It’s time! As is customary at this time of year we recently launched several randomly chosen Elv… er, we mean ‘brave volunteers’, over The LEGO Group’s perimeter wall by way of the office slingshot. Their job; to dodge the guard dogs and return with images of next year’s brand new Lego Technic sets.

Most of this crack team returned a week or so ago, and we’ve been sitting on their scooped images until now. Today though, we can bring you Part 1 of the 2015 LEGO Technic line-up!

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Construction Equipment

First up is LEGO’s yearly default in the range; construction equipment. Pictured above is the new 42035 Mining Truck, aimed at ages 9+ and featuring 362 pieces, whilst pictured below is the smallest and simplest new set for 2015, 42031 Mini-Cherry-Picker for ages 7+.

42035 features steering and a tipping bucket, whilst 42031 doesn’t really feature anything at all, save for some mechanical movement of the crane boom.

What is a little surprising is just how ‘Town’-orientated these two sets look, with studded parts, lights and even twelve grill tiles on the front of 42035. We’re not particularly excited by this development, as for us Technic should be about technicality, but we’re sure that The LEGO Group knows what appeals most to their younger audience.

Onwards to the second Technic category guaranteed to be included each year, the racing…

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Racing

We remain at the ‘starter’ end of the 2015 LEGO Technic range with the two new racing-related sets. Above is the set with the lowest part count of the 2015 Technic line-up, the 148 piece 42034 Pull-Back Quad Bike. As you probably deduced, this LEGO set includes a pull-back motor for added zoominess, and it looks quite a fun toy for younger Technic fans and Elves alike.

This though, is a model more to our tastes, the wonderfully garish 500 piece 42037 Formula Off-Roader. Underneath the bright green bodywork 42037 features the first proper Technic functionality in the 2015 range, with working steering, suspension and a 4-cylinder engine up front. That engine is perhaps a little small for a Formula Off-Road racer, as they are usually fitted with nitrous-equipped 900hp V8s, but it works so we’ll take it! Both sets include some nice bright stickers and squishy tyres, and look robust enough for some stacked-book living room jumping.

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Tracks

The final set in LEGO’s 2015 Starter Technic range is this, the 252 piece Compact Tracked Loader. Like the other small sets in the 2015 line-up, 42032 appears a little more ‘Town’-orientated than past Technic offerings, but it does look quite refreshing in white rather than the usual yellow.

With many of the loader’s 252 parts used to create the two tracks upon which it rolls there probably weren’t many left for LEGO to work with, but nevertheless 42032 does feature a mechanically operated bucket and compacter, which seems about right for the 8+ target.

Like all-but-one of the other new Technic sets previewed here, 42032 includes instructions for a second model, and will reach a store near you in early 2015.

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So that’s the small sets out of the way;

What about the big stuff?

Join us tomorrow for Part 2 of the New LEGO Technic 2015 Preview to find out! 

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