Paladonius

It depends on how much support this concept gets. I like it a lot (but I'm biased) and designed it to suit my needs, might not be everyone's cup of tea

What about this (shown without the buffer housing) running wires internally through the coupling ? The downside is the protruding pin - means they would only be coupled to another one - tender / power supply freight car / tandem loco. Cheers Paladonius

Merman, I have both of these sets and think they nailed them both. I love both of them and just wondered how you would want them changed or do you just want them available through the shops to buy ? Cheers P.

Hey there one and all I agree totally, but the average 10 year old is pretty smart and able to recognise different things within a group. Ask the average 10 year old about dinosaurs and he can tell you not only their name, but what they ate and where the fitted in the food chain in relation to others. Construction equipment is the same thing for kids interested in it, they can tell the difference between a skid steer, a backhoe loader, a bulldozer, mobile crane, a crawler crane, an excavator, a front loader, a telehandler etc. I may grant that a scraper might be a little out there, but as CP5670 said, graders are fairly common, an to date LEGO attempts (IMHO) at one have been pretty poor. A grader with rear rippers and maybe a bulldozer blade on the front (as the council ones have here) would be pretty cool and round out the second parameter in having multiple functions. It's interesting when you look at the core design parameters for Lego technic designers, that are 1. Authenticity, must be instantly recognisable to the "real" thing (one could argue that this has been less than accurate for some older models) 2. Functionality, full interesting functions 3. Challenging building, building in all directions At the same time, I realise that I have been lucky to have collected so many models over the years and have been exposed to a lot of variety that others haven't, hence the wish for something new particularly in this area. Cheers P.

Hey there one and all, I've been collecting technic sets (mainly construction equipment) for 30 years having just picked up the 8264 Hauler and the 8265 Front Loader. My first sets were the 856 Bulldozer and the 855 Mobile Crane and it's amazing to see everything in between those. I can't say I'm really impressed by what has been offered so far for the first half of 2010. Yeah it's good to see the pneumatics return, but is that then at the expense of the mechanised rams that are in the 8264 and 8265 sets ? It seems to me (IMHO) that they (LEGO) seem to be rehashing old concepts - OK, the forestry machine is new-ish, but only really the trailer, not the tractor. For the tractor, I would have loved to see steering connected to the steering wheel, piston engine and a working 3 point hitch. Then they could release mini sets like ploughs, etc that could attatch to the linkages. As a part-time toy designer I want to see something completely new. Imagine a CAT 16M mining size motor grader. The pneumatics could tilt the blade, the turntable would allow this and angle it, the rest including steering, independant rear suspension like on the 8264 and piston engine would be a relatively simple build. Or for something new, what about a Scraper like the CAT 657G Wheel Tractor Scraper? This would be a "major" set and require new larger wheels if scaled to the size of the 8275 Bulldozer, but how cool would that be to have to bulldozer pushing it like they do in real life ? I'd even settle for a Tracked Loader like the Cat 973D or the Liebherr LR 634 Litronic, but with the 8275 Bulldozer as a recent-ish release, think this might be a big ask. If they want to "rehash" old concepts, I'd love a front / face shovel. I'm probably asking too much for a TEREX, but a CAT 365C Front Shovel or a Liebherr R99C Litronic would be sweet. Would love to see a bucket that would have small rams to open it, that could be incorporated into a 4 in 1 bucket on other loaders. The track system and excavator body could easily be adapted from previous releases. Anyhow, that's just my 2 cents worth (probably more like a couple of dollars :) ) At last count: 6 cranes, 2 bulldozers, 4 Excavators, 2 Skid Steer Loaders, 5 Front Loaders, 2 Backhoes, 4 Forklifts, 2 Dump Trucks and 2 Telehandlers, so you can see why I'd like something new in the construction game. Cheers P.