recovering_from_dark_ages

Interesting. Based on that, perhaps sets made between years 1997 (with set 8479) and 2006 (8674) have this problem. Does anyone know if set 8480 (made in 1996) had this problem?

I've seen in a few reviews that set 8448 and some of the Racers sets like 8674 have stickers that become chipped and cracked over the years even without use. Does anyone know which Technic sets have this problem? It doesn't seem like any post-2010 sets do, based on what I've seen. Is it only limited to some 1990's and 2000's sets? There are excellent replacements available at https://www.brickstickershop.com/ for many long-retired Technic sets, although I'd prefer to use the original stickers if they'll last. EDIT: I meant to post this in the Technic subforum. Apologies. I don't see a way to move the thread there.

A bit belated, but for all of the naysayers in this thread, I've attached proof that there is absolutely no excuse for the tires to be so worn on a "New & Sealed" 8455 set, from this current EBay listing. Notice that all four tires are in perfect condition with none of the obvious rear tire wear shown in my OP.

@vliet I mean the telehandler (the first set you posted). It seems that all sets from MrTekneex on Rebrickable have been taken down for some reason.

It seems to have been taken down. It was the most-upvoted alternate build MOC for 42030.

To clarify, I flexed some parts before disassembly and suspect that I might have damaged something. There are posts on Reddit from others indicating a similar crackling sound, which is why I’m wondering if anyone doesn’t experience it in any of the Sian’s 8 speeds.

Does anyone else’s Lego 42115 Lamborghini Sian NOT have this problem? In some of my Sian’s gears, but not all of them, rolling the wheels causes a crackling sound. When I first built it, I noticed that a gear was missing so half of the gears were effectively a neutral gear (no effect on the engine). So I took the car apart in pieces to install the missing gear, and ever since then, the gearbox makes a crackling sound when I roll the wheels in some gears. I’m trying to determine if I caused this or if it’s expected.

Thanks for the reply! That makes sense. Have you seen all of the functions that 42182 has in Sariel's video? I originally thought it doesn't do much based on the descriptions that I've read of it elsewhere, but it's packed with 16ish functions (albeit all manually operated, like the non-pneumatic functions on 42128). I think I may just need to cave and get another shelf. Then I'll be able to fit every Technic set that I'd ever want, except 8275 (although I'd be able to fit 8043 and 42030, which I also don't currently own).

Imagine that you already own sets 42043, 42009, 8082, 8480, and 8485, along with a bunch of other Technic sets. Your only remaining shelf space can fit: 8479 or 42128 on one shelf 8094 or 42182 on another shelf If the cost isn't a consideration, which of each of these pairs of sets would you prefer to have and build, and why? Getting more shelf space isn't an option.

Thanks! I've been looking everywhere for this.

Hello, Does anyone have the dimensions of the Lego 8043 Excavator A-Model in its most compact form, with the shovel and its boom fully retracted? I see in photos of it next to 8275 that it has similar dimensions, but I was hoping to get the exact dimensions. I normally rely on the dimensions listed at technic-dialog.de, but they don't seem accurate for this set since the listed length and width are nearly the same. Thanks

In my previous reply, I was no longer seeking help or advice and just wanted to set the record straight. My other experiences with Bricklink have almost all been ok, aside from an instruction booklet that was falsely advertised as new and was in fact so heavily used that it had mold and water damage. I've still had better luck with Ebay - never any issues there although apparently others have had them. Buying from sellers with extensive seller feedback on Ebay (not just buyer feedback) seems to be reliable. As I wrote before, I wanted to build this set immediately when I created this thread (and built it very soon afterward) since I had limited time with work obligations. At the time I had neither the time nor the desire to delay building the set by several weeks in order to exchange it. I posted this thread mainly as a cautionary tale. Requesting photos before purchase is always a good idea although in my case, aside from the taped box seal, it wouldn't have revealed the remaining flaws that only became visible after opening the set. Anyway, apologies if the accusation offended anyone. I was surprised that people were so adamantly defending the condition of the set.

Catching up a bit late here - my Bricklink orders from 6+ months ago have all disappeared completely, which is yet another serious flaw with the Bricklink website. I'm still quite convinced that my rear tires when I opened the set were dirty/dusty rather than degraded because the chalky dirt/dust rubbed off easily with a finger and didn't have the residue-like texture that I'd expect of degraded rubber, instead having the obvious texture of grime. Moreover, rubber degradation doesn't result in randomly placed scratches on the bottom of the rear tires that aren't on the sides, as shown in my photos. It is obviously certain that the rear tires were heavily used and frankly I don't understand the denial in this thread. Are you all paid Lego shills or something?

@Amt0571 Have you considered getting 42175 and building some of its alt build MOCs? It costs $200 and has 2274 parts. Its combine harvester and snow plow with tow plow MOC alt builds easily beat the original set in terms of functionality and require zero additional parts. Each one is arguably a higher quality, more functional rendition of a combine harvester and snow plow (respectively) than any official Lego set or MOC ever made. Imo both of those builds are also substantially better than 42157, because they have more functions and pieces. And I'd say that with its authenticity and many functions, 42145 is well worth its current market new price of $250, although you definitely get more pieces per dollar with 42175 since it's still in production.

If I understand correctly, your first list shows the sets that have the highest count ratio of 5 star ratings to 4 star ratings, while the second list shows the sets that have the lowest average rating only among their 0-2 star ratings. Are you sure that you excluded the ratings correctly and ordered the results correctly? If you only count each set's 4 and 5 star ratings, 8443 and 42159 would both have average ratings of 4.625 stars, while 8480 would have an average rating of 4.81 stars. Regardless if the lists were correctly compiled, what's the idea behind doing this? For one thing, you exclude 3-star ratings, which quantify the level of "meh" reactions to the set. But more importantly, you lose the overall average rating of the set by reviewers, or the average notion of how good it is. And besides, if a set got 500 5-star ratings and one 0-star rating, and nothing in between, then it would rank at the top of both of your lists (with an average rating of 5 on the first list and an average rating of 0 on the second list). Thus your lists would consider it to be simultaneously the best of the best and the worst of the worst, even though its overall average rating of 4.99 stars would make it an exceptionally well-rated set that could not reasonably be described as being among the worst.

Just catching up here after a few months away from Eurobricks. It seems to be correct that newer Technic sets (especially the ultimate supercars) far outsell the older ones, but then again, probably most people buying the new Technic sets have never heard of the old ones and may never discover them. I agree that the ratings on brickset seem drastically skewed in favor of older sets in general, probably because people are biased in favor of their childhood sets. There is no other fathomable reason why comparatively ugly and oversimplified sets like 8443 and 8862 are among the top 20 highest rated Technic sets on brickset, ahead of much better modern Technic sets like 42110 and 42100. Btw, 8455 has a drivetrain and engine, which 8069 seems to lack. The pneumatics are the most interesting part to most builders. Personally, I'm in favor of the greater complexity. It makes the sets far more interesting and I would have loved it even as a kid. The gearboxes on 8880 and 8448 are trivial in comparison to those of the modern supercar sets like 42172, which can be rebuilt into a McLaren F1 GTR. And while it's a behemoth, 42100 is the first ever Technic set to combine remote control with programmability, and the first to be programmable in Python. 42100's alt build MOCs are unparalleled by those of any pre-2015 set and even most of the newer ones. It's probably a great way to motivate a kid to learn programming....

This is a great set of Lego sets. How would you rank the top 5 of them overall? 8448 was my first Technic supercar and my favorite Lego set as a kid. My friend got 8466 soon afterwards and then we switched to video games before 8455 came out. I was an adult by the time other Technic greats like 8043, 42043, and 42100 came out and fortunately I've rediscovered them now. As cool as it is, my controversial opinion is that 8043 has been mostly obsolete after 42100 came out, since you can program 42100 in Python and build much better MOCs with it. But 8043 has one of the all-time highest densities of functions per piece of any Technic set or MOC, along with 8455, 8868, and the 42100 snow groomer MOC, which all have even more functions per piece. Why limit this to studless sets? What would be your all time top 5 Technic list if you included all Technic sets (and maybe Rebrickable MOCs, if you want)?

I think there are a few threads on this already (such as this one, this one, this one on Reddit, and others), but I'll bite since I hadn't yet discovered MOC alt builds on Rebrickable when I replied to a few of those threads. Here's my subjective overall ranking, accounting for each set's official Lego builds as well as its quality and quantity of alternate builds on Rebrickable that require no extra parts: 42100 Liebherr R 9800: this giant remote controlled excavator is the Technic set with the most ever pieces (4108), motors (7), and remote controlled functions (7). In addition, the set is programmable in two ways. You can program and replay sequences of excavator movements in the official model via the set's default Control+ interface. Additionally, you can build arbitrary remote control interfaces for any set of your imagination using the Powered Up app. Although there are Technic sets with a higher quantity of MOC alt builds with 500+ likes on Rebrickable, 42100 yields a large and incredibly diverse range of remote controlled MOCs such as its Johnny 5, R2-D2, bulldozer, snow groomer, combine harvester, backhoe, and Wall-E alt builds. 42100 is the modern (and imo superior) successor to programmable sets like the Lego Mindstorms series and the 8485 and 8479 Technic sets. It's the first and most full-functioned Lego set to ever combine programmability with remote control. And not only that - afaik it's the first Lego set to ever be programmable in Python, thanks to PyBricks. 42043 Mercedes Arocs 3245: this dump truck with crane replica has the most functions of any official Technic set ever. Combining motorized and pneumatic functions (including a motorized pump) with 4WD, 4-wheel steering, suspension, doors, a tilting cab, double rear tires, and a gearbox in an authentic replica of a real Mercedes truck is fantastic. This set is the superior successor to the legendary 8868 Air Tech Claw Rig and 8110 Unimog sets in every way, and has more functions than both. 8480 Space Shuttle: Lego Technic's epic space shuttle set features a function distribution gearbox and two motors, plus fiber optics (featured in only two Technic sets ever). You get Lego Technic's best ever official spacecraft/aircraft build as the A model and its best ever official marine build as the B model, if "best" means "highest number of functions". 42082 Rough Terrain Crane: this motorized crane has the second-most parts (4056) of any Technic set ever. While 42110 and 42098 both have a greater number of popular MOC's, 42082 is imo the only set that is comparable to 42100 in the quality and diversity of its MOC alt builds. In addition to its official crane build that is roughly tied with 42009 as the top-rated of many Lego Technic crane sets, you get a submarine that easily tops any Lego Technic official watercraft build including the 8480 B-model. And you get an improved version of the official Lego Technic 42054 CLAAS Xerion 5000 tractor set, featuring many attachments compatible with that original set. You also get a truck that is similar to 42043's A-model but has even more functions, plus arguably the best ever Technic forklift. With some additional parts, you can also build an improved and fully remote controlled version of the A-model, featuring 42054's three steering modes selectable via Technic's non-programmable Power Functions remote control setup; no other Power Functions remote control build has more functions afaik. 8455 Back-Hoe: this backhoe is the highest-rated Technic set of all time on brickset and it's the Technic set with the most-ever pneumatic functions and the most functions per piece, of all Technic sets ever. It's a marvel of Technic engineering, packing 10 functions into a dense build of just 704 pieces. I very nearly listed a supercar here instead of 8455, given the popularity of Technic's many supercars over the years. The 42115 Lamborghini Sian from 2020 is my personal favorite because it has the most functions of all Technic supercars. Meanwhile, of all Technic supercars, the beloved 8880 "Super Car" set from 1994 has the highest average rating on Brickset and the most functions per piece, while the 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS is best for MOC alt builds. 42115 and 42056 are part of Lego's series of five replica supercars, the first four of which amusingly all have the wrong number of gears and paddle shifters that shift in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, 8880 lacks a reverse gear or openable side doors, and has just 4 speeds. Lego Technic's many Formula 1 cars (e.g. 8674, 8461, 42171, and 42207) have even fewer features than the supercars, lacking proper gearboxes. In light of those engineering flaws, I listed 8455 here instead of any supercar. 8043 could easily take 8455's place here (see below). If you have very limited space and want to get a sampling of almost all Lego Technic functions ever created, the above sets (and their MOCs) nearly give you that. The only functions you'd be missing would be the Power Functions (PF) remote control interface and Power Functions lights. To get both of those with an off-the-shelf Lego set, you could replace 8455 with the remote controlled (slow) 41999 4x4 Crawler set, since all of 8455's functions are featured in other sets on this list. Alternatively, if you don't care about the PF lights, you could instead buy the 8043 Motorized Excavator, which has the most remote controlled functions of any official Power Functions build but partly duplicates 42100's excavator functionality. Or you could get the 42030 Volvo L350F Wheel Loader, which is the highest-rated of all remote controlled Power Functions sets on brickset and has an RC alt build that is quite possibly the best ever Technic telehandler. Arguably the best (but most expensive) choice would be to purchase the additional parts for the fully remote controlled version of 42082 and optionally add PF lights to it; you'd then have the remote controlled PF set with the most ever functions. EDIT 2025/5/23: Consolidated this post and corrected it to rank 5 sets

Does anyone have the instructions to this model or know where I can find them? This MOC was just taken down from Rebrickable, before I could buy the set. Thanks EDIT: it's back up now. Apologies

Does anyone have the instructions to this model or know where I can find them? This MOC was just taken down from Rebrickable, before I could buy the set. Thanks EDIT: it's back up now. Apologies

Thanks! Out of curiosity, where/how did you replace the flex cables? I'm curious if you bought some intact replacements with connectors that didn't require any modification, or if you manually soldered new wires into the existing connectors as others have been doing. Thanks! Much appreciated. I looked everywhere for this.

Does anyone know the assembled dimensions of the Lego 8485 Control Centre II dinosaur model? So far I've only been able to find the dimensions of its box. I'm trying to figure out if it would fit on my shelf. Thanks!

Makes sense. I learned about the Lego Dacta sets only a few months ago and had never heard of them as a kid, despite having Mindstorms and competing in FLL (First Lego League) at age ~10. Agreed. I've also decided that there is no point in repeating ownership of similar sets since I only have space for 10-12 of them in total. For that reason, I only want one supercar, one excavator, one crane, one Power Functions RC set, one Control+ RC set, one aircraft set, one tractor, one spacecraft set, etc. So I don't plan to simply buy the top 12 sets by average rating. I'd end up with two cranes, two backhoes, two supercars, two pneumatic sets with a motorized pump (42043 and 8868), and two sets (42054 and 8868) with a claw crane arm. And if I buy 42100 and convert 42009 to the Ultimate 42009, 42030 becomes less interesting imo. I'd already have the Control+ and Power Functions RC sets with the most remote controlled functions at that point, although the Ultimate 42009 isn't an official set. (The Ultimate 42082 has as many functions as the Ultimate 42009 but isn't nearly as popular or widely used so I didn't want to risk it.)

Lego Technic cars (especially the new line of licensed UCS supercars) seem to attract a lot of first-time Lego Technic buyers, based on what I see in the Lego Technic subreddit. They are some of the most-owned Technic sets, and both Brickset and Brickeconomy show that 42083 is the most-owned Technic set. I could definitely imagine that a significant subset of buyers wants to build a cool-looking and functional model of a Lambo or Ferrari etc but isn't interested in any other Technic sets. True. I also wonder if there isn't some bias that favors old classic Technic sets. As I explained in detail above, 8880 seems somewhat overrated given its scant functionality and appearance compared to the Sián, and 8862 seems vastly overrated in 10th place as well given that 8455 makes it completely superfluous.´ I agree that it's surprising not to see 41999 rated higher but I guess some don't like the fact that it moves slowly. Some also might be annoyed by the fact that its price quickly doubled because it was made in a limited run of 20,000 copies. Similarly, 42113's average Brickset rating may be dragged down by the fact that it was canceled soon after release and hence sells for ~$800 used and ~$1k new. Its major gearbox defect can be fixed relatively easily, although most may not know or want to bother. I see. So by 2, you mean these sets minus 8094 and 8485, which together comprise 3? In addition to the lights and a non-hideous body, 41999 also has a motorized winch and opening side doors, unlike 9398. Otherwise they're functionally identical afaik. I'm pretty sure that 9398 and 41999 both lack an opening hood or trunk in stock form, but I could be wrong.

What's the point of 42004 when 8455 already exists? 42004 barely missed the top 75, so it's probably still in the top 20% of the 533 Technic sets ever made. 42055 seems like a very interesting set from a mechanical standpoint imo. It's certainly unique - no other Lego Technic bucket wheel excavator has ever been made and it's the 3rd largest Technic set ever made. I've never personally tried out 42055 but the official Brickset review says that the motor is underpowered, that it should have more motors, and that the motion of some components is shaky. It's still the 39th highest rated Technic set on Brickset out of 533 Technic sets ever made, which is a strong showing. That places it just ahead of the 42083 Bugatti Chiron, the 8285 Tow Truck, the 41999 4x4 Crawler Exclusive Edition, and the 8258 Crane Truck, among other beloved Technic sets.