DaddyWhale

Thanks for all the suggestions! It sounds like the modern sets benefit from the innovations introduced in the earlier ones. So I would not be missing anything from a techniques point of view by getting the modern sets first.

Great!

A related question: would it be possible to see if having two copies of a set would give you better coverage in building a set you are interested in? For example, when I input two 8070s for building Jurgen Krooshoop's Little Devil, the coverage percentage is the same as when I input just one 8070. Thanks! DW

Thanks for the suggestions, Daniel! I would love to (slowly) get into MOCs. Right now I'm just learning about building techniques, which to me is more than half the fun. I think I'll go for 8880 since everyone says it's a technical marvel.

@DLuders, Thanks, I've read the reviews. My question is about whether the 8880 lives up to the hype, particularly from the point of view of an adult with no nostalgia for the sets he might have played with as a kid (I only started on Lego with my two children). Just to clarify: a lot of the reviews mention the historical importance of the 8880 in the evolution of Technic sets. That is not so important to me as I'm rather new to Lego.

Quick update: My deal to get the 8043 on ebay fell through - I got my money back though. Instead of trying to find another one, I got a 8258 instead, primarily because it's bigger and, I believe, a bit more complex. I'm still on the first book of the instructions (there are three more), but so far 8258 looks great. Am going slowly so as to savor the experience - understand the relationships between the parts, etc. But I'm already thinking about what Technic set to get next. I love the mechanical engineering dimension of building. So would the 8880, or maybe the 8466, be a good choice. Would like a challenge, both mental and manual, and am not concerned that it's old and lacks PF. Would the 8880 live up to expectations? Or is some of the great things people say about it colored by nostalgia?

I too love Rebrickable. Are there any plans to upload Nathanael's Concept Car to the site? I would like to economize on parts buying by finding out what official kits give me the most bang for the buck in building this.

My children and I recently got the Emerald Night. We love it! It's beautiful, a fun build and very playable. One thing to keep in mind is that you lose some of the imaginary play when you add the PF to the EN because the PF takes up a lot of room. It fills the whole tender and all of the cab in the locomotive. So you can't put coal for example in the tender and you can't fit a minifigure in the loco. In all other respects the EN is great. My kids love the PF (despite its drawbacks).

This looks amazing. Are there any official sets with gear boxes anywhere close in complexity?

Have not built it yet. Won an auction on ebay this morning. Knock on wood, I've had good experiences on ebay.

To update everyone. I went ahead and bought the Excavator, 8043! Thanks for all your help. It was a tough decision, but I can always add the other sets later (wife willing).

Thank you everyone for the wonderful suggestions. 8466 looks great too! I'll do more research on all of these.

Thanks so much for all the great responses. But it makes it hard to decide. I'm leaning more towards 8110 because of the suspension, pneumatics, etc and it's so BIG! I'll update on my choice and impressions during the build. Thank you!

Hi, I'm pretty new to LEGO. But when my wife and I started getting our young kids LEGO sets, I started building some myself. Have really enjoyed building the large sets: Grand Carousel, Imperial Flagship, Emerald Night. I want to next build a large Technic model. Could any of you recommend a model to get, either new or used (ie from past years)? What I'm specifically looking for are 1. Large set 2. Power functions 3. Technical build with lots of gears, etc 4. Realistic detail, such as steering, suspension, etc I'm thinking of the Unimog, but am a bit concerned about not being able to steer using the steering wheel. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance! DW