kbalage

We need a Creator Expert Chevy Impala lowrider like right now :)

I have these recorded already IRL, thank you for the offer :)

There is a whole world of quality difference, but I really suggest to go to IKEA and test yourself to see what I'm talking about. Yes I bought the Maximera drawers, the Metod frame has holes on the sides so you decide the placement (within the system's limitations of course) and no drilling is required. There's also a Kitchen planner app on their webpage for the Metod system that can help you with the configuration and gives you all the required parts at the end.

The problem with Alex and any other drawers I found at IKEA is that you cannot pull out the drawer fully. This makes access to the back difficult, and with the shallow ones even impossible. The Metod drawers extend fully, have a smooth motion and with the same inner drawer you can also play with the depth if you select lower/higher fronts. The downside is the price, with the four 80cm wide frames, 6 drawers in each and all the accessories the total cost of this system was around $1000.

Very simple - It's never fully assembled as I always use it to demonstrate the different challenges of the drive train I actually have 2 chassis assembled for this video, and one that is about ~70% built, but that is waiting for a full disassembly :)

Thanks @Jim for putting stuff in the appropriate place, I took out my METOD setup from the hidden spoiler tag as it fits better here I think the other side of the room also deserves a little attention as I get asked about it frequently, here are the details of the Billy display cabinet from my videos:

I used the Metod kitchen system, I'm sure you can buy black drawer fronts for that one, although they'll be more expensive for sure than the plain white Veddinge fronts.

Hopefully you don't have to wait much to see all the details ;)

As I said the marketing department probably produced these pictures when they only had the first gen battery boxes around, so they used whatever they had. On the other hand believe me, they really don't care. Remember the promo photos of the Zetros published a year ago? They included the battery box with screws, probably because it was already available in their photo library, and they had zero idea when it will go in production. And when we asked about it then the photos disappeared from the press package and we got a laughable answer, saying "oh it was a mistake, what you saw does not exist at all"

Very cool office & LEGO workshop, what will be your inauguration build? :D Btw there's nothing wrong with white IKEA furniture, that's the cheapest and least distracting option for a LEGO room, it lets the builds pop! :)

I don't think the department preparing the boxes has any idea about the new lids with the screws being introduced. They simply put on it whatever then find in their product library with the PU battery box name.

The single motor and hub is clearly visible on the product photo on lego.com:

@blondasek Chris and the team is actively following video comments and forums, so the feedback usually reaches the destination :) But it's one thing certain fans would like to see that even designers might like, and it's another thing what fits in TLG's product/financial plans. The Mercedes F1 wheel covers were chosen together with Pirelli / Mercedes as that was the best match for the tread on the LEGO tire. For other wheels we'd need to have slicks to look accurate that are not produced currently. Additionally, based on my experience TLG wants to sell sets and not accessories, so I'm afraid they won't be interested in making special parts only to be sold as an add-on. But that's only my opinion, so providing feedback to them never hurts :)

One of the reasons for having cheaper products is to spare the R&D costs, they are not interested in innovation, they want profit :) But to stay on topic, I'm impressed @allanp how quickly you went from theory to practical testing, and I don't think the sound is much worse then a LEGO gearbox would be :D Will follow the refinements/development for sure!

I'm not sure adding these two to the kids' section of lego.com is considered as a reveal by them, so I wouldn't hold my breath for the crane. They might show 42144 & 45 and say "tadaaa" as the proper reveal

Based on the previous years I would expect them 2-3 weeks before the street date.

TLG couldn't care less about the discussion here. This is not a major release for them, there's no proper reveal or press release. The product is not even live yet on lego.com, a bunch of photos were published in the kid's section so far. I would be very surprised to see a designer video, but if it ever happens then that will be after August 1st as that is the expected release date.

Great to see you around again, can't wait to see the new posts!

I had to re-check my reviews to be on the safe side At the end of my Ferrari video I said that it's a great looking cool set as a display piece, but as such it does not need a complex gearbox at all. I said the same in my 1:8 supercar comparison video about all the official sets. I even checked my Sián review from 2 years ago, and I said this as a conclusion: " I think you should definitely get it for the look if you like it, but maybe find something else if you want a playable Technic set with cool functions." So yeah, I understand why these 1:8 Technic automotive sculptures exist, I see their target audience and I like their look and aesthetics, but this doesn't mean I like the fact that they pack a whole bunch of practically useless gears and other functional parts that are there just because they feel good to be there, and there has to be something for $400 since the box says Technic. I thought I made this point pretty clear in the video, but maybe it was not the case. I respect your point of view by bringing them closer to the reality and that would increase the wow factor for a fraction of people, but honestly I think it wouldn't add much to the set in general without significantly improving the added educational content. The average buyer wouldn't understand more of your gearbox design without an explanation on the concept, and people who really respect and understand the realism wouldn't necessarily want to pay that big sum that is spent on the look. I have to relate again to the 42139 ATV, that one has a 2 speed gearbox, but it still has stickers indicating what engine speed you should expect in which position. That thing with the super simple gear ratios might have an educational aspect on its own and the stickers might be enough as an explanation, but based on my experience with the Defender, the vast majority of people building it has no clue about the drivetrain even after building it multiple times, and they are simply disappointed because something doesn't work but they don't know what and why. I think customers who want their big cool looking rolling sculptures would deserve a nice mix of Technic and System pieces with steering, suspension and some easy to use and impressive mechanical functions in ECTO-1 / Sián style (examples for the functions, minus the gearbox). Technic nerds or people who want to actually use the functions (and might even play with them!) would deserve sets that have a more manageable scale meaning less extra pieces are spent on the look, but packed to the brim with functionality. Just take a look what fits in the 42139 ATV, now imagine if the 42096 Porsche was this crowded and functional inside.

Not really. LEGO would be an amazing educational tool to teach kids and adults about gearboxes, if it was used in a proper way. Currently the aim of the $400 set is to have a big fancy car on display, nothing more. There's exactly zero information in the manual about the functions, the visible difference of the gear speeds is totally neglieable with the hidden pistons, and so on. The main reason for using Technic pieces might be their sheer size and the panels, an 1:8 car would be too heavy and expensive using Creator Expert-style building. TLG could turn this around with minimal effort, such as: Clear indication of the functions. The last 1:8 supercar that had a sticker on the DNR selector was the Porsche. If you are not familiar with the system, nothing tells you what's going on there. You don't know either which way is shifting up or down, which is your actual gear, so the relationship between wheel speed and engine speed can be misinterpreted. 42139 is a rare example from the new generation where it is indicated and it is done correctly, the Land Rover was an infamous example where it was indicated but incorrectly. Include explanation in the manual and/or videos about the functionality of the gearbox and the whole drivetrain. There are already videos linked from the manual for the positioning of the orange wave selectors, so it could be done easily. The app of the Zetros had a very cool Augmented Reality function where you could "see through" the body of the car and observe the working mechanism in details. It wouldn't need much effort to add some explanation to such app, and boom - people could actually learn what they just built, and TLG managers could be happy by implementing a 21st century app function! So it's really up to TLG do decide how they would like to position these sets. As currently they are clearly targeted as display pieces for casual builders without any added educational value, there's no need for the gearbox. I would love to see this being changed, but until then it's just a bunch of extra gears. I can't recall the exact quote, but even Uwe mentions in the book that the most important aspect of this set was the look, so he had to design it in an usual way, starting from the exterior and focusing on that.

It can be both, depending in the individual, but I think the second option is probably more common. There might be a 3rd one to justify the price, but that's probably more like TLG's perspective - "it costs $400 because it has a complex mechanism inside, look at all those gears doing stuff!" @suffocation I am not surprised, there were multiple people who build the Lamborghini but only realized how the door opening mechanism supposed to work after seeing the demonstration in the Ferrari review. And that one is a pretty obvious and exposed mechanism, now imagine how many people will miss it in the Ferrari where it is pretty much hidden! But this also very much shows how TLG is positioning these sets as pure display pieces - most Technic sets with functions have brief instructions at the end of the manuals demonstrating the usage of the functions. There's nothing like this in the manual of the 1:8 supercars, like people shouldn't really care about these.

I'd suggest to browse the comment section a bit of my review videos about the Ferrari, you'd be surprised how many people say that they want to see all the gears and mechanical stuff inside because that what makes the build serious, just like @gyenesvi said. Most buyers don't really care about the real functionality and how things work (a big majority does not even understand them), they just want to feel the accomplishment of putting a complex thing together. I sort of understand this mindset although I do not agree with it. I think it'd be better for everyone if the 1:8 cars would abandon the complex gearbox (an electric supercar would be a great excuse for that), and use all the space and piece capacity for either more details on the inside and the outside, more simple-to-use mechanical functions (doors, active aero elements, adjustable suspension etc), or either e.g. to add a light kit by default that would increase the wow factor. These are 100% display pieces after all, and if the gearbox is removed from the equation then there's significantly less things to mess up :)

The digital instructions were updated with a fix for the gearbox sequence anomaly, but honestly I don't think they chose the best solution. Up until step 87 the orange wave selectors form the V shape as previously, then at step 88 the wave selectors are rotated into the position what was used in the Lamborghini, just to allow the green 2L beam to be mounted as previously. But from step 89 nothing was updated so the original incorrect positions are shown. I know not many people will actually care about the gear sequence, but it's a bit sad to see that even the fix is not properly implemented or particularly thoughtful. And of course there's no steps added yet for the extra panels, no fix for step 104...

That's complete BS. Unfortunately LEGO Customer Service has very limited knowledge about Powered Up hardware and software, which is no surprise since they are not properly documented (not even for internal use). There are still several bugs in the PU app, some of them exists since the introduction of the system. You either live with them and try to find a workaround, or you can switch to a platform like Pybricks that has way more agile developers.

We have a designer video! Unfortunately Uwe does not talk in it, but they at least added the 2 small panel fairings to the model at the beginning But the naked axles are still visible on the technical drawing...