allanp

It's not a complaint, more of an explanation as to why you, as a Lego fan with some spending power, won't be spending your money on a particular Lego product, which is something that they should find useful.

@Rudivdk lol yeah, that ending made me smile also, I needed that.

Yeah I agree they probably aren't going to change the whole code block approach. I don't even think they should as it would be a compromise that's not ideal for either side. But for those that aren't into coding they could do with adding a completely different environment, maybe a new app or a new part of an existing app, that people can use instead of the code block environment, which enables the creation of custom control layouts and full customisation for how those controls work, much like in the hobby RC world that also doesn't use any coding at all. I wouldn't call it a mid-level interface, as it can be very simple to very complex, depending on how complex the user wants it to be.

Servos aren't just about steering. They have the potential to control gearboxes, pneumatic valves, landing gear, control surfaces and so on. But of course for that you would need configuration options, for example so you could set how far the servo travels. With these new motors you could go from 1/8 of a turn all the way up to 50 or more turns either side of centre if you need to gear it down a lot for huge articulated MOCs. I just noticed the PU interview today (thank you for that @kbalage ). I am glad they are aware of some of the gaps, particularly MOC support for those that, like me, aren't into coding. I really don't like playing on a phone screen or tablet for multiple reasons, coding just isn't much fun to me (and I don't really have any desire to learn it), and it's not what I would call a very Lego like experience. So this is welcome news but I'll believe it when I see it. I posted a kind of rough sketch/idea of something they could do along those lines on the 1st page of this thread, which would cover that missing area not covered by really easy but un-customisable, pre-programmed apps and coding. He also mentioned they might be looking into configurable physical controllers? That would be great news. I think he also said something PU wise would be revealed the end of the month, that was yesterday so I wonder what it was/is.

Welcome to Eurobricks :) New sets are usually released in 2 waves every year, about 6 to10 smaller sets in January and then 3 or 4 bigger sets in June/July. Sometimes another individual set may be released at some other point in the year (like the land rover was released in October last year, do was 42100 but that's only because it was delayed from its usual summer slot if I recall correctly). Right now the PU system is very difficult to work with (as in not much fun) for creating MOCs. But we anticipate a twin rotor helicopter to be revealed very soon as part of the summer wave of sets and we think (but not sure) that it will have a motor and a basic battery box with buttons on it (no need for smart device), so you would be able to make motorised models that are not RC with that. You could also build RC sets with the new PU stuff so long as the electronics match up with 42100, 42099 or the top gear rally car, as you could just use the same profiles as those sets. But remember you have to have the same type of motors plugged into the same ports for it to work. Alternatively you could also try using a third party app which can be used to create custom control profiles for a MOC. I don't know if Lego is planning to release such an app or if they are only sticking to the code block programming stuff. On the other hand the outgoing system of PF will always work without any need for smart devices. They just work. So if you get those parts they will still be usable to you until they break, so I wouldn't say they are a wasted investment so long as you don't go crazy. If you like pneumatics I would say to get some second hand pneumatic sets, or pneumatic parts from bricklink or ebay. We don't know of any pneumatic sets that are coming this year unfortunately, and second hand sets don't usually get any cheaper with time.

Didn't used to be impossible when they used a different method to colour the parts. AFAIK It used to be that all the plastic pellets were coloured. Now most of them are clear with just a small amount of coloured pellets. Someone at TLG probably hates me for saying that but they only have their selves to blame.

I don't think the colour variations have anything to do with the environment but the different process they use to colour parts now, which is cheaper. Still, it's nice to see the suspension is better than the Chiron. Perhaps it's a little hard but rather too hard that too soft (that's what she said!) I had some tiny glimmer of hope for some new gearbox parts that I might have missed, but sadly no. So this car is not for me. And they have done the same trick with the Bugatti wheels, giving them a little lip to make them look bigger. I can see these wheels having some chipped paint on those edges. It would have been much better to actually make the wheels internal diameter bigger (perhaps then we could fit longer steering arms with Ackerman geometry, like 8880) with lower profile tyres and more authentic tread pattern.

The box is very nice, but surely the point of an unboxing "experience" is to EITHER be able to view ALL the pieces at once nicely displayed before your eyes (like the mid 90s sets), or it's to just get rid of the box to get at what's inside. In either case it's to present to you the awesomeness that is the build that awaits you, all in one big "oh my gosh" moment, and TBH I'm not sure how having 6 individual, plain....ish looking cardboard boxes really helps with that. If I have to be persuaded as to how it improves the experience then I guess it hasn't worked for me. I think one thing they could do (if the mid 90's boxes were too costly in a £350 set ) would be to have the same main box and upper box as the Sian, but instead of having the 6 individual boxes they could have a cardboard insert glued into the bottom, something sorta like this: ....but not as deep obviously, and in black or something, so that lifting the top would reveal the parts to build the entire car, not just 1/6 of it. The wheels could have their own little segment as well, and I guess the instructions would just be laid on top, with the vertical walls of the cardboard insert being cut an inch lower to create a pocket for the instruction book to sit in. I dunno, just throwing stuff out there

Yeah well I'm sorry for harping on about it again. I think the 18+ age rating (yes I know it's just marketing and is therefore a lie), the viewing window that allows you to see inside the model once it's finished and the fact that many parts have once again only come in one, bright colour (such as the orange wave selector, the red and blue gears, so we can't change them) brought many of the excuses for colour coding back into question for me. But I think I've said enough now so I'll try to tone it down if it bothers people.

Yes it matters. As the builder you can see it while you are building it which makes me feel like "a child should be playing with this, not me", not good when the kit cost £350, and now the Sian has a viewing window to see the gearbox, the excuse "you can't see it when it's finished" has become even weaker. There are also non Technic builders (such as Jang bricks) who are somewhat turned off of the whole Technic theme because of all the blue pins clearly visible when the set is complete. So there are a few good reasons to get rid of all this colour coding, and the only reason to keep it is to aid building, but when people are still making mistakes and when this is supposed to be a premium £350 set, honestly colour coding really just looks like cost saving now. It seems that what you are proposing isn't actually creator expert, but a new theme that combines the internal mechanics of the Technic theme (most likely would need a return to studded Technic) with the external look of creator expert. It would probably be called Lego Mechanic or something.

Agreed. I have seen quite a few comments in the youtube comments section (nasty place!) saying "it should be creator expert", but do these people look at a creator expert set and say "it should be Technic"? Of course not. They want every car to be creator expert and no Technic, which seems quite selfish to me TBH. People should have a choice between creator expert and Technic cars.

Old style, high friction gearbox needs old, low ratio diff. We were hoping for the new diff paired to a better, more realistic gearbox that would have way less friction, allowing the new diff to be used. This allows for something new over the Chiron, more realism, higher engine speeds, easy motorisation, less backlash and is just better in every way. Nope, not the only one. I never bought the argument "oh well you can't see it in the finished model" because you can see blue pins everywhere and as the builder you can see it while you build it, and now there is a viewing window to see the gearbox they no longer have that excuse either. And no, I'm not going to spend £350 just so I can swap out most of the parts, many of the parts I would want to swap out only come in one bright colour so I couldn't do that even if I wanted to.

There are a couple of benefits to the new differential in a well designed manual model. Firstly, faster spinning engines are more realistic and they both look and sound better than slow ones. Secondly, by gearing up almost twice as fast at the diff you reduce the distance you have to move the car before the engine starts turning (the backlash) by almost half. So I would say this makes the new diff the right choice for both well designed manual and motorised models. But you are also right when you say "there is already enough friction as it is", which is true due to the poor gearbox design. It's because of the efficient, high friction gearbox that the new diff is probably unsuitable for this car, not the diff itself. Those of us that wanted to see this car have the new diff also wanted it to have a better gearbox.

Sorry but I have to disagree, partly for the reason you said actually. Lego doesn't make the parts to make it realistic. There's not enough gear sizes and the drive rings are too long (why they made then 3 long I don't know!) I would like the option to add a motor but not at the expense of mechanical authenticity. So I don't agree with the "it's Lego, you can make it as you like" argument because it's not possible with the current parts and even if it was I would have to change so much that I'd only be keeping the body, and as beautiful as it is, it's not £350 beautiful. The designer really did do a fantastic job of the body, but the beauty of this car is only skin deep.

Aarrgh I really want to like this set, for the past few hours I've been willing myself to want to buy it but sadly it's not working, which is a shame as I really wanted something to build to help ease the lockdown blues. But for me the driveline (which is the main mechanical element of any car) is still too unrealistic, too conveluted, too much backlash from having to go through 3 drive rings whereas in a real gearbox you only have to go through 1, and there's still too many axles and too much friction for efficient motorisation. All of that could have been made much much better had they just copied the real gearbox layout. They released new parts for the Chiron gearbox, and those parts have been useful in other sets, but no new parts for this one. It does look absolutely gorgeous though, but if the mechanics aren't there I'm just not going to buy it.

59: 10 33: 6 29: 4 53: 3 41: 2 20: 1

Well, I dunno. When I add up what we get from this car over the Chiron, we do get (in my opinion) a much better looking front and side view, but not so good rear end. We get a window to see the gearbox, but it's still the same old unrealistic style of gearbox and colour coding so I'm not sure I even want to see it! The opening doors will probably be a cool detail (unless it's a space shuttle, opening doors are not a notable feature IMHO) and the suspension is probably better. How much is that worth to me? £180 tops, if I'm really board and there's nothing else to do. If it had a realistic gearbox that would have been worth RRP no problem. If I didn't have the Chiron already then it might be worth more to me than £180. But the Chiron sold so many copies that I would think that a lot of people that might buy this have the Chiron already. I think it will sell well but it'll be on it's looks alone, which is a real shame for a big flagship Technic set.

I can't see me buying it now I'm afraid.

Ok, so it looks amazing, best LOOKING Technic set ever, but mechanically it just doesn't cut it for me. The main mechanics of any car is the driveline and it appears that it's using the same old weaker diff, small CV joints and unrealistic, convoluted style of gear box as every other Technic car, with no new gearbox parts that I can see. The steering also looks to be the same with small steering arms giving that spongy, low quality feel, and the steering wheel is once again not angled up towards the driver. Maybe the suspension works a little better this time, but that's not enough. TL;DR The mechanics of this car (what Technic is supposed to be about) does not represent enough of a step forward in authenticity over the Chiron to justify it's price tag, so I'm out.

I don't think we saw the inside of the Bugatti during its reveal. Hope we do see something though.

Would it be possible to wrap the wheels with rubber bands to give them grip? I'm thinking that by making them grip the floor, the models own inertia might have the same effect as the flywheel to smoothen out the forward motion even more. Because it's quite big a heavy, it will resist changes in velocity (like a flywheel) but it won't have that effect if the wheels are slipping even slightly.

I suppose they could but pretty much every single set that has included RC has been robbed of any and all sense of mechanical authenticity just to include RC. There's no real reason why that has to be the case but that's just how it's always been. And I think for these super duper Technic sets the idea is to be a mechanical representation of the real thing above being RC. It could be both but I guess that would make it too expensive.

Oh no, that looks awful! Not all colours suit all cars.

By green do you mean lime? I prefer the lime colour personally. It'll be interesting to see how it looks in real life.

Remember to manage those expectations guys. I've said a lot of things that I would like to see, or think we should see, but that's not the same as expectations. I wouldn't bet on there being any electronics. Would be nice, and the teasers do seem to imply working lights but I don't expect them.