Satisfied

I’ve been wondering — is the Technic pull-back line just going to stick with Monster Jam permanently? Will we ever get other kinds of pull-back vehicles, or other licensed IPs for this range? Is it possible that 42166 and 42169 had lackluster sales, which is why TLG switched straight back to Monster Jam the very next year? I also can’t help but wonder: the older tire mold had a 3-year run, so will the newer one also only get 3 years before it’s discontinued? After all, if they keep putting out two Monster Jam sets a year, it will take many years to get through the full Monster Jam truck lineup. Actually, I think set 42106 is really great. Its design concept is quite similar to set 8473, with both A-model and B-model available. The A-model is a pickup truck with a trailer, and the B-model has a wide range of play scenarios. It also has the highest piece count among all pull-back vehicles, and it feels like it was designed to be the swan song for original pull-back Technic sets.

Brands of building blocks here love making these shell cars for their 1:8 scale sports models—they remove the gearbox and stuff them with various motors for remote control, and surprisingly, they actually run pretty fast.

Absolutely! You’ve definitely found the three sports cars from that brand. They claim to be 1:6 scale—admittedly the scale isn’t perfectly accurate—but they’re way bigger than 1:8 models, reaching about 68 cm in length. The only pity is they’re just shell cars with no gearbox; they’re only designed to add motors for remote control. They do come with larger sports car tires, though.

Actually, I think movie‑themed vehicles are still a possibility. Take Fast & Furious as an example—there are already sets in the Speed Champions line, and now they’ve also recreated them with Technic parts, adding extra functions like drifting and wheelies. After all, movie cars always have more functional mechanisms than regular road cars. As for backhoe loaders, I bought set 42197 last year. I think it’s pretty nice and looks well‑matched with 42163; it’s just a shame it’s way too small. This proves they still remember this theme—they’re just not very willing to make large‑scale versions. Well, if none of my wishes come true next year and we still get this many ordinary cars, I might just consider switching to the City theme.

I hope that if they keep making sports car sets, they’ll choose real-world cars with high playability and plenty of functional mechanisms to keep things interesting. Movie-themed cars would be great choices—like James Bond’s Aston Martin, the Ecto‑1 from Ghostbusters, or the DeLorean from Back to the Future, just to name a few. After so many 1:8 scale cars, I feel there’s hardly anything new or innovative left to improve on. Why not try a larger scale instead, like 1:6? That would give the cars more internal space and bigger wheels. This is my vision for future car sets. Now moving on to construction machinery: It’s been ages since we had a large‑scale backhoe loader. I really think it’s necessary to remake one using modern, up‑to‑date Technic technology. Backhoe loaders also have great playability and lots of articulation, whether powered electrically or pneumatically. As for trucks, I hope they’ll make another set similar to 42043. Lucioswitch81’s truck designs look really cool. I’m hoping for something different next year. For the 40th anniversary, they paid tribute to the 8860 using a modern car chassis. Surely they won’t use the 50th anniversary just to pay homage to the 853… right? It’d be really cool to build this car with Technic parts, as long as they fully and faithfully recreate all its functional mechanisms.

I think if they’re really set on making sports cars as their main theme, why not go for James Bond’s Aston Martin? It has far more functional mechanisms and gimmicks, so it won’t feel boring even as a model. Of course, the scale can’t be too small—at least 1:10. That way, it has good playability and isn’t as dull as ordinary production supercars. It would also better showcase the technical side of Technic.

Well, it’s not that bad actually. Some brands have already put out models in this scale. They just cut out the gearbox and replaced it with motors to make them drivable, and the models end up being 68 cm long. Haha, that’s definitely an unavoidable problem. But there’s no way around it—even if you don’t buy this model, you’ll eventually run out of space and have to stop buying sets one day anyway.

It might be possible. After all, churning out more 1:8 scale supercars is just more of the same—nothing really innovative or fresh. They might as well upscale to 1:6 scale and give it a try; who knows if that could wow the whole community.

4000+ pieces should be the limit for 1:8 scale supercars. After all, adding more parts won’t increase the physical size—all it does is use more small panels to cover the body for a more seamless, wrapped look. If supercars want to break past this part count, the only way is to go up to 1:6 scale. A local brick brand here called Taigaole has already made three 1:6 scale supercars, with part counts ranging from 5,000 to 6,600 pieces—and they don’t even include a gearbox. I think LEGO should consider making 1:6 scale models. After so many 1:8 supercars, there’s not much new functionality left to add besides refining the gearbox. A larger scale might allow for more functional features to be included. I never imagined the top spot for highest piece count in Technic would also be snatched by a supercar—isn’t this a tragedy? What we really need is a 6000+ piece heavy machinery flagship to break this record.

It seems a bit difficult to recreate this car with the existing part colors.

Yes, they’re a team with probably quite a few members. I was told before that there are roughly a dozen of them—after all, they need that many people to release around twenty sets a year.

I found that Grohl seems to be the designer behind the LEGO Technic series. However, the selection of set prototypes is quite complex and involves many factors—it’s not simply a matter of choosing whatever looks cool. I wonder what the designer would think when they see our conversation, especially with all these cars mentioned. Of course, I also know that the designer doesn’t have much authority and can’t change anything.

I think there are Technic series designers on this forum, but I'm not sure whether the prototypes of Lego sets are designed by the designers who can choose freely, or they are simply instructed by senior management to create the designs without any authority to make their own decisions. As a matter of fact, the most interesting sets available nowadays are precisely those small starter sets that kick off each new product line—they cover a wide variety of themes.

I'm brainstorming some ideas to try and save the Technic series. After all, the product line this year is so over-the-top—it's basically all cars, almost indistinguishable from the Speed Champions series, just in a Technic version.

I prefer humanoid robots like 8527 and 8547, which can simulate realistic movement. The wheeled models like 31313 and 51515 look a bit unrealistic, though. Alternatively, they could release animal versions of these sets—those would be great for remote control. I really like that snake model R3PTAR from 31313; it’s so cool. It’s built with Technic parts and can simulate a realistic cobra.

I saw a piece of news that 42232 might be Koenigsegg Sadair’s Spear.

In my personal opinion, after the Power Functions (PF) era ended in 2018, the core Technic fans of the past seemed to quietly fade away—many of them just stopped playing with the sets. 2019 was actually a turning point. The first three years were still manageable, as we had large-scale flagship sets each year to keep the fans engaged. But after that, the series lost its original charm.

You have a point. don’t know how long the car-centric Technic series will continue to lead this category—maybe five years, maybe ten, or even longer. Besides, I watch your videos regularly, haha.

I have a suggestion: currently, the LEGO IDEAS program is dominated by brick-built models, and technic builds rarely get approved. Why doesn’t LEGO launch a dedicated IDEAS subcategory specifically for technic builds? This way, with the same 10,000 votes of support, we can get a wider variety of technic sets instead of being flooded with car-themed submissions. This could give rise to technic versions of buses, trains, robots, and many other themes. However, the prevalence of cars with different brand licenses has left players with no room for discussion. After all, they all share similar structures, being simple and one-dimensional, only selling the appearance. 42098: I desperately need the help of many fellow players to pull so many cars.

I don’t think programming is an absolute necessity. Besides, robots don’t have to be humanoid—they can also take animal forms, like the 8277 Robot and the 8485 Dinosaur. Alternatively, we could design sets like the 4958 Creative 3-in-1 set, which are remote-controlled and require no programming, with movements switched via gear shifting. This kind of design could also showcase the technical capabilities of the Technic line. Of course, I don’t intend to dive deep into this topic in this thread—I just had this idea for a potential new direction outside of the automotive theme.

Why hasn't LEGO Technic incorporated robots into its reference projects? Robots also feature a wide range of mobility mechanisms, and the Mindstorms series is actually designed using Technic components. Theoretically, they should also belong to the Technic theme—perhaps as a more advanced showcase of the theme? Technic has basically avoided robot-related themes; the few that exist are from many years ago, such as set 8482. It's a pity that the Mindstorms series has also been discontinued now.

Yes, this is good news for F1 fans and 1:8 scale supercar collectors, but bad news for engineering model enthusiasts. After all, one man's meat is another man's poison.

Has the number of current sets really increased? In fact, the previous B model could also be counted as an independent set, which is equivalent to doubling the number of sets originally released. Now, they are just independently designed different sets. As many people expected, that 18+ 1:8 scale supercar has finally arrived, and it comes as no surprise—after all, it’s released every two years. However, this alternating release pattern means that no Technic flagship model is launched in even-numbered years, which is quite a shame. After all, we all rely on this two-year wait to get our hands on a brand-new flagship set. I can only look forward to these four sets numbered 42230, 42237, 42238, and 42242 bringing us a different sensory experience. Of course, I hope that the sets corresponding to these numbers actually exist.

don't know if any news has leaked out

If these vacant numbers really have sets to fill, then we still have a total of five unknown sets to meet some construction machinery, which is the only opportunity this year