Blakbird

Thank you for your explanation aqaz. Absolutely no harm done, so don't worry about it. I probably (unfairly) read more into your statement than I should have because there have been other posts in the past which made more inflammatory statements. But those have nothing to do with you and you shouldn't be penalized for them. I think we are all in agreement. LEGO as a hobby offers a little something for everyone. It is interesting to builders, designers, artists, engineers, collectors, software authors, CAD users, and probably others I am forgetting. As long as the hobby provides to each of us that which makes us smile, I have no complaints. I personally enjoy building from instructions largely because I am a perfectionist and I want to see the best models sitting on my shelves, and I know that they aren't going to be designed by me!

I bought Lego Master Builder Academy kits for my daughter for Christmas. The Lego Store had Kit 1 as one box, Kits 2-3 as another, and Kits 4-6 as a third. My daughter and I have really enjoyed doing these together. The instruction books are incredibly well done and informative, and she loves doing all the added activities on the web site associated with each kit. We are at the point that she is nearly done with Kit 6 and I am thinking about getting her the rest. The problem is that I can't find them. Brickset indicates that they exist and they came out in 2012. However, the Lego Store retail does not have them and Shop @ Home does not have them either. You can find them on Bricklink but only in tiny quantities at ridiculous prices. Why are they so rare? How are you supposed to buy kits 7-9? Any help appreciated.

The word "argument" here simply means one side of a debate and does not imply any animosity. Thanks for the healthy debate, by the way. Whether we agree or not, it is always useful to become familiar with the logic behind dissenting opinions. I think you may be underestimating the talents and skills required to make an excellent Technic MOC. The creative talent to come up with an aesthetically pleasing LEGO design is uncommon, but not rare. The engineering talent to come up with a functionally workable and reliable design is even more uncommon. The types of personalities with each of these skills are generally quite different, so the number of people with BOTH talents is very small indeed. In my opinion, this is no more common than painters, hence my analogy. I can personally attest to the fact that NOT everyone can build (or cook) something good with a little practice, even with an extensive technical background. I completely agree that everyone should probably TRY to build something on their own, to learn, and to explore their own creativity. But at a certain age it becomes apparent whether this skill is available to an individual or not. It is very easy for a talented person to underestimate their own talent because it is natural to them. I have been guilty of this myself. I remember when I was at University that I commented once that I found calculus pathetically easy. This was true to me because it was so intuitive that I didn't really even need to think about it. However, one of my friends heard this comment and talked to me about it later. He worked very hard in calculus and struggled to get a good grade. My comment was hurtful to him because it made him feel inadequate. You said: This can make someone who chooses to build from instructions feel inadequate or feel that others are implying they are not worthy of being considered a "real" LEGO builder. I think there is room for all of us and we need to respect the contributions of every member of the community. For example, making instructions is also a talent that not everyone has. A certain amount of computer skill, organization, and spatial awareness is required. Doing this is also a valuable way to contribute to the community, and is a way for those of us with less creative talent for building to feel useful. Touché!

I wonder how fast these will sell out? I'm not one of the lucky 100 who will get one shipped to them for free and have a guaranteed copy. With no way to pre-order, that means I just have to get in line when they become available. As a collector with every Technic set, I find that I am somewhat concerned that I will not even be able to get one. It will be interesting to see just how popular they are. I guess the answer to that question will determine whether or not LEGO does such contests in the future.

The two best pneumatic sets are 8868 and 8455 without question. However, they are both pretty hard to get since they have been long out of production. It is worth it though. If you want to understand the original single acting pneumatic system, I'd recommend 8851.

I have heard this argument quite frequently and I understand the sentiment, but I think it is missing something vitally important. Lego is indeed a creative venture, but not everyone has the same skill, talent, interest level, and time. I will illustrate this with an analogy. Let's say a I want a beautiful painting to hang on the wall in my house. Someone could say me to me, "There is no use buying a painting because then you miss the joy of doing it yourself. Just make your own painting and then the reward will be greater!" This may be true, but what if I don't know how to paint? I will never be able to create a painting worthy of hanging in my home because I do not have that talent. Does that mean I should not be allowed to have any paintings? Of course not! Instead I would seek out the creative talents of an expert and buy something beautiful from them and I would enjoy it every time I look at it. All of the same things apply to LEGO. Not everyone can create their own beautiful supercar MOC with excellent functions because they may not have the right skills or even the time. Does this mean they are not allowed to enjoy Technic? Of course not. They can still seek out designs from experts and still enjoy building them, learning from them, and displaying them.

Step 1: Buy a bigger house. Step 2: See Step 1.

Since he was never released in a set, I'd say you have a very rare figure there. Chances are no one else has one.

There are a total of 28 variations of the Technic figure which you can see here. None of them are plain green. Where did you get that? There is one with green arms but not body. Has he been painted?

If you read my review of 8063 here, you'll find out all about the uselessness of that gearbox.

If you have a question about Bricklink, you should try the Lego General Discussion forum. You will have a hard time getting answers in a Technic thread about the Zorex excavator. Bricklink works the same in Italy as it does everywhere else. Just order what you want and be prepared to pay for the shipping.

I have sprayed wheels silver. Works OK. A few years ago there a post here from a man who made a bunch of Formula 1 models which were heavily painted. They were beautiful. On the one hand, it is a design challenge to make a model work using only the parts available in a rare color. On the other hand, if you want to do a scale model of a real object using colors that don't exist in LEGO, painting is an option.

They are available for sale from Jurgen Krooshoop, the designer.

Really cool. I've often wondered how this would look built from 8461. However, it looks like the two blue panels on the front near where the headlights would be are backwards. Compare with this picture:

It is a weird set. I would not recommend it. It is motorized and is fairly fast but there is no steering and no control. You just send it in a straight line and then when it bumps into the finish gate it shuts off. No technical features at all because everything is inside the motor unit. There was really no point in making it 4wd because you can't control it so you can only use it in a straight smooth line. Don't know why they call it X-track because there is no track.

How about this? (This is not technically possible to build since all the parts do not exist in 8461.)

Cool! I am surprised that you got the flexible axles used to drive the finger linear actuators to work. LEGO went to special lengths to make sure you can't use them for torque that way by providing "stops" at the end of the flex axles so you can't push them into connectors. Do they slip in the axle connectors? Did you glue them to prevent this?

I think it depends on what you intend to use it for. 8868, for instance, has two of those old differential gears and they work great. I'm not sure I would use them in a trial truck though.

I would prefer if it were "I" shaped.

If you need help using digital tools like MLCAD or other LDraw editors, or if you have more general questions about how they work on tablet platforms, you'll get much better support in the "LEGO Digital Designer and Other Digital Tools" forum than here, in the Technic forum. You'll also get better answers by starting a new thread with an appropriate subject line summarizing your question instead of asking inside a thread about Sheepo's MPS system. Most of the people who have knowledge to help you will probably not find your question(s) here.

If you do some searching you will find some older threads on this very topic. It has been discussed in detail and there are even examples from people who have tried it.

Short answer, "no". The new pneumatic pumps have a check valve so they will never produce suction.

The last crane was 8421? Did he forget about 8053? The container loader sounds like an excellent B-model, which sadly (for my wallet) means I will probably have to buy 2 of these.

Tire glue is just CA (cyano-acrylate), otherwise known as superglue. You can get it anywhere.

I found this book on Amazon today: It only has a couple of reviews and the reviewers are complaining about the black and white images but don't say much else about it. Does anyone own this book who could offer a bit more about the content? I am curious how it compares to Sariel's book. I am also not familiar with the author. Does anyone know Mark Rollins or his work from another forum or site?