zap2012

That movie says the Unimog is "now available." What a cruel lie!

I'm also interested in the answer to this. I'm going to be at the LEGO store in Minneapolis in just under three weeks, and I'd LOVE to pick this up then. Anyone know what the US release date is?

I cannot wait for this set. This really has the potential to be the most ridiculously awesome Technic set ever--and right after I get back into LEGO. Here's a question, though. From what I've seen, the torque tubes on either side of the center diff just look like fancy enclosures for a u-joint. What's the point of them?

This is something I've though of, too. It seems like a lot of sets lately have had a wheeled base with a mechanical or pneumatic lifting arm on it. This doesn't bother me too much because I just got back into LEGOs and don't have any of the other vaguely similar sets and because the Unimog looks like it's got a lot of other features and a lot of potential for expansion. Still, I'll be kind of disappointed if next year's assortment features more of the same.

I was looking around for good LEGO deals last night and discovered that toysrus.com is having a sale on LEGO. Although the front page says that it's doing 30 percent off of LEGO sets, that seems to be inaccurate for the Technic sets--those are only 10 percent off. Still, that means that 8043 is $179 instead of the normal $199. My question is how much longer you guys think 8043 will be available in stores. I know that the Unimog will come out in July or August, but does that mean that last year's sets will be in stores (or at least available from the website) until at least then? Thanks.

It seems to me that you're forgetting that Technic sets are child's toys. This whole forum is about toys. Cool, sophisticated toys, yes, but toys nonetheless. As for RC or non-RC, I say RC all the way. The fully RCed 8043 is one of the coolest Lego sets I've seen in a long time. I would love it if the Unimog had three differentials and a PF motor to drive the wheels. And if we're doing that, I'd love to have a functioning RC-able gearshift with several gears and reverse. I mean, that's not all I'd want, but those things would just make it a lot of fun.