DarkShadow73

Don't quite agree on that front, I think the 8448 Super Street Sensation was about as close in terms of a real Lego design you could get to a supercar, real working engine, independent suspension, Ferrari type opening doors, incredible gearbox and the look that can't be beat. The 8070 as one mentioned above is a poor excuse for a Supercar, it was more of a 'supercar' but not in the real sense because all it had going for it was PF. Just my opinion... I know most all consider the 8880 a true supercar, but it was from an era of just studded bricks and such, rather ugly IMO, the 8448 was sleek with a combination of studded bricks and plates used on the chassis since it was produced in 1999, but the outside framework hid all of that with fairings, flexible axles, etc. I did buy 5 8070's back in the day on deals but I always assemble 1 of each, saving the rest for resale down the line as most do that are sellers...but I was rather disappointed with the outcome of the car and the back is just ugly with the PF battery box totally visible. At least with most PF models the battery box is hidden like the 8043 and many other models. Construction models I think it is ok to be visible, but not on a supercar...

@DLuders - I tried all the pdfs, same result, it cut off the bottom of the page and I did a shrink to fit, always came out the same. Usually never have a problem with Lego instruction pdfs, but a lot of major Lego websites link directly to Lego. Edit: I did mess around with my printer settings some more and it came out correctly. Btw, there was no indication of NA, but there was an IN for the 2nd option for the buggy. Thanks for your ideas.

Very nice system. I know the 8049 Log Loader had a similar compressor like system. Crappy model IMO, but the fact that it had a powered pneumatics was nice, too bad that was the last one produced by Lego that had that setup. Don't know why they would make a medium sized model with that feature, but not continue with it. One that really needed it was the Unimog and alternate model plow of that set.

Hi - I asked about this item a couple weeks ago. However, I can't seem to find a website, even Rebrickable, among many others, that allow you to print the pdf instructions without printing a partial page. For example, most sites link you back to lego.com and the pdf's on this item. When I go to print a page it cuts off the bottom of the page I'm printing, for example I try to print page 4 and there are 4 steps on that page, but it cuts off the 4th step, and I'm guessing if I printed the whole 84 pages it would end up in the middle of the printing that I would get cutoff in the middle of a page, then get the rest on the next page. Hope this makes sense. I know a lot of you build right in front of your pc, but I simply don't have the room to do this, so I need to be able to print instructions. However, I really want to print full pages, not having the last step cutoff, which like I said above will get worse and worse as I get more into the printing process. Anyway, I hope you guys might have a site that allows full page printing without cutting off part of a page. It may look right on the pdf file if you go page to page, but believe me when you actually print a page, it cuts off steps. I did find a website that allowed me to print page to page correctly but the resolution is extremely poor, almost to the point where you couldn't really tell where an axle or connector went, etc, it was a site called The Plastic Brick. Any help appreciated, thanks, Eric

@Blakbird - thanks for your reply. Actually I don't look at the dates a topic was created, I had thought it was a new topic but somehow it came back up from 2010 and interested me because of the sticker issue and the question I posed was how to safely remove the sticker residue, I will follow your idea, thank you.

@Blakbird- what do you mean its too old an topic to bump? I do see DLuders started this in 2010, but I don't pay attention to dates when the topic was started, I just asked a simple question. And I didn't even get a reply of how to safely remove the sticker residue. Is this a personal attack against me? Additionally, the 8043 was recently available, yes, but all the posts were mainly about printing their own sticker sheets, not necessarily waiting for Lego to get the sheet from overseas, it seems all parts, etc, come from their factory. You know more thing that irks me, I post a topic or ask a question and what do I get, 1 or 2 replies or none at all. Is this some kind of thing against me? Whereas others get a million replies. I enjoy this forum for information, ideas, etc, but it seems every time I post I get ignored or bashed, kind of like some kind of high school clique.

On one of my 8043 Excavators, I left it sitting on a desk with a window facing east behind it, but now that the angle of the sun in northern US started to turn and get hotter in the mornings as we get much more daylight now, I was messing with it a couple days ago and I found an unwelcome sight, the stickers facing the window had warped some and now won't stick anymore and I'm not sure how to safely remove the sticker residue without either discoloring the yellow...stupid move..unfortunately I have one of those $30 inkjet printers from Walmart that doesn't have the greatest print quality...wonder if Lego can send me another sticker sheet.

Wow, 119 parts. Hopefully I have them all, which I'm sure I do. Guess DLuders was right on his point of them being different after all.

I have noticed this on the helicopter as well, I only own 1 copy but it still looks odd if you get close to it. I have noticed more striking differences in reds like Blakbird alluded to, some are brighter than others. When I built an 8285 Tow Truck years ago I noticed this as the frame is almost all red underneath, but since most of the model is covered in black it wasn't a huge deal, you notice it more if you build the b model tractor/trailer. That's why I really love models with black parts, no differences in color shade, but most everything that has been released in the past few years has been yellow/red. On a different slant, I bought 2 copies of set 8053 Mobile Crane back in 2010 and built each model of the set. I had 2 1x13 yellow beams that had the end of each one without a full hole, just a 1/4 to 1/2 enclosure, almost like the mold didn't complete the last hole. At first I was pretty upset because I thought what good are these? Quality control, eh Lego? Luckily I looked ahead in the directions and figured out what more 1x13's I needed and was able to use them. I bought both sets from about 60 miles away and I sure didn't want another 120 mile round trip, plus I was skeptical that there may more sets that had that issue since I bought them the day the were released at TRU. To sellers though, even if you sell a set that is sealed, you have no idea if this would have been an issue until a buyer and this shouldn't be held against you since you don't know what's inside, and very occasionally there may be a part or two missing, this happened when I bought 3 8436 Trucks back in early 2005. It was short a couple dk grey perpendicular axle joiners with 2 pin holes for the grappler attachment. Luckily I had 4 of them in black so I substituted them instead, but still...

Thanks guys - I do have an extensive spare parts collection so finding the needed extra items shouldn't be hard. To DLuders - I don't see how you think both tractors are different, when I built the 8063 Tractor, really the only thing I found different was the coupling for the trailer in back. Other than that, just a few parts like the newer style fairings, and like the other poster said just a couple of gears and easy pieces to find. I think Lego didn't have a real good spring release that year and reproduced that tractor set but with a trailer. I found the build of both tractors nearly identical and like others have noted in the past its funny the diff on this set was the old type when they had released the newer style diff the year before, I found that odd too.

I used to own the 8284 Tractor/Buggy set but gave it to a neighbor kid a while back. In different countries I know it was marketed as either the Tractor of the Buggy. I rather liked the Buggy, but want to build it in the more eye-catching red color scheme and since I can't get my hands on a decently priced 8284 anymore and wouldn't want to since it was a rather blah set, the tractor at least IMO. Here's the big question though. Can the 8063 Tractor w/ Trailer set with just the Tractor alone be built the same as the 8284 Buggy? The 8284 Buggy used the same parts for the buggy as the tractor, and both the 8063 and 8284 tractors are nearly identical except for newer style red fairings on the 8063's tractor. What I am wondering too is does the Buggy in the 8284 set use parts from rear blade setup, or does the buggy just use the parts from the tractor alone? If that's the case, then as long as the newer fairings on the 8063 fit around the engine bay it should be buildable with just the parts from the tractor. I don't have the instructions for the 8284 obviously since I gave it away, so I can't really compare to the buggy build. BTW, I see this is already got some views, but I know I could download the instructions for the buggy from the S@H website or others, but my computer is jammed in a corner and not much room at all to sit and compare with the parts inventory list from the 8063, and I hate to waste a ton of ink and paper on printing out the instructions for the 8284's buggy. I store and build Lego in another area. Any advice appreciated, Thanks, Eric

Agreed there Paul..they have a sale, then they jack the prices at TRU. Under normal circumstances, they are nearly always a good deal above S@H prices, except it seems right around Xmas and then again in the 2nd half release in July-August...BUT they don't seem to get enough stock on the new items and sporadically at that, then they sell out and its a waiting game...funny thing is S@H rarely have new items until well after TRU does...odd, but its been the norm for a long time.

Probably been answered a lot of times but dont feel like looking down at all the posts... 129.99 Lego S@H 139.99 Toys R Us (both online and in-store)

That is 1 thing I'll never do that I stupidly did in the past, sold off or gave away most of my pre-2000 sets. Now I've gathered up most of what I gave away, at a much higher cost of course, but I won't be selling any of these, they'll go to my grave in time. Only have life expectancy of 45-50 yrs old because of health issues, and I'm closing on 40 now and have a lot of trouble assembling, but I try darn hard. That's what nice about vintage models, not as many pins and pins w/ stop bushes, but I've got a few vintage sets that have a lot of pneumatic tubing, that's a hard go, but I've heard dipping the ends of the tubing before installation makes it a lot easier to push onto valves, cylinders, etc. On the other hand, on Brickset, even at MSRP, I've got an inventory of $15,880 worth. Might open an Amazon store to get rid of a lot of the newer (2003-up) sets that I've acquired on deals, sales, etc. I've had a few sells just by meeting people on the forum and I am thankful for that, but I've got tons of sets in multiples that would kill the competition on Amazon, probably piss off the competition, but hey its my say what I charge, and it will be MSRP.

That was my main complaint, no working steering on the main model. I realize it was because of the nature of the model of the pullback motor, but working steering wouldn't have been a stretch I wouldn't think. Nice model you created...any instructions in the future?

When I get the time I will review the other ones you don't have listed here. I just happened upon this thread in Google. I'm no less harsh, I'm critical of certain points of a model, but I bought the other ones starting last September, just wanted a piece of 'old' Technic...got some pretty sweet deals on most of them, except the 8466, MISB, had to have it, even at $400 USD.

I have a lot of old Technic sets from the late 80's and through the 90's...pics are the problem...but I can do reviews of the sets below... I have 8837, 8437, 8408, 8462, 8466, 8286, 8428, 8443, 8460(the original, not the re-releases), 8853. Most are still sealed, some taken apart, some bought used but in excellent condition.

I'm not talented like many others here, but I've built a few simple MOCs, but mostly I get an idea in my head of what I want to create, sketch it out on paper, find the parts and like others just put it together section by section, Many times while doing one section it doesn't come out the way I planned and I walk away and think about it and usually an idea pops in my head of what parts I need and then go from there. Can be a frustrating process, but I think coming up with your own MOC is a lot more satisfying than building out of the box, though a lot of times I do MODs on stock models to make them better too. I've gained a lot of knowledge in this forum over the past few years on how to do something I never would have known how to do before. One thing I have to make a point of is getting my fiancee's fancy digital camera to upload photos of my MOCs and MODs to existing models. I'd love to share my creations and let others take a look-see and scrutinize them and maybe give me an idea on how to make them even better.

As far as the harbor crane b model of the 8053 set, I am sure it can motorized like the main model crane. I'm going to give it a go, unfortunately I gave my fiancee and her young child the harbor crane I built, and it kind of got destroyed, but seeing as how I have so many sets I want to sell, I might just crack open another 8053 and build another harbor crane.

Yeah the alternate instructions you have to download are not very good. Most times it is like 3 steps versus 1 in the main model instruction booklets. I simply don't understand TLG's not being able to produce b model instructions since about 2007 or 2008, it can't cost them much more, plus if you print them like I do since I can't build in front of my PC, lots of ink and paper.

Agreed there, Bricklink is a huge pain. So many steps involved, and unless you can communicate with the seller via e-mail who actually communicates back to you, and I had 17 good transactions, but a lot of time you don't know what's going on, sometimes it takes a long, long time to get your parts or sets. I had 1 bad experience, so I don't buy there anymore. I have a huge spare parts collection so usually I can locate what I need for modifying a model, even if it might be the color I'm not searching for. Wish I had a Lego store nearby too, I have 2 stores, but I'm about smack in between 150 miles to each of them. I wanted another 42006 to modify with a bucket instead of the grabber, but my local TRU stores are now out of stock, yesterday one store nearby had them in the store, but their gone now, so my only choice would be online, which I hate to do because of shipping costs. I'm rather sure the Lego store would have them in stock. Gas is really high around here (about $3.90/gal) so driving to 1 of the stores would require a lot of gas too.

Ah. there is one I forgot, the b model of the 8053 Crane. The harbor crane is excellent, just not with the rims on the bases. I took them off and just used a bunch of full and half bushes in place. First time I played with it with the rims on, it rolled right off the table onto the floor. And I get a plus, 8 black rims to use on other models, I put them on the 8049 b model genie style boom lift I made and also put 4 on the b model buggy of the 9393 Tractor set.

@jsg - I really do agree, the 8043 main model is a great display model, but its playability is sub-par at best, the b model tracked loader is a lot more fun and really does look good, I might just take the panels from the main model like was done here.

First and foremost, the 8043's b model, 8110's, 8049's (as one said it is more fun, and actually I made it into a Genie style boom lift, just took off the claw/grabber and extended the boom, pneumatically operated w/ the compressor), 9397's, can't think of any more off-hand, but I'm sure I'm missing some.

As others have mentioned, I would definitely buy both, yes the 8258 has some flaws in its playability, but is still IMO a very cool set. But I'd get my hands on an 8258 pretty quick since its out of production and prices are way above MSRP, you will pay more than MSRP of $149 USD, 8110 is still being sold but I would imagine its time in production is limited since it is 1.5 years old now...