DarkShadow73

Hi Thorsten - Yeah sounds like a lot of work and expense. I'm not really great at modifications unless they are spelled out clearly in instruction form, have lots of pneumatic parts, but nothing like what you are talking about, sounds more like specialized parts...guess I'll just deal with the stock build and re-raise the booms on those 2 models. I actually considered trying some kind of prop, like those flexible hoses used in some sets to block up the cylinders, may help, just have to get the right lengths cut. Thanks, Eric

Just odd that they used to re-release sets all the time, but in the past several years they haven't done that for some of the eclectic sets.

Hi - I found a good deal for a 8462 Tow Truck from late 90's, not far from where I live so no shipping. I know its rather an odd looking beast, at least the cab anyway. Since this site is the main source for ideas, I need some feedback on rather its worth the $190 USD the seller is asking. Thoughts? Thanks, Eric

Sort of looking for Technic re-releases though. Technic and some Racers cars (namely 8649 Nitro Menace) and are what I was looking for mainly.

Thought about that, but not quite sure how to implement them.

Hi again- I am wondering what the owners, and I'm sure there are a lot of them on this forum, that have the 8421 Crane use to keep the boom up when extended. The 2 cylinders just don't seem to have the power to keep the boom up and in the morning the boom has crashed down. It drives me nuts and nothing seems to work to keep the boom up for a length of time, like say many hours. I have tried about everything I can think of, I've checked to make sure all the hoses, valves and cylinder openings(for the air) are very tight, but apparently they still leak some air overnight, same thing goes for the 8455 Loader, you can't keep the backhoe digger on the rear straight up, it just sinks slowly. Any ideas? Thanks, Eric

I can recall a day, and its been a while now, that TLG used to re-release very popular sets again and again, e.g.: 8459 Front Loader, 8460 Pneumatic Crane Truck. I was reading a topic on the 8043 possibly being discontinued, and after well over 2 years on the market, I would expect that to happen in the not so far future, and that made me think, what about other very popular sets, such as the 8421 Crane and 8455 Backhoe Loader. We had 2 re-releases of the first 2 sets at the top of this topic, all within a couple years of each other, but nothing since then. If you think about it for a second, somebody has an 8455 Backhoe or the others listed on BL or Amazon, and all of a sudden TLG re-releases that same set for much, much less, it would cause a huge flurry and probably cause all AFOLs to clean their stock out very quickly, but it sure would be a moneymaker for TLG. I recall when they released the 8459 Loader for $82 USD, then when they re-released it in 2001, it was only $70 USD. I was in my dark ages in the late 90's, but that plus the 8448 Supercar intrigued me and I picked up both, geez I even picked up 2 more 8455s in late 2005 for $110 and $115 each from BL, now look at what they are being sold for. Even the 8285 Tow Truck or 8275 Bulldozer would sell very, very fast. Even some of the smaller sets like the 8248 Forklift and 8428 Supercar (excellent futuristic design) would be a definite buy from me anyway. Just wondering from other more experienced and knowledgable EB Technic members if anything was in the works or even suggested? Eric

@rumpletump - got it, yeah I was looking at Amazon Marketplace. After I replied to your post I got to thinking and did see BL had them less expensive. Thanks buddy.

@rumpletump: Curious, what do you mean a nice surpirse on BL? @DLuders: I know, that's what stopped my before I bought it because the MSRP in '99 was only $40, seems like $195 was a lot, but really just wanted to know if you all thought it worth it 13 yrs after it was released...thanks for the pics @nychase - just PM me if you want to strike up a deal...thanks. @Blakbird- Thanks for the pics on your site, you've got quite the collection of racers, awesome. I think I might just try to locate the pics, I did a BL inventory on it last night and there were some parts that looked very original, but I'm betting someone at BL might have some, probably have to buy from many stores to make the parts list I need. I do have some of them in my spare parts, but not the flexible hose or or yellow flex axles, it looks kind of like a 'poor man's' 8448 which was released in 1999 too.

I'm thinking of buying an 8445 Indy Storm race car from 1999. I can't really find large pics of this model, but I am wondering is it worth buying? The seller is asking $195.00 for it. Obviously with long since retired models and the old Technic studded and plate design it is worth a lot more than MSRP of $40 in '99 that I picked up off of Brickset. It does look cool and I'm into race cars, but just wanted to know the forum's thoughts before I pull out the cash... Thanks, and all comments, good or bad, are appreciated.

@Jetro- yeah I could but it seem to have a lot of different lengths of tubing so assumed it would be a real pain to take apart and rebuild. I dismantled my 8455 Backhoe Loader once and that was a lot of fun...

I would, but with the tons of pneumatic connections, it could be a chore to take apart and rebuild, but in the end I'll probably build the alternate, see if its cool, then if not build the main, too bad I couldn't get 2 of them, but being a vintage model and MISB, it was rather pricey...

Very nice looking model, I've always been a fan of JCB designed loaders, telehandlers and backhoes. The JCB 214XL (I believe that's the right real-life backhoe model) is one of my favorites in terms of design, sleekness and overall attitude. A construction company owned a vacant 5-acre parcel of land behind my condo complex before they sold it about 6 years ago and it was developed and they always parked their JCB Backhoe, dozer, front loader and telehandler in front of a huge pole barn and I could see them clearly once the de-leafing begins, well about now, on the trees and all winter. I often used to wander over and admire the equipment. They caught me once doing so on a weekend, and of course once I mentioned to them I was a huge fan of construction machines, specifically JCB models, they were taken aback and knew I wasn't there trying to steal the machines (though I did ask if I could drive the backhoe around and play with the controls)...

Sorry to all, probably shouldn't have replied directly to Lost_In_Noise's pictorial review since it contains a lot of images...not sure if or how I can delete the entire reply to his pictorial review topic. Pardon my ignorance and anybody with moderation status can move or delete it if necessary due to space constraints of all the images, but here is my reply to this model: This topic was from last August by Lost_In_Noise: I recently bought this set MISB and I am wondering what your thoughts are on the alternate model? Or as I am fairly sure many others in this forum own this set as well, is the main or alternate model better? I rather like the looks of the alternate, but really bought it for the main model... Thoughts? Thanks.

This topic was from last August by Lost_In_Noise: I recently bought this set MISB and I am wondering what your thoughts are on the alternate model? Or as I am fairly sure many others in this forum own this set as well, is the main or alternate model better? I rather like the looks of the alternate, but really bought it for the main model... Thoughts? Thanks.

It is a quirky model, but a beautiful one if taken slow and following every step carefully, I had problems with my turntable and tracking too, but I got a lot of helpful replies here in the forum and it works flawlessly now. Definitely buy the parts to do the ultimate model, it is very well worth it, having to change gears between the boom functions and moving/turning functions is a royal pain. Luckily I had everything I needed from my vast spare parts collection. The smaller bucket size too makes it look more realistic, Lego really shouldn't have put the standard huge loader bucket on an excavator. I don't recall if the ultimate version gave you tips on the 'sagging butt' because of the weight of the battery box and 4 m-motors weighing down the rear end, but the 'lift' mod on the crossmembers in front of the 8043 are well worth and require very few parts. Also make absolute sure you have the set with the updated linear actuators, I believe from what I have read, I wrote it down in my spare instructions box about the numbering on the newer more lubed and better functioning LA's, I think if I recall it says 36x0 or something to that effect on the LA's itself, not on the outer plastic wrap they are in, the updated LA's have a new Lego part no on the package they come in too, but I'd have to go out to my garage and check as I saved a few extra when I built the alternate tracked loader model, I just used the older LA's on that and it works great and really is the best alternate model I've ever built, the functionality is really cool and its fast moving too. I'm going to try and remove the bucket and somehow modify it to be a bulldozer instead of a loader, but haven't worked out the plans yet. As far as sorting your parts in a small place to build, I bought some fabric covered craft bins with sorters from Bed Bath and Beyond, a chain in my city that sells, well, just like the name of the store. They are perfect and allow you to sort parts before the build. They came in 2 different sizes, a larger one which I use for less piece count sets and a bit smaller ones with a large compartment and 3 smaller open sorters and use 2 of them for the larger sets. I never sort by color alone, but everybody has different ideas on how they sort parts, I put gears, racks(for steering and such) and engine parts in one bin, pins in another, axles in another, liftarms and plates in another, smaller parts like lights, etc in another, and connecting pieces like axle joiners, etc in another. Takes a bit of time to open the poly bags and sort out all the parts, but its well worth it rather than trying to 'find a needle in a haystack' for smaller parts. Eric

Hi Tom - it is a lot of fun doing one section at a time, I do that too just to see the wonders of a huge Technic set like the 8043, I enjoyed this with the 8285 Tow Truck, the 8421 Mobile Crane and the 8258 Crane Truck. I always went slow too, I think half the fun of Lego Technic is the build process. Eric

That's kind of my same attitude on the 9398 Crawler, too many different colors, the truck bed and rear fenders in white? They should have stuck to 1 or 2 color schemes, plan on modifying mine with a black bed and fenders from spare parts I have on hand...also it should have had a rear bumper of some sort with the 3 different trans-clear red, orange and clear 1x1 round lights instead of just 2 trans-clear 1x1 round red lights stuck in the holes in the tailgate...just my 2 cents worth...

I bought 2 9393's just for the buggy alternate model, it is much cooler looking than the tractor IMO, Lego has produced just too many tractors in the past several years (8063 which is nearly identical except has an ugly green paneled trailer to the 8284 Tractor, which while cool at first, the back blades never worked right, the gears would pop apart from each other while it was 'mowing' and many smaller 'b' model tractors)plus I really like the color lime even if it just has a couple of panels, I have 3 8649 Nitro Menaces, each with different color wheels and spoilers I painted in black, crimson red and midnight blue(big fan of the Fast and Furious movie franchise). I have 2 of the 8048 Buggies as well and 2 of the 9392 Quad Bikes (for the 'b' model buggy which I have modified with the front bar that is on the 8048 and heavy duty 2x2" round clear plate w/ studs on back for lighting, installed the lighting on the roof of both of the 9392 and 9393. Also bought 2 of the 8262 Quad Bikes (again for the buggy alternate model, I'm not into Quad Bikes) and modified both of them with roof lighting and a missing seat in the 8262. ALong with the 8454 Rescue Truck's 'b' models buggies, I have quite the collection of buggies, big and small. They sit by the monster 8428 Concept Car, which is rather like a buggy too. So got a whole table of just buggies lined for the dune rides... It hasn't made it to Norway yet? It was available in July here in the USA. Have you seen the other 2H models like the 9396 Helicopter or the 9398 Crawler yet? Man, if I hadn't built 2 of them, I'd send one to you...

Got you two beat by about 12 years, but like most pre-teen and teens, Lego kind of took a backseat to girls and sports. Was into it a lot as a youngster, my brother and I beat the crap out of my Legos, then I got back into briefly in 1996 with the Exploriens space series (best one after Classic Space, IMO anyway), then got rid of it all, biggest mistake I ever made, its worth a lot nowadays. About 1999 I just happened to get a catalog from Lego S@H and saw the King, the 8448 Supercar. Had to have it and was not disappointed one bit, it is a true classic and rivals the 8880 Black Supercar in many ways, at least I think so. Recently sold it just for shipping to another BL'er, it left my hands after 12 years but went another good home with a guy who would take take great care of it, maybe bring to even higher life than it was stock out of the box. Haven't heard from that guy, Camaro 365, in a long time, but I am sure right now it is hopped up in some way. Anyway, got the 8464 Pneumatic Front End Loader in 2001, didn't take very good care of it at all, let it sit in the sun, parts cracked, faded, hoses got brittle, basically it is trash now, but I learned a good lesson when I finally came out of the Dark Ages never to return, treat your coveted models well and they will last you a lifetime, maybe even teach our kids what we had as a kid. Most might say, blah, there's better out there. Its kind of like buying an original Playstation in 1995 and then buying a PS3 or Xbox 360, and looking at the PS1's games and subpar graphics compared to the PS3's are many years later, one would say, that sucks...well when the PS1 came out in 1995 it was the latest, greatest system and had the best graphics out there, at the time. Funny thing is though, I own all the newer Technic sets, but now I am going retro, paying some, and getting the older sets out there. Picked up a used, but looks like new 8837 Pneumatic Excavator last week, an often ridiculed but really futuristic looking crane truck, #8446 the week before, then the 8853 this week, used but the seller on Bricklink said it is just dusty, but parts are in perfect condition. Trying to get some of the age old, vintage models that came out while I was in high school and college (guess I'm getting to be vintage then too, eh?)

Ah hello Blakbird - saw you were looking at my post and being such a huge Technic fan and MOC'er I thought you might know so I stayed on the topic. Thanks for clearing it up for me, I appreciate the animation. I just deleted the animation link, I know the drill about replying to a topic and including jpg images or animations.

I order some Lego through Bricklink at a store I trust and I found an item through the same seller (MISB) I have wanted for quite some time, the 8853 Front Loader(Excavator) from 1988. What I am wondering with the main model is the bucket tilt. I see there are 2 wheels on top of the back portion and 1 wheel on the very back of the model, also there is the usual, or what looks like the HOG turning system via the 2x2" trans-yellow brick on the top of the cab. I know it operates just the rear wheels, which is strange since most front loaders are articulated in the center via a gear that connects the front and back sections. I found many pdf files of instructions for this model but since these older models utilize many bricks within one step I can't tell if there is gearing going to the bucket tilt. The hingepoint in this model is whether one of those rear wheels operates bucket tilt. I can tell one controls the raise/lower of the bucket, but I don't want a setup like on the small 8453 Front Loader where you have to tilt the bucket by hand mainly because of the high cost due to its age. I'm sure many of you might own this set, so could you fill me in on this detail. Thanks, Eric

The sale is over actually, a bit misleading about going through Tuesday. I was in awe looking at the Labor Day pricing, but today all prices are back to their usual price, with the hi-jacking of marked up prices on most models, funny the Excavator and Crawler are MSRP of S@H, the rest are about 15-20% higher than S@H, usual TRU markups. Maybe if they kept their prices at MSRP they might have a better and longer lasting Technic collection all the time, instead of normally only at the twice a year releases, never even saw the 9397 Log Truck or the Unimog(8110) in stores and I live in a large metro area with 3 TRU's nearby, either that or Technic isn't very popular in the midwest US. Usually at Christmas when the first half models of the year come in and when the 2nd batch are released in mid-summer they are all there, including not so new models, then once they start selling out slowly, you hardly see nothing except the very small Technic models until the next release. I know Lego markets mainly to young children, Technic seems to be an adult only thing, thus the stores themselves rarely have much on the shelf after a few weeks of release and don't restock. Occasionally you see a surprise in between, like the 8070 Supercar coming back to all 3 in my area this summer for a time and a few Excavators too. Funny, that one has had a long, long run, over 2 years now... They don't market in Mexico? I am really surprised to hear that...

My bad Allan, Alasdair responds to my posts a lot and I was pretty tired bug-eyed when I replied... Tried olive oil couple years ago...most of my setup is in an insulated garage, but it still tends to get rather cold in there come mid-fall through mid-spring, besides the times I'm actually out there and then I run propane and electric heat, but the olive oil congealed into clumps...would be nice if I had room inside but I've got 10 30"x30" card tables on each side of the garage and that definitely wouldn't fit inside well...mineral oil always worked well on my LA's, but like was said by Allan it could degrade seals, good thing was on the LA rams it stayed 'liquified' during the winters, thus smooth operation...I suppose once I get to cleaning the pneumatic rams in question with the steel wool it might eliminate catching or creaky operation...

Thanks guys, I never thought of steel wool...that's a good idea Alasdair, I know it comes in many grades, like 0 to 0000, I'll pretty try to find the finest 0000 grade. I don't necessarily want to make them shine like brand new, this particular release of the model I have had since 2001, I just want them to move more freely and jerky or creaky. I think the corrosion on them over time just put imperfections or outcroppings on the rams. And yes, I sure don't want any foreign material going into the cylinder itself, these things are hard to find nowadays, I used to be able to buy a set of them from Lego Education US, but they have changed their lineup of pneumatic parts into kits now with only a couple of each item for an insane price and insane shipping cost, even Ground. Alasdair - when you speak of silicone based lubricant, what exactly do you mean? I have silicone lube aerosol, but I know some of these types of sprays from what I recall from past posts can hurt ABS plastic. I know you are in the UK, and I'm in the US, so not sure of what to buy that would be safe. Somebody mentioned mineral oil for LA rams at one time a while ago, think it was after the disastrous release of the 8043 and the LA's having issues and all the recalls and the ones who already had bought them had to wait for the upgraded, lubed LA's. I have had no issues with mineral oil on LA's, I routinely use it just to keep them from corrosion I am talking of here and they also move smooth as silk after sitting a long time. Usually have to wipe off a bit of dust or the occasional spider-webbie but that's about it. But I'm not sure if this is safe for the inside of the pneumatic cylinders when the rams are retracted? Thank you for your input, Eric