Wiseman_2

Well, to us it does feel a bit of an insult to our intelligence, but most of us are probably reasonably experienced with building Technic sets... but for those very new to Technic, especially if they take the plunge with a set like 8043, I can sort of understand if they accidentally build a section wrong by not paying as much attention to the instructions as they should, particularly if they are younger builders... And yeah, there has definitely been a noticeable increase in the simplicity of the instructions in modern Technic sets, even as they seem to be as complex as ever...

You will need a driving ring, and possibly an extension, and two 16 tooth clutch gears (the ones that can spin on an axle without rotating it). The central axle will have one function on it, but by stacking those parts onto the axle as it goes through the turntable, you can run a second function up through it. I probably haven't explained that very well, but if you check the first instruction booklet of 8043 (here) you can see how it's done. You'll need the following parts: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=32187 http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=6539 http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=6542 EDIT: Damn, beaten to the punch several times

I think the only difference is colour, which I think they did to make it easier to differentiate between the two sides... it's possible that some builders might have confused the two sides with the older one as it can sometimes be hard to distinguish between dark grey and black in the instruction booklets, and with some sets (e.g. 8043) the turntable needs to be specifically orientated.

Assuming you're also in the UK, they haven't put them on boxes here ever, I think. At least, I don't remember them ever putting them on boxes when I was a kid (in the 90's) and they still don't now. Also, I would totally buy this right now as I've been looking forward to it for a while, but I just got the Flatbed... think I'll wait a month or two.

I have a bunch of those really useful boxes in sizes from 18 litres to really tiny ones. They're normally pretty expensive but I got them all dirt cheap when my local Tesco cleared them out. Very useful when you're a student with no income The sorting was really basic. One box for beams and such, one box for gears, one for axles, one for pins, one for connectors and the rest for other parts like bushings and such. Now those boxes are almost empty as I finished building the last of my models back to their original state yesterday... no time to MOC much these days, so might as well display them.

I think it's most likely they just needed a set that the motor pack could be used with, as there isn't another one out there at the moment in all markets. I'm pretty sure the motor could have been fitted better inside the model, but I suspect it would have taken too much taking apart to fit it.

There are quite a lot of images floating around the net of this one, including several on this TechnicBRICKs post. It doesn't have the part count, but I recall reading somewhere in the 1h 2012 thread that it will have 1308 pieces.

Unfortunately not, but then, I didn't ask for any... I shall be waiting a short while and buying 8109 first up, then a few of those new city sets, which will be my first foray into "regular" Lego in a couple of years And maybe 9395 later in January.

They finally showed up in the UK. 9395 is actually very well priced, £49.99 for 950-ish pieces is much better than I expected.

That helicopter is a monster, much larger than I foresaw. Hopefully it'll be a tad more complex than the previous two have been, otherwise I might have to pass on it. As for the Rock Crawler... well... I'm pretty surprised they're releasing a wheeled RC vehicle, but it looks quite impressive. Regarding the speculation about motors, I do remember that preliminary images of 8258 showed it with an M motor, but when released they gave us an XL, so they could change before release. Only problem now being where I'm gonna find the money and room for these new sets... especially seeing as the city mining sets are also tempting me...

Well, I wouldn't have thought 8109 would have had any more than 850-900 pieces, but it turns out it has 1115. So yeah, I don't doubt that 9397 will have 1308 pieces.

Hmm... the plane is slightly more appealing to me now that I've seen its functionality... and I don't really have a problem with it being in red, I just have a problem with the fact that there is almost too much red. Think I'll pass on the crane, I don't MOC enough to justify buying it for the parts alone and its functionality is too similar to this year's mini crane.

Hmm... it says the pick-up tow truck can be upgraded with PF... I can't really see where they'd fit within the model, it looks pretty compact. I also cannot see where the control gear is... I know the function switch is in the cab, but where's the gear you turn to make them work?

You could still have it as BUTT for Big Ugly Technic Thingy

I really enjoyed building 8043, watching it come together and then putting on the outer panels to complete it was quite, quite satisfying. My favourite build though so far has been 8258. It has a very nice mix of gears and structure building, and it was only my second flagship set, and the first truly complex set I had, and also the first set with motorized functions. So getting it out of that parcel wrap and having this huge box with a shiny new set awaiting construction makes it probably the best one I've had

I usually stick on some metal or rock music. If it's only going to be a short build I'll just stick it on shuffle, otherwise I cherry pick albums to listen to.

You could try turning it into one of these

Think I'll pick this one up about Christmas, looks like a rather interesting set. And it goes for only £52 on Amazon

Already lamenting that we might not be getting pneumatic sets? I'm pretty sure we will see some again in the future. After all, there were no sets this year with full-size LAs. I'm kinda glad we'll be seeing some LAs again, actually.

8258 is still sold by shop.lego.com in the UK. Once Christmas rolls around, it'll probably end up on sale quite cheap just after, and then it'll be gone. That, at least, is what happened with 8297 last year. That's something I've noticed, actually - larger Technic sets have quite a long shelf life in the UK. In my local TRU you can still get the Tractor and Trailer from 2009. Also, I would go with 8258 over 8110. The steering isn't as heavy, and the gearbox is much more complex, but then I've always preferred gears over pneumatics As for your second question, usually we've only had one flagship, which comes in the 2H of the year, but this year we had the Supercar in the 1h as a sort of sub-flagship, and next year we get that Logging Truck. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that the recent flagships have been very expensive.

We don't usually see a 2H list until later in the year do we? I'm surprised we even had rumours so early.

Of course not. It's just that I think if it were released in the current PF era, it would probably have had a motor and then a gearbox to split the functions that motor operated. In the last few years the trend has been more towards increased complexity in the larger sets. Look at 8265. Not too long ago that could easily have been a flagship set.

Redemption? Uwe designed 8258, one of the most complex sets of the last few years, and also this year's Supercar. The Tow Truck was quite simple in its design but I think that might have something to do with it being released prior to the PF system's introduction. It could have used a second pneumatic actuator for the crane lift though, to make full use of pneumatics.

Ooh, that looks quite good. Four motorized functions means a somewhat complex gearbox, which is always a plus. And the Pickup looks pretty solid too. I especially like the stickers actually, the art is very retro and detailed. And it has a gearbox in there somewhere, again good.

1027 parts? Considering the previously mooted 130€ I would've expected more parts, even with the inclusion of PF. How much was 8070 in Euros? 110€? Still, quite looking forward to it. Anyone seen any images yet?