allanp

This is the internet, only one point of view is allowed, all others shall be deemed "disinformation" Seriously though lol, my view on windscreens is that they could potentially look pretty cool, but I think it might also look a bit out of place, especially in a line of cars which don't have windscreens, and also on a car that doesn't have any other windows like for the doors. If you have a windscreen you'd have to have door windows also in my view. It would also be a pretty big piece that only usable for that one car. But still, it would look pretty great to have. I guess the thing that swings it for me is Lego's current lack of quality control when it comes to large, transparent pieces like windscreens. They seem almost milky and the plastic seems softer and easier to scratch so if you are lucky enough to get a perfect windscreen (my ecto 1 windscreen was pretty good but my 89 batmobile windscreen was pretty poor and scratched in the box) then it probably won't stay looking good very long. I expect this cars functions to be the same as the previous cars pretty much. That doesn't concern me though so long as there is a progression towards mechanical realism (lots of room for that in the gearbox especially but also the steering and suspension geometry). They could also introduce larger wheel mounts to accept the larger CV joints. There's enough room for improvements to existing functions to make a car I really want to buy. In terms of totally new functionality there's working brakes which these larger wheel might allow for. As for electric cars, even a bad gearbox is better than no gearbox, so I really wouldn't see any reason to pay anything above 100 pounds for an electric. Doesn't even need to be 1:8 scale, just do it as the usually functionally sparse 1:10 scale cars, corvette scale car or a pull back.

I doubt Liebherr would be happy about it either, though it probably won't directly effect them. Do we know there design was stolen from the MOC designer?

Yeah I would think the Lego one would be all yellow with dark grey/black base.

Looks like a counterfie.....sorry I mean "competitor"....has released a 1.7 meter Liebherr LR13000 with 6 motors. If that's a coincidence then I'm the pope! But maybe it might give some indication as to what the Lego one would be like.

It does look nicer and curvier from the front . Nothing in terms of mechanical interest can been seen yet though besides the seemingly larger rims have the potential for some improved suspension/steering geometry, but time will tell if that's there or not. Normally the reveal of a huge new set would generate a lot more comments. This forum is still very active so I wonder if the lack of mechanical information available from these images is the reason for the quietness? I predict the old "HOT" tag will appear once we know more about what's going on under the hood!

I haven't found the images yet, but these rumours of the flip up lid returning, I would love that! I won't get my hopes up but would be very happy to see it for premium sets like this.

If it turns freely by hand then I'm not quite sure. I did find in mine that the supplied hoses were a bit too long under the turntable so I cut them shorter.

Looks like they actually made the rim bigger this time, which is good.

It does look like they made more room inside the wheel for better steering and suspension setups but can't see if that's really the case. While it doesn't (yet) look as good as the Sian, that won't matter to me IF it's transmission is a step closer to reality.

If correct, I wonder what "slip" means? Probably a limited edition with a slip cover like most Blu-ray disks come in.

Anything is possible given the right new parts, it's probably more of a question of liability and if Lego wants to even do it.

Agreed. Exact same price and exact same part count is very unlikely.

Have you heard of DCC in the model train world? It gives power to trains via metal tracks and can also send signals through that same track. Basically it would have capability for full automation, ability to control two trains that are on the same track individually, etc, but while also having no batteries and having metal rails. Best of both worlds!

When I said "lazy" I mean the company, not the designers. I have just now seen the passenger train and it looks pretty good. I like the long carriages and the doors (though would be even better to see them at the ends of the carriages, they look a bit strange in the middle) and the lights. This passenger train looks like the designer did the best they could within the boundaries they have to work in (mostly involving the powered up system. Trains could benefit more from their own non battery, metal rail system, or even something like the DCC system for example) The station looks okay but a bit overpriced. I still really dislike the cargo train, and powered up, but the designer did a great job on the passenger train so a big thumbs up for the design of that

You could link directly to the battery box but I think it might be easier (if you have one) to use the separate PF switch. Have a lever at the top and bottom of the shaft that is actuated by the lift. Connect to two levers using a long rod (creating a 4 bar linkage). Somewhere along this vertical connecting rod have two pegs spaced close together. Between these two pegs will sit the switch (separate switch or battery box switch). The pegs are not directly connected to the switch, but they will press on the switch to turn it off as the vertical linkage moves, while being spaced just far enough apart to allow you to move the switch to the other way.

I do put recyclable plastic in the recycling bin, and I think we'll just agree to disagree on the electric scam....I mean cars! But you are quite right, nice to meet a fellow cyclist and they indeed don't put out much! But back to trains! I've said what I'd like to see from the theme, how they can get my money, what would others like to see? I think there's more chance of seeing the changes you want become reality if we are much more specific and list exactly what changes we think would benefit the theme (both for us but also you have to remember Legos target age group as well), including reasons why. You don't have to be a Lego employee to come up with a good idea, share your solutions!

Interesting question. What if you geared the car to 100, and that works fine with the wheels spinning in the air, but you have so little torque the car doesn't move at all when you put it down? So I guess we assume Philo's take is correct (which I think it is) but we also assume that the achieved top speed is directly proportional to the power extracted from the motor by loading it via gearing (this I'm not entirely sure is accurate but let's assume it is). My gut feeling tells me that would only hold true when you have a motor that produces exactly the right amount of horse power to reach 50kp/h, no more or less. If you have less power required to reach that speed then of course you won't ever reach that speed, but some other slower speed (let's say the motor can make it go 40kp/h max), in which case you'd have to gear to twice that new lower speed (80kp/h), in order load the motor to 50%, to get 40kp/h, which in this case is as close as possible for this motor to get to the original 50kp/h target. Any higher or lower gearing in this case would result in the motor not spinning at 50% no load speed. So you're more likely to achieve your goal by loading the motor to half no load speed via gearing, but whatever speed that might be isn't necessarily going to be the speed target you set for yourself.

@Aanchir I used a few unflattering terms and lazy is probably the worst I used. It does feel like a lazy attempt from the Lego group as a company (not any one individual Lego employee, that would indeed be unfair) at a train set compared to what they could do. That's just my feeling of it.

@LEGOTrainBuilderSG agreed. This looks like a bare minimum offering, just uninspired and lifeless. The mains powered 9v trains (and system) were way better. What's worse is that, if this lazy attempt at a set doesn't sell, Lego will say "trains must be unpopular, let's not do trains any more". No Lego! Put some effort into making it something desirable! I mean, look at the metroliner, with the way it's artwork and even the box it came in presents the model with its metal electrified rails, mains powered big yellow dial and all the people and everything. It's mostly grey (realistic at the time) and yet still feels full of life and colour. Compare that to this drab and lifeless offering in a cereal box, to quote some guy called Brandon "c'mon man!" They put so much time and effort into trying (and to me failing) to appear to be this, that and the other as a company that they forgot to put any effort into making a product I actually want to buy!

I think the cereal boxes are fine for the smaller sets, and good as they sell millions of them. But for the larger more expensive sets I don't agree. But I do have some concerns about the paper bags, maybe you could shed some light? Right now, afaik the plastic bags are a single material, heat sealed recyclable plastic. They are also clear which allows you to see that one piece that didn't fall out, making you think they forgot a piece (every time I think they have forgot a piece I find it stuck in the bag). Afaik most of the Lego derived plastic found in the environment are the actual pieces themselves, not the relatively small amount of packaging. The multimaterial paper bags trialed were lined with plastic, so not recyclable, and even if they were not lined with plastic, they have to be sealed with glue that's also not recyclable, and when people "can't" (don't) find the missing pieces through the paper bags, Lego send out more missing plastic pieces via trucks, ships and planes around the world. I could be wrong but, knowing how most companies value the outward appearance of being green and profit far more than actually helping the planet, I do question if paper bags are the great green solution it's made out to be. You know like how electric cars are about as bad if not worse for the planet than combustion engine cars (when manufacture and battery lifespans are taken into account), only more expensive so we can't afford them? Kinda like that! I would love Lego to say "Hey, we realise we distribute literal cargo ship loads of plastic around the world. So we would like to announce a new solar/biofuel powered ship that we will fund that will operate 24/7 pulling plastic from the oceans!". Now that would be something useful!

One is a re-release of the other, released when Lego was on the doldrums, so they are mostly the same barring any updated part moulds. But for me I'd much prefer to get the first release from 98 as it has the 90s packaging (which nicely displays the pieces under a lift up lid) compared to the new one that comes in a boring cereal box. I'm not sure if there is also a difference in the grey colours (old Vs new grey).

Looks LBG to me.

Yes thank you for sharing that. And yup, the buggy motors (for their power) and 9v 5x4 ungeared motors (for the large gear reductions you get to build with a variety of belts drives and gears and so on) are my two favourite. So far for cleaning contacts I usually just spray with contact cleaner and plug/unplug several times till I get a clean vertical stripe of metal. But I just thought of/tried a new method to get that nice new look, involving some metal polish, a dremel and a lollypop! Tested it on one stud of an old manky electric plate. Shove lollypop with round paper stick into dremel, cut off lollypop leaving 2-3mm of paper stick sticking out, load that with metal polish and have at it. Took 5-10 seconds with the dremel and a spray with contact cleaner to rinse off the metal polish to get the above mirror like result on the contact. It's also small enough to get inside and clean the underside contact. It was also quicker and easier than plugging/unplugging many times just to get a tiny vertical stripe of clean metal. Please, if you like this method, feel free to make a video, I'll definitely be cleaning all my contacts this way

These are excellent guide videos, and I really like the wire you found, looks better than the stuff I've been using. The issue of old wires deteriorating comes up from time to time, will definitely be sending people to your videos. Only thing I would add (actually no, would be better as a separate video) is that the second biggest problem I have found with these cables is corrosion of the electrical contacts. Only takes a small barely noticeable amount to stop the electrical pixies flowing! Can be cleaned easy enough with contact cleaner but I'm still trying to find a way to get a nice, shiny, like new condition.

Could be great, could be not so great..... We could assume that this list of offerings was handed down to the designers from the focus groups/market analysts, so assuming we can't drastically change anything like price points and subject matters what can we do to make each set more Eurobricks comment proof? I'll just do two or three as examples (I'm aware my comments are getting quite long ) A 45 euro tracked excavator? Do you think there would be complaints that we already have 42121 on the shelves? But we could use the new ATAT ring gears with for the turn table with rollers like 42082, and gear to the inner teeth to a fake beacon. Totally OTT for a model this size, the slew ring would probably take up most of the internal space, but it's a nice added touch of realism over 42121. Maybe also make it a very cheap way to get pneumatics, so like 8837? A 150 euro compact mobile crane? Again, do you think there might be complaints that we have 42108 and the spider crane, both in a sort of similar price point? How do we make it feel new and different? I remember seeing (but can't find a picture) a fairly interesting crane a lot as a kid, it was a smallish 4 wheel rough terrain crane (maybe it was a deck carry crane?) with telescoping boom, lifting and slewing, but the way it worked was it had two large lifting cylinders that went from the main boom right down to the deck of the crane itself (not the base of the upper carriage as you would expect), the bases of these cylinders were spaced far apart, in an A-frame kinda way. So by extending both cylinders the boom would lift, but by extending one cylinder and retracting the other you get a small amount of slewing action. Lets use LAs this time for the sake of variety! They could be geared together via a new to official Technic, differential based add/subtract mechanism to create the separate lifting and slew functions from two separate cranks. I love fairground rides, but this is a tricky one. The functions are good and dynamic (lots of visible movement), but you could argue that they are simple enough to be done in the creator amusement park range, and would look better there too. Maybe we could add lots of fairground style lighting and ATAT ring gear based roller bearings?