TeamThrifty

There are words and company names that we must be very careful to avoid on this forum, but there's a valid context to me broaching the subject. I got my first technic set in 1979 and have been a fan since. A loyal fan. For the first time ever, having been priced out of buying this flagship (and i have a good salary), i'm looking at 'other' brands. I know this is a controversial subject, but the context of my length of brand loyalty surely suggests TLG have gone too far. I wondered if i was the only one who is now looking elsewhere? Or can this not be discussed here.. which would be a shame as its genuine consequence of an obscene pricing decision. If i've broken a taboo then please delete and accept my apologies.

His reviews are fuelled by bitterness... i find them very poor. He should sulk less and find a happy place.

Option A: Buy this Option B: Find the instructions for the BWE 42055 and build it again in all its glorious magnificence.... And then spend £100 on the new stronger diffs, new-ish clutch gear and some wide tracks and MOC like the fury. £500 better off and having more fun.

£579.99................ I've always been a supporter of TLG and think generally they do an amazing job. But they can shove this right up their a...... they must think we're idiots trying to charge this utterly ridiculous amount of money. Its borderline insulting. The marketing department at TLG HQ must be detached from reality, too many focus groups, soya latte's and blue shoelaces. I want TLG to thrive and succeed, but this strategy of treating loyal fans like dumb cash-cows to be milked dry has irritated me. My 80k pieces will keep me moc-ing for the rest of my days. They may find they've shot their golden goose with this ill-conceived pricing plan. I would love hear them justify this with facts, not marketing BS and waffle, hard facts. They're fools.

£500 is a long way north of what i feel is my limit for a single set.. I paid 300 ish for the Cat and 42100, but 500?! TLG have a different target audience in mind.. Its a shame. I've been getting technic sets since 1978 and they just priced me out of the flagship-game. Can't help but feel they've shifted their core principles. I know i'm only one person, but i have a 40 yr love of lego. I should be very hard to alienate. We're in a world of Statement Models, displayed on shelfs it would appear. I'm in a world of playing and building mocs. Not sure this trend caters for the MOC-ers... It feels a bit non-lego.

@R0Sch Thanks, i didn't realise there was a different one! I've been away from lego for a few months due to work commitments.. Need to buy some yellow diffs! If the pivot point is exactly central between the axles then no central diff is needed as the axles always travel the same distance. Same in big articulated tractors. No central diff. Where as the Xerion does due to its steering modes as each axle may be travelling at a different speed, so central is needed Just found your youtube vid about it...! Thanks!

Quick question.. Is the yellow new style diff stronger than the red ones? This set looks great. Very motivated to buy it... and keeps the dream alive that one day i might have enough green to build big 9R articulated tractor. Unless TLG release one as a flagship?! (i know its unlikely as tractors are less popular, but these days, couldn't it just identify as a supercar and everyone would buy it? No ones allowed to say its not actually a supercar!! )

Sariel may be skilled at building... however his reviews are very negative. He just comes across as miserable and bitter. I don't watch his output anymore, so him not reviewing a set is no loss in my eyes. Compare his reviews and @Jim 's back to back. One is accurate and comes from a place of joy and one isn't

This is the crux of the matter. I'm fortunate that i could 'afford' the set, and in the past i've been ok with the Cat and 42100 at around £300 - i tend to only buy flagships as i have a big lego collection, so £300 per year i can be comfortable with. I could be comfortable with $600... BUT. Its way beyond what i consider ok for a set of this size. I love big sets and i love technic, but i don't see 600+ value in it. And i fully understand i'm fortunate, for others its simply unaffordable. If this is truly the price then i fear TLG are chasing a market that isn't 95% of people on this forum, which in turn isn't 95% of their current customer base. Very short sighted of them and very disappointing - i presume it will be blamed on the cost of oil, not my area but plastic is a product of the petroleum industry isn't it?

Really? Do most display rather than dismantle and moc? Sorry, its a tangent i know... perhaps a poll would be interesting?

I got a theory.... Perhaps there are people better placed/closer to TLG than me able to comment ( @kbalage @Jim ), but whats the lead time from concept to release for flagship sets.. 2 years? 2.5 years? If so, is the current below-average set situation a result of lockdown/covid? Just a thought....

42128 is a definite! £130 ish is also a lot less than flagship money... Excellent. Things are looking up for xmas day and boxing day. I shall buy it this week and my other half will wrap it up for me to open at xmas.

..i'm thinking of picking up 42128. @Jim 's review of it is excellent, 'technic how it should', which sounds ideal for me. Should provide a few hours of relaxing building....

Well.... What a complete failure 2022 is for decent sets. Whats gone wrong? Where's the flagship? First time since the end of my dark ages that i've nothing to buy myself for xmas... 2022, the year lego forgot about Technic? Disaster.

I'm a big fan of 3rd party wheels and have used them myself - 150mm ones. I'm always interested in how they are mounted, so please can you show details on that?

I love it. Nothing else to say. Ag is my favourite sector so i'm very familiar with this machine and you've done a gorgeous job. Brilliant.

Big crane would be cool.... helicopter looks really good too, not a car guy so need something to get my teeth into!

I don't care about age, politics, ethnicity... i judge people on pets! If their pets are happy and relaxed then i trust them! (and that cat is matching mine for being chilled out..!) "By his pets do you know a man..."

I'm a bit out of touch recently due to work demands... Do we know what the big flagship is for this year? Not the Ferrari i presume.. the 2H biggy?

That reminds me very much of a sequential bike gearbox (cars are probably the same, but i've only worked on bikes). Brilliant build!

Is it technic though... its a display model, its got half a foot in the technic camp and half in the diecast camp. Give me a BWE any day of the week, or the Cat bulldozer. Proper technic sets right there.

And thats exactly why your reviews are a genuine loss. But you sound as though you can now build and moc (true love!?)... all things happen for a reason! Looking forward to seeing some moc's posted.

From a personal viewpoint that's very disappointing.. I always found @Jim reviews to be a more accurate reflection of what the set was really like - other reviews get very focused on perceived imperfections and paint gloomy pictures of a set, which for me, wasn't the reality. What a shame, i valued the 'real world' barometer of the jims reviews. And of course the gorgeous photographs. I'll just have to watch Captain Negatives reviews and add 2 points to every score!! (strange how being so negative keeps you in TLG's good books.... ) Thanks Jim for the time and effort to bring us all those reviews over the years, its certainly been appreciated

What search strategy did you try? Perhaps this is just a 'training issue'.. @Gray Gear is correct about separate threads. I opened the main thread and searched for things like 'friction' etc and got solid results for this kind of issue. Give it a go, practising search terms can pay dividends...