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Think I'll have the same dilemma depending on how good the Chiron is as I really want to get that coaster!

Yes I did, and still do love rollercoaster Tycoon . Also visited Alton Towers yesterday (Wicker Man is the best for all those reading in the UK) so seeing this reveal when I got home was the best timing ever! I really like the fact they went for the solid RTC style track pieces as opposed to the flexible type seen in other coaster models. Only thing I don't like is they they seem to want to keep all the stud connections at the ends of the track parallel to the ground. Why? If they kept them inline with whatever direction the end of the track was pointing in I feel you would have more freedom to design more things. For instance you wouldn't need a straight incline piece, just a regular straight could be used for the lift hill. Using two curvy downy pieces together would give you a vertical drop and so on.

If fixed axles was a concern then surely the carts wouldn't go round corners?! I suspect a main reason for not banking the corners is because Lego would need to release yet more new complex coaster track pieces, namely ones to go from level track to banked track for both left and right turns (yes you do need both so you can go from banked back to level again) and I guess they can only produce so many new moulds for parts of this size and complexity at a time. Maybe we will get those parts in future. Of course half loop and half corkscrew pieces would also be great. I do think that Lego could make a nice profit by selling those parts as extension packs, without the need to include them in a rollercoaster. This way people who can't afford the whole thing could buy the bits to make their own dream coaster like they would in rollercoaster Tycoon. I suspect that over time people doing that would end up buying more from Lego than they would have buying the full coaster set, and even if they don't, at least they would be buying something from Lego, and these track pieces would be in a $25 expansion pack, so they would sell lots of them, so economy of scales works more in their favour, and people go Lego coaster crazy building massive coasters which other people see, drawing more people to the hobby, and Lego releases more track pieces, and different train types like nemesis under the track style, spinning wildmouse and wing coasters, and it becomes its own thing like the train line. But one step at a time! Can you tell I'm excited for the new coaster?!

I don't think we've become hyper critical, just regular critical! When I first saw 8880 I had that sense of child wonderment at that which was truly a game changer. It had a whole bunch of new parts which us MOCers could only dream of, a beautifully sculpted body for the time, new functionality for the time, a for the time detailed interior which still hasn't really been beat, a new gear change which has definitely not been beat to this day and so on. As you may notice, I still look at this set with a lot of fondness, but what has changed is that I can now also see its flaws, like the stupid chain drive to the engine for example. Having seen so many sets and creations, we can see the good, but the good no longer blinds us to the not to good like it did before. That's not a bad thing, the wonderment is still there when there is something wonderful to see. It's just not blind. As for the seriousness, when a child presents a MOC with all its wonky colours and unsupported gear trains, and they are all excited to show off their work then it's all praises and then we move in and forget about it, happy knowing we have nurtured their creative drive to explore bigger and better things as well as their desire to learn and improve. But when an adult that clearly has some skill and has been building for a long time shares their creation with the rest of us, well there's something to get excited and inevitably passionate about. It's human nature to be passionate about that which excites us. It's also human nature to be critical of that we are passionate about. Demonstrated skill, excitement, passion, criticism. That's human nature, that's our mindset and attitude as humans. The fact that there are thousands of people posting MOCs means we can't remember what each and every MOCers goals are when creating, so we critique based on what's important to us, not the MOCer. A poor MOC gets no interaction. A good MOC gets interaction with critisms. A perfect MOC gets interaction with no critisms, but there is no such thing as a perfect MOC. Only MOCs made by children get interaction with no critisms. The so called seriousness is just passion for a hobby that has given us so much joy for so many years. Your gaff may not be a great first impression as the creation should do the talking, the creation should be what's blowing your trumpet as a good creation requires no trumpet blowing from the creator. Just show the model and explain the functions, we can make up our own minds if we like it or not. But I'm sure you know that by now. This is a friendly place, the friendliest place I've ever found on the internet, and though that may be hidden at times behind its passion it's still there. So welcome to Eurobricks and I'm looking forward to seeing more from you

Yes, you can do everything with an adjustable spanner, but it's so much more pleasurable and efficient to use a full socket set. To those who say it's more fun to stay within the current parts set I would like to ask, when Lego does introduce a new part, do you choose not to use it so you can stay within the current parts set? I suspect you don't. I suspect you don't have a cut off date of 2017. Which tells me that if given the choice you would take the new parts as quickly as I would. But I should say that it's not a complaint from me if I don't have the part I want. It's just fun to think about how to make a good thing even better. And how could I complain when Lego has released, and continue to release new parts that I have suggested here on Eurobricks!

Well there's still those many different sizes of dog clutch gears to introduce to make more realistic, simpler, more intuative, easier for kids to understand, more reliable gearboxes out of fewer parts!

Great video with great tips. Some tips I would add: Let it go! If you are building a MOC and you can't get everyone one of your 37 planned functions in there then it's ok to drop a function or two. Better to have a complete MOC with 35 functions that work well than an incomplete MOC with 37. Change things up. Many people will start building an off roader by building the axles first. But have you tried building the outer body first? It's likely that the end product will be something quite different, and the decisions you make regarding functionality will be different if you start somewhere different and maybe you'll surprise yourself! Ask others what they would like you to build. My 2 year old nephew loves buses right now, but a bus for him to play with would have to be tough, no parts can be pulled off without removing something else first, and my dad said I should build a car crusher! So there's two ideas. A tip within this tip is to not get too hung up on the subject matter, on the what it is to be built. I've seen great MOCs of lawn mowers and crap MOCs of supercars. It doesn't really matter what it is, it's the how you make it. So if someone says you should build a London taxi, it may be good to challenge yourself every once in a while to build something even if it's not a concept that inspires you immediately.

It looks good, but for me these types of engine like as used in the Mack aren't realistic as there is no crank, just a cam, and no connection between the pistons and the faux crank, only gravity makes the pistons go down, and the stroke is only half a stud max, and the bore is narrower than the bevel gear that represents the piston and so on. For a MOC it is a nice build, but for an official Technic set, with their ability to make new parts, I would hope they recreate the engine more realistically. I know that real engines have closed off cylinder heads, valves and so on. But despite all that's missing from a standard Lego engine at least all the stuff that is there is somewhat realistic. Replacing the crank shaft for a cam shaft for me is no Bueno.

10.75mm is actually pretty close to a standard technic piston, a Lego stud is only about 4.8mm I think, so less than half the size needed to be in scale.

A technic crane?!

The wires run in some pretty confined spaces within 8480 so you will ideally need wires that are no thicker than the original wires along their whole length. I had the same issue when building the barcode truck so bought all new wires from bricklink. It costs money but I'm happy knowing they are all original parts.

Don't care about gaps, 8880 looks great with all its gaps and building body work can be tedious with too many parts that don't do anything. I want new functional parts and authentic mechanics. So even when I see a hi Res picture I won't know if it's for me until I know more about its inner workings and how true to real life they are.

So does Jim have it for review already?!

But two XL motors are already breaking the universal joint. Wouldn't 4 adequately powered XL motors break the UJ even without a gearbox? Or would you gear it differently ( gear motors up > UJ > gear down) or would you build a custom UJ? Besides even ONE XL motor can cause the 20 tooth double bevel gear to slip on the differential gear.

I think the best scores to listen to without the movie are the ones by Hans Zimmer. Interstellar and Gadiator, especially with Lisa Gerrard are increadable masterpieces. Also Clint Mansell has done some great stuff. These are scores which you can listen in isolation and imagine entirely new epic movies, they are so good. But terms of scores that work well with one particular movie, you can't beat John Williams Superman theme. There's no reason to change it. How many times have they rebooted James bond with different actors but kept the same theme? Superman should always be Johns theme IMHO, its just perfect for that character, so much so that if you're making a Superman movie, and you don't feel that the John Williams theme works with it, then you are making the movie wrong!!! It's that good. Honerble mentions go to the themes for the movies Sunshine, Starman, Rocky, Edward Scissorhands and the land before time. Yes, the cartoon with the dinosaurs

Awesome work, love the microwave . Have you thought about having a higher gear reduction in the final drive? As it is, its final drive ratio is 5:7, I'm surprised the universal joint moved 10kg with that ratio! @ginger-snapped Adding more XL motors is pointless because the two he already has is already enough to twist axles and break gears. IMHO a better route for heavyweight models is RC buggy motors. One has the power of two XL motors, less torque but with a higher speed, so when geared down after delicate components like UJs you get the same power but much less risk of breaking components. Only problem us buggy motors are too valuable to be left in a moc for 3 years

Perfect Fight club is great for at least the first half, starts to feel a bit long towards the end. I liked downsizing overall. Its.....different, but in a way many may like, kinda like how Edward scissorhands and beetlejuice are different. It's better if you don't watch any trailers because they spoil way too much for this movie. The cast make this movie much better than it otherwise should have been. I also enjoyed shape of water overall. But weirdly I felt the actual creature to be the least entertaining or interesting part of the movie. Micheal Shannon and Sally Hawkins are easily the best part, thankfully the movie focuses more on them than the kinda boring creature.

I would tell you the last movie I watched, but the first rule is that I'm not supposed to talk about it. The second to last movie I watched involved Matt Damon feeling small. Before that was a movie that was basically Starman mixed with the creature from the black lagoon! Any guesses?

Must be the first Lego model ever to have a functional bum'ole!

A long electrical wire may also have its own issues. The wire gauge TLG uses is so small that voltage drop may result in less power for the motor as power is wasted through what is essentially a long, thin heating element.

I quite enjoy cycling, will do even more this summer due to a happy coincidence. I like to cycle to Birmingham city center in the UK along the canel toe paths for fitness. And where I turn round to go home again, I was delighted to find out that is EXACTLY the spot where they are building a new Lego discovery center, due to open this summer!

It's amazing the difference sorted parts/numbered bags makes to the build. I built the Saturn V in under 4 hours, while 42069 took a few evenings and for all it's colour coding I couldn't find the hook till there was almost no parts left! Numbered bags are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much better than colour coding parts.

In the past I've always started with things like axles, chassis, gearbox and so on. But then I never finish the bodywork, because it's boring. But now I've started to build bodywork first, like an outer shell to see what functions can fit inside it and how best to organise things. Like when working on a model that has a complex gearbox, multi pump pneumatic compressor, motor, battery box, etc, I find it's helpful to have the outer shell built so I can see where I can fit things in nice a snug without having to compromise on the look of the outer shell. But this is something I've only just started to do so it kinda feels like learning to moc all over again, and I like it.

Every year we get high quality pictures of the finalized sets to look at and if we like them we then get to look forward to them. The excitement and anticipation is all part of the fun. But this year we don't get that, it kinda feels like being robbed in one way. I don't know if I have a right to feel that way HOWEVER, this is all the fault of the copycats, not Lego. It's those brands that I don't want to name that blatantly steel the hard work of Lego designers (and moccers) and sell it as their own. They have at times released their copy before Lego released the official version. And the way I see it, under the law, the buying and selling of copycat products should be seen as handling stolen goods, because the intellectual property has been stolen. This goes for the websites and shops that sells them, and the individuals that buy them, and any copycat products that enter the country should be seized as stolen goods.