CP5670

Does the forum software let you enable the search only for registered members (maybe also with a certain minimum postcount)? That might solve the problem. I agree with him that the time limit is annoying.

We were actually discussing almost the same assembly here a few days ago. It does appear to be illegal if you think about how that piece works, but at the same time TLG is actually using it in a few recent sets.

If the entire model is substantially a copy of another one, it certainly should be credited accordingly. It was good on your part to notify the original designer. (although if he doesn't care, I wouldn't either ) On the other hand, this become more murky when it comes to individual assemblies or mechanisms. I don't think anyone could lay a realistic claim on "inventing" a certain Lego building technique, although I've seen AFOL arguments about this kind of thing before.

I'm in two minds about this. The printed tile is great and I would normally go for it, as there are several big sets I was planning to buy anyway. On the other hand, if I wait until Brickfair in three weeks (which I think is after the promotion period), then I would get at least a 20% discount on sets I buy there, which means this minifig effectively costs me $15 to get through S@H. If they're still offering it at the Lego store over there, that would be the best thing.

Thanks, everyone. Yes, it's fun to roll around the house. I was actually going to make it motorized originally but there wasn't enough room for a battery box in it, so I just settled with a standard Technic engine. The differential also had to be oriented in a funny way to fit inside the small chassis, but it works quite smoothly. I'll probably make something for it to pull. It's supposed to be part of a factory in my monorail setup (which is not yet finished).

That looks pretty bad. There was another guy a while ago complaining about getting a large number of cracked minifigs, and it reminds me of that. I don't know if it's a bad batch of parts. There are a lot of pieces with cracks in your pictures and we would be seeing more complaints about them if they were so widespread in all the MMV sets. The 1x1 headlight brick is well known for developing cracks and has always been that way, but there are many other cracked parts there too. The only thing I can think of some sort of unusual temperature or air conditions. (not necessarily in your house, but wherever the set has been before you got it) You should be able to get replacements from the Lego support site in any case.

A heavy tractor and trailer for hauling around equipment on rugged planetary surfaces. The tractor includes steering, V6 engine and all-wheel independent suspension, and the trailer has suspended wheel bogies. It carries the Eagle, a two-man light attack craft. (click the pictures for more images)

This is very cool and original. It's like the Star Wars Technic models we had around 2000, but with more functionality.

I don't generally buy sets from the action themes today, as I've cut back on sets in general lately, but I like their concepts and campy humor. We have also gotten a lot of good new pieces from these themes, which have shown up on Bricklink. I do have most of the sets from the 90s Aquazone themes and the original Alpha Team line though, as I like Space and these themes were pretty similar to Space models. However, the term "action themes" doesn't mean much in itself, and is basically just a way to categorize the forums here on EB. The old Aquazone themes are much closer to Space than modern action themes like Agents.

I use XP. I have been meaning to install 7 for a while now but have never gotten around to it. As far as LDD goes, the program should be pretty much identical on any OS. I believe the Mac version uses OpenGL as well as the Windows one does. However, SR3D Builder (which I think is much better than LDD) has a DirectX renderer and can only be used on Windows.

I tried motorizing my 8466 once using a single XL motor near the engine, so that it made use of the gearbox, and it worked reasonably well at a slow speed after a few minor adjustments in the drivetrain. Beyond the first gear though, it basically had to be lifted off the ground (like 8448) to move reliably. Putting the motors near the differentials as in the pictures posted above is probably a better approach in terms of reliability. Yeah, they are seemingly designed to be powered by the wheels, not the other way around. They are still strong enough to move a motorized 8466 though. Your solution is pretty nice. Is there any reason you're using the gray pins there instead of friction pins?

This truck builds up some great speeds. I also like the vehicle-mounted camera in the video. The RC motors seem to be well suited for fast vehicles like this. They are slightly more powerful than XL motors already, and the difference between them increases if you gear up an XL motor to get the same speed, as the gears are not entirely efficient.

I like minifigs, but I basically collect them for the purpose of populating my models. They are an important part of the models, but they aren't the main focus for me and would be of little use to me on their own. I would generally rather have a well designed set with too few or boring minifigs (as I can easily add more or replace them) than a crappy model with a good minifig selection.

That is an amazing find for such a price. I'm surprised any store was still selling it. My favorite vehicle is the backhoe. I don't think TLG has ever made a modern version of it. Some Dacta sets like this one were compilation of several normal sets from their time period. Others were entirely new designs.

Cool idea, and the whole thing balances itself surprisingly well.

There are many other pieces you could have said the same thing about at one point, but which are difficult/expensive to come by today. You never know how long a given piece will remain in production and thus be "inconsequential." I'll just replace it with an equivalent legal assembly, which I have done in a few other sets in the past. It's certainly a very minor issue though and doesn't detract from the model. Nobody was claiming otherwise. Cool, it's nice to see that TLG officially recognizes you guys in some capacity.

The blue pin is sitting halfway between the yellow beam, so it hasn't actually clicked into place there. This means that it's permanently in compression, so it will get deformed over time. This could have been fixed by using two half-width liftarms stacked on each other, but the full-width beam has no notch inside the hole for the pin to lock onto.

That wheel setup is nice. I didn't realize the 8880 hubs fit so well into the newer off-road tires.

This looks like the best Technic set we've gotten in several years, probably the best since 8455. Your review certainly did it justice. The design of the drivetrain is awesome and feels like something you would see in an AFOL-built MOC. How much did the set cost you? I don't think the US price was ever confirmed on EB. I'll get it at Brickfair in a month to get the discounts there. I also like how you organized the parts neatly before starting to build. I do the same thing with these large sets. It's interestingly not a whole lot larger than 8294, despite being far more functional and sophisticated. I always like to see such models that pack lots of mechanisms into a moderate space. You're right, I'm surprised they did that. TLG is usually a lot more particular about this today than they once were.

I don't know what you're comparing it to. It's one of the largest flagships TLG has made if you take into account the engine pods on the wings. The only bigger ship is the Explorien Starship, but it's a lot more spread out and the construction is not quite as solid, with the piece count being lower as well.

All that and you missed the one genuine mistake in that catalog. On the last page, it says "win the hottest leg of the the World Race."

I'm going to pick up this and the Lunar Limo at Brickfair in a month so I can get the discounts there. It looks to be the best space base we've gotten in a long time. Another good example of this was the 6958 Android Base. I think that set had the largest enclosed area of any space set TLG has made. The Futuron vehicle you're thinking of is indeed the 6925 Interplanetary Rover.

If those are from recent sets, they aren't the same kind. There are two very similar but different types of wheels out there, 62.4x20 and 68.8x24. The ones in 5571 and 5563 are the slightly larger 68.8x24 variety and only appeared in those two sets.

As far as the looks go, I like both types of construction and they both have their benefits. The panels and flexible hoses produce sleek curves that are difficult to achieve even with rounded slopes. On the other hand, it's easier to add smaller-scale details on studded models, such as the yellow trims on 8880. I haven't seen any effective way of doing such trims with studless parts. Beyond a point though, Technic models ("pure" Technic, at least) are not meant to look entirely realistic. They are more like stylized representations of vehicles that show off the internal mechanisms. This applies to both studded and studless models equally, as they both have holes and gaps everywhere.

I regularly use the Technic figures in my models. One reason they're not used as much today is that they were discontinued around 2003, along with the seats designed for them. They were more common in Technic MOCs back then. The scale difference with minifigs is very large though and they are obviously meant to fit into different kinds of models, so they don't cause any conflict with minifigs. As for these 4+ figures, I don't have any and never paid much attention to them. I wouldn't use them simply because they don't fit in with my existing minifigs (the same reason I don't like fleshies), but otherwise there is nothing wrong with them.