Jim

Thanks for the kind words Grum! Happy to do it....and equally happy when I'm done

Actually, now you mention it. I didn't really notice. Guess you are not supposed to pick it up like I did The functions work like a charm, that's for sure. Indeed very responsive.

Funny thing about this set (as you can read in my review)......at the end of writing my review, I actually started to like this set. It's definitely the ugly duckling, but we somehow bonded

Thanks for the heads-up. It was the only one without an automatic publishing date. I have corrected it. The rudder and wing need improvement, but it's no biggie. Hopefully I will find some time to combine the 42052 and 9396 and make a proper Chinook style helicopter.

So true. Unboxing, building, taking pictures, processing pictures, making the skeleton of the review.....very fun work and it can be done pretty quickly. I have made myself some tools to make this less cumbersome. However, I simply cannot make the written part any easier. Since English isn't my native language I sometimes need to find the right words, and I need to avoid using the same expressions in each review (which I failed to accomplish). It's not so bad when you need to write a single review, but when you are writing six you tend to repeat yourself. Lucky for me, the majority will only look at the pictures and videos (which I understand, because I sometimes act the same way when reading other reviews)

This concludes my work for the 2016 reviews. Given the available time I am pretty satisfied, but I know the write-up could have been better. The written part is not my strong suit and I had limited time, so it's more about the pictures and videos. I do like to thank my girlfriend for helping me out with some of the builds. And for not having my attention for the last couple of weeks Have fun!

REVIEW - 42052 - HEAVY LIFT HELICOPTER INTRODUCTION Helicopters, planes...basically everything airborne is +1 for me. The 9396 - Helicopter is one of my favorite models. I own three copies, which says it all. the news about a new helicopter made me very excited. The news about twin rotors made me even more excited. Although I must admit I was hoping for a Chinook style tandem rotor, instead of a double rotor where one is positioned on top of the other. This set does come with a Chinook style B-model, so maybe that will be worth building. One thing I immediately like better than the 9396 is the color scheme. I love the bright orange-white combination. This set seems to have a huge number of panels, which is not to everyone's liking. Let's find out what's going on underneath that smooth surface! Note: All images can be clicked for hi-res versions. SET INFORMATION Number: 42052 Title: Heavy Lift Helicopter Theme: Technic Released: 2016 Part Count: 1042 Box Weight: 1831 gr Box Dimensions: 57,0 cm x 37,3 cm x 8,0 cm Set Price (MSRP): € 119,99 Price per Part: € 0,115 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The box is fairly big, which indicates a pretty big model. Unfortunately the box was damaged. Some cracks and dents, but luckily it wasn't ripped apart, like my Mercedes box. I'm not sure if TLG sends out the sets the same way when they sell via S&H, because I would be slightly disappointed to receive my sets like this. Update: I've seen more complaints about wrecked and/or damaged boxes, so there's room for improvement in the shipping department. The front of the box shows the helicopter lifting it's load. The model is 60 cm long and 53 cm wide. It also shows the contra-rotating rotors. As you can see an M-motor and battery box are included, so there are some powered functions. BACK The back of the box shows which functions are powered. We will deal with the functions later. It also shows the Chinook style B-model, which has motorised functions too. Looking at the front of the B-model I am not very tempted to build it. It looks like a flying guinea-pig CONTENT OF THE BOX The box contains: Sealed instruction booklet with stickers 6 Helicopter Blades 1 Sealed M-Motor 1 Battery Box 2 Soft Axles 10 Unnumbered Bags SEALED INSTRUCTIONS WITH STICKERS The stickers are sealed with the instruction booklet, like we are getting used to with bigger sets. I've said it before, but TLG deserves a big thumbs-up for this! The sticker sheet is still in perfect shape! HELICOPTER BLADES This set contains six of the Large Technic Rotor Blades, first released in the 9396 - Helicopter in 2012. PF BATTERY BOX AND M-MOTOR SOFT AXLES Two Soft Axles, or Flex Axles, are delivered unbagged. 19L? Who knows! More on these later BAGS Ten bags containing the rest of the, mostly white, parts. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This chapter describes new and interesting parts. Not sure if it's a trend, but like the 24 Hours Race Car this set also has an abundance of panels. I've counted 51 of 'em (not counting the engine covers). It does have two new panels, introduced in most of the 1H 2016 sets. As from today this set officially contains the most Technic Panels. One more than the 42025 - Cargo Plane. 42052 - 51 panels 42025 - 50 panels 42039 - 47 panels BLUE 5x3 BENT PANELS These new Bent Panels seem to be very suited to make fenders/wheel arches and seats. AXLE AND PIN HOLE The axle counterpart of the Pin and Pin Hole. YELLOW 5L AXLE From what I can tell at the moment, the yellow 6L Axle is unique to this set. I made a mistake here. It's actually a yellow 5L axle instead of 6L. RED 6L AXLE Like the yellow 6L axle, the red 5L Axle seems to be unique to this set. This will obviously change over the course of time, but for now it's the only set containing them. I made a mistake here. It's actually a red 6L axle instead of 5L. 19L SOFT AXLES Finally, the black 19L Soft Axles! A lot of people will be glad to see these being used again. Only released in the 8450 - The Mission in 1999, this part has become very rare. DRUM TIPPER Of course these are no Cement Mixer Drum Tippers (60018 - Cement Mixer, 7990 - Cement Mixer). These are Helicopter Engine Covers, and quite good looking ones. They seem to be more versatile then you'd imagine, since they already appeared in 4 other sets. GREEN 3x11 PANEL Two green 3x11 Panels, not to be confused with bright green, used in the 42039. This is the same green as the 42008 - Service Truck from 2013. ORANGE PANELS A collection of 13 orange panels. WHITE PANELS A collection of 34 white panels. WHITE 5x11 TAPERED PANEL PLATE Introduced last year in the Fire Plane, this is a relatively new panel. 2x4 PERPENDICULAR BENT PIN CONNECTOR This 2x4 Perpendicular Bent Pin Connector was introduced in 2013 and it's one of those parts flying under the radar. You won't be needing this every day, but who knows when it might come in handy. PART LIST The set consists of 1042, shown below. THE BUILD Upon opening the booklet with building instructions, I noticed the color of the pages has slightly changed. The pages are lighter blue than we're used to. Probably to increase the contrast and make the difference between the darker colors better visible. This new color is used in every booklet of the new sets. The build setup is a bit different than we're used to. Usually you start by building one side, followed by adding things inside and finished by closing up the model. This time you start by building the fuselage, after which you continue with the gear box and rotors. ROTORS The image below shows the mechanism for the contra-rotating rotors. Actually I made a mistake here. I switched the two turntables. Luckily it didn't take me long to find out. At the top you can see an Axle Connector with Axle Hole which is connected to an axle going through the turntables. This axle is only connected to one of the turntables (obviously). The first set of rotors is connected to one of the turntables, while the other is connected to the axle going through the turntable. This is demonstrated in the video below. GEARBOX Here you can see the setup of the gearbox. A basic setup with a single layer of gears (more or less). You can see the 3L Driving Ring on both sides of the model, used to switch between the different functions. CARGO BAY DOORS I found the mechanism to open the bottom cargo bay doors to be very intriguing. Here you can see three stages of moving the H-Frame down. The video below demonstrates the gearbox and the mechanism for the cargo bay doors. This video shows the gearbox mounted on the fuselage, and the contra-rotating rotors. CARGO CONTAINER The cargo container wraps up the build. FINISHED MODEL Leaving the other building steps for you to discover, we skip right to the finished model. There's always a lot of debate about panels and closing a Technic model with them. I personally love a finished look with panels. Looking at the image below, I can only compliment the designer with his accomplishment. The helicopter looks fantastic! The design itself is fantastic and the color scheme is really spot on. This helicopter looks even better than the 9396 - Helicopter, which I will compare later in this review. The Drum Tipper parts used as engine covers is very well done. You would almost think they are designed to be used in this helicopter. SIDE REAR VIEW In this picture you can clearly see the rear cargo bay door/ramp and the landing gear. The tail rudders are operated manually, which is slightly disappointing. The solution in the 42025 - Cargo Plane was much better. The landing gear is pretty clever though. Very simple, but it works like a charm, using nothing more than gravity. SIDE VIEW The side view shows how well the helicopter has been designed. The panels align very well and the model is almost entirely closed. This is a matter of personal preference, but I absolutely love it. BOTTOM VIEW Yup, there it is...the battery box. You can also see the mechanism to operate the tail wing. I find this to be a weak spot of the model. The lever is positioned very close to the wing itself, which feels a bit useless. It would have been great to operate the wing with the orange Bionicle Tooth located near the tail gate. You can clearly see which panels are used for cargo bay doors. Two 3x11 panels are used as bottom cargo bay doors, and a 5x11 is used as the back cargo bay door (ramp). Both are operated by the Power Functions motor (see features and functions). FRONT VIEW REAR VIEW ADDITIONAL IMAGES Here are two additional images from different angles. PARTS LEFT It's interesting too see TLG provided an extra 19L Soft Axle. It appears to be used in the B-model, but it somehow feels like an added bonus, since this part is wanted by a lot of builders. The 6L"]http://alpha.brickli..."color":11}"]6L Rigid Hose[/url], which is also used in the B-model, is extra too. Since the instruction booklet tells us we are only supposed to get a single 19L Soft Axle, I am not sure whether it's used in the B-model (it looks that way though). FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS This set has the following features: Contra-rotating rotors (Power Functions) Opening bottom cargo bay doors (Power Functions) Opening rear cargo bay door/ramp (Power Functions) Operating the winch Operating tail wing (Manual) Operating tail rudders (Manual) Landing gear Castering nose wheel The following video demonstrated all of the functions/features. I have added an IR receiver and I am using a PF remote to operate the powered functions. As you can see all the functions work very smooth. The powered functions work pretty fast, so there's no waiting for ages before the cargo doors open up. The winch is the slowest of them all, but that makes sense. As you could read in the review, I don't really like the manual tail wind and rudder functions. I know a designer needs to make concessions, but wasn't it possible to operate the tail wing with the orange bionicle tooth. The castering nose wheel does work properly, and so does the landing gear. Both very simple, but they do their job. SUMMARY Like I said at the beginning of my review, I am fan of flying machines. And to be honest, I am an even bigger fan of helicopters than planes or jets. This might influence my judgement. I am also a big fan of white, orange and grey, so that's another plus. And I happen to like models finished with panels. Do you see where this is going?! I absolutely love this model. The 9396 - Helicopter was one of my favorite models, but I like this one even better. The closed design is something I like a lot, as long as the model is packing some functions too. Panels alone don't cut it. Well, this set has some cool features under those panels. The mechanism for the contra-rotating rotors is pretty nifty. So are the bottom cargo bay doors. The things I like the least is are the tail wing and tail rudders. The tail wing is operated manually, but it's a simple lever positioned very closely to the actual wing. And the rudders are operated by simply moving the rudders themselves. As with the Mercedes I am not a big fan of operating a model by using the switch on the battery box. It confuses me, and you can't easily reach it. I understand TLG can't throw in a remote and IR receiver each time they supply a PF motor, but it's probably one of the modifications most AFOLs will immediately apply. That being said, I absolutely recommend getting this fantastic model! SCORE Okay, so how do I grade this set? 9 DESIGN Absolutely magnificent. 8 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Great build with some clever techniques. 8 FEATURES Great functions, but rudder and tail controls need improvement. 8 PLAYABILITY Lots of things to operate, but would work better with a remote control. 9 PARTS Contains lots of new parts and loads of white panels. 9 VALUE FOR MONEY Worth every penny. Will buy another one. 8,5 ABSOLUTE EYECATCHER BONUS COMPARISON I will end this review with a comparison between the "new" and "old" helicopter. As you can see my 9396 has a yellow and black color scheme, instead of the original yellow and red, but it will give you a clear picture on how these two compare. More pictures can be found on my Flickr page. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks! And no worries about the pictures. Sometimes happen when you link to external sources. (you can either simly correct it to linked images, or upload the images to an image hosting service like bricksafe or flickr and embed the smaller versions)

REVIEW - 42050 - DRAG RACER INTRODUCTION And then there's this...arguably the most controversial set of 2016. Upon seeing the first pictures, excitement about a Drag Racer quickly got replaced with a "what's this supposed to be" feeling. Some people still like it, some think it's the most ugly set in the world. Others claim it's what's called a Funny Car and it's supposed to look ugly. I can recommend reading the Wiki article on Funny Cars. This set does contain two of the "Tumbler Tires", which does make it interesting for some people. Is it interesting enough to buy two sets to acquire four tires. That will depend on the price and what the set has to offer besides the tires. I'm glad I got a chance to review this set, because the first glimpse didn't make me very enthusiastic. Since I already have four of the tumbler tires, that would not be a reason for me to buy it. The best thing to do is to switch to neutral and start exploring what this set has to offer. Note: All images can be clicked for hi-res versions. SET INFORMATION Number: 42050 Title: Drag Racer Theme: Technic Released: 2016 Part Count: 647 Box Weight: 1089 gr Box Dimensions: 37,9 cm x 25,8 cm x 9,2 cm Set Price (MSRP): € 59,99 Price per Part: € 0,093 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The box shows the Drag Racer in the middle of a wheelie. The wheelie functionality has caused quite some confusion and discussion. Is this car able to do a wheelie?! Without any assisting contraptions?! The top right shows a bar behind the car, seemingly to limit the cars vertical movement. BACKSIDE The backside of the box confirms the car's ability to do a wheelie. However, it seems there's a contraption in the bottom of the chassis helping the car lift in the air. That does feel like cheating. The set can be motorised using PF elements. The battery box attached to the end of the car could act as a counter weight, eliminating the need for the contraption in the bottom of the chassis. Looking at the picture on the box, it looks like the battery box alone is not enough. More on that later. The left lower corner of the backside shows the B-model, an actual Dragster, called Supercharged Dragster. Many have claimed the B-model looks better than the A-model. CONTENT OF THE BOX The box contains: 1 Instruction Booklet 1 Sticker Sheet 4 Wheels 5 Bags INSTRUCTION BOOKLET The instruction booklet for the main model. No booklet for the alternate model. STICKER SHEET Looking at this sticker sheet, I wonder why TLG doesn't insert the sticker sheet in the booklet. That would prevent damage and rolling up. TIRES Two special tires, which we will discuss shortly. BAGS A total of five bags containing the rest of the parts. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This section describes the new and/or interesting parts. BLUE 5x3 BENT PANEL These new Bent Panels seem to be very suited to make fenders/wheel arches and seats. 3L AXLE WITH STOP We started with a 8L Axle with Stop in 2006, followed by the 4L Axle with Stop in 2010. The 4L seems to be around for ages, but it was introduced in 2010, which was surprising to find out. In 2014 TLG released the 5L Axle with Stop and this we get a new 3L Axle with Stop. 7L AXLE IN YELLOW The 7L Axle has never been released in yellow before. This year TLG surprised us with releasing axles in different colors, like yellow, red and orange. This set only contains a yellow 7L Axle, but you can checkout my other reviews to see which other axles have been (re)released. This 7L Axle is also used in the Police Interceptor. 6L AXLE IN RED While the Red 6L Axle isn't new, it's only used in a couple of sets before. BLACK 7L SOFT AXLES For the layman this seems a common part, but the 7L Soft Axle actually has never been released in black before. Combined with the re-release of the 19L Soft Axle in black, this will open up lots of possibilities. For those of you thinking you've read this text before; you are right, the new Display Team Jet contains these new 7L Soft Axles too. BLACK 16L SOFT AXLE At first I thought this was a new 15L Soft Axle, but upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a 16L Flex Axle. It isn't a very common part though, since it only appeared in the 42026 - Black Champion Racer from 2014. 1x9 BENT LINK Not a very rare part, but you don't see the 1x9 BENT LINK every day. MEDIUM AZURE BLUE PANELS AND Since I haven't built any of the sets containing Medium Blue, it took me some time to notice that this is a totally different color. I am not a big fan of Medium Blue, since it looks dull. Medium Azure on the other hand looks fantastic. It's very vibrant. Hopefully TLG will continue using this Blue in the years to come. BLACK PANELS A modest collection of Black panels. TUMBLER TIRES/WHEELS Tires known as Tumber Tires (or Wheels), since they appeared in the 76023 - TheTumbler for the first time. The official (Bricklink) name is Tire 81.6 x 44 R, but that doesn't sound nearly as sexy. When the Tumber was released in 2014 all Technic fans were waiting for an official LEGO Technic set utilizing these wheels. To everyone's surprise, they weren't used in 2015. Luckily they do make their appearance in Technic in 2016. Upon seeing the tires, people immediately suggested a Dragster/Drag Racer, and here it is. Currently the Tires are going for at least 10 euros on Bricklink, so this already contains 20 euros worth of parts. Although I do suspect the prices will go down after the release of this model. The next video shows a short demonstration of how the Tumbler Tires behave. As you can see in the video, they are prone to slipping. But that only happens when you apply a lot of pressure. The average builder won't notice this behavior. PART LIST This set contains 647 parts, which are shown below. THE BUILD Building the Drag Racer is done in roughly two stages, first you build the chassis, then the bodywork. After the body you will add the spoiler to the chassis, but I'd like to think of two stages in the build. CHASSIS Building the chassis isn't too complicated. No difficult gearboxes or complex structures. One thing that's worth mentioning is that the V8 is chain driven. That's pretty cool! The end result looks okay. The great thing about the separation of bodywork and chassis, is that you can use this chassis to build your own Funny Car bodywork. BODYWORK This is where the controversy originates. Admittedly, the bodywork itself (not connected to the chassis) doesn't look too bad. However, it feels rushed and unfinished, especially the front. For me, this would be a perfect preliminary design, which needs some work to finalize the design. We will attach the bodywork to the chassis in a bit. That's when the peculiar front design really shows. The backside of the bodywork isn't too bad. It's simple, but it works. No complaints here. FINISHED MODEL I hereby present to you, the Drag Racer! The image below clearly shows why I have a problem with the front design. The front wheel arch is way too square. And I am not particularly fond of the big exhaust pipe and the square hole in the bodywork to make it fit. I would have preferred an exhaust design more like the Getaway Racer, possibly with double pipes on each side. The main problem seems to be the 11x3 Curved Panel which is very dominant. Looking at the other supplied parts in Medium Azure, I wonder whether using the Small Panels (#21, #22) could lead to a better design. On a more positive note; I really do like Medium Azure! Combined with Black it results in a great color scheme. Looking at the stickers, Purple can be thrown in the mix as well. Using the lever on the other side (see video), opens up (or lifts) the bodywork. This is necessary to turn the knob to lift the chassis for the wheelie (see next picture). So this is the Wheelie mode that generated a lot of discussion. Although this was expected by most members, we secretly hoped there would be a more exotic mechanism for the wheelie. BACKSIDE I don't have any real issue with the backside of the car. It's a collection of connected liftarms, but it fits the model. BOTTOM As you can see there's no differential between the rear wheels. I'll let you figure out how the drivetrain is connected to the V8 FRONT AND BACK Two additional images, one of the front and one of the back of the car. VIDEO The video below shows a short overview of the model. FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS This model has the following features: Steering via Hand of God Lifting the bodywork Switching to wheelie mode Chain driven fake engine VIDEO OF THE CHASSIS FUNCTIONS The video below demonstrates the functions of the chassis. VIDEO OF THE BODYWORK The following video shows the lifting of the bodywork. ADDING POWER FUNCTIONS This page from the instruction booklet shows what you can do by adding Power Functions. The picture below shows the parts needed to add Power Functions to the model. VIDEO SHOWING POWER FUNCTIONS The following video demonstrates how to add Power Functions to the model, and it shows the performance when using Power Functions. I have added an additional PF Receiver to facilitate the demonstration. As you can see in the video, adding Power Functions doesn't transform this model into a Drag Racing monster. Performance with the M-motor isn't what you want it to be. Replacing the M-motor with an L-motor will obviously help, but it definitely won't be enough to make the wheelie by itself. SUMMARY Do you know that feeling that you see a car for the first time and think "how on earth did that design make it to production?!" and after a while you get used to it and the feeling somehow turns to appreciation. That's more or less what happened to me when I was writing the review. Don't get me wrong; I am still surprised that TLG failed to do better than this. Of all the models I have reviewed, this is my least favorite when it comest to the design. I am a big fan of panels, but I think the designer could have done a better job designing the front of the car. That being said, I must admit that this set started to grow on me during the build and especially during the write up of the review. It does have something going on. The Medium Azure and Black color scheme looks great and the introduction of Medium Azure in the Technic line is definitely a winner for me. Hopefully there will be more to come, parts that is. It contains two of the Tumbler Tires, which are pretty expensive by itself, starting at 10 euros on Bricklink. Although this set does have some features, I am a bit disappointed that when you use PF, the car can't do a wheelie by itself. It know the reason behind this is physically valid, but it would have made this model a lot cooler than it currently is. If you find this set for a discounted price, it might be worth picking up two copies. The suggested price of 60 Euro does seem a bit steep when you are only interested in the Tumbler Tires. All in all I started to like the Drag Racer more than I imagined before building it. SCORE Okay, so how do I grade this set? 6 DESIGN Front feels unfinished and rushed. 7 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Straightforward build. 7 FEATURES Nice wheelie function, but it does feel like cheating. 7 PLAYABILITY Kids might enjoy the wheelie function. Power Functions don't add much. 7 PARTS Two Tumbler Tires and some new pieces. Not too bad. 7 VALUE FOR MONEY Good value if you are looking for Tumbler Tires. 6,8 NEEDS SOME WORK More image can be found on my Flickr page. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.

REVIEW - 42048 - RACE KART INTRODUCTION If you are old, like me, there's a pretty good chance the 854 Go-Kart (or 948 Go-Kart for the US) was the first Technic set in your collection. I remember my dad had to help me building this set. Actually, I think he did most of the building and I watched in awe. If you are a dad and have a son (or daughter) this might very well be the set to introduce your kid to LEGO Technic. Is it interesting for us AFOLs too? Let's find out. 854/948 GO-KART FROM 1978 Here you can see a picture of the kart I am referring to. One of the first LEGO Technic sets, although it wasn't called Technical LEGO back in the days. Wikipedia: The concept was introduced as the Expert Builder series and originally Technical Sets in 1977,[1] and was renamed Technic in 1984.. Note: All images can be clicked for hi-res versions. SET INFORMATION Number: 42048 Title: Race Kart Theme: Technic Released: 2016 Part Count: 345 Box Weight: 558 gr Box Dimensions: 15,4 cm x 13,8 cm x 5,9 cm Set Price (MSRP): € 26,99 Price per Part: € 0,078 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The box shows the Race Kart on the starting grid and in the lower right corner you see the piston moving. There's also an arrow near the lever, going two ways, so there's probably a gear box of some sorts. BACKSIDE The backside shows the alternate model and a reference to the digital building instructions apps. The instructions weren't available in the app when I built the model, so I can't tell whether they are any good. They are probably up to par with the other instructions in the app, which are quite good. CONTENT OF THE BOX The box contains: 2 Instruction Booklets (A- and B-model) 1 Sticker Sheet 5 Bags INSTRUCTION BOOKLET A-MODEL The instruction booklet for the main model. INSTRUCTION BOOKLET B-MODEL Noteworthy is the inclusion of an additional booklet for the B-model. This is common in smaller sets, but I didn't expect it in a set this size. STICKER SHEET One look at the sticker sheets and it's obvious where these stickers need to be applied. The small round sticker is for the tank cap. The purple and orange color scheme is clearly present in the sticker sheet as well. BAGS Five bags containing all the parts for the model. No unbagged parts in this set. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This section describes the new or highlighted parts. YELLOW 5L AXLE The 5L Axle has never been released in yellow. As far as I can tell, this is the only 1H 2016 set with a yellow 5L axle. RED 4L AXLE The Axle 4L in Red hasn't been released since 2005. It has only been released in 4 sets in red, so it's not a very common part. SILVER 3L TECHNIC LIFTARM The 3L Technic Lifarm has only been released in Silver in the 10242 - MINI Cooper. DARK BLUISH GREY 3x11 TECHNIC PANEL PLATE Also unique to this set is the 3x11 Panel Plate in Dark Bluish Grey. 3x13 CURVED PANEL The 3x13 Curved Panel, which was introduced in Bright Green in last year's 24 Hours Race Car, is being used in Purple. WHEELS AND TIRES The model uses 37 x 22 ZR Tires and 30.4mm D. x 20mm Wheels. Both are very common, but I mention them for easy reference. PART LIST The Race Kart consists of 345 parts. Here's the complete part list. THE BUILD The build is pretty straightforward, although the rear side with gearbox can be a bit tricky for the younger builders. The picture below shows the model halfway of the build. You can see the steering mechanism and lever for switching gears. The finished model looks quite good. The purple orange scheme makes the model standout. I like it a lot. Now that TLG introduced Purple panels, I hope that TLG will release more parts in Purple. Purple will also work very well with White. Steering is actually done via the steering wheel, something most car models lack nowadays. Of course the steering is easily accessible which facilitates the steering. The turning radius is quite big, which slightly reduces playability. This is clearly visible in the second video. The rear of the vehicle looks great too. One can criticize that using a big panel lacks ingenuity, but I think the panel is perfect solution. Admittedly, I am a big fan of the 3x13 Curved Panel! Hopefully this panel will be introduced in White in the near future. The next picture shows the chassis of the vehicle. As you can see, the White Driving Ring Connector is used multiple times as a 3L connector, where you normally might use a 180 Degree Axle and Pin Connector Angled #2. This is something you will find in the other new sets as well. To be honest; I can't stop looking at the Kart! I also imagine a Bright Green and White version, using the panel from the 24 Hours Race Car. Actually, I have built the Kart in Bright Green and White. You can see the result and comparison at the end of this review. The front and rear view of the Kart. VIDEO PARTS LEFT FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS This model has the following features: Steering Gearbox STEERING The steering wheel actually steers the Kart, which is a plus. On the other hand, the Kart from 1978 already featured steering like this, so it's not very special. Hand of God (HoG) steering wouldn't make any sense on this model. The Kart does have a pretty big turning radius, which does affect playability. I know the options are limited on a small model, but I would have liked some ingenious way of steering that would result in a smaller turning radius. GEARBOX The Kart has a 2-speed gearbox, and a neutral. The gearbox is operated by the red lever. VIDEO OF FUNCTIONS The video below demonstrates the features of the Kart. B-MODEL Since this set includes instructions for the alternate model, I decided to build it. Apparently this is a Track Car, although that is a broad concept. I can't really tell by the image on the back of the box what kind of Track Car this is supposed to be. There's only one way to find out I still can't pinpoint exactly what kind of Track Car it is, but it is a pretty decent B-model. Unlike the main model, it does have Hand of God steering. And it features an opening bonnet/hood. The steering wheel is for decoration purposes. It doesn't steer the model. For a B-model the design is more than sufficient. The next picture shows the chassis of the car. All things considered, this is a high quality B-model. VIDEO B-MODEL The video below shows a short demonstration of the Track Car. PARTS LEFT This image shows the parts left after building the alternate model. The leftover parts from the A-model are shown on the left. As you can see the B-model uses one red Technic Bush from the extra parts. SUMMARY Besides the rather large turning radius, there are no real downsides to this model. I love the looks and color scheme. It also it contains various unique and rare parts. It even features a working gearbox and working steering wheel. The set comes with printed instructions for the B-model, so it's basically a real 2-in-1 set. For around 25 euros you really can't go wrong with this set. Given the price, this also makes for a perfect gift. A gift for someone else, or gift for yourself?! You decide! I'd say this is definitely a worthy successor of me first Technic set ever!! SCORE How do I grade the good guy in this year's duo. 9 DESIGN Purple and orange work great together in this set. And it does look like a real Kart. 8 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Fun to build. Great introduction to gearboxes and steering. 7 FEATURES Working steering wheel and gear box on a relatively small set. 7 PLAYABILITY Limited turning radius slightly limits playability. 8 PARTS Some new parts and parts in new (rare) colors. 9 VALUE FOR MONEY Totally worth the money. 8,0 THE PERFECT GIFT As a bonus here are some picture of the Kart where the orange and purple color scheme has been changed to bright green and white. Not too bad, not too bad at all. It would probably look even better when the panels at the front could be replaced by bright green as well. My favorite picture of the Green Kart! The green fender works really well. COMPARISON Here you can see a comparison between the Purple/Orange and Green/White kart. I personally like the Purple/Orange better, but it's fun to have options. More image can be found on my Flickr page. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.

REVIEW - 42047 - POLICE INTERCEPTOR INTRODUCTION Starting with the 42010 - Off-road Racer and 42011 - Race Car in 2013, TLG released two sets in the first half of each year, using a pull-back motor. The pull-back motor allows the model to be pulled back, followed by forward motion. Usually there's no apparent relation between the two set, other than the ability to combine them into an alternate build. This year there seems to some sort of Cops and Robbers scene going on. A Getaway Racer and a Police Interceptor. That can't be a coincidence. Makes you wonder who will be victorious, the good guys or the bad guys. Let's find out! Note: All images can be clicked for hi-res versions. SET INFORMATION Number: 42047 Title: Police Interceptor Theme: Technic Released: 2016 Part Count: 185 Box Weight: 325 gr Box Dimensions: 26,0 cm x 13,8 cm x 5,9 cm Set Price (MSRP): € 19,99 Price per Part: € 0,108 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The box has the same dimensions as previous year's pullback motor sets. In the lower right corner there's a visual explanation of the pullback mechanism. Lime green might seem unusual for a police car, but it might work out better than expected. CONTENT OF THE BOX The box contains: 1 Instructions Booklet 1 Sticker Sheet 2 Technic Liftarms 1 Pull-back Motor 3 Bags INSTRUCTION BOOKLET The instruction booklet for the main model. Unfortunately no booklet for the alternate model. STICKER SHEET The sticker sheet shows similar lime green details as found in the rest of the model. PULL-BACK MOTOR AND LIFTARMS The pull-back motor and liftarms haven't been sealed in plastic bags. BAGS Three bags containing the rest of the parts. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This section describes the new and/or otherwise interesting parts. 7L AXLE IN YELLOW The 7L Axle has never been released in yellow before. This year TLG surprised us with releasing axles in different colors, like yellow, red and orange. This set only contains a yellow 7L Axle, but you can checkout my other reviews to see which other axles have been (re)released. This 7L Axle has also been used in the Drag Racer. LIME GREEN PARTS The 30.4mm D. x 20mm Wheels are unique to this set. They have been released in various colors, but never in lime green. The 3x3 L-shaped Thin Liftarms haven't been released in lime green since 2001. TIRES These 43.2 x 22 ZR Tires haven't been used in pullback sets before. They do appear in 48 other sets though, so they aren't very rare. WHITE PANELS If you haven't bought Commander Cody or the Mercedes Arocs this looks like the perfect set to get some of the small white panels. PART LIST This set contains 185 parts, shown below. THE BUILD Since it's a small model, I will skip the building steps. I hereby present the finished Police Interceptor. I was on the fence about lime green, but seeing it in real life takes every doubt away. Although not your average police color scheme, the lime green does add a kick to this set. I do love the overall SUV shape of the model. The Driving Ring Connector used in the chassis of the Race Cart (see my review) are used constructing the roof of this model. That relatively new parts proves to be very versatile. Even though there are quite a few stickers, which add some lime green details to the model, the model looks great without stickers too. It doesn't rely as much on the stickers at the Getaway Racer does. The chassis is pretty basic, using the pullback motor in the rear axle. VIDEO Here's a short video showing the model. LEFTOVER PARTS A few common leftover parts. FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS VIDEO Here's a video demonstrating the pull-back functionality. And yes, my girlfriend was kind enough to catch the model before it fell to the ground B-MODEL The alternate model, the Extreme Police Racer, is a combined build with the Getaway Racer, which you can see on the back of the box. Unfortunately the instructions for the combined B-model are not included, so I didn't get a chance to build it. The double rear-wheeled formula one type racer seems to be cool enough to give it a go. SUMMARY I think this is one of the best looking pull-back racers, together with the 42026 Black-Champion-Racer from 2014. The Getaway Racer looks very good too, but it does rely heavily on it's stickers. Lime green adds a kick to this model. Combined with white it provides a great color scheme. The model itself has a very distinctive SUV look, which is properly executed. Negative aspects are hard to find. This is a winner!! SCORE How do I grade the good guy in this year's duo. 9 DESIGN The lime green actually works. Less dependent on stickers than the Getaway Racer. 7 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Nothing out of the ordinary. 7 FEATURES Limited to the pull-back functionality. 7 PLAYABILITY Combined with the Getaway Racer, kids will love it. 8 PARTS Lime green rims are unique to this set. Lots of useful white parts. 8 VALUE FOR MONEY Pullback sets always deliver a certain value. 7,7 GOOD GUYS DON'T ALWAYS FINISH LAST More image can be found on my Flickr page. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.

REVIEW - 42046 - GETAWAY RACER INTRODUCTION Starting with the 42010 - Off-road Racer and 42011 - Race Car in 2013, TLG released two sets in the first half of each year, using a pullback motor. The pullback motor allows the model to be pulled back, followed by forward motion. Usually there's no apparent relation between the two set, other than the ability to combine them into an alternate build. This year there seems to some sort of Cops and Robbers scene going on. A Getaway Racer and a Police Interceptor. That can't be a coincidence. Makes you wonder who will be victorious, the good guys or the bad guys. Let's find out! Note: All images can be clicked for hi-res versions. SET INFORMATION Number: 42046 Title: Getaway Racer Theme: Technic Released: 2016 Part Count: 170 Box Weight: 302 gr Box Dimensions: 26,0 cm x 13,8 cm x 5,9 cm Set Price (MSRP): € 19,99 Price per Part: € 0,118 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The box has the same dimensions as previous year's pullback motor sets. In the lower right corner there's a visual explanation of the pullback mechanism. The dark model with it's decals sure looks like a cool hot rod. CONTENT OF THE BOX The box contains: 1 Instructions Booklet 1 Sticker Sheet 2 Technic Liftarms 1 Pullback Motor 3 Bags INSTRUCTION BOOKLET Just a single booklet. Unfortunately no booklet for the alternate model. STICKER SHEET The sticker sheet contains a lot of cool stickers with flames and skulls etc. PULLBACK MOTOR AND LIFTARMS The pullback motor and two liftarms are found unbagged. BAGS A total of three bags containing the majority of the parts. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This section describes the new and/or otherwise interesting parts. Actually, this set is the only set of 1H 2016 which doesn't use any new parts, not even parts in a new color. TIRES The Getaway Racer uses four low profile tires (Tire 37 x 22 ZR). RIMS The rims are Wheel 30.4mm D. x 20mm in Pearl Gold, found in 12 other sets. PANELS This set contains three #3 Panelsand three #4 Panels in black. PART LIST This set contains 171 parts, all listed below. THE BUILD This being a small model, I won't show any building steps. Let's skip right to the finished model. Below you can see the end result. In my opinion the model looks great. It's got that hot rod vibe going on and the stickers add darkness to the vibe. Slight problem with this set is that it really needs the stickers to finish the look. Otherwise it's quite dull, with black and dark grey liftarms and panels. The rear view shows the pullback motor connected directly to the rear axle. In this image you can also clearly see the exhaust pipes on the side, which are very well executed. The 3x3 Technic Discs with stickers, used in the rim, result in only seeing a part of the rim. This works very well with the golden rims. The bottom view shows the chassis of the car. Nothing really noteworthy, as you would expect from a pullback set. VIDEO The following video gives you an overview of the finished model. PARTS LEFT These six parts are left after building the model. Seems about right. FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS This being a pullback motor set, it only has a single feature. The video below demonstrates the acceleration of the vehicle. My girlfriend was kind enough to catch the model before it fell to the ground. Or did it hit something before it fell to the ground?! VIDEO This video shows the pullback functionality. B-MODEL The alternate model is a combined build with the Police Interceptor, which you can see on the back of the box. Unfortunately the instructions for the combined B-model are not included, so I didn't get a chance to build it. This would make for a fun challenge, building the B-model without the instructions. SUMMARY Pullback sets are not the most technically advanced models, so you can't expect any other functionality than hitting the walls in your house. However, I think they are very appealing to kids. The fact that this year's pullback sets form a duo adds to the fun. In my opinion TLG hit the nail on the head with the Getaway Racer and Police Interceptor. The Getaway Racer looks very badass, which is something you don't see every day in a Technic set. SCORE How do I grade the bad guy in this year's duo. 8 DESIGN It looks so cool, but it does need the stickers. 7 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Nothing out of the ordinary. 7 FEATURES Limited to the pullback-and-drive functionality. 7 PLAYABILITY Combined with the Police Interceptor, kids will love it. It does need it's Nemesys though. 7 PARTS Collection of common parts. Gold rims could be interesting. 8 VALUE FOR MONEY Pullback sets always deliver a certain value. 7,3 HIT IT! More image can be found on my Flickr page. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.

REVIEW - 42044 - DISPLAY TEAM JET INTRODUCTION The smallest of the 2016 sets, is the Display Team Jet. It doesn't seem to have lots of functionality, but maybe the landing gear is retractable. This set kind of reminds me to the 9394 - Jet Plane, although it's obviously a lot smaller. As you can read in my review of the 42052 - Heavy Lift Helicopter basically anything flying is +1 for me, so let's find out if this set also fits the bill. Note: All images can be clicked for hi-res versions. SET INFORMATION Number: 42044 Title: Display Team Jet Theme: Technic Released: 2016 Part Count: 113 Box Weight: 193 gr Box Dimensions: 15,4 cm x 13,8 cm x 5,9 cm Set Price (MSRP): € 9,99 Price per Part: € 0,088 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX Being a small set, it obviously comes in a small box. The Display Team Jet is an Aerobatics Jet, used in air shows. On the box it's flying rather high, but at least it's at a safe distance from the crowd. Front side shows the main model, together with a small section indicating you can use Digital Building instructions to build this model. BACK SIDE The back side shows the B-model, a Stunt Plane. And again a reference to the apps for Digital Building instructions. More on the Stunt Plane later. CONTENT OF THE BOX The box contains: 2 Instructions Booklets (A- and B-model) 1 Sticker Sheet 3 Technic Liftarms 2 Bags INSTRUCTION BOOKLETS Both the instructions for the A- and B-model are included in the box. STICKER SHEET A lot of stickers for such a small set. Apparently no panel is left untouched. LIFTARMS Three liftarms unsealed, nothing out of the ordinary for a small set. BAGS Two bags containing the rest of the parts. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This section describes the new and/or otherwise interesting parts. YELLOW 5L AXLES The 5L Axle in Yellow has never been released before, so it's one of the new parts for this year. BLACK 7L FLEX AXLES For the layman this seems a common part, but the 7L Soft Axle actually has never been released in black before. Combined with the re-release of the 19L Soft Axle in black, this will open up lots of possibilities. For those of you thinking you've read this text before; you are right, the new Drag Racer contains these new 7L Flex Axles too. WHITE PANELS This small set comes with a whopping 10 panels. Great for the ones who like panels. Not so great if you think TLG is using too much panels lately. RUDDER This part, the Small Bionicle Wing, is the same as the one used in last year's 42033 - Record Breaker. PART LIST This set contains 113 parts, all listed below. THE BUILD This is the collection of parts, used to build the Jet. It sure looks like we are getting a landing gear. The build is fun, but pretty straightforward. There aren't any special or cool techniques used in this set. It almost took me more time to apply all the stickers than to build the actual model. FINISHED MODEL The finished Jet does look cool though. The white and yellow color scheme, combined with the stickers, work really well. I have seen people refer to the plane as being orange, but it's definitely yellow. Technic (or LEGO in general) tends to have some color variation when it comes to yellow. I do concur this is the warmer variant of yellow, but it's not orange. The back of the plane looks nice too, although I am not a big fan of the rudder part. It looks too detailed, compared to the other panels. It's not a big deal though, and maybe it's just me. PARTS LEFT Only three common parts left. FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS This set has a single feature and that is a retractable landing gear. It's operated by the black 12T Double Bevel Gear near the cockpit. In the following picture you can see the landing gear retracted. This image shows the landing gear when the plane is ready for landing. Hopefully the pilot will roll the plane before landing, but you probably know what I mean VIDEO Here's s short video demonstrating the Display Team Jet. B-MODEL This set also includes the building instructions for the B-model, a Stunt Plane. The building experience for the Stunt Plane is more or less the same as for the Jet. Well, what do you expect when both models are planes with a limited number of parts. For an alternative model the Stunt Plane looks fine. There's not a lot of functionality in this plane, but it's worth mentioning that the tail wheel allows the plane to roll on a flat surface. The plane also has working propellors. Both functions are demonstrated in the video. Unfortunately, the landing gear of the Stunt Plane is not retractable. PARTS LEFT A couple of extra leftover parts, but it's nice to see that most of the parts have been used in the B-model as well. Actually, there's probably an extra yellow Technic Smooth 1/2 Bush left. I just found it on my desk, but it could belong to one of the other sets. VIDEO Here's a video demonstrating the Stunt Plane. SUMMARY Two nice planes for 13 bucks, that's basically what you get. Both models look good and the set has some interesting new parts. Especially the 7L Flex Axle will be very popular. It comes with a decent collection of white panel, although they are very common nowadays. Both models have limited functionality, but each of them has at least one function to give the model some playability for kids, other than the swooshability that is. Okay, it might lack some proper functions, but I still think kids will love this set. I can see kids running around with one of the planes in their hands. All in all I think this set delivers what you'd expect. SCORE Let's see how this set flies! Remember that the grades are based on it being a small set. Obviously a set like this, cannot be compared with a Mercedes flagship. 8 DESIGN For a small set, the model looks very authentic. 7 BUILDING EXPERIENCE No surprises. 7 FEATURES Just the retractable landing gear. 8 PLAYABILITY It has swooshability, so I see kids running around with this model. 7 PARTS Lots of panels, if you are into that. 8 VALUE FOR MONEY Can't go wrong with these small sets. 7,5 FUN FOR KIDS More image can be found on my Flickr page. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.

First one (Display Team Jet) is up. I won't post any further publishing information here. You know where to find it

Drum roll.....it's review time! I've created a collection topic for all reviews: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=117796 Now I will start publishing my reviews on the line.

This is a topic to gather all reviews in a single place. Feel free to post links to external reviews, so I can update the first post. 1H 2016 42044 - Display Team Jet (by Jim) 42045 - Hydro Plane (by Mostlytechnic) 42046 - Getaway Racer (by Jim) 42047 - Police Interceptor (by Jim) 42048 - Race Kart (by Jim) 42049 - Mine Loader (by Mostlytechnic) 42050 - Drag Racer (by Jim) 42052 - Heavy Lift Helicopter (by Jim) 2H 2016 42054 - Claas Xerion 5000 Trac VC (by Jim) 42056 - Porsche 911 GT3 RS (by Jim) VIDEO REVIEWS BY SARIEL Sariel's Technic 2016 1H Reviews

That's good news I was looking for smaller models and I was afraid that 10000 would still be too big. Apparently it's fine

I see mostly Technic, Modulars and Star Wars, which looks familiar

Nice approach to this contest! You are putting quite some effort in it I do like your initial model. This is exactly what I have in mind for this contest. Not too big, some functions, even some manually operated pneumatics. Good busy as we say in Holland

I hate to be rude, so I will be gentle.....but please make a habit of scrolling through some of the recent posts before you ask a question

How many panels does the 42025 have? 50? 42039 - 47 42025 - 50 42052 - ?

I will not wait till midnight to post the reviews. Instead I will post them early in the morning. So my reviews will be popping up in about 15 hours

There is no clear instruction on the timezone. I always use the Dutch timezone.

Ahhh in white. That would indeed make a nice addition to the white part selection. he probably would.

Hehe I am not entirely sure what you mean with that part, in that (LBG?) color? Or do you mean another color?