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Instructions would be nice, but I personally wouldn't care for instructions of official sets, unless they are not too big (a maintenance vehicle like 4541?). The instructions are available online after all. Maybe some pictures of posters or pages from catalogs.

Maybe this will help? Link. Link. For what I know the nosed cabins of the Iveco Strator are all built in the Netherlands, in Limburg. Strator is now a truck brand on it's own, but because of the close relation with Iveco I wouldn't be surprised if they assemble the same cabin for Gerard de Rooy. Lijkt me trouwens een lastige kleur om mee te bouwen!

Thanks for the review. I think this is one of the best-looking go-karts, and that's from someone who don't really like studless. The dimensions look better. It's a good thing no figure was included in this one, since all karts look too large for figures. The figures are discontinued however. I don't own this set, but played with it a little bit. What really annoyed me was the big turning radius.

I think they did that for gear reduction as well. Then it can be asked why not use a worm-gear however... For me this set was a must-have as well. I remember the difficult built as well. I had placed a part wrong, but the biggest mistake was to not test the gears. I discovered the error when it was finished, resulting in taking apart half of the truck. I think this is a great set, one of the best TECHNIC sets ever. It's in my personal TECHNIC top 5. The truck looks really nice (green!), and features both a working (and adjustable) steering wheel and a HOG. There are some stickers, but none of them are STAMPs. It looks the front tyres have a sort of Ackerman steering, and I like the use of the Flex system. This must be one of the last sets where it was used in a function. It's great to see one motor picks up a tyre, raise it above the dump bed, and loads it all without switching anything. Turn the switch on, and the dump bed will dump it's load (strange you didn't have a picture of that). However, that's when everything works properly. I had issues with the motor as well. First I noticed it stopped too early, resulting in not dropping the tyre, but later the motor was not running at all. I tried it with the train controller, but without success. I also read several occasions on the internet where the Code Pilot brick broke down. With either a broken motor or a broken Code Pilot, this set loose it's advantage and turns into an expensive parts pack. So, all in all, I think this is a great set as long as the electric components work. It has an original colour, nice looks and great to see some alternate models as well. All in a single book, as opposite to at least three books for the main model and no alternative model available for current sets. But make sure the electrical components work fine (of course you can't check this with MISB sets).

The idea of Rock Raiders was great, but I think the theme suffered of the juniorization (big pieces, less detail), something very common that time. I think the colours were great, and I like the minifigs. As far as my knowledge goes, none of the sets contained stickers, all were printed pieces. A big advantage to me. Nice idea to use official sets in a diorama you designed by yourself. Nice pictures as well. I think the mix of old and new gray adds realism.

Thanks for the review! I voted Very Good. It's a great set, and one of the few sets of the last decade that contained some studded parts. Which, in my opinion, is a big advantage. However, despite it being much bigger than 8460, I actually prefer the older crane. The 8480 has better outriggers, but also a gear-driven turntable. For it's size, I think the manual turning was a disappointment. So, everything said, I think the 8421 is not as good as 8460, but still a great set.

Thanks for the review mostlytechnic! This set arrived during my dark age. I did not buy any LEGO, but received the Shop@Home catalog. I was surprised to see the BNSF, and this set of course. As an European I'm not well-known to American rail equipment, but I really like the detail of these sets and hope one day I will get all of the Santa Fe, BNSF and TTX sets. Sure, it had to have some compromizes to be able to manage curves and points, but I still think it actually does look very good. In fact the best-looking container car so far. As far as I know, this was the last ever car seperately sold. A shame sets like these are no longer produced. While I like the switch to 6-wide trucks, it looks these 4-wide containers are compatible to the 4549 and 4555 ones. @Patje: I was yust going to ask about the quality, untill I read your comment. It seems many sets from that era suffer from flaky stickers. I've read the quality is better now, but I'm still sceptic about the current quality. Did the other sets (Santa Fe & cars, BNSF) suffer the same problems?

My cousin has this set, and it was always fun to play with. I think this set has to score on playablility rather than technical complexity. The Dutch catalog described the vehicle as an amphibian vehicle, and by the looks of the two screws it looks it indeed is. The biggest disadvantage for me is the use of stickers. As I remember from CP5670's* quality reference, some sets already suffered from stickers peeling off and that's one reason for me not buying the set. The headlights are STAMPs, and if they were some plates on top of eachother, it would be easy to keep them intact. But they are placed on some bricks next to eachother. That's why I voted Decent, it would have scored better if there were less stickers. Good review, I first thought you forgot to mention the play features, but I should have read better.

As a kid I always liked the streamlined, futuristic designs of this set, but of other sets as well. But I understand the comments about it unrealistic, I feel the same. It's not a worthy successor of 4558. It looks like they sacrificed realism for playability. With some fantasy, it might be possible to convert it into a rescue train from Res-Q though! The looks fit perfectly in the theme. Anyway, thanks for the review!

Sometime around my birth, my father bought 8853 and I played a lot with that set in my childhood. During the first years, my father had to build it since I was too young for TECHNIC. However, I think this set was not important enough to vote for. I've voted for 8855, 8865 and 8862. I have to admit I only own 8865 of these three sets, so especially the 8855 set is tricky. This is the biggest plane released as far as I know, and the first fixed-wing plane released. The addition of a figure is nice. I might have voted for it because I always wanted it (and still do) since I saw it in the catalogue included in the 8853 set. The 8865 set was a milestone in the development of the TECHNIC supercar. It was the first with four-wheel independent suspension, the first with pop-up lights and the first with a sort of body (although it looks more like a rollcage). Both 8855 and 8865 were the last sets with the classic square pistons and brick-built engine blocks. 8862 was the first backhoe and one of the first sets with the new pneumatic system. From the day I own 6662 I was interested in this set. I don't own a TECHNIC backhoe but this one is the only one I would bother to have.

Thanks for the review! I own the original 3451 set, but I never got any problems with fragile wings and can't remember having problems with constructing the undercarriage. The biggest problem were the stickers. When I took the set apart, I could remove the stickers without a doubt since the stickers were already ruined. I hope the stickers on this version are of better quality, but I'm afraid we will only know if the set has been retired. Printed pieces would have been better, but I guess that would be too expensive. Anyhow, this version already looks better in every way, no matter how bad (or good) the stickers turn out to be. I was happy with my 3451, thought it was the most realistic set ever released, but the 10226 makes scrap of it.

Great review of a great set. This was years before I was born, but I still think this has to be the best house ever released, even better than the great-as-well 6349. I hope I will be able to buy this some day.

8868, 8880, 8485, 8480 and 8479. With the 2000-2012 poll there were few sets that I really like, but the 1990s were the golden age of TECHNIC, at least for me. The five sets I choosed, are my personal TECHNIC top 5 ever, and among my favourite LEGO sets in general. Each is complicated both in building as in function and ahead of it's time, each has many pieces (today sets consist for a large part of pins) and especially 8880, 8480 and 8479 look great as well. For me 8480 is the best, but I can't decide between the other four. While I think 8459 and 8460 would be great flagships themselves if 8485 and 8479 would not be released, I think 8858 is not interesting enough to include in this list. 1993 was a year with not a single set that really stood out. 8857 was possibly the largest single vehicle, but 8082 had more pieces. 8872 was the largest set, both in piece count as in size, but consisted of two vehicles and a trailer, each not very complicated. While I like the idea, and this set itself, I doubt if 1993 really had a flagship. 8094 looks like a great set to me, but to me 8485 is better in every way (more motors, more reliable rubber belts, you don't need to change batteries, the looks of the designs are better). 8856 is a great set, the best TECHNIC helicopter ever released. Only the looks are not that great, in 1995 it has been done better with 8412. I think it's just not great enough to be added to my favourites' list. And then, well, 8462 and 8448. I think 8448 is great in functions, but the design doesn't look like LEGO to me (for me the same with studless sets). Otherwise it might have outranked the 8880 for me. 8462 looks way too futuristic. If it had the 8479 wheels, and a more traditional cab it would be as good as 8460 and 8459. THere's nothing wrong with functions in that set.

I would go for 6399 Airport Shuttle. A true classic.

1. George G. - 2 12. moctown - 3

The MF link didn't work, well, the link itself did work, but the file was damaged and I couldn't open it. But now with Uploader I can. Thanks!

Tried to download it in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome, neither succesfull.

I always thought your white Scania was one of the best renditions I had seen so far, but now I see the comparison shot it doesn't look like a Scania at all! The orange one is such a big improvement. As for the window: I would keep the sloped version. Looking to pictures of the R-series right now, they are not totally vertical either, but slightly sloped.

The second orange Scania has the best looking front so far. I'm not sure about the back of the truck though, I think the older version looked better, especially the lights (I like individual System lights more than round TECHNIC pieces) and the mudguards, but the coupling as well. I'm not sure if there's a way to make it more compact, maybe a black colour would help as well. The red liftarms look out of place to me. The licence plate looks big, did you use a 1x4 tile? I think a 1x3 will look better. Just ment to be constructive feedback. Especially with a model like this, I still would use the rechargeable box since it's a more compact and less heavy. The receiver on the side: have you added receivers on both sides?

Wow, three well-built tanks! For me, the big-scale T-34 is favourite.

This looks great indeed. It looks a lot like the NS 600, I think they are the same family of shunter locs. I think it's too high though, but looking to your pictures it has to be to get all the PF components inside. Have you tested it with some waggons? Do the BBB wheels have enough traction?

Actually, I think it's better this way. Although I would have seen Germany vs. Portugal, as a team you come to a tournament like this to win it, or with the best result possible. If you don't reach the final, what is the point to put your efforts for a match where's not much to win? I hope Italy will win this tournament. They are much more entertaining to watch. The game Spain vs. Portugal was horrible, both teams were diving and making fouls. The Dutch team was a disappointment this tournament, but Spain as well. Although they reached the finals (and possibly will win it) I don't think they deserve to win.

The referee (Howard Webb) was in the 2010 final as well. Although I think he did not a good job at the world cup final (not giving a corner, not punishing the Spanish defenders hard enough, and of course not giving Nigel de Jong a red card) I think he was quite good in this match, although I hoped for Czech to win. I agree it was a boring match. For this evening, I think Greece isn't really a football nation. Sure, they won in 2004, but for now I think they don't really deserve the semi-finals. That being said, most people here in the Netherlands see Germany as the nemesis/rival of the Netherlands (in football) and I'm relieved if they are eliminated from yet another title.

I haven't seen Balotelli's goal yet. Another favourite of mine is the goal of Welbeck.

The goal of Ibrahimovic was beautiful. And that for a team that was already knocked out. I didn't saw if Ukraine's goal was offside, I should check that later on. I think most will remember something similar happened with England (I thought against Germany) two years ago. Strange thing that goals will not count, even if it's very clear they crossed the line, but Zidane was given a red card after the fourth official saw Zidane making a head-butt after watching the replay. Croatia-Spain is something else I'll have to check, especially the penalties (or what should have been). Late in the match Netherlands-Denmark, a Danish player who possibly already made a handsball, made another, now clear, in the penalty area. But all five officials failed to see it.