DrJB

I would instead go with grains of rice. Less chance of breaking-up/crumbling and getting into tight spaces :) That said, yes, love this build, and it's got few wheels but not used in the conventional sense. Kudos!

When the technic theme started 40 years ago, it was all about vehicles. 40 years later, it's still about vehicles. Maybe some variety would help. The only departure I can think of was the electric plotter (Technic COntrol Center 1) ... from many years ago. As to non-conventional vehicles, there were few Star-Wars/Technic sets: Those used ingenious mechanisms and pushed Technic beyond the typical 4-wheeled vehicle.

Edited 8 hours ago by Milan Removed big images. Please reupload them in allowed size. Remind me again please, what is the MAX image size? Those images somehow look ok on my monitor (27" ASUS). In fact, what I posted was reduced from the original size.

Not to sound presumptuous, but at times I feel I've seen all there is to see in the Technic line-up, and everything seems to be variations/repeats of old sets/concepts. What I'm trying to say is that the Technic Theme is becoming slowly 'boring'. Of course, and in all fairness, there is another very likely possibility: my advancing years are catching up on me and I'm slowly moving away from 'how things work' to 'how beautiful they are'. Many people, after a successful career, turn to painting and other 'artsy' hobbies. I have several years (double digit) before retirement but again, I find myself exploring other things one can do with Lego. A recent visit to the Museum of Science and Industry here in Chicago got me thinking about Lego Architecture though, the TLG official 'Architecture' et is 'boring' too ... few shapes but totally mono-chromatic/white. Take a look at the tan building below. Though many of the parts are NOT available (see my 'missing slopes' thread in the general discussion), it is certainly a beauty that would easily rival with the GTB Fiorano 8145. All this prelude/introduction to ask this: Now that you've seen many of what Technic can offer, what is the next step for you? - Big images removed - SIze reduced by 33%, as requested.

I share your frustration ... wholeheartedly. As I said in my original post, my interest in slopes stemmed from a recent visit to a museum exhibit here in Chicago (Museum of Science & Industry). There, there were huge gisplays of iconic landmarks, such as the Golden Gate Bridge (in San Francisco) and the Egyptian pyramids. I decided to come home and buy the parts to build a smaller version of the pyramid. To my disappointment, the corner 2x2 slope is extremely rare in tan, and the cheapest I found on BL was $2.00 ... really ludicrous. The museum exhibit must have been a very special order. Some photos are below. Since then, I started looking even closer at all available slopes, and none of them exist in all the same color ... this is really really disappointing from TLG.

I have a fairly large collection, spanning the past 10-15 years or so, including: 1. Technic (mostly) 2. Agents 3. Star Wars (few) 4. City, Bionicle, Friends, Creator, ... There is a total of about 150+ sets (primarily large) and some of them are still sealed. I'm inventorying the sets now and would like to sell the whole thing at once. I also have many extra parts (Bricklink). Let me know if interested and I'll upload my inventory. Thanks, JB

I still have mine sealed in its original box. I hope the stickers are still intact.

Very nice. However (on my computer) some pages are totally blank and on some others the text is printed in white ... I had to highlight it to see it. I can check again on a different computer tonight, but wondering if others are seeing the same 'issues'. Edit: Nevermind. I downloaded a second time, and now everything looks fine.

I'm not so sure anymore about the weight check at TLG. Recently, I bought 2 elves sets for my daughter, and both of them had dragons inside. Somehow each had an extra wing, which is a fairly large part. Unless the bags are weighed properly, but the large pieces are not.

Nope ... too many things to do. Will leave that on backburner until I free up some hours :)

I never said the 'orbits' (or phase plane trajectories as some would call them) were due to Coriolis Effects. But, I did say they REMINDED me of the pendulum at the UN. The contraption in this thread (most likely) has too much friction for the Coriolis forces to manifest themselves. :)

I'm not against moderators 'editing' my threads' titles, but I think for this specific one, the new title is rather 'complicated'. When I think of VItal, to me it's organs necessary for the proper functioning of a human body. My intention however with this thread was not for 'vital' parts, but more for ordinary/key parts that were inadvertently missed i.e., extra parts BEYOND the spare parts.

That's exactly what I wanted to build ... when I realized that many slopes are not available, and started this thread.

I'm not the Conspiracy Theorist but it seems to me that New parts are often 'delayed' simply to 'force' us to buy the whole new sets ... isn't this the case? The other 'legitimate' reason is that most sets are built 'on-demand' i.e., they make several runs depending on how quickly some sets sell vs others. In such case, it makes more sense for TLG to save 'new parts' to put in whole sets as opposed to sell them. It only makes sense. Yes, I too wanted new parts as soon as I saw them released in new sets, but never managed to get them, they're always NOT available. It's like the DVD/BD version of a movie ... it's released a long time after the theater sales have 'dropped', simply to force audiences to pay top $$$ and go watch the movie in a theater.

In a recent thread, someone asked what the most difficult technic build was. I personally never 'felt' Technic was difficult but one respondent reported the Battle Droid 8002 was one of the most difficult sets. So, curious, I managed to get one off eBay, disassembled it, cleaned it up, and decided to build. Yes, it was not an easy build ... but the most surprising to me was, at the end, I ended up with few 'serious' extra pieces (The droid came assembled). This is the very first time this happens to me. I must say though that the instructions have some 'errors' in them, and plus, working from a scanned PDF is far from ideal. So, how often do you end up with MORE extra pieces than you're comfortable with? Or, how often you complete a build, then realize you've messed up 'royally' somewhere?

I have about 250 sets, primarily technic/City/Trains/Friends (some in multiple copies, because I needed the extra pieces). I'm not into CMF and small sets. That said, I've slowed down buying lego as I find myself often pondering what would happen to such collection once I'm gone (all of us should). We spend the earlier parts of our lives collecting/amassing ... and after stages getting rid of things. My collection includes numerous orders from Bricklink as well so, lots of spare parts. Each new set brings its own 'pull' of either new parts or those in new colors (Have you seen the new Nexo Knights?) ... but lately I'm getting more 'pleasure' from building my own MOCs from scract, as opposed to following a given recipe for a set. I find the 'specialty' sets in that regards rather boring as there is only one version you can build, unlike th emuch older sets.

Yup, fell in love with 'tan' after I visited a lego exhibit at a museum in Chicago ... they had a huge egyptian exhibit, with (tan) pyramids. So I went on a bricklink shopping spree and bought many 'slopes' in both tan and dark tan. To my dismay, the corner slope 2x2 is very rare and expensive too. The museum exhibit must have received a very special order from TLG.

You're right ... lol. Somehow I did not see your post ... Better yet: I was merely emphasizing YOUR point :)

Of course, I never 'assumed/implied' availability was the point. Though i agree, I find it much easier to work with the RPI3 than with the Zero. The RPI3 has full-size USB connectors, whereas the Zero does not and you need special cabling and a USB hub. Back to your point. A while back in a related thread, I 'speculated/hoped' that in the future, we might see some merging/integration/adoption of either/both Arduino/RPI platforms into the MindStorms theme. Mindstorms requires heavy investing/development (both hardware and software) wherea Arduino/RPI rely on 'open' architectures an a very large hobbyist base. I think (maybe) it'll be more 'economical' for both TLG AND the lego community (us AFOLs) to merge lego components (motors/sensors) to 'standard' electronic boards (Arduino/RPI). There are some 'attempts' out there, but those rely on both the lego brick AND an RPI. But then again, TLG has never really adopted/absorber/bought another company and they prefer to develop everything themselves, or pseudo-joint-ventures as in LabView+MindStorms. Last question: Are you from the Boston area? I went to school for several years in Cambridge, on the Hudson.

So I was right then ... those parts are not only reserved to the lucky few , but also not available to the general public

I visited a Lego exhibit at the Chicago MSI (Museum of Science and Industry) few days back and there, they have a huge display of the pyramids of Giza. Since then, I've been collecting pieces to replicate a smaller version of this build, but also wanted to build 'roofs/pyramids' of various angles. Now, there are few lego parts (slopes) to achieve this, namely, the 1-stud height For 2-stud height, these slopes are available ? For 3-stud height, these slopes are also available Do you see the pattern? Better yet, it seems Lego never released a corner slope with a 2-stud height. Such piece exists in both single and triple stud height, but not in 2-stud height ... They do have the 'quadruple' slope in 2-stud height, but that piece is not usable for corners. Any thoughts/comments or if we'll ever see such part in 'nice/useful' colors?

There is always the Pi Zero W ... footprint of the zero, with wireless capability.

Not sure. The set came with two motor boxes and two remotes. I could try tonight if I remember where I stored them :)

I think it's this one ... https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=60917#T=C Also, to the OP: Well done. Would be nice to display side-by-side the original vs. your MOC (if you have them).

Reminds me of a typeface introduced by Rotring (German Company) many years ago (30+). Edit: Turns out it's an ISO font (read below). Rotring makes drafting/drawing tools including ink pens, templates, ...etc Look for the typeface on the pens in the link below. Those look very similar to Lego's. http://www.rotring.com/us/93-technical-calligraphy-pens/93-calligraphy-pens-technical PS. Yes, I used those pens many years ago, and still have two boxed sets :)