DLuders

...but Legoworld 2010 is not until October 19-28 in The Netherlands! Surely there will be some pictures released before then. After all, folks have to save some money for holiday gifts....

I like this a lot, and I also like your two World War II U.S. Navy aircraft instructions (the F4U Corsair and the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver with the folding wings).

Has anyone ever gone to a retail store to buy LEGO TECHNIC, and has gazed at the nearby MEGA Bloks sets? Some of those sets would be nice to reproduce in Lego bricks. The US$40, 555-piece "Leopard 2 Tank" ( http://www.megabrands.com/Shop/MEGA_Bloks/Probuilder/Leopard_2_Tank_3251/ ) is an example; we all know that TLG will NEVER produce a battle tank set because of corporate philosophy. I know that Lego AFOLs think that MEGA Bloks parts are of inferior quality, are a "rip-off" of the Lego building idea, etc., but I'm asking this question anyway. Has anybody ever downloaded the MEGA Bloks Probuilder building instructions and created those sets using real Lego pieces? I realize that there are unique MEGA Bloks parts, but perhaps one could substitute some LEGO-brand parts to make them. Here is the download webpage: http://www.megabrands.com/en/customerservice/instructions.php?brandSelect=1&dir=customerservice&level=3&level2=3 Your thoughts and opinions? Is this "Lego heresy"?

If they don't have one in that Lego Store, you could always order the Star Wars 8092 Luke's Landspeeder set from Shop.Lego.com: http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8092&cn=240&d=322 .

On the website http://technic.lego.com/en-us/competition/default.aspx , the August 2010 Lego TECHNIC Challenge theme has been announced -- it's LIFTING CRANES. "Take the Technic Challenge – Lifting Crane! This is the LEGO® Technic Challenge competition! - here you have a chance at showing the LEGO Technic designers your designs and your abilities with the Technic elements. "The competition is very simple 1. Build a model out of primarily LEGO Technic elements. 2. Take a picture of the model 3. Press the button below to Enter the competition 4. Enter your contact information 5. Upload your image "What to build? This month (August) the competition is all about Cranes –Whether its stationary or on wheels is up to you, what matters is that it has lifting functions and that it is actually able to lift an object. Weight/Size of the object doesn’t matter – but the crane must be lifting an object on the picture, holding it clear off of the ground. "How does it work? Right now you can submit models - On the 16th of August - a panel of judges consisting of designers, marketing managers, building instruction artists and more will pick out (of all submissions) 10 finalists that will then be put up for voting here on the site. Considerations for the Nominees will be based on Model, Design, build to theme and age. "The winner will receive a prize and also continue to the Big Finale in October." Of course, there is a LIMIT to how high (or slender) a Lego TOWER Crane can be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZC_1o1XozQ

Alas, it says on the Shop.Lego.com website that LEGO Universe is not available (for pre-order) for Australia: http://shop.lego.com/product/Default.aspx?p=2855133&LangId=2057 .

Over on Brick Truck Trial , Raus has posted his lightweight Lego Technic 4x4 Trial Truck chassis. His MOC uses one Power Functions XL motor for propulsion and one PF Medium motor for steering, with a simple, space-saving transfer of rotation for two axles. It has pendular suspension with shock absorbers made from Technic Axles and VERY LOOSE springs wrapped around them (for maximum suspension travel). The gear reduction 12T [12 gearteeth] to 20T, 12T to 20T, then 8T to 24T for each wheel. His Brickshelf Galllery has 29 pictures. The MOC is surprisingly nimble, and can climb some nasty rocks. SPECIFICATIONS: Scale (wheels used): 81.6 x 38 R Width: 22 studs Transmission: 4x4 Motorization 1 motor(s): 1 ea. Power Functions System (PFS) XL Motor Fake "Flat-6" Motor Steering: PFS-XL motor with steering wheel Onboard Battery Box: PFS unit Total Weight: 890 grams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVKdVkcTqLw

I had downloaded the Hispabricks Magazine 007 a few days ago (to read the TECHNIC article) , and downloaded Issue 008 too. The content is excellent. Is there still a link to download the older Issues 001-006? I couldn't find any on the website http://www.hispabrickmagazine.com/ .... EDIT: Never mind -- I just found the link: http://sites.google.com/a/hispabrickmagazine.com/numerosanteriores/

Some AFOLs and TFOLs like the "open" look of Lego Technic building techniques, while others prefer a more "refined" look. Well, Bricksonwheels made a faithful reproduction of the Kenworth W900 dumper (pictured below from his Brickshelf gallery http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=376024 ). For his video, he wrote that his MOC is a "Modelteam 1:22 scale Lego Kenworth W900, with two powerfuntion engines and remote controlled steering and driving. Total weight around 3 kilo's, length around 80 centimeter. Build by Bricksonwheels from The Netherlands." It's hard to tell the difference between the model and the "real thing"! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc1gNFAoJVY

Snabeli/ snabeli1 has her own YouTube Channel named "Fun With NXT" ( http://www.youtube.com/user/snabeli1#p/u/21/wFICSS8RHaQ ). She has recreated many games from her childhood using Lego Technic and Mindstorms components. Featured below is her "Russian Troika" MOC -- 3 prancing horses in harnesses pulling a sled. She wrote, "If you want pix so you can build it yourself look in the LEGO.com MINDSTORMS NXTLog or email snabeli@att.net ....In this thrilling 25 second film, watch the three horses in the troika gallop across the Russian steppes....You can build your own Russian Troika in under an hour by just looking at the pix and reading the tips in the original project [read below]. Hope you do. It is quite fun. Happy sledding!" Five pictures, description, and comments appear on http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/Community/NXTLog/DisplayProject.aspx?id=85848c22-2f3f-497c-a2de-be6f62dca269 : "A troika is a traditional Russian sled pulled by three horses in harness. "After trying 5 or 6 versions of this horse, gearing for speed and gearing for torque, I found that the best gearing is no gearing at all. "The horses gallop at a pretty good clip with a very simple 3 block program: in a loop set for forever put a move block set to ABC motors, 100% power. 0.25 rotations reverse, then another move block configured the same way but forward 0.25 rotations. Use the longest cable for the middle horse and medium cables for the 2 flanking horses and your sled will drive straight ahead." See more of her NXT creations at http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/Community/NXTLog/DisplayProjectList.aspx?SearchText=snabeli .

One surefire way of getting young people enthused about Lego Technic is to have LEGO ROBOT WARS! The website http://legorobotwars.weebly.com/ tells how to do it. YouTube has many videos of robots battling each other. By using Lego Power Functions elements and just a few bricks, the Battlebots can mimic favorite TV show "Robot Wars" . There's even a "How-to" webpage on how to make good Lego Battlebots. Be sure to check out their Links webpage too. Ochayedonald has developed 5 Series of battlebots posted many Lego "Robot Wars" videos on YouTube. They are produced in the spirit of the TV show. Below are typical battle scenes. If you follow to YouTube, you can see lots of additional Lego Robot Wars videos along the right margin. Here is the Lego Robot Wars Serios 4 Preview (note the great variety and imagination of the various creations): Want to get started? Here's a "Remote Controlled Battlebot" with step-by-step Building Instructions by Mark Crosbie : http://www.mastincrosbie.com/Marks_LEGO_projects/Remote_Control_battlebot.html . He also provides an LDRAW file.

We're all descendants of monkeys, right? Well, you should feel a kinship with Lego Technic Monkeys that can really get around! Joshyboy81 made a video of a Lego Mindstorms NXT version of this motorized 4094 Lego Inventor "Motor Movers" set. He wrote, "With my Lego Mindstorms NXT kit I created a monkey robot that climbs along a sring, hand over hand": Ugenementor made a great NXT "Gymnastic Robot" (which could be a Rhesus Monkey). He wrote, "We used LEGO Mindstorms NXT to build a two-link gymnastic robot which can perform giant loops on a horizontal bar. The hand-and-bar link is a free running passive joint. Two NXT motors are used to drive the robot-shoulder link. We are still seeking the factors to make repeatable and predictable loops. Comments and ideas are welcomed! "Building and programming instruction could be downloaded from: http://www.ugmentor.com/Download/Gymbot-960212.pdf [10 pages, 1.2 MB; a somewhat slow download so be patient]. Contact: Mr. Eugene Tsai, gene@ugmentor.com."

@ Silcantar: I didn't even know that a Lego "E-Motor" even existed! From the link you provided above, "The E-Motor is a 9V motor with an internal gearbox. Its 9.5:1 gearing ratio provides a maximum torque of 4.5 Ncm and approximately 800 rotations per minute without load. It also functions as a very efficient generator." It must be new, because neither of the "W979670" or "979670" part numbers are in the Bricklink or Peeron catalogs, and the Lego Education Store website says that they're out of stock.

I would suggest doing what Zblj has done with many Technic parts that were also missing from LDD -- make an EQUIVALENT assembly using other parts. See this Eurobricks post. Perhaps you could take his LDD .lxf models and adapt them to create a new 32181c02 "Technic Shock Absorber 10L Damped" part (shown below). Look what Zblj did with the "missing" yellow Large Pneumatic Pump:

Can anybody think of a possible use of the new x1688a "Electric, Train Motor 9V RC Train with Integrated PF Attachment, Orange Wheel Holders" ? If used with the 64227 "Electric, Power Functions IR Speed Remote Control Unit" (shown below), perhaps the train motor could be used in the upper part of an excavator's digger arm to rotate liftarms? It's small and the two axle holes might come in handy to raise the roof on a Technic Supercar, open gullwing doors, etc. The characteristics of the train motor are shown on Philo's 9V Motor Comparison Page. It turns at 1900 RPM , weighs 57 grams, has a Stalled Torque of 3.6 N.cm , and a Stalled Current of 1.3 Amps. It COULD BE USEFUL in Technic applications. Any ideas?

On this Eurobricks post, Jetro announces the new issue of the Hispabrick Magazine 008. Along with two others, Jetro wrote, "It's that time again:we are happy to announce the release of Hispabrick Magazine 008. "In this issue you will find some articles and interviews about MINDSTORMS, an article reviewing the history of the Space line, the review of the new 10213 - Space Shuttle, a new tree and our famous "Desmontados" comic. We also have a very special interview with the Owner and Deputy Chairman of LEGO A/S, Mr. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen. You can download both Spanish and English version from our website: http://www.hispabrickmagazine.com ."

According to the Lego Store Locator website http://stores.lego.com/en-US/default.aspx , the UK has official Lego Stores in Bluewater, Brighton, and Milton Keynes. Germany has 7 stores, Canada has just one , and the USA has 44! I've been to the one in Tigard, Oregon, USA (near Portland), and it's fun to visit. The prices are not better than what you could find on Shop.Lego.com , but it's nice to be able to pick up a box, look at the box art, and shake it. Even the Legoland California shops don't stock everything.

@ Randal: The Lego White House Set 21006 is part of "Lego Architecture". See http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=21006-1 and http://www.architectgiftsplus.com/learwhho.html for more information. Alas, I couldn't find any online Building Instructions for this set. It's a brand-new set released in early July 2010, so maybe somebody will scan the instructions and post them soon.

Wow, Jetro, your GBC modules are fantastic! In your videos, I could see how elaborate the Hispabrick 2009 GBC was! They were at least twice as big and 3 times as complex as the GBCs I've seen at the two BrickFests and one BrickCon conventions I've been to in the Pacific Northwest USA). I did notice that youngsters were absolutely FASCINATED by the various TECHNIC and MINDSTORMS contraptions -- they would gaze at them for 15 minutes. If there's any sure-fire way of attracting "the next generation" of Technic builders, it's the Great Ball Contraption. I am downloading the Hispabrick Magazine 007 ( http://www.hispabrickmagazine.com/ ) that is referenced at the end of your second video, to find out more about the construction of your great modules!

Hmmm... one learns something new every day! I never saw these before. If one of you Microfig collectors have time, perhaps you should submit individual images to Peeron.com or Bricklink.com because neither of them have any images so far....

The winner of the June 2010 Lego TECHNIC Competition was finally posted on the website http://technic.lego.com/en-us/Competition/PreviousWinnerDetails.aspx?contentid=160076 : TLT803's "ROAD TRAIN" -- "This is my road train. It has power functions for the drive and steering and it also has an opening hood. The three trailers each have a linear actuator for dumping and fold down landing gear":

Forgive me for asking, but what exactly does a "Microfig" look like? I checked Peeron and Bricklink for the Microfig 85863 part, but neither of them have pictures. Is there a website with pictures that somebody can provide here?

Well, I don't see any Copyright or "CONFIDENTIAL -- Property of The Lego Group" on the image. If TLG has internal "spies" amongst their employees, that's their problem. What I don't accept is total silence by TLG. I asked Svelte (not you, gotoAndLego) WHY The Lego Group asked for the images to be removed. If Svelte cannot answer (due to some sort of Confidentiality Agreement), can't he speak for himself? Here we are 3 months from the release date, and still no real clue about what the set will look like. In the Technic theme, TLG releases images 5 months ahead of the release date. Again I ask, what is it about THIS SET that basic images can't be shown? Svelte, could you reply?

You mean Georgia USA , and not Georgia the country (near Russia), correct?