Paul Boratko

Even though it was over 30 years ago, I can still vividly remember unwrapping the 853 set for Christmas and just staring at the box and feeling that twisting sensation of excitement in my stomach... My wife builds all of the sets now, but I still feel that same excitement watching her open the sets and sort out the parts before she begins to build... She has to have everything just perfect before she starts...

YES, that is the EXACT scenario here.... The seller recently sent me youtube video links of real life transmissions and said that this design has been around for over 30 years... I have no clue exactly what that has to do with the fact that he NEVER sold this transmission prior to buying it from me... He also claims that he only started selling it due to a demand for it... Funny, I have been selling it for a year without knowing that there was a demand for it... This guy obviously seen that when I listed them, they sold with a small profit and he figured it was an easy opportunity to make a buck and just went for it and he doesn't care if he is using someone else's ideas or not... Whatever... I guess this is the world that we live in... People are willing to take advantage of someone else's success no matter what it may be...

Your brain is filled with 1000's of great ideas... TLC could really use a talented designer like you...

TJ, I got your e-mail about this yesterday, thanks for the heads up... I contacted the guy selling this (because he did in fact recently buy one of the transmissions from me) and his response was basically that he didn't feel that the design was really mine because he had been working with the same gearbox for years and his shifter plate was more complex than mine(even though it is 100% the same)... Now if that is the case, then I must ask myself this, if you've been working with the same gearbox for years, then why did you spend $40 buying it from me...? Yeah the gear layout is the same as the 8448 and 8466 gearboxes, but take those gears away and what you are left with is something that I did and that is what the whole appeal is with this gearbox, it isn't just how it works, but also how it was designed and how it looks... He also said that there are other builders in the world and more than one person in the world probably came up with the same idea at the same time... I've had detailed pictures of this design posted at Brickshelf for well over a year and anyone with any basic technic skill could have easily replicated this design for minimal money, so why would someone who cliams to be so advanced in technic building and has parts at their disposal pay someone else $40...? All I asked the guy to do is give me some credit in his description.... he's already using my other information from my completed auctions in it...

This is hands down one of the best SNOT models that I have ever seen... Major props to BricksOnWheels....

This is the kind of Amazingly Built model that I love to see and also feel just a little jealous...

I don't think that it can get any easier than this. Got the idea separating a tough clip down at the auto shop today with a butter knife... No scratches or damages to any of the pieces and nothing goes flying anywhere...

From THIS ANGLE you can tell they are the larger ones(#17 and #18) From what I can see that I can confirm the only new panels in black on either set are the #13 and #14 panels in the 9397 Log truck used for the doors.... The panels on the log truck hood look like they may very well be the #5 and #6 ones though... After studying the short curve at the tip of the panel on the Log truck hood, it does in fact look like it is the #5 and #6 panels...

I had always wanted to see a full on Technic Train from Lego...

This part is equally as hard to separate... I had an idea that I wanted to try with just the 4 towball piece, and I ended up breaking it trying to separate it... Obviously once the portal axle and hub are connected they are not meant to come apart, which makes you wonder why they were not connected in the first place like many other multi-part elements... I don't think these 2 parts can be safely separated without dis-configuring one or the other, or possibly causing serious injury to one's self...

Cool.... New short #13 and #14 panels in black to complement the large #17 and #18 ones... Looks like an inline 4 cylinder engine...

I am having a real hard time believing that those 2 propellers are lifting what appears to be 6 or 7 pounds of plastic... And the reason why is because there is ZERO flex on the wings that the propellers are connected to when the thing lifts off of the ground.... They certainly don't appear to be heavily re-enforced to prevent flexing and like I said, there is ZERO. That is quite a bit of weight in the base of the vehicle those wings are connected to... Actually when it lifts off, the wings appear to still be bowing downwards from the weight at the tips of the wings, and it should be the exact opposite...

If someone contacted me about selling one of my cars as a kit and paying me royalties, I would make damn sure that if they were selling something that had my name on it, that it had the proper information listed with it...

A week or so ago I sold a set of Tires and Wheels to the person who is selling kits for Skyliner's model...

Awesomely unique model... I feel privileged to have supplied you with a few hard to find pieces(but not hard to find for long )

Last year an early stickerless prelim pic of the 8070 Supercar and it's functions leaked out in September... It didn't show up in the catalog here in the states until after it had already been released...

I had the pleasure of seeing this amazing backhoe in person at Brickfair... He used some really Unique and Amazing techniques in the build...

Excellent Models Grohl...

Maybe I am in the minority here, but I think that they should have done a Shelby GT500.... This is like the 2nd or 3rd large scale SUV that I have seen done...

I actually got mine in the bottom of a box of these... True Story...

3nslav3, one of the keys to getting this transmission to work effectively is to have all of the axles that hold the 24 tooth and 8 tooth gears stabilized using 2 liftarms in front and on the back of the gears, this will prevent the middle 8 tooth gear from wiggling around and causing a potential bind.... Like Erik Leppen said, 8 tooth gears can be tricky to work with, but when supported and braced right, they work well... I am still waiting for Lego to make an 8 tooth gear that doesn't slide partially into the hole of a technic piece... But if what you came up with works for you, then that is all that matters...

Well... Whatever the Hell it turns out to be, I just hope that it isn't Red....

I must say, that is pretty freaking awesome... Quite amazing what you guys from Spain have been doing...

Funny... I have the exact opposite problem with my wife... She is the set builder in my house... She just finished the Unimog yesterday and started building the Plow for the front about an hour ago... I actually got her the 8070 Supercar for Valentine's Day this year(Thanks to Skyliner for hooking me up from across the pond ) My wife loves to build. If she builds a set that she doesn't like, it becomes part of my inventory... Sad part is the last set that I built myself was the 8448 supercar like 12 years ago before we met... Oh yeah and Nathanael's Concept Car 2 years ago to display at shows for him... Best thing to do is try and incorporate your wife into Lego and get her involved... They are either going to accept it or not... I remember when I was on my first date with my wife, we actually went to a Toys R Us because she was looking for a gift for her best friend's daughter and we walked past the Lego section and she said "I can't believe how cool Legos got since I was a kid" and I replied "You have No idea" I knew that I was going to be in good shape from day 1... As far as Lugnet goes, last time I checked there, the front page hadn't even been updated in like 2 years... I don't know anyone who even posts there anymore... The technic section was pretty dead...

Some of the trial trucks those guys build are really amazing and very impressive, but the thing that makes me wonder though is if Lego will release something that they expect kids to take outside into the woods and drive over obstacles and expect the normal PF motors to hold up for a long length of time. I mean if this is a flagship set, I would expect it would have at least 1,500 parts, so it is going to be somewhat large as well... I would also speculate that Lego will do extensive testing on this flagship to make sure that it doesn't have some unexpected failures out of the gate...