DrJB

Really, in the UK they're caled EnergiSer ??? Here in the US they're called EnergiZer ... was not aware names were 'adapted' to local spelling. Not just stronger, those 'reinforcement' on the wheels make those usable with rubber tracks as well. You can clearly notice the trend in the Mindstorms series where TLG no longer provides tread sprockets. They now include only 'dual-purpose' rims that can be used for both tires and treads.

I wonder how well that contraption handles turns at high speeds ... Also, and in real life, the amount of tilt would depend on two parameters: The steering radius (how aggressive the turn is) and the vehicle speed. The first can be easily achieved mechanically, but for the second, you definitely need a computer. In contrast with motor-bikes, the driver cannot lean (to offset the effect of his weight) and stabilize the vehicle ...

She's Korean, with connections in Nigeria, and an email account in Brazil ... Hummm ...

I am not sure leaning is what makes it turn. I would rather say leaning is a consequence of turning i.e., the vehicle 'leans because it turns' and no 'must lean in order to turn'. To make the vehicle turn, you need to provide different speeds to the inner/outer wheels. In my opinion, the tilt is there to make sure the vehicle does not tip off when taking a turn (to counter centrifugal force). The Toyota vehicle looks just like a competition motorbike, with two front tires ipo just one, and those motorbikes tend to lean on the inside to make a turn, otherwise they'll fly away.

I see more than Lego and Tomica ... isn't the printed carpet from the Ikea train system (compatible with Thomas)?

I saw it at the lego store in Chicago ... being only a collection of 'common' white bricks, I doubted it'll sell this fast ...

Reminds me of a recent movie where Russell Crowe says: There are two types of people in the world, those running AFTER happiness, and those running AWAY from pain.

Strength in numbers ... just became eligible to join this elite group few months back ... My fist lego sets were a technic tractor (851) + forklift (850) from the late 70's. My dad had gone away on a business trip, and brought me back the 2 sets. I had then just started high school (Lycee Techniqe) and the ability to reproduce mechanisms I've learned about with lego parts/gears was ... out-of-this-world. That was it for several years, but then more than a decade later, I re-discovered Lego while attending graduate school at MIT, where an electrical engineering design course (6.270) was offered and the students were to design a robot with lego parts and a microprocessor. This was the predecessor of the Mindstorms RCX brick. The workload for a doctorate and especially the $$$ could not support the hobby and my interest faded away again. I got back (permanently?) about 10 years ago with primarily the Technic and Mindstorms themes. PS: where do I get my badge?

If you can find one at a decent price, get the 8258 Crane Truck ... IMHO one of the best studless sets.

Good 'wanted list' ... I got all of them and agree with your assessment ... You may need to add the 8258 Crane Truck as well.

I read somewhere that household dust ... is comprised primarily of fabric fiber and human dead skin .... yikes!

8450 The Mission ... too bad shipping is prohibitive to North America http://www.ebay.co.u...=item46174ca6c2

I do not dust my sets ... For those without PF, I simply run them under a hot water jet in the kitchen sink (or shower) ... et Voila! ... extremely effective.

Fair enough, that still seems quite a bit of dough for a mold ...

Precisely !!!

Interesting ... Those figures are public??? You can believe anything you read, but you can also make an educated guess if you work in the field ... My point is, while I agree with most of the new rules, i'm a bit disappointed that new legit parts are not an option anymore. There were some very smart proposals, such as planetary gears and mecanum wheels parts. I've often encountered the need for a part that does not exist and there was no other way to build my contraption ...

I am not sure TLG's refusal of using NEW parts has anything to do with mold costs. From my time working in the tire industry, making a new tire mold costs about $30k. Based on the geometric complexity, I'd think tire molds are much much more expensive than Lego molds. The reason might be elsewhere. All of their parts are protected by patents. If they make a part that was suggested by fan, who gets the patent? Would that contributor collect some royalties on each part molded? Again, cost of mold (imho) got nothing to do with it.

Quite a bit of work has indeed gone into this, both by participants and Jim. For one thing, it kept the forum very 'alive'. Best luck next time ... I liked very much the bucket-wheel excavator and the motorized trains ...

Well ... here's my take on shape vs. color vs. function. In my sorted/storage boxes, all parts are stored by function/shape. For example, I have one box with all technic suspension/steering elements, and each compartment holds parts such as shock absorbers, steering knuckles, F1 suspension arms ... etc. Others boxes are for e.g. lift-arms, gears, axles, pins, connectors. In general all colors are mixed together. If however for a specific part I have many gray an few mixed colors, I'd have two separate compartments, one for the large color count, other for mixed colors. Another place were color sorting is useful, is actually 'pre-sorting' large mixed lots. We go through phases of building then disassembling and sorting at home. Because of the large amount of different parts, it's impossible to make piles for each type. I'd have the kids sort by color first, and then I do sort by function/size during a second pass. I find it much easier to focus on either shape or color when sorting. Keeping track of both is more 'work'.

Bienvenue sur Euro-Bricks ... I've been as far as Montreal, la vielle ville, c'est joli!

Stumbled upon some photos on BrickShelf ... someone built a mindstorms that draws various patterns on eggs ... Very nice indeed! http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=246207

The stickers usually tell u exactly what lever does what ...

I do not see any issue. Those same motors are used in other 'non-technic' official lego sets. Attaching the XL/M motors to studded bean should be easy as well as the spacing between pin holes if fairly consistent across beams and liftarms.

If the LDD files are 'usable' i.e., can be converted to LDraw ... we can possibly divide up the task, chassis vs. cab vs. trailer ... etc.

I checked when the OP first asked the question (2 days ago), and back then only the two parts were listed in BrickLink, not the friends set, and definitely not the inventory. Now, with the set pic uploaded, there is more 'credibility' that those are indeed new parts.