, Thorsten

Ooops missed that - very nice!!! And now you don't only have improved torque as compared to the train motor, you can use that reserve to have constant speed regulation - and it will soo nicely at very low speeds! Wonderful! Best, Thorsten

Just out of curiosity (I won't buy this set): There is no chance to get a PoweredUp 88008 medium linear motor (brick-built integration) nor a PUp 88013 L motor somehow into the boiler, correct? If it were, then smooth speed control (same speed on curves as on straights) would be possible. Provided the torque is high enough, but even 88008 has some power reserves. I would not even hesitate to put a sticker in the color of the boiler onto exposed surfaces of the PUp motor ... Best, Thorsten

That is a very nice move, and I like that attitude very much! However, TLG does produce its bricks and plates in: Denmark (OK, that is a country treating their workers well - the country in general that is), Hungary - the country in Europe led by Victor Orban - just google him as well as the pay situation in that country, Mexico (no further comment), and ... China (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego). Of course. I guess the reason is: https://www.economist.com/china/2023/05/04/lego-the-worlds-top-toymaker-focuses-on-china I don't consider Hungary, Mexico, and China as high-cost countries, labor-wise, but what do I know. Well, Varta. They produce in Germany, Romania, and Indonesia. Philips produces shavers in the Netherlands and in China. Wikipedia tells you where. I guess in a global economy, for a globally operating enterprise (mass production), there is no way to not produce in low labor cost countries. And I have no clue, how the folks molding the TLG's ABS bricks are treated and paid. On the other hand: There must be a reason for such a globally operating multi-billion company to relocate mass production to these particular countries. Best, Thorsten

What really kills the set for me: The lazy way of attaching the side and connecting rods, using these "pins" in whatever color they are; tan? Who cares. And that microphone in color X. Yes I know, you can 3D print them, you can buy them from wonderful people here on EB, but honestly: They simply kill the looks of the engine. For me, this set "is" the carriages; the engine seems to be an add-on, which really got on the nerves of the designers. And with X-Mas on the horizon: Screw the motorization; with these fantastic plastic axles, it won't work anyway - so box'em up and crank'em out. So, good savings here - on to other avenues. And with regard to the microphone - OK, I can see that: Best, Thorsten

Oh, I can sooo see that! I purchased the BB BR89 from them a year or two ago - was a very nice build! Did motorize her (PUp stuff). I did replace a few bricks with TLG elements (upon motorizing it). Did change the design here and there a bit - zero problems. When you "just" want it as a display model, I bet you'll have a lot of fun! And with your experience you can even make it better than it is now. All the best, Thorsten

Well, I'd call that bad luck. It of course depends on the manufacturer of the set you got/bought - I simply had and continue to have other experiences, particularly lately. With regard to the criteria you are listing: Clutch power: My Flying Dutchman (MK) will never fall apart, I bet. Durability? Test are still running, but I believe that the ABS formulations MK, CADA, Cobi use, will last as long as TLG's. Child-friendliness: I am 61 years old, and I am using the little tool to get things apart again, because of the stronger clutch power. I guess it is all individual experience, taste and purpose. With regard to the minifigs: Patent expired, but the 3D trademark is protecting it; as I said, a no-go for me. Same thing with blunt copies of LEGO sets. Best, Thorsten

Been there for quite some time Not that I abandoned TLG's ship - no way, but there is absolutely no reason not to hop back and forth - particularly when wanting to surf the really cool swell. No minifig 3D whatever issue, just the plain vanilla bricks and plates - in really cool colors. And the design is purely Pantasy ... as far as I can tell. Best wishes, Thorsten

Holy moly - I instantaneously ordered this set: https://www.bluebrixx.com/de/city/107450/PSY-85007-Steampunk-Bahnhof-Pantasy from BlueBrixx ... because I saw this review (in German, sorry, but this guy is really doing a good job): I very rarely do this - the Financial Department is always concerned about: Where do you want to put this? You have already "everything" ... OK, and then she said: Since you turned three years old, you played with LEGO. And now, at age 61+ this copycat stuff??? Oh well, here we go again: Patents, lifetime of, and so on and so forth ... Folks, look at this beauty! This is insanely nice. BB was asking for €139 - you can get this set for €110, but I love the BB stores, the people running the place, etc. My university is located in Wuppertal. This city has one of the rare, daily operating suspension monorails: https://schwebebahn.de/en, simply connecting people and locations. I always wanted to build one myself. Then there was this (unfortunately failed) IDEAS entry (don't worry, these guys make changes to the design, looked for alternative brick sources and - done). And I truly love Steampunk. And now this ... €139. I can't believe this. Package arrives tomorrow - goes straight into the "secret" basement - and hopefully reappears on December 24th, in a very small town in Northern Germany (a 500 km drive), after a mysterious - and loud! - knock on one of the windows of the living room (that may have been Santa, as it was like that the last 6 decades). Who knows ... A suspension monorail propelled by a steam locomotive ... a punky one. No, it does not get any better All the best, Thorsten

Well I must admit that I am far less concerned about correct paging and stuff - on a document I can use "search" functions, but that is just me. A printed version of course needs all these alignments! I simply love your compilation - it is a must for me to download every update you are announcing. Fantastic work - and I bet it eats up a lot of your free time. And hopefully is as satisfactory as it appears to be (to me)! My question is: TLG's Technic Control (TC) branch did not only run within their Dacta program, but some sets were also sold as Technic additions; e.g. #9750 (Interface A) and #9771 (ISA card for IBM's and compatibles). I believe these are valuable Technic sets as well (1986/7) and represent the first attempts of TLG aiming at "computer control". @evank knows so much more about this; maybe he can comment. All the best - and thank you very much again for compiling these Technic sets! Best regards, Thorsten

Oh - this is really nice ... I love that fireplace (along with the tree - looking so much forward to Christmas!) - and of course the 5 clocks!!! This must be some central station operating on multiple time zones All the best, Thorsten

Wow, that IS really cool! Every time I watch the "video" I love the "sort of stop motion" moves of that thing - but you captured the appearance very well! Thank you very much for sharing! All the best, Thorsten

Uhmm - pulling out some boxes, looking for "debris", minor damage to the boxes, looking for little animals running around, I mean, the usual stuff, isn't it? I mean, it appears as if you like your LEGO boxes very much, as you are very concerned about their fate - I guess checking in on their condition is the least you can do, isn't it? Best, Thorsten

As others have said: Roaches and company like to eat the cardboard boxes. Cardboard contains fibers and other nutrients, these individuals like to digest (in case there is no other food available. This is also called biodegradation ...). They also like cardboard boxes as housing. But before you get nervous, there should be some activity around your storage rooms; one roach cannot digest 50+ boxes. So just check from time to time. Best, Thorsten