cgarison

I don't understand needing 2 PF train motors on 2 Horizon Expresses because I ran mine for 2 days at a local show on a single power functions train motor using the AAA battery box and Sanyo Eneloop batteries. I will admit that it took some adjustments on the idle bogey (with technic axles) on the back engine to reduce the friction that would cause the PF motor to spin out excessively when starting, but for the whole weekend, I had no issues with this moderate weight train while it ran on an uneven table surface at our venue. As far as speed, that single power function bogey would power the train to a speed fast enough to derail in a turn in about three feet of acceleration, so I had no issue with that either. In fact, the only issues that we had all weekend (at Philly BrickFest) with our PowerFunctions locomotives was the uneven tables at the venue that we built our layouts and made our poor, heavy SD44-1 Nuclear Locomotive a.k.a. "Space Train" (by Peter Morris) with two Power Function M-Motors groan as it crossed the uneven terrain of our Moon Base layout for 16 hours over 2 days. Time to build new tables like those used by PennLUG.

Great Work Paul! That front suspension is awesome. I hope you bring this to Philly Brickfest.

Great Work! I wish the red team received this much love from the official sets.

Nice Work. I like the mix of gray tones to offset the orange.

I grabbed this last night at the Lego Store. A great build and the parts will be used in many MOCs that I have planned.

I agree with you because it looks like the "hot mess" of the vehicles was intended. This was the first of the Lego Movie sets that I built and I loved the detail in the vehicles. The bi-plane looked like a wild west saloon was disassembled into parts that could be re-used as a plane and the kebob stand was very detailed. The only disappointments was that no way to easily spin the meat on the rotisserie and no tail gear on the airplane. In all, it was a nice set and it had a ton of great parts for MOCs. .

Of the sets that I have built, these are my favorites. Studless Contruction - 8258 Crane Truck. Studded Construction - 8860 Car Chassis

At least it would work for prototyping.

YeeHaw!!! No more Bricklink.

I agree with the manual funtions on technic models. The 9395 with manual functions was a wonderful kit and a very solid build. That was my favorite kit for 2012 although the 9398 Crawler was equally as solid and made the most eyes roll when I showed that to friends.

Some of the best models that I have seen at Lego events have a mix of the old gray and the new gray integrated into the same model. It really add a level of realism and the final models do not have the "plastic" look that is common to Lego models.

Amazon also has the same seasonal trends as eBay. A good example is when I decided to take the plunge back into Lego after 25 dark years, I puchased the 8258 Crane truck last February for $175.00 in the U.S. (I also snagged an 8070 Super Car for $90.00 as well so it was a weekend that people were trying to clear out inventory.) Now, the lowest price on Amazon for the 8258 is $255.00 (and the 8070 is $198.00.) I am pretty certain, the price will go back down in the few months that follow the mad Christmas rush for Lego sets. As far as the insanity on Bricklink goes, I find it interesting that many used items exceed the new price for items on Lego.com or on the Lego Education web site. I guess if the market can bear the price then it is not insanity to ask high prices, but I am typically willing to spend less money to get a new part.

Great work on stuffing the V6 in the stock space available. I ended up extending the front by a pins length to make everything thing fit.

The only mod that I made to my 9398 was to redo the portal axle gearing to make the vehicle faster for traveling around the house. The primary purpose for this truck is to chase the cat and the Lego factory setup was not effective for this purpose. Yes my crawler is still slow, but at least is has a sporting chance at cutting off the cat as she runs from me in the living room.

The thing on this model that disturbed me the most was the V4 under the hood (bonnet). In North America, trucks like this either have a V8 or an inline 6. I eventually stuffed a V6 into my model along with a similar dual wheel mod on the back, but the length of the hood just grew too long. Maybe this will be the first Technic project I will tackle this year as a warm up into some other things. I think I have all the parts that I need to build this truck in red with a black or gray frame.

It is only a matter of time before these cheap Lego Technic knockoffs make their way into American store shelves. This year, I noticed that WalMart had several sets of no name brick building sets that were a rip off of both Lego and MegaBloks sets. Grated, these sets were placed in areas of the toy department or in the store where they were not competing against either name brand product and had very generic packaging with no branding or logos, but it has become a reality that this crap has invaded the American shores in a big way and I expect the problem only to get worse over the next few years.

Right now, I have my eyes on a pair of 42007 Motocross Bike for wheels, tires and (some bonus) 40T gears. but with a price of $40.00 USD, I am thinking twice and double checking bricklink for wheel and tire prices. $80.00 is a lot of cash to drop just to get four wheels and tires.

It would appear the Oshkosh PLS comes standard with a solid front axle, but an optional TAK-4 independent off-road front suspension is available. http://www.autofieldguide.com/blog/post/oskosh-this-is-a-truck-bgosh

I am having flashbacks to the red buildings with a blue roof that filled the LegoLand Idea Book 6000 in 1980. http://www.peeron.com/scans/6000-1/5 Am I showing my age a "wee bit?"

It does not look like the Technic model 42000 "GrandPrix Racer" that is going to be released 1H2013 will be a Ferrari licensed product as the leaked images have too many white parts to be inline with the prior Ferrari models. I agree it would have been nice to see this come out with the licensing.

Amazon has not learned the ways of business outside of the United States and some day this may be the one chink in the armor of Bezos' juggernaut of a company. But, mine is pre-ordered for $16.93 and 2nd day shipping is free because I belong to prime. I will have to pay 6% sales tax to the state of Pennsylvania because the book is going to ship after the tax rule went into effect on September 1st. Oh well, it is still a great deal. And I do not get Amazon's pricing strategy because Sariel's book is heavily discounted but Amazon offers my wife's book at the full asking price. Maybe her book is considered a reference book which has a different model, but I am sure her royalties would be better if it were discounted.

Thanks for the info. Those are slightly different than the hinges that I have, but they will work interchangeably with the ones I have in the fact they are the same height and have the same thickness at the joint. The latest hinges that have the stops (bumps) are too thick to work in many applications.

That is a brilliant build. I love the detail and the scale of the model!

Great Model. BTW... What is the Lego part number the hinges used on the boot (trunk in the U.S.)? I have been looking for these on Bricklink and have found nothing. I even asked around at the my local LUG and most members were too young to be familiar with this the of hinge. Allman Brothers always goes well with cars and Lego. Heck, the Allman brothers even made Jimmy Carter look cool in 1976. (Showing my age and southern style.)

Great looking Model! Supporter #33 for the HotRod on Cuusoo. 33 is the lucky number!