CP5670

I took a few comparison pictures that show the main color problem, in case people don't know what some of us are talking about. (left one is mid 1990s or so and right one is 2008) In addition to yellow, this also affects white, red and orange, as noted by TLG themselves. Gray/blay is not one of the affected colors as far as I know. However, what you describe with the Lego logos is the same issue seen with the other colors.

This should change over the next year. I asked the TLG engineer at Brickfair about this and he said they're reverting to the rough slopes. Of course, it could be a while before their stock of smooth slopes actually runs out and we start getting the rough ones in actual sets.

I have all of these tiny Shell sets too. I think you could get them for free if you bought enough gas, although I don't remember for sure now. There were also a couple of larger Shell sets around that time that were quite nice, especially the Model Team Ferrari. This car is nothing special, but the female cop is nice. I modified my 6398 Central Precinct HQ to have a small parking garage and put this car inside.

This looks like a fun little set. I slightly prefer the older tractor's function, but the worm-powered bucket here is a good one too.

They're honestly not all that different anymore, especially in terms of colors. The reason to buy Lego today is their outstanding set designs, not the brick quality.

I'm in the same boat as you. This is not such a bad set in itself but it pales in comparison to a lot of earlier sets, even recent ones. It does look quite nice and the size is comparable to previous flagship sets in your picture, but the mechanics just aren't there for something this expensive, and I don't like how they cheaped out on the dump bed with those new pieces. In the initial pictures it looked like this set contained a large quantity of yellow beams there, which might have made it worth the price by themselves. The funny thing is that I find the baby instruction steps actually make it easier to mess up if you don't follow them very carefully, since you frequently do not get a sense of the "big picture" while building and the purpose of many sub-assemblies isn't really clear until you put them all together towards the end. The completely studless style also contributes to this and makes it harder to correct mistakes that are deep within the model, due to the way the models are often built from the inside out rather than bottom-to-top like the old studded models.

Very interesting review. This seems to have been a revolutionary set for its time. The 2x4 bricks with holes on all sides are a nice idea and would still be useful today if they were more common. It's also impressive that they already had things like universal joints and tracks at that point. I have a few of the axles and red bushes from a random parts lot on ebay, but not any of the gears. The axles have a strange, translucent white color. Interestingly, there was an even earlier system of gears in the 60s, different from these. They had studs on them instead of holes and I believe attaching them to turntables was the only way to hold them in place. Probably because we hardly get any studs at all in Technic sets these days. I think Expert Builder officially started in 1977 (1978 in the US) and included the modern gears and axles. They changed the name to Technic only a few years later.

I hated those tires. The main problem is that TLG bundles them along with other pieces in the same bag. They leave a dirty residue on any bricks they come in contact with, and you have to rub all the pieces vigorously to remove the stains. I always used to waste 20-30 minutes doing this before building new sets, so I'm glad to see that those tires appear to be gone (in some sets, anyway).

This model is a disappointment to me too. I was expecting to see an engine, especially since the S@H description talks about opening the hood. Those big pieces on the dumper were also unnecessary and it could have been easily built with standard studless beams. As you said, the price tag seems to come from the Power Functions here, although even the PF Cherry Picker from this year has more pieces and functionality at a lower price. I can't see myself buying this unless I find it at a heavy discount. Thanks for the in-depth review of everything though. I like the new T beam though. Those could come in handy in many places. The tiny bulldozer is actually looking like the best Technic model to me among the early 2009 sets.

Those 3x2 cabinets don't stay closed that well even when you want them to. Have you tried just shaking it?

The tires are a bit slimy in general. It's the material they're made of. They are usually at their worst out of the box though, and they become less sticky over time. TLG appears to have changed the tire material to something else that isn't quite as bad, although it's still a little sticky. Some of my sets from this year had decent tires, but anything from roughly 1998 to late 2007 will have the really slimy kind.

I mostly use the popular Stack-on plastic drawer sets, but some of my parts are in the Technic storage box from the old 8062 set. It comes with dividers that allow you to customize how big every compartment is.

It's basically the same in English (compressor), but I don't think most people will have something like that just lying around the house.

These vehicles are definitely reminiscent of classic town. The van is strikingly similar to the one in this set. The camera and radar/antenna can actually fit inside the van, which I think looks better than hanging them on the outside. The MIB is one of my favorite town minifigs, and the printed badges are also a nice touch. The tires in my set were slightly defective though, bulging out at the edges for some reason. The van's wheels wouldn't turn smoothly with them and I had to replace them. It's a good thing those tires are so common.

Thanks for the news. The lights are a little expensive (although I guess you get two actual lights), but the switch is quite a bit cheaper than the 9V version used to be. I'll grab a few of each with my next order there.

I used to get stuff at KBToys when I was a kid, but I haven't been to one in many years now. The last set I remember getting there was a 6975 Alien Avenger in 1997.

There were a couple of issues with an 8421 Mobile Crane I got recently, leaving aside the Megablok colors (which are a standard thing these days). The string it came with was too thick and wouldn't rotate through the hook smoothly. After messing with it for a while, I gave up and just replaced it with a sewing thread instead, although that is creating some issues of its own. The set also comes with many of these, some of which are used for the steering. A few looked glossy, but most were made of a cheaper looking material and their pins wouldn't turn smoothly in holes. I think these parts were made of the glossy plastic when the set was first released, and it wasn't designed for the newer kind. As is common with large sets these days, packaging inside the box was nonexistent and the manuals and sticker sheet were crumpled by the other stuff inside. I kind of doubt this will happen. They might do something about the colors if we're lucky, but like many companies they have realized that it's cheaper to allow a few bad parts and send replacements to people who complain than to have strict quality controls in the production process.

The recent sets I have all happen to be tracked, but I think I know what you're talking about. The 8455 Backhoe's rear wheels also used something like this. The stuff feels rougher and lower quality than the usual material.

Good overview, although at $40 it's on the expensive side given what it does. I guess the prices of Lego sets in general have gone up for 2009. Are the tires made of the hard, rough plastic used on space and Mars Mission wheels? They look large enough to be the rubber/air filled type, but you referred to some sort of plastic. I like the big panels and can see many uses for them, although I'm not a fan of the exclusively studless style that TLG has adopted in the last several years. Looking forward to your other reviews as well, especially the dump truck if you happened to get that set.

Nice find. That one's still my favorite Technic set of all time.

Nothing really, although I got myself an 8421 Mobile Crane off ebay last week just because I had a lot of free time for a change.

I agree with the others, it's a nice enough model but the price is way out of whack. It's large but there are definitely bigger ones out there, and the structure itself lacks fine details or a consistent color scheme. As mrchris said, this would be a fantastic model on its own, but when you talk about a price like that it's going to be held to different standards. There are some full-time freelance Lego builders out there who have been quite successful though. This guy is one who comes to mind. I suggest you take a look at how they got started, and go lower on the price with this. You can afford to charge more if your work becomes well known among collector circles, but you need to start off smaller.

It was probably a mod to some official town or space set from the late 80s. There is a picture of me at age 3 holding what appears to be a beefed up 6886 with more interior space (for the Blacktron guy, as I didn't know at the time that he was supposed to be an enemy ), although I have no recollection of building it. As Skinny Boy said, nobody is going to clearly remember what they built at that age. The first things that I can remember reasonably well are from age 7 or so. The first one that I carefully planned out and actually put a lot of time and effort into (in a sense the first AFOL era model) was this one.

Seems to be a nice enough small set, but I can't tell how the front suspension works. Does the front wheel and steering assembly just rotate freely off the chassis?

Interesting article. This is something I've noticed over the years too. The big sets may seem expensive, but in most cases you get more for your money than with the small sets. This trend becomes even more pronounced with old 80s/90s sets on ebay and BL, especially unopened ones. The small sets appreciate in value much faster and can often reach 10 or more times their original prices while larger sets from the same era, although more expensive, are more like 3-4 times the original prices.