CP5670

I believe LDD uses hardware OpenGL, which should handle big models fine on a decent video card. Other OpenGL-based programs I've used like LDView and SR3D Builder work nicely on big models with 3000+ parts. Programs with software renderers like MLCad, on the other hand, get completely bogged down with large models.

Well, here is your evidence.

It seems to me that the gears slip a bit whenever it switches between speeds (such as around 1:15 in the video), resulting in that "cracking" sound. This is a common issue with almost all the automatics I've seen on Brickshelf though. That's why I liked your CVT, which had extra friction as you said but never slipped at all. Still, as an experimental concept this is certainly pretty cool.

Good concept and explanation, but like many Lego automatic transmissions it does have a problem with slipping at the intermediate speeds. I actually liked your last automatic (or actually CVT) gearbox better, the one based around differentials.

There is a big thread on Lego storage here. I use 5 of the Stack-on containers discussed there, the Technic storage case from 8062 for electric and other specialized parts, and a 7784 Batmobile box for large wheels.

There is a Lego map for UT3. All the Lego models are destructible too. I remember seeing one for Crysis at some point as well.

The alternate model uses something like 75% of the parts, but there are some significant omissions. It doesn't use the small pneumatic piston, which will be expensive to replace. Some other parts it doesn't use are the turntable, differentials, engine elements and white 2x2 round bricks. In that picture, it looks like the battery box is missing too, even though the model normally has it. If this is on ebay, I think you're better off just waiting for another 8868 auction. This set comes up on ebay relatively frequently.

Oh, I forgot about that one. I have that too actually, and it does have the three Blacktron sets in it. The caption below each one says "Available April 1, 1987." I could take a picture if you need it. But it seems like you need hard evidence of this for some reason?

I have a 1987 Europe catalog and a 1988 US catalog. The 1987 catalog has no Blacktron in it, while the 1988 catalog has all 5 Blacktron sets but only two, 6987 and 6976, are marked as new for the year. There is also a Dutch 1988 on Brickfactory that shows 4 of the Blacktron sets (all but 6954), and they are all marked new for the year. All this indicates that the other three Blacktron sets (6894, 6941, 6954) came out in 1987 in the US, a year earlier than Europe. There are also some Futuron sets like 6990 that appear in the 1987 catalog I have but are shown as new in the 1988 catalog, so those seem to have come out in Europe a year earlier.

I like how that ebay seller has zero feedback too. You can look at the Bricklink price guide for individual sets. It only goes back 6 months though.

This is a nice model with a lot of features and details, and like the previous poster I love the minifigs in this theme. The middle section of the ship, where the big vehicle goes, was somewhat underdeveloped though. 80 euros would be pretty high if you bought it when it was out, even accounting for the usual regional price differences in Lego. I got mine back then and it was $60 in the US.

I certainly wouldn't want the actual bricks to degrade. That is the product I'm paying for, after all. It should last as long as possible.

The coloring process for black is apparently the simplest of any color, and I think it has been much more consistent that any others. My Bricklink orders over the last 3 years have been at least 80% black parts. That one really stands out. It actually looks like a separate color, right in between normal and dark green. I saw both of those too, although in the asteroid bank the slopes in one shade had obviously been produced earlier, going by the slope textures.

And I thought blue was the one classic color that had escaped all these issues. I guess I better load up on blue parts from Bricklink soon, before all the Bricklink stock of blue gets corrupted like many other colors have. What were the other white pieces in the plane like? A few months ago it seemed to me that white was improving, but today I'm not so sure. As you say, it's becoming increasingly hard to reach any conclusions about this since TLG seems to break a color as soon as they fix another one. I agree, and I'm more selective about what sets I buy today than I used to be. A set today has to be considerably better than a set did 10 years ago for me to buy it, since the quality reduction is something I take into account. The real problem though is that very few of us seem to care, and TLG knows this. If AFOLs had collectively howled about this 3 years ago, I think TLG would have reverted to pre-colored ABS pellets long ago and this would all be fixed by now. At this point, TLG can see that barely anyone has noticed the issues and there is no reason to spend money on fixing the problem. All they need to do is keep telling everyone that "only the best is good enough" and people will keep buying into it. I made a long post about it in the Embassy once, but it's been over a year since then. I'll ask Copmike if there have been any official responses in the meantime.

I had mostly built all the models I was planning to here, but someone mentioned the 8888 dog earlier and it was just too cool to pass up. After building these other walking models for comparison, the pneumatic walker is better than I thought and probably moves the most smoothly among all of these models. (pictures and comments moved to first post)

There is a guy on Bricklink selling an MISB 7740 12V train for $4000. However, these Bricklink items people are bringing up have not actually sold at those prices, at least not yet. A seller can charge whatever they like but it doesn't mean much unless someone actually buys it. I once saw an MISB 852 Sky Copter on ebay sell for $1800. That was for many years the most expensive purchase I saw there, but there have probably been others surpassing it lately. I don't know if anyone on Bricklink ever had an MISB 106 UNICEF Van for sale, but if they did I bet that would have cost even more. Even the used ones have gone for around $1500 according to Bricklink's price guide. This set is in remarkably high demand for its size. I guess collectors want those printed UNICEF panels.

There is a tradeoff between torque and speed though. You can't directly compare the torque outputs of two motors that run at different speeds, since you can always change the torque by using gearing. The 5292 motor compensates for its lower torque with a much greater speed and is meant to be geared down when used in models, like the old 2838 motor. But yeah, I agree that the XL is still a better choice for almost any purpose. It has a much more convenient shape and is cheaper to get these days too.

Actually, the RC motor is in fact the most powerful one. You can see that its mechanical power at 9V is 2.38W, as opposed to 2.21W for the XL. However, it spins much faster and you will need to gear it down a lot for most purposes, which is less efficient than the internal gearing that motors have, so in practice I think they will be roughly the same.

These new pictures are very good and show a lot more details than what we had before. We can now see how the police station garage door is set up with a SNOT frame. I still think the garage should have been a different color though, and I will probably replace the yellow garage pieces in mine with some other color. I can still use them in other places for Blacktron 1 MOCs. I somewhat agree with you, but if you're referring to the Galactic Enforcer, that one set made up for the rest of the line for me. I think it's at least as good as any of the large space flagships TLG has made in the past. The only real downside is that it came out in an era of low quality and minimal printed bricks.

This is a really original concept, and the wing movements look very smooth and natural.

As Blakbird said, this is arguably the most perfect and complete MOC we have seen here in a while. My favorite aspect of it is how you have hidden everything so well, especially the switches and the manometer under the panels. I would also be interested to know how the old-generation pneumatics are used here and how well the front wheels hold up the weight, which I have often found to be an issue with those 62.4x20 tires in particular.

The 8275 bulldozer comes to mind, and this year's 8043 excavator will be fully RC too. Some other good choices are 8475 and 8366, but those are older sets that could get expensive on ebay and Bricklink, and they also used an RF system that is not compatible with the PF receivers. Many sets have instructions to add a motor in some way, but not for a full RC vehicle setup with two motors. You can always modify the sets yourself to motorize the steering and drive, but I'm not sure if any set has a particularly simple way to do it.

The box diagrams do suggest that the function switcher controls three driving rings at once. That would make the mechanics more complex and interesting than I had expected. It would need to have two geartrains going through the turntable, in a way similar to what 8258 did last year, but in this case they would actually operate simultaneously. But at $200, I'm really not sure about this set. Maybe I can buy it at Brickfair and bring the price down to $160 with their discounts, which would be somewhat more reasonable.

A $200 price would be unprecedented in recent times. I don't think I will buy it at that price, as even at $150 it would have been a tough sell. The last time we had a Technic set that expensive was 8485 back in 1995, and TLG hasn't priced anything in the theme nearly as high again. If it does get released at $200, I would expect the price to drop sharply as we saw with 8063 for example. Among the other sets, the crane looks like a good deal. That might be worth getting for parts even if you already have 8421.

I'm liking the police station more and more. It looks almost as big as the Message Intercept Base. The "Citadel of Orlan" looks to have a larger interior and more solid construction than I thought. I might just have to get that too. The Undercover Cruiser's transforming feature is more obvious now, but I still don't think there is enough in that set for me to get it. I guess the trans-light blue color of the canopy is supposed to make it look like a civilian vehicle. The Hench guy looks great. It could be interpreted as henchman or as hunchbacked Rench. The Insectoid guy doesn't look anything like the old Insectoids though.