allanp

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?

Well that would be some effort, but it'll be fun to try Following recent Lego trends (IE many pull backs in the first half lol) January: 42xx1: $20, "Lego Motive" (new technic sub theme to act as an easily accessible bridge between regular Lego and Technic with technic minifig) basic set. Studded technic universal set, something like 8032 42xx2: $50, "Lego Motive" (new technic sub theme to act as an easily accessible bridge between regular Lego and Technic with technic minifig) motor set. Studded technic universal set, something like 8064 42xx3: $8, go cart with steering, 1 cylinder engine 42xx4: $10, (I don't care!) 42xx5: $20, pull back monster truck 42xx6: $20, pull back monster truck 42xx7: $30 2 pull back jet skis with ramp 42xx8: $40 wind-up clock (powered by pull back motor) 42xx9: $60 small helicopter (similar to 8412, includes the new helicopter parts that are hopefully coming this summer) March: 42x10: $100 4x4 jeep with speed boat (jeep has wrangler tyres, suspension, steering, small engine, winch, tows a trailer with a speed boat on it, speed boat has wheels driving prop and small engine) 42x11: $140 RC/PU studless universal set (something like 8082) 42x12: $180 1:5 scale Aprilia RS660 motorbike, lime green with red wheels, has V4 engine, working brakes, suspension and 4 speed realistic gearbox (with 4 clutch gear sizes) Summer: 42x13: (accessory) $50 basic motor set. Comes with one motor, simple battery box, lights 42x14: (accessory) $120 Control+ remote. A smart device with touch screen combined with a gamepad type thing, removes need for smart phone and gives physical controls. Pricey but you only have to buy one to greatly improve all control+ sets. 42x15: $140 Pneumatic telehandler. Manual. Includes 3 different steering models, 4 wheel drive, fake engine, new 3x13 cylinder for main boom lifting and new 2x25 cylinder for boom telescoping and extra motor pump so it can be motorised via basic motor set. 42x16: $200 Golf GTI. Manual 1:8 scale hatchback with McPherson strut front suspension, rear suspension, front wheel drive, steering, inline 4 transverse engine, 5 seats, stick shift, 6 speed realistic gearbox (with 6 clutch gear sizes), Wheels can be lifted off the ground and upgradeable with basic motor set to see the wheels go faster as you change gears. 42x17: $400 Classic American Fire truck (just to use previous thought experiment!) Control+ Flagship. approx 4000pcs. Includes 2 hubs, new metal leaf spring suspension, New narrow wheels, with deep positive offset (so 2 can be pinned back to back for dually set up), one 3x13 black cylinder for ladder lift, two 2x25 black cylinders for 3 section ladder extension, torquey micro servos, four 2x7 standard cylinders for pneumatic outriggers, fake engine, 2 new programmable light arrays (stackable, one can plug into the other, PU app adds new lighting control sequencer code block with multiple trigger inputs for different effects), lots of opening hatches for tools and hoses, lots of exterior details. Ports in use are Drive, steer, compressor, ladder lift valve servo, ladder extend valve servo, ladder rotation, outriggers valve servo, lights. 42x17 B-model: Forklift. Drive, steer, one black 3x13 cylinder (with chain to double lift height) for main lift, two black 2x25 cylinders used for triple mast extension, pneumatic tilt using 2x7 cylinders, lights sequenced to look like rotating beacons. Some may view this B-model to be better than the A-model. But I still maintain that B-models for bigger sets are a golden opportunity to release models that would be very well received, but might also be deemed a bit too boring or not well known enough for the masses, another example being a grader as a B-model for a back hoe or something.

@howitzer is correct, the fire truck was a thought experiment. Of course we have a whole range of sets and different price points to choose from which is great. But it helps to understand the scale of the challenge faced by the designers when given those kinds of restraints, where it has to hit a certain size and price point, and be an impressively huge shelf queen in this example. If these size sets are a given, as dictated by market forces bigger than us, then how can their appeal be widened to include the most amount of people, including those long time fans that feel Technic is losing its way? Some say they would never spend that much on one set, but they do spend more than that on Lego as a whole, so....I mean what if we go crazy and say the thing introduced actual working hugely powerful hydraulics, and a physical remote with lots of joy sticks, buttons, D-pads and a built in 5 inch touch screen for programming and WiFi and Bluetooth (completely removing the need for a smart phone, and greatly improving PU as a whole), things that couldn't be included in 4 100-150 dollar sets. Some say 400 dollars is too big and unjustified, and for some large sets I completely agree. The bulldozer didn't have to be that big or expensive for example. I want to know, given the market forces beyond our control, what would it take to make it something you actually would want to buy? I guess I'm so focused on the flagship because....it's the flagship! I guess I find it difficult to accept that one huge set couldn't possibly be more exciting than 4 smaller sets, and that there's absolutely nothing they could possibly do to bridge the gap between what they would like their flagship product to be as a business and what we'd like them to be. But I guess I should keep in mind that, while you can please everyone when you have a few dozen sets to offer, you can't please everyone with every set. @J159753 Regarding studded Technic, I do think there's definitely room (and possibly even a need for) a new hybrid theme that bridges the gap between regular Lego and Technic. Right now it's a huge difference between the two with no bridge from one to the other. But with a new Studded Technic based sub theme, maybe we could call it "Lego Motive" or something, but it would basically be a return of small-mid sized studded universal sets. Very easy to build but each set introduces some mechanical fundamental (motors, pneumatic, linkages, etc) so now there's a bridge between regular Lego and Technic. All the studded beams and plates are still in production so why not?!

@howitzer the idea with the labels for pneumatic tubes is that they would be a thin sticker long enough to wrap around the pipe a couple of times so it can't come off, and yes it is a form of colour coding, one that allows for far more colours and even numbers to be used to better identify hoses whilst having the majority of the hose be all black. All the hoses would be black with just a 3mm wide strip of colour near each end of the pipe. So it's colour coding, but more tasteful and with less room for error.

@dmaclego That was very well said I do think advanced MOC builders are getting some goodies aimed at them in the parts selection though. I see some parts that are fantastic and appear to be very driven by us, and they are the highlights of the sets in which they are included. I remember when they was first showing us 42099. The designer described the whole set but omitted the new hubs, so Markus quickly jumped in to show those off, and it felt like he was showing them off directly to us. But it would be interesting to know from everyone here, what is it that would make an entire set ( not just the parts) feel like it was aimed at you as a long time Technic fan or more advanced MOC builder? What kind of thinking is required of TLG to answer topics like this that crop up from time to time? I am genuinely curious to know. Is it a 10000 piece monster of complexity, so challenging that it might be considered outside the skill set of younger or casual builders? Although that might be the obvious answer and although we may want such a set and build such things for ourselves, I haven't seen anyone here actually ask for, or expect that from Lego. So, if not that, what kind of set would provide an answer to topics like this? Maybe I'm too much of an optimist but pick any vehicle, any subject matter, no matter how overdone in the past, and I bet we and TLG could agree on a version of it that could please everyone, target age range, casuals and long time fans alike. We could try it as an experiment. You are now a designer and the boss or focus group decides we need a roughly 400 dollar control+ big red classic American fire truck as the next flagship. Fans are already complaining it'll be crap and boring with nothing but drive and steering and be overpriced. For long time fans: New PU programmable lighting array, new American truck style wheels that are thin but with a deep offset that can be pinned back to back for dually setups, white pneumatics to lift/extend the white ladder, all black hoses, powerful micro servo motors for the valves, metal leaf spring suspension, authentic drop link steering. And why not throw in the 90s style box, with the lift up lid see we can stare through the cellophane at all the lovely pieces we can take home and play with! Surely if a chocolate Eater egg can have such nice and alluring packaging then a 400 dollar Lego set can, and is deserving of it too! For casual builders: Chrome! Lots of external details that capture the gorgeous look of a classic American fire truck and flashing lights and siren. Slide up doors that reveal lots of authentic tools and hoses that can be opened for display. For target age range builders: Lego mostly have them covered but flashing lights and siren, parts are tastefully colour coded. Sticker sheet also includes long thin coloured/numbered strips (say 20mm X 4mm) in pairs to wrap round each end of the pneumatic hoses before installation to clearly identify each hose better than three different hose colours. The penny pinchers: Making the sticker sheet a little bigger to more clearly label the hoses probably gonna be cheaper than including three different coloured hoses and might reduce complaints from customers who built it wrong. Lots of sales! Please be honest, critique like you would an official set, would a set like that, with that kind of thinking behind it be an effective answer to threads like this? Would this please the advanced MOC builders out there whilst also being accessible to the target age range and look good on display on the shelves of casual builders? If you was a designer tasked with making the next flagship be a control+ yellow construction vehicle for example, what things do you think you could include (presuming that the bosses let you) in an attempt to please everyone here as well as the target age range? Do you think that's even possible?

@kbalage There's a lot of truth there. And it could be that any directions we see them going are only visible after the fact but in the here and now they do what they think is best from moment to moment. @dmaclego I don't think it's as black and white as you make out. Kids are the target audience for the most part. But no one would say that's true for the Titanic. And I always like to use the example of the movies. The Smurfs movie is an animated movie made for kids. It's expertly made to be kinetic and colourful in a way that keeps the child's attention distracted for 90 minutes while the parents can have a break, and it made money, half a billion at the box office. Adults and critics don't see it as being a good movie but it made lots of money so great, job done, no other kinds movies for kids needs to be made right? But then we have Pixar's the Incredibles. Also an animated movie for kids. But where the Smurfs is a corporate tick box product, the Incredibles was universally loved by kids and praised by adults and critics alike. It also made slightly more money at the box office. But even if they made the same money, if you was a film maker, which film would you rather have under your belt, the Smurfs movie or Pixar's the Incredibles? Again, I must say that this is NOT a dig at the designers at Lego. They are definitely talented and I'm sure they take lots of pride in their work as well. But if we take the current state of powered up as an example. I could be wrong but it feels like the product of a team of very talented people, but a team that's probability a bit too small and underfunded and restrained by higher up. I'm sure they would love to give us the cool stuff, like faster more power motors, physical remotes, powerful micro servos, pneumatic pressure sensors, better documentation/YouTube video tutorials for each code block, programmable light arrays, rechargable lithium battery packs, much better and more accurate PID control of the motors and so on and so on. But without the funding and extra man/woman power required to do that they can only just keep up with their current work load. Again I could be wrong but that's what it feels like. And when it comes to the sets, again I often like to use the example of a gearbox because it nicely explains where I'd want to see Technic going as a whole. Right now they are far too messy, unnecessarily complex, unreliable, have too much friction and are unrealistic. But they only require one or two different clutch gears so they are cheap right? Now as an adult fan, I'm not asking that they make things more complicated for the sake of appealing to my own engineer sensibilities, I'm asking for less complexity in this particular case, with 6-8 different clutch gears to make it more realistic. Yes it's an investment in parts, but you get more authenticity and it's also simpler and easier for the target audience to build and understand. And instead of ugly colour coding which isn't fool proof, invest in moulding numbers into the gears (like the moulded numbers on the panels) to indicate the number of teeth, and have these numbers directly called out in the instructions. It looks much better and would probably be more fool proof but again, requires just that little extra investment. I don't think this adult fan is asking the world here. And I think Lego have many talented and driven people there. But they have to go where their ship takes them, and the captain steers the ship. And directions taken by those directors who want to make a better movie aren't the same directions made by directors who only want to tick the boxes. But I do see some hope, with parts like the planetary reduction hubs and some that are coming this summer, that's a good sign of things to come. And yes they must always aim toward their target audience, but it just comes down to if you believe they can simultaneously please them whilst also pleasing us. I'm an optimist and I think they can.

That doesn't surprise me. But Hornby trains (like the Harry Potter Hogwarts express) are sold by Walmart in the US. It has electric track with plug in power supply, and is a toy with appeal to kids. Advertised as being for "adult, teens, child". Only not suitable for 3 years and under.

When I think back to being a kid in the 9v era of trains (with the metal covered train tracks) I remember you could get a metroliner train and there was a pretty sweet yellow station you could get and an extra double decker carriage (although just an extra regular carriage same as in the metroliner set would also have been great) and you could set the speed with a big yellow dial and there was catalogues with well thought out scenes of these trains going to various places and then you could go to the toy shop and see these huge train sets and you could lift the lid and stare and all the lovely pieces through the clear plastic cellophane and it all added up to something just a little bit magical. Maybe it's the curse if aging but that magic seems to be something they don't care to create anymore. There's no metal tracks like real train tracks have, only a toy. There's no big yellow operators dial, only a little remote with a cheap little grey button to click. There's no well thought out scenes of these trains in a living world of creativity, only a too brightly lit and somewhat sterile picture of a toy train. There's no lifting the lid on the box to be able to see all the actual pieces you could buy, take home and play with, just a boring cereal box for your £200 set, and maybe a built copy of the model in the shop behind glass which you can never touch. A big dial may not seem like something you'd miss, or metal on the tracks, or the packaging of the mid 90s, but it adds up. It's not something you can explain but what of that magic you felt as a kid do the penny pinchers have a formula or a pie chart for anyway? I don't think the issue is a lack of train offerings. We got new PU train a couple years back, from memory we seem to get the same passenger and freight combo every few years as always, plus a few additional more adult aimed locos thrown in. Such feelings appear more symptomatic of a deeper issue. What does "for adults" even mean to Lego cos I'm not quite sure. The Titanic? Yes for sure I get why that is for adults. But a 6 wide loco with no carriages, why exactly is that for adults? Is it because a loco on its own is too boring for kids, is that what "for adults" means in this case, boring?! What would I love to see as an adult? Some of the magic I felt as a kid! 1) Metal tracks, just like a real train. The metal track system might even be cheaper to make than all this PU stuff! 2) A big controller with a big dial or lever, one that's powered from a wall plug so no need for batteries. Make it feel like a train you OPERATE, not simply play with. 3) No more cereal boxes. These are expensive and even somewhat luxury toys that deserves to be shown off and celebrated, not stuffed in a cheap cereal box. You might say the box is not that important, but a sheet of clear cellophane and a vacuum formed tray isn't exactly expensive. I got an Easter egg the other day, and it had the outer box, a cellophane window, a vacuum formed tray, a separate tray for the added chocolates, and it just felt like the manufacturer cared. Yes, I know it's meaningless packaging, but I am a humble human and it brings that bit of magic to me. Surely a £200 Lego set deserves, and would benefit from, just as much of a celebration of its content from its packaging than a £10 chocolate egg! Let me lift the lid to see the tracks, the motor, the big speed dial and all the pieces I can take home with me! 4) Add on sets. I don't mean the too many sets of the overblown my train era. But let's get a decently sized and detailed station (not just a platform with a bicycle), extra train cars, and a level crossing. 5) More track elements like larger track radii and light up signals. Then use these elements to build up much larger city scenes in the catalogues with different sets and stuff, let the imagination go wild with all the possibilities. To my mind it's these things that are missing. Right now Lego offers just a toy in a cereal box with a clear and bright, but also lifeless and sterile picture on the box. That's just the bare minimum offering of a toy from a corporation. I know that's the reality but Lego is more expensive than most other toys from most other corporations so I really think it needs to work harder on bringing the magic back as well. If they wanted to try something really radical, how does a roughly Titanic sized working air powered Flying Scotsman sound? Surely that would sell lots of copies yes?

The only real difference between 1 and 2 is the second one has the power jack. Operating instructions should be the same.

If you get a buggy off the shelf at a local toy store there's a good chance you'll get a hub that doesn't have the screws, which is good!

This is good, now with or without a contest things stay on the first page longer and the number of pinned topics doesn't feel so big

Technic goes up and down, up and down. As someone who has seen it happen a few times I get a sense it's gonna be back up again soon from and adult fan perspective. The Ferrari will be a good indication of how soon. If it's a real leap forward we can be more hopeful for the next golden age being just around the corner. If it's just a repackaged red Sian, well we might have to wait a few more years. But there's still some good stuff about right now, like last years tow truck, and a couple of this summer's novelties sound like they are going to be great. So let's not lose all hope just yet.

I get the point that if you wanted to post a MOC now, then it probably wouldn't be the best time because of all the other contest related MOCs. But if that's the case then maybe you could wait till the contest is over? It would be a shame to relegate so many MOCs to a subforum, where it would get less visibility and engagement, just because it was made for a contest. I don't think that makes a MOC less deserving of visibility or engagement. Poor contest MOCs are already understandably barred from being front paged, bless em! Sorry @Jim if I'm making things harder , tis but my 2 cents!

I'm thinking nay TBH. It's all good content and activity, and I wonder if it would be missed by some, or many, (reducing engagement with it) if it was tucked away inside another sub topic. As it is, it's all out out in the open and it's so very clearly obvious there's a contest going on, which I think is a good thing. Whilst I would say Eurobricks is far from dead or dying, I wouldn't risk doing anything to reduce engagement or activity, and this forum always seems to come more alive when there's a contest. Sure, if you're not interested in the contest it may seem like some tiny hassle to scroll through a few more posts to get to content you are more interested in, but that's not a big negative is it really. That's surely far better than to do anything that reduces the life and activity on the forum. Wading through posts is a sign of a healthy and active forum is it not? I may be wrong but that's my gut feeling on it.

By making a car RC I meant remote controlled driving of the car. I agree that including a motor in a car....just to motorise the doors......felt a bit silly! Maybe I'm reading the rumours incorrectly, but I read them as in, it has proper cyclic and collective controls, and they will be introducing new parts to do this in a more realistic way. And the two speeds thing is an actual two speed gearbox. A slow speed so you can clearly see how the rotors tilt as they turn, and a fast speed so it can generate some wind. This gearbox may be an unrealistic addition however I don't mind it as it is a cool way to see the function working, and it is purely an addition. It's not like an LA where it is actually replacing a for more realistic alternative. This might have been on a promobricks podcast.

Refinements of existing functions of a supercar is mostly all we can ask for as most functions have been done already, but that's okay as the existing functions have lots of room for improvement. The only ways around this is to either have it be RC (which usually means removing all the cool mechanisms though it really shouldn't have to) or go for something completely different, like a hot hatch with front wheel drive only, transverse front inline 4 engine, manual non-sequetial gearbox connected to a gated manual stick shift via realistic linkages and Bowden (flex?) cables and new McPherson strut front suspension. This is the most common type of car on the road and I'd love to see it done properly in Technic. As for the helicopter and material handler being the only Technic sets for the second half, honestly these two both sound like great sets and I'm very excited for both. If they are as good as the rumours say they are, I won't be complaining if that's all we get. The 2000+ piece helicopter with all new proper cyclic/collective controls and a motor could be a flagship even if it's smaller than what were used to in recent years. It wasn't that long ago that it would have been considered a fairly sizeable flagship. I expect it'll be roughly the same size and complexity as the 8480 space shuttle, with a similar feeling of variety and novelty to it's mechanisms. I am still looking forward to the rather cool sounding crane, it's the first control+ flagship I've looked forward to in 3 years. But on the other hand having a non-RC, non-control+ non "too expensive for the mechanical novelty that you get" flagship isn't necessarily a bad thing either.

Seems like we may have to consider the Supercar to be the flagship for this year. As much as I'd like to see the crane as it does sound promising, there's nothing wrong with the concept of a non-motorised and non-RC supercar being a flagship. The 8880 Daytona Supercar was just such a flagship yes? HOWEVER! When you compare the 8880 to the test car that came before it, and the full bodied test car to the bare chassis that came before that, you can see the huge leap forward each time, that's what made them flagships. So will the new Supercar be a similar leap from the Sian, or will it be another Sian in red?!

It's when I use the motor as a servo. When I slowly and smoothly move the slider in the powered up app I would expect the motor to move slowly and smoothly with it, but it doesn't seem to do that, instead it seems to take big jumps. Cheapo RC servos can follow the movements of your input much more accurately to the point of any difference being imperceptible.

Thank you! I've been trying to find more information on this motor as it appears in might be a good servo for pneumatic valves. These suggest the motors can be controlled with an accuracy of +- 3 degrees, but that doesn't seem to be the case for me when using a regular technic hub and the powered up app. The motor doesn't seem to follow the position of the slider that accurately and appears to make 20 or so degree jumps instead of smoothly and accurately following the position of a slider.

You're right, it looks exactly like that

With the driver sat behind the rear wheels and lack of rear spoiler it's certainly unconventional! Definite wacky racer vibes coming from this.

Like most have said it's just time and practice. You CAN read books but there's no substitute for just building. Some things that I find help a lot are: 1) Sort/organise your pieces. 2) Build sketch models. This is an early prototype version where you just build a functional model, but you are not concerned with how it looks or scale or colour consistency or anything else. Sketch models can help you decide what functions are possible and what scale it should be. Search Google or this forum for Lego set prototypes (such as 8043) and you'll see they look entirely different to their finished model. 3) If you are just starting out, build a few small scale models first, and maybe accept challenges from others (for example, I challenge you to build a studless version of any model from the 8064 universal set from the early 90s). 4) Don't expect to build something in the same order as you build an official set. If you are building a car for example, you might want to start by building an outer bodywork first. This will help you to figure out what functions will fit and how to build out the internal structure (or chassis) of the model to meet the bodywork. 5) Understand that building a great MOC is usually a lengthy process. Official sets can have more than 80 prototypes built. So enjoy the process of change and discovery.

This is sad to read but it is what it is. And I guess there's still a chance you might review a set you happened to purchase yourself in your own time, without having to meet some deadline? . No pressure though .

love it

@Brick-a-brac some insight is better than no insight, thank you for sharing what you have. Of course this is on my day one buy list. I've wanted recoloured pneumatics for years and now they are coming. Yipeeeeeeee! My only complaints so far is that it's too similar to the Volvo excavator, and could we not have had the cylinder that controls the grab be inside the grab, like in real version? This kinda makes it feel like a step down from the volve excavator, which also had motorisation option which probably won't be included here. Normally these would be much bigger problems for me in sets that have very few redeeming features. But as this set does have some big positives, it's negatives are easier to forgive.