DLuders

Yes, Wendy W. at Lego Customer Service commented to me twice that Toys R Us should not have even released the 9397 Logging Truck set so early. TLG wanted it released in March 2012. Apparently, Toys R Us has "jumped the gun" on several occasions; she said that "they can get in a lot of trouble" for doing that. Toys R Us is having a Buy One/ Get 50% Off sale starting today. If you want to get ahold of some Lego Technic sets (like the 9397), grab them now or else they may be unavailable for a few weeks....

Well maybe the TOY DISTRIBUTORS who saw the Lego Technic "flagship" sets with their own eyes commented on the 4x4 Crawler's wierd color scheme, or the Helicopter's inability to adjust the pitch of the rotor blades while they are rotating. They are the ones who will be ORDERING these sets in bulk to resell to their retail customers. If they were not impressed at the Toy Fairs, then TLG may have to go "back to the drawing board".

@ jaap: Welcome to Eurobricks! Have you seen the Rebrickable.com website? It shows you what can be built from the existing Lego sets you own. You can buy any missing parts you need from Bricklink.com ("The Unofficial Lego Marketplace"). Be sure to visit the Bricklink Help Center to learn how it works!

That's because Blakbird has not added it to his Technicopedia website yet (Hint, hint!) Welcome to Eurobricks.

@ vean: In regards to resizing your BIG pictures in the post above, recommend using the image "resizing" program that Sariel uses: http://www.fookes.com/ezthumbs/ , which "resizes whole folders of files in just few clicks." Then, you can upload the resized (smaller) image to Brickshelf and link it here immediately using the "Deeplink" method outlined here. By "deeplinking", we can see your picture(s) immediately (without having to wait ~2 days for the Brickshelf moderator to make them "public". The same "deeplink" procedure will work for your LDD .lxf file also.

@ Zblj: Even though your friend's 17X1 and 18X1 Lego Linear Actuators are the "old" version (pre "36-series-and-above"), they can be used in many applications. TLG deemed the "old" ones insufficient for the 8043 Motorized Excavator. This TechnicBRICKS article explains the difference between "old" and "new" LAs well:

I think that it's possible. Check out the Vuurzoon Family's Ninjago Turbo Spin "Power Gun" that is 1/2 way down this MOCpages post. If you could modify the placement of the Power Functions (PF) battery box, you could possible set the entire assembly inside a frame similar to Aeh5040's Lego Technic "Automatic Synchro Drive" unit (pictured below; see more here and PDF Building Instructions here). The challenge for you would be to BALANCE the weight inside the "Spinning Top" so that it can rotate on a central shaft touching the table....

I don't have a caliper, but I "eyeballed" the diameter of the plug that goes into the Lego 8878 PF Rechargeable Battery Box with a metric ruler. It appears to be ~2.8 mm in diameter. There are so many "unknowns" with trying to "mix-and-match" things. Recommend getting the 8887 LEGO® Power Functions Transformer 10VDC unit from Shop.Lego.com . It's $25, which is only ~$6 more than the unit you were considering from Amazon. You can earn some "VIP Points" (credits) for future purchases by buying the transformer that will DEFINITELY WORK....

I telephoned Lego Customer Service in Enfield, Connecticut USA yesterday (Saturday, February 18th), and talked at length with Wendy W. Over the course of ~20 minutes, she looked in all possible The Lego Group's internal websites for the mysterious 9397's PDF Building Instructions for the alternate (B-Model) 9397 set -- they were nowhere to be found electronically. She looked hard. Per her instructions, I sent an e-mail to her supervisor (Susan R.) to get this resolved. My e-mail contained a link to this Eurobricks thread, and to the Toys R Us website PROVING that the set has been available in the UK and the USA for a while. Since the USA is celebrating "President's Day" tomorrow (Monday), I may not get a TLG reply (by telephone or by e-mail) until Tuesday sometime; I will add any additional news here once I receive it. I would hope that the instructions would appear first on the Lego.com TECHNIC Building Instructions webpage, where all the other B-Model instructions appear.

@ GuiliuG: Was the design of your model (first picture below) inspired by fivestarbrick's Lego "All-Wheel Steer Skid-Steer Loader" model (second picture below, with these Building Instructions and Parts List on Brickshelf)?

I like the narrow "coke-bottle" waist and the flip-up headlights. I recognize the wheels from the 8880 Super Car set; they look good on your MOC!

I am assuming that there is some "factor of safety" built into all electronic circuits. However, one must guard against OVERHEATING the battery by not passing too much current into it. Current --> Friction --> HEAT.

Good question. Neither the 9398 4x4 Crawler nor the 9396 Helicopter were shown at the most-recent toy fairs (the February 10-13 Toy Fair 13 in New York and now the Lego World 2012 in Copenhagen). Perhaps these two large Technic set designs are being "tweaked" in response to AFOL feedback here and on other Technic fan sites. Maybe they are being improved? There's still PLENTY OF TIME (5+ months) before the 2H2012 release in August 2012....

In that case, you should do what Sariel suggested on his Facebook page -- "If you are a Firefox user from Germany, Netherlands or Spain and you can't see YouTube videos, this add-on should help." It is a "ProxTube - Unblock YouTube" application.

On his Brickshelf gallery, Blakbird posted big & beautiful 9 renders of Sheepo's Modular Platform System modules. They would make nice wallpapers for your computer desktop. Today, Sheepo has added even more MPS modules on his Sheepo's Garage website -- a Rear Live Axle (pictured below). He wrote that "Anyone are free to download and use this system. But if you use it I have a request, please send me a picture of your creation and MPS configuration used."

[bUMP] LEGOpachinko just posted this of his mini Lego Technic Flight Simulator. It uses an old 698 Boeing Aeroplane set to demonstrate pitch, yaw, & roll of a classic Japan Air Lines (JAL) Boeing 727 aircraft. He wrote that his "Version 1 [above] did not have yaw. So i set out to make a version 2, including yaw took a bigger base. So I decided I needed a bigger plane. I dug up the first set I ever got -- it's a 698 from 1977 and looks like it has been in a few crashes (and it has). As a matter of fact the No. 2 engine is on fire and has been shut off."

On SeTechnic, arhthra08 posted this Lego Technic Mercedes Skip Truck. In the original French and in this English translation, he wrote that it has 3 functions: - Steering on the two front axles is via the HOG [Hand of God] "light" knob on the roof...the difference of the two front axles' turning radius is carried out with the manner of the 8454 Rescue Truck. - Truck is 8x8 and has a fake engine (flat 6)...it turns at a reasonable speed. - Cargo box lifting is via a pneumatic cylinder. There are many more pictures and descriptions on that SeTechnic topic. The shows it in action:

I think Paul Boratko has guessed it correctly -- see the 22 ea. 2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 Spy Photos from Car and Driver magazine. The proportions look right....

On SeTechnic, Nico71 discusses his Lego Technic Orange Trial Crawler at length (in the original French and in this English translation). He provided these and many more pictures:

Daniel, the Lego transformer has the same vertical prong setup, and exactly the same - to + symbols as the one you found on Amazon: There is an "Efficiency Level IV" on the back of the Lego transformer; I don't know what that means exactly but I do know it charges the LiPo PF Rechargeable battery fairly quickly. Here is the Peeron photo of the Lego 8887 10V DC transformer:

This is written on the back of the official Lego 8887 Transformer 10V DC (underneath the electrical 2-prong plug). I'm holding it in my hand now as I type: 02 09 607T9 TOY TRANSFORMER CAUTION ELECTRIC TOY MODEL: PS-593-01 INPUT: 120V AC 60Hz OUTPUT: 10V DC 700mA 7W LEGO Element 86444 Made in China for LEGO Group The key items from Toastie's Eurobricks topic are: "1) The 7.4 V/1.1 A LEGO PF Lithium polymer rechargeable battery can be charged with a broad range of DC input voltages ranging from 9 V to 18 V, see figure below. 10 V or above is recommended, since the then available full charging current is minimizing charging time. 12 V seem to represent the best price-performance ratio, as judged from the availability of cheap “wall wart” type power supplies. In other words: You don’t need to buy the way too expensive 10 V LEGO charger!" The DC 12V 550 mA transformer (that you have in mind) may be "off of the graph" below. The "Maximum Charging Current" should be more like 480 mA at 12V -- can you find something like that at Radio Shack?

Your render may give people too many ideas for the "Easter rabbit"!

LegoKiwi/ CarterandCoProducts posted this of his "Unimog U400 based off the Lego Technic 8110 Unimog. Much smaller but with all the same functions and more!Functions include: * Drive * Steering * Pneumatic Compressor * Gearbox for front and rear PTO * Front and rear PPTO * Winch * Pneumatic crane arm Dimensions (without accessories): Length: 40 studs (32cm) Width: 19 studs (15cm) Height: 59 plates (18.7cm)"

Thanks for sharing the PDF Building Instructions! They are very well done. Have you tried your MOC out in the snow? Besides being used as a "Snow Cat", your MOC could possibly be used in "Techball". From this TechnicBRICKS article, Fernando Correia wrote that "TechBall is a competition where a kind of football for vehicles, takes place. The objective of the game is that each player tries to capture the ball and introduces it into the opponent's goal. Its popularity has been increasing among several LUGs and it is specially interesting for organizing at the LEGO club events, for amusement of everybody."

Yes, I agree -- SR 3D Builder is a great value for the money! I recently downloaded it, and it is GREAT for Lego Technic virtual models! :thumbup: