allanp

Thanks for sharing, that sounds promising

It does often look more like a different level of transparency rather than a different shade of pigment used. Or maybe the different plastics have a different base colour? Either way it didn't used to be a problem. I think they could fix it if they wanted to.

Looks awesome, so glad they went with the full hull on a stand instead of just cutting it off at the waterline. Do we know for sure it there are any interiors? Either way, I'm usually a Technic guy but this year's CAT isn't enticing me, so this might be my big Christmas holiday build, can't wait!!!

I don't think it's nostalgia. I think with Ackerman for example it comes down to feel. Technic, like all Lego, is expensive. £300 for a toy car that you push along is expensive. But we think it's worth it because Technic is (mostly) a quality product. The issue I have with the steering on the modern cars is that they all feel cheap, indirect and mushy to play with. It doesn't feel anything like a £300 product should feel. However 8880 and the test car had steering that felt much more solid and direct, and they just seemed to roll nicer. I attribute this much more higher quality feel to the longer steering arms with Ackerman geometry as they make the wheels track better and provide a more direct feel of control. It's also more realistic which is a plus in my book. I think these small details are important to get right. It's small details like this that make the difference between cheap and expensive, and now with all these competitor brands they really need to do more to earn their reputation for quality and being the best. So no more mushy cheap feeling steering and no more being stingy with only two sizes of clutch gear! @Pattspatt somehow I completely forgot about 8466!

@howitzer 8865 is indeed the king when it comes to handling. If it had HOG it would be unbeatable. 8880 would be also unbeatable if it had softer suspension.

It should probably be noted that the OP isn't arguing that 42110 is BETTER than 8880, but that 42110 is the best car SINCE 8880. Do I agree? Honestly this is a tough one. For me the main real competitors are the 3 UCS supercars and 8448. 8448 does have some innovation in that it was the first to have a reverse gear and a properly modular build. But 42110 has 4 wheel drive and is nicer to drive around with its HOG steering and nicely tuned suspension. However 42110 lacks a realistic drive layout by having its main gearbox in the boot/trunk and reverse in a completely separate gearbox, linked via universal joints. So while 42110 is nicer to play with (arguably when in neutral) and looks better, I kinda feel like 8448 was a more authentic working scale model of a car. So it depends on which you prefer in terms of which is the better model for you. So maybe it's a draw? Then there's the orange Porsche. The Porsche should look better than any land rover but that bright orange colour didn't help it for me. The Porsche did bring some innovation with its first of a kind paddle shifters. But that function didn't work that well and wasn't much fun to play with due to the gears being in the wrong order and there was no indicator to tell you which gear you are in, and you couldn't see anything (engine or gearbox) so there was no telling what was going on. I think 42110 with it's better driving experience and 4 wheel drive wins over the Porsche. Then we have the Chiron. Steering, as with all the UCS cars is very poor. With no HOG and poor steering wheel access, combined with the small steering arms and no Ackerman geometry, the steering with all these cars feels pretty poor. 42110 has HOG with some gear reduction to make it better but still I miss the longer steering arms of 8880 with Ackerman geometry. The suspension of the Bugatti is also about the worst ever! However, the Chiron did slightly refine the clunky paddle shifters and more importantly gave us the wave selector and a second size of clutch gear. It also gave us the first gearbox with 8 forward gears (well actually it's 16, or is it two 4 speed gearboxes in series, making 16 speeds but it's only 8 because one of the two 4 speed gearboxes has only 2 different speeds twice, and reverse is somewhere else entirely!). I'm not sure what to call it but it has more speeds and a partially visible engine. 42110s engine is more visible however it's the not as realistic cam shaft style of engine so that's not as good. I think the Chiron has a narrow victory over 42110 overall due to its innovation over its orange predecessor. Then we have the Sian. The Sian (if we ignore the colour inconsistencies) is the best looking Technic model ever released, by a long margin IMHO. It also further refines the paddle shifters and fixes the suspension issue of the Bugatti, and there's a clearly intentional window which allows you to see the gearbox working. However it still has the same very poor steering of the Porsche and the Chiron and the gearbox is still such an overly complicated and colour coded mess that I'm not sure I want to see it! In terms of the playability of these gearboxes, the Sian, the Porsche, 42110 and the Bugatti all have those same issues with too much complexity leading to having to roll it way too far before seeing very little difference, so it's hard to say which is better or worse. If the Bugatti didn't exist already then the Sian would probably take the win over 42110, however the Bugatti does exist, meaning the Sian lacks any kind of innovation not already given to us by it's Bugatti predecessor. This being Technic, it's gorgeous good looks aren't enough to carry the win over the much more playable and functional 42110, so I think 42110 gets the win over the Sian. For me this was a close race. All these sets have their pros and cons, and if someone was to have different winners and losers I'd totally understand. And I haven't mentioned price yet. The fact that 42110 can be a serious contender among the twice as expensive UCS sets is possibly is greatest achievement, and might make it the overall winner. But if TLG were to bring out a new car which had the longer steering arms of 8880 with Ackerman geometry and HOG steering, and a completely new and much more realistic system of pieces for the gearboxes, then we'd have a new clear winner possibly beating even 8880. C'mon TLG let's see it, I know you can do it!

@Dazzzy I know about the 2030 date, but that's only us daft UK lot afaik, and I just don't think it's feasible, I'm not convinced. But back to Lego. Maybe they will do hybrid models and hydrogen burning cars. Besides, just because a car is no longer in production doesn't mean they can't make a set from it. Look at the old Mustang and the DB5. There's still gonna be a desire for Lego to have better and more realistic multispeed transmissions beyond 2030.

True. And I don't think ICE cars are going away anytime soon either. With current battery technology being where it is for electric cars, it's too expensive and not good enough just yet. It's getting better but in the UK they want to ban new ICE cars by 2030 and I just don't see it happening that fast.

For the 1:8 UCS car I'd also be fine with it not being a Supercar/hypercar. It could be a Ram t-rex or Merc 6x6 or whatever but in the same 1:8 scale as the other cars. As long as the transmission gets more realistic with new pieces and the steering feels much better (better geometry and a discrete HOG please!) I don't really care what it is.

No I am not. Thank you. I understand everything you are saying. And I do still wonder why big companies like Lego who say they are for LGBTQ+ people are carrying out aggressive expansion in places like Saudi Arabia. These people don't just get vexxed on they internet. It's government policy to throw you in jail, and far worse happens than that. Actions speak louder than words. They can say they are for LGBTQ+ people all they want but while they do business in Saudi Arabia I can only see it as playing politics for cash. As someone who was diagnosed with severe clinical depression and as someone who has seen recently first hand the effects of suicide it really is personally heart breaking when I hear that the suicide rates among the LGBTQ+ community is so high and last I heard it's getting worse. This does make me angry. One of the things that helped me was finding out I wasn't alone. I can certainly sympathise with how knowing you are not alone helped you, far more directly in your case. However, I am not going to argue with you what the best course of action is for the existence of gender dysphoria, or who it is that needs said "treatment" here on Eurobricks. I know your view and you likely know mine and I don't think we'll ever agree. I don't want to argue that with you, which I would have to in order to reply to the rest of your comment. It's not just Lego releasing just one set. It's lots of companies and media getting more and more political, and I'm just seeing more division all the while. More riots, more anger, more hate, more intolerance of opposing points of view with less willingness for intellectually honest give and take discussions, huge increases in mental health issues and suicide rates increasing. After all this corporate virtue signalling nothing is getting better, only worse. It's just marketing departments thinking they can improve their brand image by "moving into the 20th century", never mind all the division it causes. "Oh but if people would just shut up, listen and agree with everything we say their wouldn't be any division or problem now would there!". To those I say you are the problem!

Usually I don't really care what they are as long as they are executed well. But this time I'm glad the first list was a fake only because of the backhoe, which is perfect flagship material.

I think you have explained what others are saying to me very well, and I do understand a little better now so thank you for that. But isn't it a false equivalence? Captain America may have started out as political propaganda but that was like 80 years ago! Now he's just a typical comic book superhero. You could also argue the same for the Volkswagen beetle or the Sopwith camel and Fokker plane sets. These generally aren't viewed as current political statements in the 21st century.

Well I was mostly replying to Danth. But in response to your main point that everything is political I was trying to say that there is a difference between something that can be made political and something that is clearly and outwardly political. I don't think captain America is political but even if it was, there's a difference between merely depicting something, flaws and all, and coming down squarely on only one side of the argument. And just because I notice more when it's something on my radar that does not invalidate what I am saying. And yes we could discuss back and forth our political differences but that's not my intention. I only wanted to point out that there are different points of view. You may support BLM because you believe they are a force for good, that's fine. But my non support of BLM doesn't come from some non existent hatred of another race. Quite the opposite as I believe BLM are doing far more harm than good. So we disagree on the issue of BLM but so what? I believe both our intentions are good, and to try to divide people even more than we already are along those lines to make profit is not good.

No, like I have said already, I don't want them to mirror my politics or anyone elses. Whilst everything CAN be made political, such as "Omg they released a V8 Supercar, they support burning fossil fuels!" or even "they made a queer eye set omg!", these are not in themselves political statements, they are just popular things that happen to exist in reality. But sending money to BLM and releasing a clearly rainbow coloured set are outwardly political because they are based solely on political points of view, and only one side of their respective arguments, without having to be made political. How many black people have been hurt because of clashes caused by BLM? How many young black kids are discouraged from trying their best because they are constantly told that they as an individual have less chance to succeed purely because of the colour of their skin? And everyone is awesome except if your a straight white male, or a member of the Taliban, or a nazi, or....clearly no one (certainly not me) actually believes everyone is awesome. No one believes all cultures are awesome either. And if Lego really supported gay rights then why do business in Saudi Arabia? If they are so brave and bold why not sell the everyone is awesome set in Saudi Arabia? Do you believe big companies like Lego support such things because they believe in them or because they can make money from you?! And if Lego, in their greed for woke dollars, didn't play this political crap would we be arguing here on Eurobricks, or just enjoying our hobby? Now it's important to know that I didn't say any of that in some sad attempt to spread my own views, it's just a tiny example of how there's more than one side to every story and to come down on only one divides that one from the rest. There is more that unites us than divides us but the more big companies play politics for cash the more we are turning on each other and I am sick to death of that shit, not only the companies that do it but the people that fall for it. Whilst it may be true that I only notice more when the political statement being made goes against my own, that does not invalidate what I'm saying. Keep politics out, all of it!

Indeed for an RC model you could have one vertical slider to drive and a horizontal one to steer, but that's not how this official app appears to be set up. Usually you hold your phone with your fingers and only your two thumbs are easily usable to manipulate the touch screen controls. It looked to me initially that with the app you are being asked to control three separate sliders with only two thumbs. How are you supposed to manipulate the two separate track brake sliders with only your left thumb? But it could be that you don't need to, and you only have to work one at a time. It could be that moving one track brake slider all the way not only brakes one side but reverses it also, so with a little practice you can control it just fine and perhaps more comfortably that the usual two individual track sliders, as you only need one to drive in a straight line.

I wonder if it's replicating the real D11s controls. But yes it does look awkward to control on a small touch screen.

No Mr edge lord I clearly said no politics at all. I don't think a religious bakery should be forced to sell a product they don't offer, but if Lego was to sell a set outwardly in support of that view I would be very concerned by that. Things aren't black and white. You can't just simplify the world to make people you don't agree with "the bad guy". Whilst you may disagree there's usually reasons behind their world view that you are unaware of. But Lego is predominantly a toy company with massive influence over children, and children just aren't yet equipped with enough worldly experience and logical reasoning skills to fully appreciate both sides of the story. You ever notice how younger people are more idealistic and left wing while older people tend to lean more to the right? To make political statements to them as a major and influential corporation is basically brainwashing, and I wouldn't want children to be brainwashed into even my own world views.

I think inclusion of women police officers and gay people in the queer eye set for example is great and I don't see those examples as political. But I would say the rainbow coloured EIA set (with its intro in the instructions), stopping marketing of police sets and supporting BLM are too political.

I am mixed. I like that they listen to fans for their sets but I wish they would stay out of politics entirely.

I think there's a good chance of this, despite we haven't had a flagship backhoe for many years longer!

You are right in that the 1:8 cars are there own subtheme, so are not considered the flagships of their years. You are also correct that the 2nd half flagship isn't necessarily the set with the mot pieces. But it is (as far as I remember) always the most expensive set of the year (excluding the 1:8 cars). In recent (to me) years there has also been 1st half flagships. But with the release of sets like the top gear car (the expensive but small PU sets) I'm not sure which sets are considered the flagships for the first half. Is it the expensive but small PU sets or is it the usually much bigger first half set?

I hope it's not true. Been waiting for a flagship backhoe for ages. Does the release of a small one reduce the chances of that?

Agreed

Great review @Jim with fantastic pictures as always. You did persuade me to get 42070 with your review of that set, but sadly not even you, with powers as great as that, has won me over with the CAT. One comment you made in the review was interesting. "Reading lots of comments, I wonder if am looking for different things in a Technic set. Too big, too ugly, don't like this, don't like that. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but I do get the impression that TLG designers cannot do it right. No gearbox, only motors. Gearbox too big, or in this case gearbox too simple." It's the classic motor for every function vs one motor and a complex gearbox argument. But as neither of these solutions is what you would find on a real bulldozer or excavator or whatever, then neither is desirable to me. I want as close to "build for real" as is reasonably practical, Technic is capable of much better than either of these two scenarios. I'll start with the bad so I can end with the good! The Bad: I do want big and expensive sets, I really do. But the price and piece count is not the reason why I want them. A set that is so realistic, mechanically authentic and detailed that it has to be that big and expensive in order to achieve it's level of awesomeness is the most desirable, a set that justifies it's bigness. The CAT however is mechanically unrealistic, it copies the functions but not the real life mechanics that makes them work, and it's a bulldozer so the functions it does have are kind of limited. Actually there is one mechanically realistic thing, which is the planetary drive on the sprocket. However it's the wrong sprocket that's being driven by it and because there is so much gear reduction inside the angular motors already, there is literally zero gearing left for the builder to build. It's all done for you in pre-assembled components. To drive and to move things around is a bulldozers main function and you as the builder build none of it! How is this desirable in an almost 4000 piece Technic flagship? I love the planetary reduction hubs but these main drive motors still have way too much internal gearing. I think such gear reductions should only be in small servo motors designed to save space. Although much has been said about the high price, I don't think there would be as much complaining if the CAT did more to justify it. "Oh but it has this many motors and a hub and this many pieces and if you do the math it works out not too bad etc etc". I'm sorry but it's number of motors and hubs and pieces to me does not add up to a sufficiently mechanically authentic or interesting model to justify having all those motors and pieces. If you like it then that's great. I never want to see Technic sell badly so I am genuinely happy there are some fans out there that are excited to buy this set. I won't be buying this. The good: It does look pretty awesome and impressive on the outside. I do like the various rare/new useful recolours, like the 5x7 frames and dog bones in yellow for example. I also like that the bag numbers seem to be increasing. Not counting a bag full of 2x2 round bricks, has a Technic set gone up to 8 before? It's not as high as it could be. The 89 batmobile had bag numbers going up to 24 or something like that, which is great for these 3000-4000 piece builds, and can be a much more useful tool for preventing mistakes. It also looks to be pretty solid and well engineered overall. The inclusion of a proper track tensioning mechanism for the first time is great. Most details are built with real pieces so there isn't much reliance on either printed pieces or stickers. The build experience does look to be greatly improved by having you build notable things throughout. For example, when you build a supercar, all of the interesting stuff is done in the first quarter of the build, the rest is just bodywork. The CAT however does seem to have more notable things to build throughout, like the folding ladder and the gigantic blade to end the build. And at the end of the day it is still Technic. I'm sure I'd have more fun building and playing with this than playing a computer game or whatever.

Reminds me of a humvee!