allanp

You'll want to take your time with this build. Modern builds allow you to give most of your attention to the TV and forget about it but 8480 demands much more attention for example to position gears and bushings on axles just right. Its a model for builders who are perfectionists and it makes the build so much more memorable and rewarding, just take your time and do it perfect .

No, there is a two stud gap there for it to fit. The reason for it may be a little mundane, like that it's easier to just push and axle into either end in order to align it in the right place than it is to slide in on a axle with a bush either side. There is less room for error I guess. However that seems a small reason for a mould when you lose the ability to have many of them together making a longer one and you also lose the ability for it to freely slide on the axle. Although never used in an official set as far as I know, both of these abilities were used in MOCs and I'm sure there are other parts they could have made that would have made for a better investment in a new mould. Maybe they have a long list of parts that were designed in the studded era which are an even number of suds wide which they gradually want to replace with a studless version an odd number of studs wide.

Hmmm, I'm not sure most kids would go for a wheel barrow or a windmill over a big red truck for example.

Well sure it's a pre-made message, I would expect that. I just hope it's the truth. Thanks Nicjasno.

It's gearbox looks just like any other function switching gearbox, it's called a supercar when it isn't one and they remembered to motorise the doors and the hood but forgot about the bloody wheels as though the limitations of the weak diff strikes again! You might think that to be a little harsh but when you have a little boy in a toy store looking at a motorised car, what do you think he thinks is gonna be motorised? Watch the review by the brickshow in which the adult reviewer gets a bit confused by this. Although he's a bit of a child himself and built it wrong! One good thing it had though was that it introduced the female cv joint part, so that's one good thing.

I'de love to help you design that nicjasno . it's about time we moved on from the current (which is now old) and welcomed the new, as much as that might frighten some people

The designer claims that the new panel was needed for the 42009 to make the boom construction stronger.

As I've said before, for me it's not about TLG releasing many cranes and so on, it's that they all seem to be the same build and the same mechanisms regardless of what the model is. It's always knob wheel/motor>gears>la, which would not be so bad if that's how real vehicles work, but it's nothing like that. And as I've said many times before (I've said all this many times before!) I get that it's for kids but that argument is invalid when you think about the fact that you do not need to have the same old stale and unrealistic mechanisms to appeal to kids, quite the opposite in fact. They could design sets that were mechanically authentic with more realistic gearboxes for cars and scrapping LAs in favour of the next generation of pneumatics (we are only on the second) which are RC enabled and it would appeal to kids all the same or likely even more so, whilst also appealing to long time AFOLs more, which may not be the majority but their numbers are large enough to make a very noticeable difference to their profits. And as for designing your own models, how does that help TLG sell their sets when I can build an equally bad and unrealistic front end loader from my own parts as one released by them, and then release building instructions for it? If I want to build something pneumatic, I either have to double up all the cylinders which looks horrible or build to a smaller scale (surely a mould for a longer pneumatic would be a better investment than a mould for a new type of axle pin or whatever), or if I want to make something RC again I have to make it small or use lots of gearing after the diff which is just crappy because the current diff can't handle much torque. With all the extra parts required to double up pneumatics or make a capable RC car why not just release a longer pneumatic or a better diff? If I want to have planetary reduction in the wheel hubs like most construction machinery you have to use turn tables which places the steering pivot far outside the wheel which is where it usually is because the wheels are not deep enough to begin with, so why not put more thought into the design of the wheels? I'll spare you with any more examples but the point is the current parts assortment is too limited and not well enough thought out to allow technic to get even close to it's potential, not just for pleasing me (I certainly do not expect them to aim their sets at me or AFOLs looking for realism alone) but for making truly remarkable models and sets that kids will love more than ever as well as bringing in more adults with their increased spending power to the hobby. Don't get me wrong, technic is good but it could be so much better and more appealing to many more people that it is now, they just don't seem willing to try anymore. Just carry on with the same stuff every year. Its not like any of this makes me angry and whilst profits may be steady I don't see how relying on the Lego name whilst introducing this staleness, lack of imagination and lack of realism that leads to a kid feeling as though he owns the real thing will help them move forward. It just seems lazy.

@ Ondra Ok so if they must release yet another tow truck because they sell well then we have to live with that, however it does not have to be the same old thing. kids like tow trucks and they like RC. Ok, so they can make an RC tow truck, just like we can out of our own parts and minds. But now lets make it interesting. A tow truck needs to haul heavy loads, and the technic design team seems desperate to make everything RC, so lets add in a new diff to make things better, like this one. http://www.brickshel...ff_exploded.jpg This will make things better should they want to make more stuff remote controlled as the current diff is a bit weak for that purpose and it will also make the tow truck better as it will be able to tow heavy loads and give us a nice new part. A tow truck also needs to have good, robust suspension, like all heavy trucks. the technic design team also likes giving us lots and lots of trucks, so lets add in some new leaf spring parts. this will make the set better still as well as improving many future technic sets by having these new parts available. Already we have made a new concept for an RC tow truck that kids will love (as it's an RC tow truck) as well as long time adult fans who will like the new diff and realistic live axles with it's leaf springs. So far this could be done in a mid scale set. we could go further with long pneumatics to make a telescopic boom and with real lifting power and a gearbox. This is why I don't think the problem is that they are limited to things kids will recognise and love (generic looking tow trucks, cranes, excavators and so on), it's that they don't seem to even want to try to realise the potential of their sets. If there is to be a new tow truck in 2014, will it be new and authentic with a reason to buy it, or will it have no suspension, no diff or a standard one driving a fake engine and all movements driven unrealistically by gears and LAs, like what's been done in not only every recent tow truck, but pretty much every recent set?

To prevent the problems we had last year of cluttering up the next years speculation topic with arguments I've started this topic here as a place to really have it out without bringing another very hot topic down. There are those that think everything released by the technic team is just fine and dandy and wonderful whilst there are others (like me) that think it's all getting very stale by keeping to one design style that offers little in the way of fulfilling the potential technic has to offer or meeting it's core values, especially authenticity (which has far more to it that just looking like what it's supposed to be). I think you guys know where I stand already but I'll be glad to clarify anything. So, let the rage wars commence! But remember, an opinion is an opinion, not a personal attack and a technic designer is an employee following orders just like any other employee so for any of you designers reading this, we're not blaming you . One more thing, if you have an opinion or complaint please try to explain it otherwise it's just whining.

I've started a new topic to save this topic getting cluttered with how crap technic design policy has become so no more about that here, as much as I would like there to be

I think they did make some stuff in China but moved some of it back. But still I think the PF stuff is made in that hell hole which cares not a thing about the health and safety and wages of it's workforce no matter how many audits they have. There's a reason why they produce stuff so cheap. And yes, Lego is becoming more multi coloured even without the colour vomit but as others have said I think its because of the new (cheaper) way parts are coloured. For every 100 or so clear pellets you get 1 coloured one, which is enough to colour the rest. But those billions of pellets can't be counted out individually so you will get variation in opacity and so on.

Ok, last rant. For me it's not so much that it's always the same yellow construction machinery. It's just that it's all the same unrealistic mechanisms (motor>gears>la) just rearranged into the shape of a plane or front end loader. I understand that it's for kids but I don't see how that is relevant. How does using the same unrealistic, slow, unreliable and weak mechanisms make their sets more appealing to kids? I'm not angry or anything, i just think they (or I) are missing something. The real thing has electronically operated valves and planetary reduction in the wheel hubs. So why not just aim for that and make it not only appealing to kids but also more appealing to adults looking for realism whilst also making the set more unique and fun to build as it would not feel like every other set build feels today. Why not have functions that reliably move with the power to lift 42009 high off the ground and not take all day to do it? I can only hope the reasons why is because what they are releasing is selling well and so they don't feel inclined to change anything. If it ain't broke, don't fix it as they say. However I can't think of a single time greatness was achieved by thinking that way.

Why have an expensive servo and a cheaper motor powering two functions, one at a time, when you can have two cheaper motors that can operate both functions at the same time? It'll probably be servo for steering via a linkage or rack and pinion giving a mechanical advantage but with a large turning circle.

:laugh:

Well, I think I've got enough info to build the darned thing by now. Unimog wheels, XL for drive, 2 L motors for bucket movements, servo for steering and more of the same gearboxes and LAs to complete. Do we even need a picture?

Or a huge bucket, with rc pneumatics!

Dreaming? Why? they can make any new part they want within reason so I expect them to release the kind of thing we can only dream of.

With lots of new gearbox and drive train parts? Now you're talking!

Not all that bothered what it is as long as it has some great new parts and is an authentic mechanical replica of some real life vehicle of some kind.

Well it's 2014 speculation, is it not?

Or a one eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater.....on unimog wheels.....made by land rover!

Nice looking body but it's on that same old chassis!

Buggy motors are the best, but you might not need as much gearing down as you think. They spin very fast, the slower of the two axles spinning three times as fast as an L motor but they still have almost the same torque as an L motor.

If they slide onto the axle way too easily that's a sign that they are bad. But I would not be surprised if a new gear in great condition broke with an XL motor driving it. The official Lego crawler has a diff driven by an L motor at a 12:20 ratio so I guess that is safe. Two ungeared L motors would produce about the same torque in most cases. I have found buggy motors to be much more useful. Twice as powerful as XL motor without breaking gears!