Jim

The thing about subforums or separate forums is that nobody hardly ever visits those. So, GBC will be visited by ten or twenty people. If the GBC'ers like that, I'm fine with a subforum, but don't expect a lot of activity from "the outside".

Valid point. I am looking forward to that movie btw.

Hehe true that.

Except the Ecto-1 is from 1984 (probably different version, I know)

I'm not sure either. Maybe they were already producing and shipping when the film got delayed?! Not sure when that happened.

Yeah, it's all about compromises. Yeah, I do think it's good to have relatively simple Technic sets in the line-up. That's why I do like TLG venturing into movie vehicles. That would have been perfect, but I do think that the set would be somewhat bigger and more expensive. TLG seems to target the $100/100 euro mark.

My review has been published. Well, certainly not Sariel himself It's a voiceover. Sounds great though!

REVIEW - 42127 - THE BATMAN - BATMOBILE INTRODUCTION My last review started with the sentence "Here we are, for most likely the final Technic set review of this year". Yet, here we are again. Apparently, I was mistaken and here's another review. The set number indicates that it was originally planned for this year (2021), but not hearing anything about it fired the rumor that it was postponed till 2022. I have no further information about why the set has been released "all of a sudden". About the set. Well...yeah...about the set. I am not a huge DC or Marvel fan, but I do like the occasional superhero movie. Batman is actually one of the movies I tend to watch. And to be honest; the Tumbler is one of the coolest movie vehicles ever. I still have the 76023 - Tumbler built on display. Even Kitty (my wife) loves the Tumbler. So, I was anxious to see what a Technic Tumbler would look like. Technic Tumbler?! You probably mean the Technic Batmobile! O wait, it isn't a Tumbler. Not all Batmobiles are Tumblers. I automatically assumed Tumbler, but that obviously isn't the case.This is the Batmobile from next year's The Batman movie. Needless to say I was disappointed for a few seconds, but I understand they can't keep using the Tumbler. Wait, ignore that. Of course they can...and they should hehe! Okay, enough with the joker...uhmm jokes....let talk about this version of the Batmobile. The version that looks boring and horrible. There you have it, I said it. I am almost reluctant to review this set, because it has very little appeal to me. The back looks okay and kinda cool, but the front-side looks like * beep *. So I wondered; maybe the actual Batmobile from the mobile looks horrible too. Well, it doesn't. It's not as cool as the Tumbler, but it still looks like a proper Batmobile. There's even a cool brick built version on Rebrickable. All things considered, I am not too excited about this set, but the fun part about reviewing a set you don't like beforehand (yes, I am talking about you 42050 - Drag Racer), is that you might be surprised. PICTURES Pictures can be clicked to view hi-res versions. My Flickr album contains all the photos taken for this review. DISCLAIMER The CEE Team of TLG has provided this set. It's not my goal to promote this set. It's my goal to give you an honest opinion about it. Therefore, the opinion in this review is my own and is in no way linked to TLG. SET INFORMATION Number: 42127 Title: The Batman - Batmobile Theme: Technic Released: 2021 Part Count: 1360 Box Dimensions: 47,5 cm x 28,0 x 11,5 cm Weight: 1,7 kg Set Price (RRP): £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 Price per Part: £0.066 / $0.074 / €0.074 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX Batteries not...wait a minute...batteries included is shown on the front of the box. This hardly ever happens with a Technic set. It's because this set features a light brick, often found in City sets and the like. The light brick provides the orange glow you see beneath the hood of the vehicle. The back of the box shows the rear of the vehicle, which is actually the most appealing part of the vehicle for me. The thumbnails show all the functions, like opening the doors and the hood hehe. The box doesn't indicate steering, but the front wheels are slightly rotated. If you take a close look at the roof, you will see an axle where the HoG (Hand of God) steering will be placed (it is visible in the first thumbnail by the way). This is a technique which TLG used in the Ford Raptor as well. Having a detachable steering knob provides playability and displayability, which is a good thing! CONTENTS OF THE BOX The box contains: Instruction booklet Sticker sheet 7 x Numbered bag 2 x Unnumbered bag INSTRUCTION BOOKLET A regular booklet for a set this size. STICKER SHEET Small sticker sheet with three dashboard stickers. BAGS The numbered (7) and unnumbered bags (2). HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This sections describes special and/or new parts. ARCHED 13x2x5 MUDGUARDS WITH ROUNDED TOPS I hardly ever get this right, because I have mixed up numerous times in the past, but these panels seem to be the ones found in the 42125 - Ferrari 488 GTE in black. TIRES AND RIMS The tires and rims are nothing out of the ordinary. The front wheels can be found in the Dodge Charger set and rhe rear ones in the Porsche 911 RSR. 2x3 CURVED PANEL This panel is relatively new. I has been released in black before, but if you want a larger quantity, this might be the set for your. LIGHT BRICKS This is a part you rarely see in a Technic set. And by rarely I mean never. TRANSPARENT CYLINDERS We have had transparent cylinders in the past, but this is the first time we get the new mold. 2L AXLE WITH PIN This part has been found in other non Technic sets already, but it's making his Technic debut in this set. It's the non-friction counterpart of the black one. Funny thing is that, in my opinion, it wasn't necessary in this set at all. Could have easily used the black one, but a white one was used to simply connecting a small subassembly. At least, that's my assumption. PART LIST The complete part list for all 1360 parts. THE BUILD Let's find out if the build is interesting enough for me to change my mind about this set. It will be a tall order, since I built the CAT recently and that build was incredible. The build consists of seven steps. STEP 1 The front and rear part of the chassis are connected, but only by a single pin on each side. It's not very sturdy at the moment, but that will probably be fixed later on. I'm guessing mounting the seats will fix the issue. STEP 2 The transparent motor not only looks cool, but it allows you seeing the pistons move. Since the cylinders have been closed by a 2x2 round tile, you wouldn't see anything happening. When I attached the "steering wheel assembly", I wasn't sure whether I mounted it correctly. It's not entirely secured to the chassis, so it has some movement. Then I realised that pressing the steering wheel, results in hitting the switch for the light brick. So, when you are driving/steering the model, you can press the steering wheel down and the light comes on. This is a neat solution. Forgot to add the spare parts. Here they are. The other light brick is activated by a lever in the "cockpit". I'm assuming this is the throttle for propulsion. STEP 3 The following steps pretty much boil down to completing the bodywork, starting with the front right fender and door. I do have an issue with the fenders in the front. More on that later. STEP 4 The front bumper looks aggresive. I do like the design of it. And the hood made up of the small panels is a nice solution as well. The gaps aren't too big, but big enough to clearly see the light brick's effect. STEP 5 This step is almost identical to step 3, but you build the left front side of the bodywork. I wasn't sure why I took a picture of the rear instead, but you also add the macaroni parts at the back. STEP 6 The rear of the car is starting to look decent. I like the open engine bay where you can see all the action. STEP 7 The last step is to mount the seats, wheels and the flames. Are those actually flames, or some sort of exhaust fumes?! Given the color of the flames (also the smaller ones), maybe they are some sort of ice flames (if those even exist hehe). I guess we'll have to wait til the movie comes out. The seats indeed provide stability to the chassis. Edit: The Jet Engine obviously. I could have figured that out myself. Okay, let's talk about the front fenders. I am not a big fan of the curved panel on top of the fender panel. The solution kinda works in the rear, but it's a major no-no for me in the front. And I don't think curved panels are causing the issue, but the fenders. The smaller wheels in front makes this construction look horrible. A better solution would have been to fall back to a flexible axle solution or possibly design a smaller fender panel. I mean, just look at the picture....is that really the best solution?! COMPLETED MODEL The completed model does look better in real life than in the pictures, but I is definitely not my favorite set. Is it worth buying? Well, the price is okay and you do get some cool new parts. It's not a bad set to pick-up. What I also like is that TLG is releasing movie vehicles. I haven't built Dom's Charger, but I noticed that a lot of people (maybe not us, hardcore AFOLs) liked that set for what it is. You get a nice model for a reasonable price. Which seems to apply to this model as well. The hood and doors can be opened. The rear is probably the part I like the most. I genuinely breathes Batman. Same picture without vignetting. From a slightly different angle. The chassis feels a bit flimsy (especially before you mount the seats) and this picture shows why. I'm sorry, but I just can't get past the front fenders. They are so out of place. On the other hand; I haven't seen a clear picture of what the "actual" Batmobile from the movie looks like, so I can't properly judge this model. Maybe the movie version has a terrible looking front fender as well. I do see some curves in one of the pictures, but it's clear how the wheels fit under the fenders. Edit: There is a picture in the booklet and the front fenders aren't like the ones found in this set. But since I'm not someone who tends to focus on the negative, I will try to address the positive things. One of them is that the model looks better in real life than in pictures. I have seen this numerous times and it happened again. It has a certain coolness and the overall aesthetics are okay-ish. Regarding the build itself; At first, I didn't particularly enjoy the build. It wasn't engaging in any way and felt a bit fiddly in times, but at the end I started to like the model (and build) better. Usually I prefer building the chassis over the bodywork, but in this case it might be the opposite. When I was done building, it did get a "well, that wasn't so bad" feeling. I do wonder how the model looks with bigger tires on the front. I couldn't resist trying. Obviously, this doesn't work out of the box. The front axle needs adjusting. But this is what I call "an artist's impression". The same size in front doesn't look too good. An ideal situation would probably be a wheel size between the small and the big one. And to wrap it up, the front and rear views, which I think are both quite satisfactory. FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS Even though this is just a car, it does pack some unexpected features. The two light bricks provide cool special effects. The one connected to the steering wheel is easy to operate, which is well thought of. The rotating exhaust adds to the coolness of the car. This model doesn't have suspension, but for me that's not an issue. I know my good friend Balasz from Racing Brick will probably disagree and mention this in his review hehe. In my opinion this still is a genuine Technic model, whether it has suspension or not. Edit: Balasz agrees hehe. Check out his review here. SUMMARY The main question that needs answering is; am I surprised by this set? The short answer is "no, not really". Does this mean I don't like this set? Well, that isn't entirely true either. I would easily skip buying this set, but it's not as bad as I initially thought. During the build there isn't a big revelation that made me love this set, but I can imagine that this set will be popular, like Dom's Charger. PRO Detachable Hand of God steering It packs some cool features (two light bricks and rotating exhaust) Steering wheel activates one of the light bricks Looks better in real life than in pictures Movie car theme is appealing CONS Front fender ruins the entire look of the car Missed opportunity to introduce a smaller fender panel No suspension, although I don't really mind myself SCORE How do I rate this set? 6 DESIGN The front fender ruins the overall design. 7 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Started to like the build at the end. 7 FEATURES The three added features compensate the lack of suspension 7 PLAYABILITY The extra features will probably keep kids entertained for a while. 7 PARTS New transparent cylinders, new fenders and an okay selection of black parts. 7 VALUE FOR MONEY This model won't break the bank, so it's okay for what you get. 6,8 TO THE BATMOBILE! Thanks you for reading this review. All pictures can be found here.

C++ … that’s been a while! Sounds like an interesting project. Not familiar with Qt though.

You sure can!

I guess I owed you this one...

A non-vehicle contest is something I have been thinking about since TC2 And I still think we will do that one day.

No thanks. You can embed like this; copy the url of the image (and I have changed the resolution in the url to 1024) and paste it in the post. https://bricksafe.com/files/MookiMoo/42100/Original.JPG/1024x768.JPG

We usually use external image hosting services, like Flickr or Bricksafe. The latter is free of charge and can be used to host your images. You can upload an hi-res version and embed a lower res version in your post (max 1024 pixels wide).

I was talking about two optional extra motors, besides the mandatory one. Makes three.

A motorized 8852 I will probably go with two optional extra motors (driving, steering, etc).

I was indeed thinking about closing early January. I can't arrange prizes this year anymore anyway, so that would allow me to think about prizes.

I will try to get this going the upcoming week. Are the two rules okay?

It is missing a lot of info and summary etc, but I wanted to share what I had.

Hi, I started this review, because I really these sets. I do have some of the later series, but they are not as good. Maybe for the figures indeed, but I am not a collector. I'm more of a UCS fan

REVIEW - STAR WARS MICROFIGHTERS SERIES 1 NOTE: This is a review I started writing a while ago, but have never finished. Instead of deleting it, I figured why not post what I have. INTRODUCTION Star Wars Microfighters are the successors of the Star Wars Planet Sets which weren't very succesful. Main problem of these sets was the fact that the Minifig didn't fit the model. The Microfighter series solve this issue by proving a cartoonish vehicle which can seat the Minigif. The style is called Chibi. Instead of reviewing a single set, this review will deal with six of the 2014 Microfighters Series 1. There are eight Microfighters listed for 2014, but two of them are limited promotional sets, so let's focus on the widely available six sets. I'm not sure whether you are familiar with a TV show called Scraphead Challenge or Junkyard Wars (in the US). A typical episode featured a competition between two 4-person teams, each consisting of three regular members (with one designated the captain), plus an expert in the field related to the particular challenge. The judge for each episode is typically a specialist in (non-scrap) versions of the machine being constructed. This review of Microfighters Series 1 will be the first Junkyard Star Wars Challenge, where six contestants will try to build an intergallactic combat vehicle. First I will report about the Challenge and after that each of the six sets will be discussed individually. THE CONTESTANTS In this challenge there are no teams, just single contestants. From left to right we present: Theron Nett a.k.a. Red Ten Imperial Crew Clone Trooper Han Solo Battle Droid Pilot Tie Fighter Pilot THE CHALLENGE The Challenge is to build a vehicle from pieces of junk. So, what does a large pileof junk look like? Well, it looks more or less like the pile of parts below. Throwing all the parts in a single pile actually results in quite a few parts to work with. 574 to be precise (604 including the extra parts). Makes you wonder what these guys will come up with. One thing is for sure; none of them is certain on where to begin. After the initial confusion we see some progress made by all of them. Not sure where this is going though. Is that a wall or a Christmas Tree on the left?! So the Christmas Tree turns out to be some sort of craft after all. The guys on his right is making an....uhmm...?! Next to him a vehicle with a lot of pins is being constructed. Will it it be a vehicle with ten wheels?! What's this Han Solo guy building?! Is he seriously thinking he can do the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs with that piece of junk?! That droids seems to be scavenging all the tan parts. That doesn't seem fair to me. Apparently Red Ten is building something with wings, so it should be able to fly. The Tie Fighter pilot seems to have the same plan. Lukcy for them, they don't share the same color preference. The Tie Fighter seems a bit dark to me. Okay guys, you have ten minutes left on the clock. Time to finish your vehicles. Huh, what's happening?! Red Ten and Cloney are arguing over some parts. Apparently Red Ten has used Cloney's wheels as engines?! That can't be good! Give me back my rims....or else!!! Glad that got sorted out without too much of a fight. Seems all contestants have finished right in time! 30 parts aren't used in the builds. THE VEHICLES Let's find out what each of 'em has build, starting with Red Ten. 75032 - X-WING FIGHTER 97 parts THE BOX THE CONTENT THE PARTS THE MODEL 75030 - MILLENNIUM FALCON 94 parts THE BOX THE CONTENT THE PARTS THE MODEL 75029 - AAT 95 parts THE BOX THE CONTENT THE PARTS THE MODEL 75028 - CLONE TURBO TANK 96 parts THE BOX THE CONTENT THE PARTS THE MODEL 75031 - TIE INTERCEPTOR 92 parts THE BOX THE CONTENT THE PARTS THE MODEL 75033 - STAR DESTROYER 100 parts THE BOX THE CONTENT THE PARTS [missing picture] THE MODEL

That is actually something I have been thinking about as well. 1 Motor for the transformation....and .... So one mandatory motor for transformation and 1 (optional?) motor for propulsion/thrustt/driving sounds nice. If the driving motor is optional, we could allow the optional motor for another function. That would give the participants more options. And for the transformation; Transforms from one type of vehicle to another. And another can be something like the 8852. Not sure if it should be more restrictive.

I'm in favor of allowing all hubs and possibly external sensors.

Car-into-jet-aircraft sounds fine. That's the kind of transformation I'd like to see. Short-chassis-to-long-chassis is not something I was aiming for.

What do you have in mind? Let's see if it could fit a contest. Yeah, humanoid is bit too limiting. Agreed.