Tomahawker

Auction on Ebay has been taken down. Looks like it was a "hot" item.

Philo, thanks for compiling this information and placing it alongside your very helpful information on Lego motors and sensors. Aside from the value of having this information readily available for Technic and Mindstorms applications, it's great information on a purely academic level.

Can you post a picture of this piece? I want to contact S@H but want to be sure the part is available. I'm not having that problem with mine, and I have spun both rotors quite aggressively. Can you give more details on when or how this happens?

My guess is that the quad bike is slung below the plane and unloading means disconnecting it from the hitch.

Very few sets priced in GBP are sold for their equivalent in USD, due to inclusion of VAT, higher fixed costs in UK, etc. This set should be priced closer to $100 USD. I'm hoping for the $99.99 price point.

To me, the printing looks too vivid to be the traditional pad printing on bricks or tiles, but i can't see any seams on the edges of the movie posters. Is it possible that the movie posters and screen are printed card stock that is "captured" between the bricks?

Sinner, thanks for this well written review. I have been a long time fan of Technic and own most official sets since I picked up the 8480 in 2002. I'm always blown away by the MOCs created by Sariel and the other great builders here. I've never had much success creating any significant creations of my own. I think this book will be very helpful in my future attempts. Technic for teh win

Yes, I'm unable to access it also. Hopefully it is just a brief outage. The web site is hosted by Eric Smith of Northstar Computers. http://www.northcomp.com/ That web site appears to be working so the entire server farm is not down.

Yes, I think your reason makes the most sense. If you look at the first picture, it defintely looks like a base the same width as the torso at the top would not have clearance for the hands to be down at the sides.

Here's another picture from Amazon.jp Agree with the other sentiments here. This scale is simply too small to faithfully reproduce the roofline "sails". This is barely recognizable.

Looks like Crowkillers updated the page. It's $15 to download the instructions.

Eric, Thanks for another superb review. Your reviews are always unfailingly comprehensive and informative. I was a little iffy on this set, but after reading your review, and especially the comparison shots to the other supercars, I’m definitely buying this set. I agree with all your points, and would add the following to the list: Likes: The use of the new panels really improves the appearance of the car. In looking over the entire spectrum of supercars (including the Ferrari Racers models) the design has evolved to a more robust “filled out” look that improves the aesthetics dramatically. I love the pinched-waist styling of this model. It adds a great deal of character and realism to the look of the car. The price is very reasonable, considering that it is $10 cheaper than the 8448, released 12 years ago. The 8448 had no motorized functions either. Dislikes: The speed of the opening and closing of the hood, doors, etc. seems too fast. It looks unrealistic compared to an automated function on a real car. Wishing again it could be in some color other than red. It would be awesome if TLG would create a “color parts pack” to build it in a different color. The only good thing about keeping all the latter-day supercars red is it makes it easier to see the design evolution over the past 12 years. I wish the wheels and seats were some color other than gray. Tan or white for the seats and metallic silver or gold for the wheels. The shape and styling looks great, but it would look even better with a more colorful palette. Despite these points, I'm looking forward to adding this to my collection.

I'll go even further... Has anyone in North America (except for Blakbird) received the service kit yet? - Tomahawker

Another awesome creation! The video was also very entertaining. Well played! You are a brave man for putting your video cam on the boat! By the way how did you get that crane or boom shot at the end of the video?

Yes, I'm sure you are right. In fact, if you look below the PF logo you can see what to my eye looks like, the 8878 PF Battery, the 8866 train motor, and the 8879 PF IR Speed Remote Control. You can also see the 8879 remote in the middle of the table in front of the green gantry.

The code pilot brick from set 8479 can make this sound when it detects movement from the 8-tooth timing gear. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=32023 Could this be what they are using?

Eric, Their is a decent quality .JPG of the sticker sheet for this set at http://www.hccamsterdam.nl/brickfactory/stikkers/index.htm. It may not be as good as the original, but it would be better than the current ones. It's a shame a beautiful set like that was ruined by such poor quality stickers.

I saw 6753 in my local TRU the other day. The box said it had 1,294 pieces which for $80 is a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, it was $89.99 at TRU As was mentioned earlier, it has some nice functionality with the HOG steering and the tilting upper transport deck. I also think the alternate models are some of the best looking I have seen from a Creator set.

No the star is not new, it's a Bellville ice crystal, and it's been around for several years. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=x789 It looks like the set has a nice selection of mini-figs, including what looks like a "jester-in-the-box"

I'm in the Dayton area, and I'm looking forward to the opening of this store. It's been bugging me that I'm getting charged tax on my S@H orders even though the store isn't open yet! Anyway, if anyone who goes to the job fair can post information about soft or official opening dates, it would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to go down and snag an Emerald Night train, plus any opening day specials they might be offering. Thanks! - Tomahawker

Eric, thanks for your detailed review of this set. I saw this set at TRU right before Christmas, and I almost bought it, until I saw that TRU wanted $80 for this!! I’m glad I waited, because I’m also very disappointed by this set. As others have pointed out, the aesthetics are very good, but the functionality is very poor for a set of this size and cost. For this price, I was hoping the turning plate would rotate as well as swivel, just like in a real articulated dump truck. While the linear actuator is perfect for lifting the dump bed, it seems that the design cost for this piece is very high. Even the structure of this set does not lend itself to adding additional functionality, since there is no drive train and no easy way to add one. Unlike the 8292 Cherry Picker and 8294 Excavator, there doesn’t even seem to be much point in adding a PF receiver to this set. I also think the alternate build looks like a crappier version of the B model in the 8292. On a positive note, I do like the use of the wheel pieces in yellow, as those will be useful for other construction MOCs. I’m also happy to see that they included a couple of tiles and stickers for the rear-view mirrors, as this has been a pet peeve of mine in the 8292. So, for me, this set is strictly a clearance or deep discount purchase. On a side note, Eric, thanks for the awesome job you are doing with Technopedia. Many of the early Technic sets were released during my dark ages, and your site does a fantastic job of explaining and illustrating all the cool mechanisms. In fact, it’s sad to see how much the 8264 represents such a reversal of form over function from the old Technic days.

Thanks for the review 5150 Lego. When I looked up this set on the TRU website and saw the dreaded "Special Edition" on the box, I knew it would suffer the typical TRU scalping on these types of sets. Hopefully as other have stated it will be $39.99 at Lego S@H. I noticed that the side windows in your build are reversed compared to the box and catalog illustrations. This is a positive change as it closes the obvious gap between the sides and front windshield. Did you do that on your own or is that how it is shown in the instructions? Overall this is a very good looking set. The scale is impressive, but like others I'm dissapointed in the lack of a mechanism to drive the combine head and the cheesy hay bale delivery system. However, I do like the design of the cab and the easy access afforded by the opening sides and top. I'll probably get this set, but I'll definitely wait until it's available at S@H to avoid the TRU rip-off pricing.

Very nice review with excellent pictures. Thanks for adding the photos showing how the bed is constructed. While I agree with your review and the quality of this set, I wish they had made one additional change. If they could have modified one of the articulated joint pieces to have a technic pin instead of the 2x4 plate, the cab would be allowed to rotate as well as swivel, just like the turning plate in a real articulated dump truck. That would have made this set near perfect! Oh well, it's still a nice set and fits in well with the other Town construction sets that have come out recently. Let's hope the rest of the 2009 sets are as good as this one. - Tomahawker

Thanks for a very well written and detailed review. I'd like to see more reviews of the Exo-force line, especially if they are as well done as this one. Thanks again, Tomahawker