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As for many before me, I have almost none to zero interest in non-Lego bricks. I voted for option 2, since some technic models of other brands seem genuinely interesting and I value the opinion of builders about them. Especially those who can make an honest comparison with Lego. I don’t care at all for non-technic sets from other brands. Also I would consider my entire Lego collection pretty much worthless if it would get mixed up with bricks from other brands, both from a financial and emotional perspective. Not to mention the mess of different shades, shapes en quality of bricks. And if the bricks are best kept separated, so would be the talk about it. IMHO.

It’s at least somewhat remarkable that this one has different size front and rear tires, and the many F1 cars don’t…

I think the 8043 Motorized Excavator has to be one of the best sets ever; four motors, cool gearbox, easy controls, pretty complex and cool build. It’s a very compact model and looks nice too.

And still, a pretty decent set;)

In my experience the chain runs smooth as a whistle on the 12t gear...no problems like with 8t gears.

5: 10 7: 6 3: 4 8: 3 1: 2 6: 1

Many thanks for your excellent review, Jim. A very enjoyable read and great pics! As per usual;) One small question about the inventory: does this set contain 2 types of black friction pins? On the first page it mentions 146x type 4121715 AND 561x type 6279875...

With my answer I had the 8868 Rebirth MOC (fantastic model btw) in mind, but maybe I’m thinking too complicated. I would certainly be interested in an RC/pneumatic combo, and probably willing to fork out € 449,99 for it…😉

For the CAT pneumatics would not be very realistic either, don’t you think? But if it was done with pneumatic, servos for each valve and sensors, I would think the price would reach the level of beyond ludicrous. Plus there would be need for a highly specialized remote control, since I fail to see how the need for many subtle controls could work via touchscreen. Cool as it would be though…;)

Do you mean than sets like 42102 or 42116? I think these are more functional than 8281… I agree with TeamThrifty though. Not only do I wonder why people who post massive complaints over and over again don’t just quit Lego, also do they indeed seem to miss the point of the OP (‘details!’). As an old fart, I can point at (somewhat) infuriating details in set 853, namely skidding rear wheels and absurd gear ratios. Which probably have contributed to the development of the differential and 16t gear in 8860.

Not easy to pick the best ones among these great builds...: 35: 10 8: 6 11: 4 1: 3 10: 2 16: 1

Very nice review. Although the set has nothing much to write home about IMO, your review is a joy to watch.

That looks excellent, perhaps even better than the set itself. It would have been a great hommage to 8285 if it had been released in these colours.

In one of the pics of the build I think a diff and tan 20t gear are visible on the last axle, which gives me good hope that the middle rear axle has a diff as well.

The model doesn't look too bad to me, but the lack of interesting technical functions makes it very doubtful I would buy it. It does seem to have pretty nice ground clearance and lots of open space, so making it RC for offroad driving could be cool...