Our Elves have been sneaking! Following our reveal of the H1 2019 Technic sets another batch of Elves were dispatched to The LEGO Company’s HQ to uncover the H2 additions to the Technic line-up. The survivors returned home over the summer and after much consideration we’re now able to offer our ‘expert analysis’ of LEGO’s latest sets! So, here you go, the H2 2019 LEGO Technic line-up…

– 42098 Car Transporter –

There’s a theme running through the H2 2019 Technic range and, much like your Mom, it’s size. We’ll start with the largest. Or longest at least. This is the 2,500 piece, 3ft long 42098 Car Transporter, a vehicle type that LEGO have dabbled with in the past in the Technic range, but never really tackled properly.

Three models in one, 42098 includes a truck, trailer and a muscle car, all of which are packed with mechanical functions like Technic-of-Old. The aesthetics are very much Technic-of-New though, with plenty of stickers and an increased level of visual realism.

42098 can fit five cars on board by our count, leaving room for four of your own once built. Both the truck and muscle car feature ‘Hand of God’ steering and miniature working piston engines, whilst the truck and trailer include ingenious hand-powered mechanisms to access the top decks, with gears lowering and extending a multitude of ramps to enable a full load to be driven on board.

42098 looks like a really interesting addition to the Technic range, and it’ll be nice to be able to store other sets and MOCs neatly on top of it. Expect the new set to cost c$180/£140 when it reaches stores later this year.

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– 42099 4×4 X-treme Off-Roader –

Next we have a set that’s got the Elves very excited. It’s huge, it’s orange, it’s remote controlled, and it features LEGO’s penchant for poor spelling when words contain the letter ‘x’.

The 42099 X-treme Off-Roader looks… well, nuts, and it features LEGO’s new bluetooth remote control, finally catching up with third-party providers such as SBrick and BuWizz who have been offering control-via-phone for some time.

Like the 42098 Car Transporter above, 42099 is a complicated set aimed at ages 11+, but this time it swaps mechanical functionality for LEGO’s Power Functions motor system, now with the addition of the new ‘Control’ bluetooth-compatible app-based operating system.

This gives 42099 superb-looking playability, provided the set’s all-wheel-drive, remotely controlled steering, and suspension are up to the job. Judging by the images we’re hopeful, and if the number of stickers is a measure of off-road ability, the X-treme Off-Roader will be able to climb Everest.

Like all the sets previewed here 42099 will reach stores later this year. We’ll do our best to resist testing its Elf-smushing ability when we get our hands on it…

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– 42097 Compact Crawler Crane –

The last H2 2019 Technic set we’re previewing today (but not the last in the range…) is this, the 920 piece 42097 Compact Crawler Crane. Featuring an all-mechanical array of functions including boom extension and raising, four spidery legs that use the huge stabiliser parts from the 42078 Mack Anthem set reviewed here earlier in the year, a winch, and a set of manual tracks, it looks like no crane we’ve ever seen but contains some excellent gear-driven functionality nonetheless.

Still towards the top of Technic’s age range, 42097 is aimed at ages 10+ and will cost around $100/£80, making the H2 2019 line-up one of considerable size and complexity, earning LEGO a few TLCB Points after a slightly lacklustre H1 range.

There’s one more set in the H2 2019 line-up left to reveal, and we’ll do just that later this summer. In the meantime you can check out our preview of the H1 2019 Technic sets here, plus you can visit our Review Library where 100 LEGO sets past and present have been reviewed so far via the link.