Toastie

I absolutely agree here. This is how it should work everywhere else, but usually people are too faint-hearted to take that step. Second: I also truly believe that builders can mutually learn from each other. For me this is a bit like Industrial Design, where the design is integral part of the mechanism/machine, and not a cover or hood. And to be honest, there are many and powerful non-technic design pieces/elements. Also, I find the ample "studs vs. no studs" discussions of high philosophical value for sure, but in the real world, such a discussion would hardly live long ... Best Thorsten

Oh come on! This was not the reason! It was "not" released because of a dozen of folks protesting in Germany! Hee hee. Nice one! Well I may be wrong here, but I believe these are the reasons that they don't make internal combustion engines from ABS anymore. They switched to metal some years ago. Same with breaks and axles and differentials and so on. Best Thorsten

Very nice! In case of "too much cable in your way" - but you don't want to hack the PF receiver cable directly - you can also make that "UltraViolet +9V/C2 and C1/GND connection" very close to the light gray PF terminal, cut the wires right there and stack the dark gray PF connector of the receiver directly onto the light gray connector on the battery box. And you have a dark gray connector to play with (That's what I did with a good number of these PF extension cables ) (Just make sure that you don't turn around that light gray PF connector on the 9V battery box. There is some diode protection in the receiver, but that's it, as far as I remember. Others here may know better.) Best, Thorsten

Not exactly 1) For powering a PF receiver, you connect +9V of the battery to the 9V PF wire (in reference to the above link: The rightmost PF wire), - of the 9V battery to GND (the left most PF wire) and leave the C1/C2 lines open. 2) If you want to power a PF motor off an 9V battery, then you connect +9V / -9V battery terminals to C1 and C2. However, in this case make sure that the motor is spinning in the right direction. If not, reverse C1/C2. @dr_spock (and myself) is using DuPont connectors to do the C1/C2 line switch by just turning one DuPont connector around, see his post above. 3) You can connect - as @UltraViolet has shown, "battery +9V" to PF 9V and C2, and "battery -9V" to PF GND and C1. In this case though the spinning direction of a PF motor is fixed. There is no harm to either PF motor or PF receiver, as in the receiver, the power input C1/C2 lines are not connected internally; on a PF motor, the 9V and GND lines are not connected internally. Be careful though with the power feed to a PF receiver though. That one needs "battery +9V" on the PF 9V wire, and "battery -9V" on the PF GND wire. No switching here! What do you want to run off the battery? A PF motor or a PF receiver? Best Thorsten

@1963maniac is that your cable you have or do you want to make your own? In any case the two PF outer leads (of the four) are the +/- leads you need to connect to the 9V battery clip. On that one the larger connector is + (usually connected to a red wire), the smaller one is - (maybe with a black wire). Here is one (of many) good tutorials how to do the PF wiring: https://scuttlebots.com/2014/03/02/lego-pf-hacking-wiring/ Best Thorsten

Hee hee ... there is something else though, isn't it? The - not to be mentioned folks here on EB - are closing in. Phew, nostalgia is not only part of the game, but apparently pivotal to it. The moment, a concept of "assembling pieces", clutch power as a property, diversity of elements as an apparent means of power ... is simply vanishing, the ingenuity of "vision" is coming into focus. Going with what is available now, to alleviate the boring moments, is one way to tackle this situation. Being creative without using ever diverse -1 x -1 pieces (i.e., relying a bit on Nostalgia) is another. When "crowds" are going nuts, you better be not in their way. Whatever these crowds are. Best Thorsten

To please all: As many stickers as possible. From Danish to Mandalorian. However, that would not be along the philosophical line of building the typewriter of ... HIM. No way, I'd say: Boldly printed Danish type layout. Anything else would be close to blasphemy Best Thorsten

Wow. That set - with some special prints - can then easily be sold for >any< amount of money, right? Best Thorsten

Could also be the path from the beer supply on the left via the dancing/music stage (center) to the toilet (top) and then back with a left turn (from the toilets) to the cocktail bar - in the Mos Eisley Cantina. ... and ... Best Thorsten

That were terrible times ... but nevertheless: TLG was the big dominating brick enterprise, also back then. Competition of "Clones" was - well - laughable, compared to what is happening now, or better: Since a couple of years - and - with ever-increasing pressure - as gauged by this >absurd< legal crap TLG is pushing. Man. That stage is generally a sign of panic. In the big business. The moment a company reverts >visibly< to suing, "things" are declining. At least this holds true where I am working; let's call that in the research world. We do get substantial research money from companies though: They expect to see results. Certainly no lamenting, arguing or suing. >Results<. Something is weird: In the 2000nds - without all that rising pressure - TLG was basically beating the horse to death. And they came to grips because of realizing that. And changed all that in due time. To be quite honest, I believe there are again many, many disconnects up in command. Things do change with ever-increasing speed. TLG "leaders" hopefully realize rather sooner than later that IDEAS, the way it "was" set up (in the past), worked well "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ..." but that approach may become totally obsolete - within no time. Folks here on EB are excited that 50+ proposals were reaching the threshold. What does that tell you? Creativity is wonderful. What does that do with the philosophy of IDEAS? With all that Fuzz planned? It crushes the idea. Branch out to BL? What? To BL? Well. In the big picture that is. Not with regard to IDEAS fans and folks. IDEAS is - well - negligible, as judged in the sales department. I believe, but what do I know. However, IDEAS also represents a philosophy, I believe. That is - as per your post above - seeping through the entire "encapsulated" TLG world. Again: What do I know. Just my two cents - and no offense! All the best Thorsten

@Jim, @Coder Shah IMHO, this entire thread should be moved to the Mindstorms and Robotics forum, don't you think? Best Thorsten

(I know) But thanks @Ngoc Nguyen for clarifying here - I believe this is really important. I don't like big ones hiding behind (or better: use) other folks. The story was discussed up and down here and elsewhere. But @DrJB raised this question (totally understandable) and this needs a clear response. Thanks and all the best Thorsten

None-what-so-ever! Honestly, this argument must be a joke. TLG can crank out >every< piece they want or see fit. As they do continuously. Just go e.g. to the Technic line. I mean, when the parts used there are not demanding in making, baseplates are? Really? And if the baseplate-making-technology is not available anymore ... it is gone into oblivion? Really? Sorry. This is a very simple and straight forward business decision. Come on folks. It is the year 2021 - and counting. Best Thorsten

Which is in my take completely off the rails: Either cancel due to serious issues or leave it. Usually, TLG is walking legally as an unleashed cyborg or mecha - but in this case a big fuzz was made due to a totally localized (Germany, Berlin) group of folks (I am pretty much in line with) knocking on the military issue. Honestly? Nobody thought about that over there at headquarters? Oh my. But: Never ever this was the case for cancelling this set in such an unprofessional way. And if never is not never ever: Well, then TLG needs to ratch it up a bit decision-wise, because there is much more on the horizon as this whiff of protest. Best Thorsten

No chance to MOC one? Best Thorsten

Yes, that is true. But I believe you also agree on: The golden age of trains was the rise of 12V "via" 4.5V. Passion, creativity, diversity to the extreme. Nothing today compares to what was available then. Nothing at all. I also believe, a company simply cannot hold up that impetus when the fan base (the mothers and dads buying that comparably expensive stuff, because they dream of it as well but also have a job) "phase out". Same with model railroaders, I believe (OK: Bash me). Difference is: "TLG covers all" other than - and so unbelievable more in volume - trains. "Trains" belong/need by definition to/a "system" (4.5V/12V/9V). Currently, there is no such system: There is straight and sharp curved track - along with flex pieces and switches. Which have been around forever, shape-wise. This is hardly a system. But nevertheless, I believe that TLG is frying other fish. And most probably has to. The 2I/O hub propelling a train does a very good job. It also propels the BatMobile. That is fine, and saves a lot of money, but it will always be a compromise. And yes, I know: It maybe has to be that way. Due to reasons we all know. Big Companies need Big Bucks. No surprise at all. For me, the Crocodile is a "model". Yes, it can be equipped with a motor. But negotiating the LEGO curves ... needs some additional skills. Because the current Croc app cannot do that for you. Yes, they still make trains. But that's mostly it. And there may well be a reason for that - has certainly nothing to do with influencers or even hate. Zero. Maybe with reality. Best wishes, Thorsten

That makes sense!

Folks, would it be of interest for you to create a thread on "polymers used for TLG pieces"? Sort of a high level thread - as many >may< be interested. I for myself would certainly be. Best Thorsten P.S.: I don't even have a remote idea of what "vacuum formed" means.

I do have one - yes they are certainly not plain vanilla ABS. However, they are also not plain vanilla PC. Way too soft!!!

Ahh! Thank you, appreciate that info! Is it really non-moulded? @1974 I believe you may know for sure: Are these plates made from ABS and what is the process of making them, other than moulding? Phew. Sorry for interrogating. But the more we know in the public domain, the less important become speculations - but more so knowledge. Just to clarify: I see EB as a central access point of knowledge. Best Thorsten

Enlighten me (too many threads to focus on here :) - what are the baseplates made of? Best Thorsten

Phew. I'd rather be very careful using a name - and as we have this nice tool: @Jim - together with "I thought", "supported and permitted", and "even to the point that they are better". I sure assume that everything after "I thought" is exactly that: Your very personal view. Yes, we can now get out the big guns and cite all over the place who has said what and when. Yes, mods have some responsibility. But this forum is hopefully still in the public domain and not in TLG heaven (or I am out the moment I learn it is): Mods may very well have a "take", particularly when they have a point. PUp is definitely nice. CADA electronic crap is in many regards - I am sorry - better. Over and out. As it is with BuWizz and ZipZap. Why? Because the BuWizz folks can still steer, react, and change on a short call. Regarding BuWizz, there is ample of in depth discussions, questions, replies, responses in the Technic forum; the designers are not nailed to whatever to suffer in TLG hell because - they - well - don't clone bricks - other than their nobs on the brick. Fine with me! With regard to TLGs PUp: There is an outdated PDF on GitHub with a good amount of spelling errors. It just does not work anymore this way. I really agree (again) with you Ole on this. As far as I am concerned, there needs to be a clarification on this. And not the "in the Train forum they make TLG better" by all these custom parts but when it comes to improved electronics by a Chinese(?) company, who also clones things as if there were no tomorrow, it is blasphemy. These rules need to be sharpened, I totally agree. This will become a very delicate line though. As it is/was with the acquisition of BL by TLG. And then the rules need to be applied with the equivalent of a sledgehammer; otherwise things may derail even faster than remotely anticipated. Totally just my view. Nothing else. Best Thorsten

Well, Ole, in principle you are entirely right, and I am totally with you. However, (how else could it be ...) I like to take a different approach - and very, very carefully doing so, please don't get me wrong. OK. Just pretend that I am in love with TLG/LEGO's since my brain can differentiate a 2x4 brick from a ... plate: I am. Then, just pretend that I would like to see TLG as the one and only manufacturer of plastic bricks attaching to each other: I really do. And then there is reality - hitting hard. With all reality has at its hands. The thing in such a reality - that is very dangerous - solely in my perception(!) - is to close your eyes - and pretend that this reality is not "happening", or not real. In other words: Don't talk about it here, on EB. There are two principal routes: Live within the world of TLG. Or: Accept that there are other worlds in reality as well. Not to simply go there and dissolve, but to go there and discuss. Understand. And the main impetus is: Hopefully TLG is reading/recognizing these - feelings and observations - to hopefully >gain< something. To become even better, as they are now. Too many times in history, promoted by >not< looking at things that are evolving, regardless of being (in many regards) right or wrong (patents do run out, and simply turn into prey), companies drowned into oblivion. Yes, TLG is strong. So were many others. I for myself just hope that these discussions on "crap" do strengthen TLG. All the best Thorsten

Who knows ... when someone would have told me 35 years ago, that I will resurrect a computer from that year in 2020, to control a 4.5V train fitted with PF gear via RF communication with the help of a LEGO NXT PBrick, I most probably would have thought: This human must have materialized from some parallel universe living decades ahead. Well, it is 2021, I am >that< close. With IR it works already - with RF needs some more fiddling. Will report on progress here on EB - the way back, current and back to the future forum! Never say never doubt ... Best Thorsten

Yes. When you qualify (ha! - that's one of the rare occasions were +age is a qualifier for something: Covid-19 vaccinations, free bus rides, and an EB Older Than Dirt tag ), apply here: Best Thorsten