Category Archives: Review

Seasonal Service

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Lego 42008 Truck

With the red and green, it looks like it could belong to a jolly fat man… welcome to TLCB’s review of the Lego Technic 42008 Service Truck.

Not quite the latest in a long line of mid-range truck models that always seem to be the meat of the Technic range, this one with its 1276 pieces and £100 price is definitely edging upwards from mid-range, despite its still-modest size.

It’s got most of the sophistication of a much larger model too, as we shall see.

First impressions: Well, you’ll either get on with the green or you won’t… Personally, I think a grey or black (not red) chassis would have helped. Nevertheless, it is good to see Lego broadening the Technic colour palette once again – long may that continue! You get an entirely typical box, well stuffed with goodies and three instruction books. And a sticker sheet, natch. You’ll need that…

Building it is a reasonably familiar experience for anyone who’s had any other mid-range truck set in recent years, apart from the pneumatics, possibly. This may be unique in combining pneumatics, linear actuators and a PF motor in the same model – I can’t think of any others that have all three – and it’s this fact that makes the price seem pretty reasonable. It’s a fairly intricate and densely packed thing, with little wasted space, but the instructions are typically clear and simple to follow.

After a leisurely afternoon’s building, you’ll have a pretty impressive model with many functions:

Steering: A very well engineered progressive-rate system that operates on the first two axles via the usual gear on the roof. It works very smoothly, there’s a reasonable amount of lock and nothing for me to complain about. Technic steering systems would seem to be improving, at last.

Rear Stabilizers: Operated via the left hand gearbox and motorized, like all the following functions, these raise and lower via a pair of small linear actuators and are of limited use, frankly. They don’t lock in place and they’re not strong enough to lift the rear of the model. Next!

Hook: Anyone expecting this to take an age to raise and lower, like every other motorized crane, is in for a surprise. The thing fairly rips along, assuming you’ve lifted the stop-lever if you’re extending it…. which item won’t stay up on it’s own so you need three hands to do so. Grrr! It has the strength to pull a similar size model onto the ramp, so it does it’s job.

Boom Lifting: Done by a single large linear actuator and operated via the right hand gearbox, this works smoothly and well. It goes a lot further up than it needs to for a service truck, but I’m not complaining. Much.

The pneumatic compressor is actuated via the right hand gearbox and this powers the boom extension and the ramp lowering mechanisms. Each of these items uses a small pneumatic piston to actuate it, which works fine – if rather suddenly, as is the way with airtank-less pneumatics – without a load, but the small pistons don’t have enough grunt to do much actual work. The standard, larger, pistons would have been better.

That’s an impressive array of working functions for what is still a relatively small model; the more so because there’s a motor and battery box packed in as well. Most of them work alright, after a fashion, and it does make this an extremely playable set. The only major gripe concerns operating the motor via the switch on the battery box; you’ve got to be delicate to avoid switching it to the other direction when you want it off. Adding a PF switch would make this a much more manageable thing to use.

You can use it well enough, though…

Lego 42008 Truck

Model Team trucks are pretty but they break down a lot…

42008 will never be called pretty, exactly, but it looks… purposeful. There’s a fairly minimal amount of detail around the cab, but there’s enough. The doors open to reveal the usual pair of angled-liftarm seats and a rudimentary dashboard and (unconnected) steering wheel. As for the colour, it’s certainly striking… I don’t usually apply stickers to my sets, but with this it’s very necessary; and they do successfully break up what is a big slab of green without them.

Overall, I like it. It ain’t perfect, it ain’t pretty, but it’s packed with features and you get a sense that the designers were being ambitious with it. Perhaps a little over-ambitious, but there’s a lot to admire here. 7/10

7345 Transport Chopper Review

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7345-Box

After their adventures with the 31005 Construction Hauler and the 31006 Highway Speedster, we thought that the Elves would like to practice their nascent building skills on something a bit more challenging. The 7345 Transport Chopper’s RRP is double that of the previous two sets at £24.99 from Lego.com, though we bought our set for £20.00 from Amazon. Inside the box, you get 5 bags containing 383 pieces, which amounts to ½ kg or 18oz of LEGO. This compares very favourably with the price per kilo of bulk, unsorted LEGO on eBay. Being a Creator set, you’re also getting the months of design effort from LEGO’s team, plus printed instructions for three different models. Value for money? Excellent!

The first stage of building, as usual for the Elves, is to rip open the bags and send parts flying everywhere. Next comes the part where we fish bricks, plates, tyres and greebles out of the TLCB executive jacuzzi. The final stage is where assorted Elves batter each other with the larger and pointier components, until they are settled down with a blast from the air horn. You can understand why we haven’t let them build anything from Technic, with all of those spiky axles and cogs.

The three models are rated as “Quick”, “Medium” and “Advanced” builds. The helicopter is the “Advanced” build and seems to be completed in just 56 steps but there are several extra sub-builds within this, plus another 8 for the little red jeep. As usual, some of the steps only add a couple of bricks to the construction but we have to remember that the target age range is 8 to 12. We built the jeep first and gave it to the Elves to zoom around in, whilst we got on with the serious business of building the chopper. As this set is aimed at younger builders, it’s a bit annoying that you have to use parts from four different bags to complete the first three stages of building the jeep. Perhaps this sub-build could be in a separate bag and the rest of the parts could be in numbered bags, like some of the other LEGO product ranges?

7345-Helicopter

The first part of building the helicopter is its chassis, complete with retractable tricycle undercarriage. Continue reading →

31006 Highway Speedster Review

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31006 Box

Ever since they ripped open the delivery bag and saw the cover art on the 31006 Highway Speedster, the Elves have been playing the Miami Vice title music. Fortunately it’s on a TV Tunes of the Eighties playlist and we get to enjoy the Airwolf theme every now and again. Sharp little fingernails had soon ripped open the four bags of parts, eager to be zooming their white Ferrari lookalike across the floor and handbrake turning it on the tiles of the TLCB executive washroom & sauna. Once we’d helped the Elves rescue the tyres from under the TLCB deluxe minibar, they set to work on the 61 stages of the main build. As with the 31005 Construction Hauler this might seem like a lot of stages but this set’s starting age is just 7 years old and so the number of steps is understandable. Having said this, Step 61 is to turn the car the right way up, which even the Elves managed without getting too confused.

31006-Main-500w

All three builds in this set follow a basic, studs up configuration, with some touches of SNOT work. The chassis for each of the models are two 16 stud, old-school Technic beams and the car gradually builds up using an impressive selection of slopes, curves and cheeses. The rear end has the most SNOT with a nice, Ferrari style lighting bar and a lifting glass cover for the engine. Disappointingly, the engine is perhaps the weakest part of the build, being made from just six 1×1 round plates and a couple of 1×2 grille tiles. There’s space for a lot more and it’s a great opportunity to do a bit creative building. The Elves got very excited at step 44, with the addition of a 1×1 round tile in trans-red. This sits inside the air scoop on the bonnet, almost like KITT’s sensor, which provoked a change of 80’s theme music for a while. Further steps build and attach the working, supercar style scissor doors and more body trim on the front of the car. This includes a neat front light cluster, which uses minifigure brackets for some SNOT. Surprisingly the wing mirrors aren’t colour co-ordinated with the rest of the bodywork, something of an omission for an expensive looking supercar. The glass roof neatly seals onto the windscreen, though the cockpit is hard to see into. This is no bad thing, as it is very sparsely furnished. Once the wheels are added, you’re left with a 10 wide by 22 long sports car. The build quality is well up to sustaining the odd crash into a skirting board or tumble from a table. The axles through the chassis (as opposed to clipped-on wheels) and low centre of gravity, give great performance for zooming across carpets in a straight line. The Elves managed runs of over 7 metres along the TLCB decking.

31006-Tow-Truck-500w

As with other sets in the Creator series, this set comes complete with an instruction book for each of the three builds. This will be a relief to parents and Elf keepers alike, as they’re spared the task of having to download and print instructions from Lego’s website. It’s a horrible sight to see an over-curious Elf dragged into the giant TLCB Lego instructions printer and rolled out flat on the other side. Apart from the waste of paper, it takes forever to get the pipe into their mouths to pump them up again.

The second build is a 16×8 tow truck. Again, this is a mainly conventional, solid Lego construction. A nice bit of SNOT work converts the sports car’s low profile windscreen into a flatter screen on the truck and clips it on quite neatly. The crane moves, pivoting on the back axle and friction pins. A few more parts could have added something more than the little tow hook but this set already has loads of parts for the price. The third build is a Lotus 7 type, front engined roadster. In common with the other models, this car is solidly built for zooming across floors, using conventional techniques with a bit of SNOT on the side.

31006-Roadster-500w

This set provides good value for money. Its 286 parts currently retail in the UK for around £12.00 or $22.00 in the USA. For the same price, you get just 113 parts in the 79005 Wizard Battle set from the Lord of the Rings range. The set also includes some fairly rare parts. There are two of the white 93273 1x4x2/3 plate with bow, which currently sell on Bricklink for US $0.30 each and aren’t available from a UK vendor. A down side of all of the Creator series for younger builders might be the lack of minifigures. As we noted in the review of 31005, licensed sets are often minifigure rich but lacking in basic bricks with which to be creative and build your own creations. The 31006 Highway Speedster is a great source of a good variety of white bricks to help supplement any Lego collection.

With its value for money, variety of parts and three different alternative builds, 31006 is a great set for the young or old builder. It rates a 9/10 for value & contents and perhaps just an 8/10 for style because of the lack of detail in the engine bay of the main build.

If you’d like to see the complete catalogue of The Lego Car Blog’s set reviews simply click on the ‘Reviews’ tab in the menu.

Don’t Show Me The Money

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Lego Technic 41999 Review

The story so far…

The LEGO Company make the 9398 Technic remote control Crawler. It works well and looks awful. LEGO launch a competition to design a prettier body. Said contest is won by a talented Russian gentleman called Egor Karshiev, whose ‘Boss Crawler’ design gets the nod. LEGO announce they will only make 20,000 of these sets, with many unique elements and extra features, and sell them for the same price as the standard 9398…

Cue the most ridiculous speculator-driven feeding frenzy since Beanie Babies tanked…

As I write, just one month after 41999 was released, these change hands, sealed, on eBay for around £350; or nearly three times RRP. Many are being bought by the same UK-based buyer (not me!) in the hope they’ll keep climbing.

I’ve just got the one, bought from LEGO for a very reasonable price, for the purpose of building it, displaying it, even *gasp* playing with it… I’m willing to bet that more than half of these plastic building toys will remain forever sealed in their boxes in the hands of collectors or, worse, speculators; unbuilt and unloved. A shame, because it’s a really good set, and here’s why:

Lego Technic 41999 4x4 Crawler

The box is pretty special. A simple, elegant design on the front showing a close-up of the distinctive dark blue panels that so lift this model; it’s made of sterner stuff than usual, too. Inside this treasure chest it’s fairly tightly packed with lots of good stuff; enough for a few hours of leisurely, pleasurable building.

There are four instruction books which are easy to follow, as we’ve come to expect, and there are no mistakes. The build is relatively straightforward, but there’s no shortage of cool features: Continue reading →

8479 Technic Barcode Truck Review

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Lego 8479It’s a Review day here at The Lego Car Blog, and with much of LEGO’s latest product line-up covered we’re going to take a journey back to 1997, and to one of LEGO’s forgotten gems; the 8479 Technic Barcode Truck.

LEGO had successfully produced programable robotic models as far back as 1990 with the marvellous Control Centre and its mark II follow-up in 1995. Both sets allowed children to control a Technic model via a joypad and to program a series of functions into the system so that movements could be repeated. The only drawback was that the ‘brain’ control brick was a large black box that remained external to the models under its control.

For 1997 LEGO designed its first robot where the control brick and memory were integrated into the model itself, allowed by the continuing compacting of computer storage technology. Called the ‘Code Pilot’ it’s a neat handheld battery pack containing the model’s power source, memory, control buttons, and – rather inventively – a barcode scanner, just like you’ll find by the till in any shop. In short, this is LEGO Mindstorms’ genesis. Continue reading →

5590 Model Team Helicopter Transport Review

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Lego 5590Following the launch of The Lego Car Blog’s new Lego Review Library it’s time for another trip back in time to take a look at one of LEGO’s great sets; 5590 Model Team Helicopter Transport.

5590 was part of LEGO’s three set line-up for their spectacular Model Team range that was launched in 1988 for US ‘Shop at Home’ customers, and in 1990 in European stores. We’re using the European name for the set as we can’t really bring ourselves to use the US one.

The flagship of the new range, 5590 took detail to a level previously unseen outside of the Legoland theme park (there was only one back then). Based on an attractive if slightly generic European cab-over semi the set was really two models in one, as the helicopter could easily be a unique set in its own right. 5590 also brought a few new pieces to Lego fans, chiefly those marvellous wheels, but also two new windscreens that would reappear in later sets.

The build is a relatively straight-forward one; whilst a there is no doubt 5590 is a detailed model the techniques used are fairly basic by today’s standards, but for this builder at least that is part of its charm. It features a few working functions too, bridging the gulf between System and Technic for the first time. Working steering, trailer support legs and opening doors all make appearances and certainly add a degree of playability to what could otherwise be simply a nice display piece.

5590 has, like most sets from the era, aged a little when compared to sets from the late ’90s. There is barely a smooth piece to be seen and SNOT (studs not on top) was but the dream of a madman back in 1988. However, it is still perhaps one of the best Model Team sets made to date, combining detail, a ruggedly playable exterior, and sheer scale that wowed children perusing LEGO’s catalogue back then, and continuing to wow collectors on eBay and Bricklink today. If you can find one for sale you won’t be disappointed, but you will likely be quite a bit poorer.

9/10

To read all The Lego Car Blog’s set reviews and comparisons, including the 5580 counterpart to this set, click the ‘Reviews’ tab in the main menu.

The One We’ve All Been Waiting For

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Ohhh yes…. 42009, the Mobile Crane MkII, is finally here. Was it worth the wait ? Was it worth 150 smackers ? Was it worth spending my entire day off building it ? Read on…

Lego technic 42009

Well, what do you think ? I mean, look at it. Before I get down to it, a quick word about how we do our reviews around here. LEGO doesn’t send us review copies (yet; hint, hint…) so we spend our own money on sets for review, but these are sets that we’d have wanted anyway. This might explain the usually positive flavour of our musings; we’re not going to spend our hard-earned on something we know we won’t like. I haven’t reviewed the 42000 Grand Prix racer because I won’t be getting it.

We do still try to be objective.

Enough already, get on with it!

So, to business. First impressions: Wow, that box is heavy! 2,600 pieces, plus motor and battery box would explain that. It’s the largest Technic set ever, by some margin. Not the most expensive, though, which remains the 8110 Unimog at a fiver more than this; which fact rather gives the lie to the notion of LEGO inflating their prices with each successive generation. You get 550 more pieces and a fiver in exchange for the ‘mog’s pneumatics.

Fortunately, the bags are numbered to reflect the three main stages of the build. This isn’t quite the advantage it might be with the chassis forming well over half of it… Many, many bags all numbered ‘1’. Give yourself plenty of room. And time. That said, it never took me long to find a piece, and I never sort first as LEGO suggest.

There are six instruction books; 3 for the chassis, 2 for the crane part and the last one for the boom. Books 4 and 5 could have easily been combined to make it 1 for the crane part; book 5 is inexplicably slender. There were no mistakes, as we’ve come to expect, and this time not all the build steps are quite so tiny. There is nothing to confuse here as long as you concentrate and don’t forget to insert the 15 long beams alongside the stabilizers; causing you to perform major surgery part way through, or anything silly like that…

At the end of an enjoyable 6-8 hours of building, what have you got ? It’s a very robust, playable, multi-functional and impressive thing. There’s lots going on here, so I’ll break it down. Continue reading →

31005 Construction Hauler – Set Review

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31005 comp

A lot of modern Lego is focused on licensed products. These sets can be a great way of introducing children to the fun of building something from Lego. Unfortunately there are normally instructions for just one model, which often isn’t rebuilt into anything else. If you’re looking for old-style models, built from lots of bricks and with alternative models, then the Creator sets are for you.

One of the elves’ favourite Creator sets is the 31005 Construction Hauler. They’ve been clambering onto the desk at TLCB towers to play with it, when they should be out scouring the internet for MOCs. Elves have been busily driving the low-loader around and then using the digger to shovel paperclips about. Sadly, an elf has also been seen wearing one of the traffic cones on his head.

The first thing to be built is the cute little JCB-type digger. With a fully articulated backhoe and front loader, this small vehicle has lots of play potential and would be a great pocket money set in its own right. Unfortunately it has the weakest bit of design of any of the builds. The backhoe is attached via a 2×1 hook plate, which might not withstand the pulling and pushing of vigorous play.

Digger Comp

The Tractor unit takes 32 pages of instructions to build and is packed with lots of lovely little details, such as wing mirrors, fuel tanks, sun visor, air-horns, lights and side mounted wind deflectors. Not bad for a 4-wide which is about 11 studs long and a great way to get young builders thinking about the sort of details that they could include in their MOCs. The finished unit feels solid in the hand and is sturdy enough to be zoomed across carpets or off the edge of desks… Continue reading →

You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby.

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Welcome to The Lego Car Blog’s latest comparison of old and new Technic models; this time, excavators. Some genres of Technic model age better than others – a 1977 tractor is every bit as good as a 2012 one, and better than those in between – whereas others, I guess, just need a bigger parts palette to look and work right.

There’s a reason why excavator models were very rare from Lego until very recently, but it can be done with the old stuff. The blue machine in the picture above is built from instructions in the (completely wonderful) 8888 ideas book, published in 1980, and using only parts from that era. It’s movements are cunningly controlled using only racks and gears (lots of gears..) and it works OK, if not brilliantly. Cute, though. If it was a set from 1980, it would merit at least a 6/10.

Lego didn’t attempt an actual excavator set until the advent of pneumatics in 1984, with the 8851.

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It’s the red beast on the left, and it looks like a step up from the blue one.

It isn’t. The problem was the early single-outlet pneumatic pumps. These extended under pressure, but returned via vacuum, controlled by a block of one way valves plumbed in between pumps and switches. This tortuous system had to be crammed in to 8851’s compact body, and unless you were VERY careful, there would be kinks in the pipework. (TLCB Top Tip: instead of using 8cm and 6cm grey tubes between the 3rd switch and the valve block, use 6cm and 4cm. They’ll be crushed a bit less.) It also made it that rare thing; a Technic model that’s not fun to build. Continue reading →

The Title Must Include The Word ‘Groovy’

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And replies to this post must be addressed to ‘dude’, and end with ‘man.’

Moving on….

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Welcome to the better-late-than-never Lego Car Blog review of the fab 10220 VW Camper van.

You may already have guessed that I rather like this model, despite not being a big fan of the original. I have had a go in one, and I can tell you that they are fun, if slow, and somewhat heavy drinkers that handle like a ship in a swell. And they have a crumple zone. You. They do serve as the only vehicle that my own old car can reliably go faster than… unless some dastardly tinkerer has stuffed a Porsche engine in one – hopefully it’ll have the Porsche’s brakes as well. The one I drove did not want to stop…

To the model!

It’s very detailed, as you can see, and is a joy to build. Give yourself plenty of time to enjoy the many details as you go along. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, so no problems there.

What you end up with is something that’s as good as all but the very best mocs out there, particularly on the inside. Don’t expect any snazzy functions, though. Lego took the (probably wise) decision to concentrate on the aesthetics inside and out rather than try to cram in a steering system. Like all but a few car builders, it’s refined looks or functions – not both.

This is why they managed to make it look so nearly perfect. The colour scheme, the vehicle’s stance on the road, all the detail, it really is something to display with pride. I said nearly perfect; the front looks OK, but the awkward steps between the red and white are not sufficiently hidden by the black tube that forms the border between them. It might have been better had the front been built differently. Still, full marks for effort, and it’s great that all the openings, errr… open, including the windscreen and the pop-up top. It’s all a considerable advance over the earlier VW   Beetle set. And I do love the fact that all the windows are glazed.

Wouldn’t want that gorgeous interior to get dusty. There’s loads of great stuff in here, and this is the area where this model really shines. Behind the front seats it’s all studless, apart from the top of the folding table. There’s a sofa that folds into a bed, a little sink unit, lots of cupboard space and underneath it all is a nicely detailed model of the flat four engine. There’s even an accurate dashboard and foot pedals. My favourite part in here has to be the T-Shirt in the wardrobe that says ‘Make Lego Models Not War’; for once I don’t mind a couple of stickers. Those dinky little curtains are ace as well, and the lava lamp and…. I could go on but you get the picture. Considering the scale – 14 studs wide – there’s as much going on in here as possible, and this’ll be the reason such a relatively small model has a high piece count and price (£80). It’s well worth it.

Best of all, it’s the right size for those big old build-it-yourself homemaker figures from the ’70s. Dress a couple up, sixties style and you have a groovy shindig. Or something. Or, if you’re as creative as Iain Heath , build some Miniland Figures, with or without questionable substances…

Lego Volkswagen Camper

Their names are Credence Sandstorm and Crystal Bliss, apparently..

If you ever get tired of this model, this set makes a great parts pack as well, with lots of the kind of hinges, SNOT bricks and curved pieces that are manna to car builders. There’s even a little present from the designers hidden in the engine bay, in the form of two trans-clear headlight bricks that could be any colour, but the designer must realise how precious these are to anyone who’s ever built a large car with a curved headlight. Thanks for that, and thanks for the wonderfulness that is this lovely model. 10/10.

Purchase the LEGO Creator 10220 Volkswagen Camper here!

S.M.I.D.S.Y.

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Bikes are a slightly neglected species here on The Lego Car Blog, probably because all the elves are issued with cars (Austin Allegros, since you ask…), so I thought I’d bring you a quick roundup of some of the Technic bikes that Lego has blessed us with over the years.

Lego Motorbikes

LEGO bikes through the ages

We’ll start with 857; the motorbike with sidecar that Lego started with in 1979. Pretty basic now – it has a single cylinder engine, it steers…. that’s it. No suspension, although there is something they had the temerity to call a ‘kick start’ which is nothing more than an axle with an elastic band attached to one end. Looks nice, though, with some neat sculpting for details like the mudguards and fuel tank that give it something of a Model Team look.

It might have been better without the rather plain and unattractive sidecar, however; the wheel of which is too far forward (for manoeverability, such outfits had the sidecar wheel closer to the rear). And wouldn’t the whole thing have looked better in black ? Still, it’s a nice thing, if somewhat fat. We’ll call it a Harley Davidson with a cylinder lopped off.

Unlike later bikes, this was a biggish set at the time, second only to the 853 Car Chassis, and there wasn’t really enough going on here to justify it’s 409 pieces and high price.  At least they managed to put the chain inside the swingarm; which is a lot easier if the swingarm doesn’t, erm.. swing. Probably the weakest of the early sets, for all it’s vintage charm. 6/10.

Moving on, the red one is 8422 from 1995, a much slimmer and more effective design, and one that manages to correctly place it’s chain within a swinging swingarm. It has a V-Twin, decent suspension and a stand. As well as somewhat fussy styling that doesn’t quite work, except at the front with those printed light pieces. I think the designer was so thrilled with the invention of the liftarm triangle he just couldn’t help himself. They’re all over the place.

That said, this was a big improvement on the earlier 8838 ‘Shock Cycle’ and does look something like a touring BMW model. The set has 315 pieces, about 100 of which are entirely unnecessary. If only some of those had gone into the front suspension, which uses those large springs to support the weight of the front end, it might not have wobbled so much. 7/10.

Fast forward to 2008, and it’s the turn of 8291, the green dirt bike with 248 pieces and a lower price than the other two. It may be cheaper, but it’s also better. It features a horizontally opposed twin, long travel suspension and not much of a saddle. At least there’s now an exhaust to keep you warm… The chain migrates outwards to the wrong position, but that’s the only real downside. Even the front struts don’t wobble quite so much, because they’re mounted closer to the vertical.

This is certainly the most playable and robust of these three; the newer style of Technic seems to lend itself better to bikes and provides this with a real advantage. 8/10. We have a winner!

I haven’t touched on 2010’s 8051, probably the best bike to date and certainly the best looking, mainly because I haven’t got that one, or the new 42007 orange dirt bike, which looks like a rehash of 8291. Both of these still have that wobble-strut front end, though.

I haven’t mentioned B-models, either – they’re almost always dragsters or choppers and a lot less interesting than the main models, with the honourable exception of 857; which, being an early set, has a plethora of building ideas on it’s box and instructions for three quite different variations of the same basic frame. Three cheers for that.

If you’re a non-biker, you might be curious about the title of this piece. It’s a acronym for the words uttered by every myopic car driver who ever put an innocent motorcyclist in hospital:

‘Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You.’

Use your mirrors, people. Even Rovers have them, you know…

Big Is Beautiful.

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Welcome to another TLCB review of a Model Team classic. This one’s from 1996 and ain’t it pretty?

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The 5571, or ‘Black Cat’ as it was known, was the crowning glory of the Model Team line. It certainly went out in style. However, over £100 was a lot to ask for a Lego set at the time and they didn’t sell many. A pity, as it was actually good value; with more pieces than any Lego set ever, at the time.

If you want one now, it will cost you more than double… still worth it.

So, what do you get in exchange for all that moolah ? Many good things, including unique wheels (they look the same as those on 8285 but they’re slightly bigger), a pair of very large one piece printed doors that do at least look more at ease than such items on the smaller models, lots and lots of black plates, some shiny chrome – properly shiny – loads of tools and the sort of greebly bits that spaceship designers love. And a Fabuland shovel!

Putting all these together takes time, naturally enough, but there’s nothing difficult here – Lego hadn’t yet got around to incorporating many SNOT techniques in even their most elaborate sets, but the appearance of this doesn’t suffer for it.

Instructions for this are easy to follow, with not quite today’s baby build steps but they are simpler than contemporary Technic models. There’s a nice B model too, a European style truck that’s good enough but is rather blown away by the main event.

Whoever designed this was having fun. It’s possible that they got a little carried away with all the bars and doors and bits and bobs festooning the body, but it’s all very nicely done and you really can picture this haulin’ ass across the wide open spaces of America. Probably not Denmark, though. Us Europeans never see trucks like this, but we do love them, and so do Lego – look at how many they’ve made over the years compared to flat fronted European trucks. There’s a romanticism here entirely missing from the more utilitarian domestic lorries, good as they are; and this set makes the very most of that.

Features; if it’s technical wizardry you’re after you’re looking in the wrong place, although it does steer (slightly) via a hand of god control on the roof. This can be improved upon easily enough, and there’s room for a ‘working’ engine to replace the – very nice – show engine supplied. Other than that though, this is all about the details.

So many details. Starting with the little black cat perched on the hood, and all manner of steps and bars and stacks and lights and, and… I’m out of breath. It could have done with bigger windscreen wipers, though… As well as all the stuff you see on the outside, there’s some comfortable looking seats, that tilt forward to get at the bed behind, the driver’s got a well stocked dashboard – including a dash mounted coffee maker that we can only hope succeeds in keeping him awake, there’s little opening compartments on each side full of little tools, ladders and levers and things on the back, the doors and bonnet open; the latter to reveal the well detailed V8 every self-respecting rig of this size’ll need… I could go on forever…

…Until I get to the back half. Was it done by a different person ? Was he given no budget ? Aft of the cab, this does look a bit… underdone, and not just because of the OTT front part. There’s a start at a rear fender, but it is just the start, there’s only two wheels on each axle, the trailer hitch looks OK but not strong enough. The rear bumper and lights set-up is nicely done – something that’s often neglected on Lego models; then and now. I guess it’s 80% there, apart from the lack of wheels, but it just looks naked behind the exuberantly decorated cab. Maybe that’s a little unkind. Give it complete fenders and double up the wheels and it’ll probably be just fine. Or build a trailer for it to cover it’s nakedness, but you’ll need lots of pieces – this isn’t a small model.

But this is proudly American, and biggest is best. It really is. If you like these kinds of trucks at all, you’ll really enjoy this. 9/10

Model Team Is Alive And Well…

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.. And living buried inside the Creator range. Meet set 7347, ‘Highway Pickup’

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Mmmmm stripey! Nicely detailed too, at least as far back as the exhaust stacks. In case you’re wondering, this is one of TLCB’s occasional reviews of current sets – I’m back, baby!

So, where to start… how about unpacking its nice big, shiny box; that’s reasonably full for a change, with 800 or so pieces and there’s loads of good stuff here for vehicle builders of all kinds. The bags aren’t numbered, so there’ll be much sifting but we’re used to that, aren’t we? There are 4 instruction books – 2 for the main model – and isn’t it nice to have printed instructions for the secondary models ? Come on, Technic! Be careful, though, with the only blue parts of the set (two hinge pieces that fix on the dashboard) as they don’t appear all that blue in the book. Maybe it’s these old eyes again, but I spent several minutes looking for grey ones…

Building it is a pleasure, if not at all difficult, and there’s an intriguing mix of old and new Technic in the chassis. Studded beams give it a dose of rigidity, and studless ones at the back allow the truck bed to slide and tilt. Very effective. There are no mistakes in the instructions, at least for the main model – I haven’t built the others, mostly because they don’t look nearly as good.

The first part to build is the yellow car that goes on the back, and what a curious beast it is… out of scale with the truck (it ought to be two studs wider, at least), it’s otherwise nicely proportioned but clumsily detailed. You’ll be able to fashion something better, even if you just use these bricks.

Thankfully, a great deal more design effort was put into the truck. I’ll call it a truck, since it’s very much in the American style; although the second model is very definitely a lorry… Anyhoo, it features that sliding and tilting bed on the back, a winch, opening doors and bonnet and working steering. Just remember NOT to put in those black ball joint pieces at an early build stage, lest it end up with the turning circle of a supertanker. You’ll need something there, else the wheels will drag on the inner arches, but I found a 1×1 plate, stud in the beam’s hole did the trick. Now it’s got the turning radius of.. an ordinary tanker. Never mind, at least it’s nice and smooth in operation.

There’s also a pair of light bricks in the roof, that blaze forth when you press down in front of the steering control. It wouldn’t be too hard to make them flash authentically, or even stay on. A nice feature, but a bit of a gimmick.

Putting the cab together, with its very attractive stripes and comprehensive detailing is what reminds me most of the old Model Team sets. This is the same size as 5580 from 1986, and where this scores over that classic set is in the way the paintjob is achieved. It’s entirely brick-built. No stickers or printed parts. Hurrah!

And here it is in the company of an old friend..

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I must say I do prefer 5580’s grille; those grille tiles on the new one do tend to look a little flat. The oldie  also has a nicer engine, and the fenders are attached to the hood as they should be. Still, the new boy’s got some tricks, not the least of which is to be found around the back, precisely where 5580 ran out of ideas…

That tilting and sliding bed is very nicely contrived, but the thing could have looked less… basic, perhaps? Especially given the exuberance of the front. Lego have always been better at the front part of a truck : even the fabled 5571 ‘Black Cat’ looked a little unfinished aft of the cab, so I guess everything’s as it should be. Still, some rear lights and a licence plate back there might have been nice.

But enough carping. This really is a nice set, and it’s level of features and detail is just fine for the market it’s aimed at. Trouble is, the market it’s aimed at might baulk at paying £60 ($80) for it.

Is Model Team alive and well, then? Kind of, but you wouldn’t call it alive and kicking. 7/10.

Technic Tractors Ancient And Modern

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Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Glad you could come. Settle yourselves in for an exhaustive analysis of the new Technic 9393 Tractor model, and how it compares to its most illustrious forebear. Or scroll down for a peek at Chris Melby’s rather fine catamaran, whatever appeals…

First, a look at the beast in question:

Lego Technic Tractor 9393

…pretty little thing, ain’t it? I’m not one to buy every Technic set I see, but this really appealed to me; and for only 25 quid, I just couldn’t say no.

Building it was pretty straightforward, and pretty much foolproof, but it struck me how it’s size and functionality are very similar to 1977’s 851 set:

Lego 9393 and 851

…whadaya mean you don’t see it? Sure, their styling is very different, but they do all the same things. Oh alright, it’s just an excuse to compare old and new style Technic, so let’s get started…

Box: Much as I love the old, sturdy boxes with their little compartments in the plastic tray, flip-up lid and extensive idea pictures on the box itself, this must have been an expensive and labour-intensive endeavor. The new one is just a box, but it might be why this is so much cheaper than the 851 was (relatively speaking) back in the day. Still, an easy win for old.

Instructions: Many people bemoan the extreme simplicity of new instructions, with their 1 or 2 pieces per build step and consequently fat instruction books – I don’t mind it, and while the old blueprint-style of 851’s instructions are more satisfying for an experienced builder to use – I dare you to try and build it using just the actual blueprint! – it’s easy to see how a novice could make a lot of mistakes with so few build steps to guide him. There’s a happy medium to be found somewhere between these two opposites, but Lego have yet to find it. Incidentally, Yay! for the supplied book for 9393’s second model – having to go online is such a faff when all you want to do is build. A draw.

Building: The diversity of Technic elements, even in a smallish set like 9393, comes as a pleasant surprise after the small selection of bricks and plates, with a handful of technic elements that constitute an 851. They are both a pleasure to build – the new one will fill an hour, the oldie maybe half that, and they offer different experiences in this regard. 851 feels like a slightly elaborated Creator set; 9393 is a proper dose of Technic goodness. New takes the win here.

P.S. Look at the picture above and spot what is now deemed an ‘illegal connection’ on 851 and win a prize*

It’s neck and neck as we go into comparing the models…. the suspense is killing me …?!

*Not Really.

Steering: When it comes to Technic, the adage is: the older the set, the better the steering system. This is generally true, but it’s not quite like that here. Unlike a lot of recent sets, 9393 does have some discernible steering lock, although not as much as 851; and they both work smoothly. The oldie’s system is operated by the steering wheel – a gear for some reason – and 9393 has the now-obligatory Hand-Of-God control with no connection to the steering wheel itself. Much as I dislike that last aspect, I guess I’ll just have to make my peace with it… Old wins.

Styling: 851 is clearly a Massey-Ferguson and has a timeless classic appeal. This is all very well, but it was an ‘old’ tractor even in 1977 and you have to wonder if that dented its appeal to 10 year olds who like modern stuff. 9393 is a, well, a green one; but it does at least look contemporary. The green panels are more nicely designed than is sometimes the case and suit it perfectly. It is a surprise, though, that an ostensibly green set has only ten green pieces. Still, it looks the biz. New wins, by a whisker.

Three Point Hitch: Know your farming lingo, people… The means of attaching the implement and raising and lowering it is treated differently, as you’d expect. 851 has a smooth over-centre action via the control lever next to the seat; 9393 sports a worm gear controlled from the back of the vehicle. There’s advantages to both approaches – 851 is more authentic here, and 9393 is more adjustable, albeit with a somewhat jerky movement. Old takes it.

Implement: In both cases, power is taken from one rear wheel and they both come supplied with a harrow. 851’s takes careful setting up to work properly but, that done, it spins round at a furious rate, although only on a smooth surface which does slightly defeat the object. Power is automatically disconnected when it’s raised, simply by gears coming out of mesh. 9393’s harrow folds away neatly to achieve the same thing and, when down, spins more slowly than it’s rivals’, but fast enough to make the er, blades (?) clatter around in a most satisfying manner. New takes this one.

It’s still all square between these two – it’s like I planned it! – but there’s one more thing to consider.

Alternate Builds:

As usual with old Technic sets, 851 has two B-models with instructions and a plethora of further ideas shown on the box. There’s various alternative implements for the tractor, or a rather rudimentary combine harvester, or does Sir fancy a bandsaw, or perhaps a pressing tool. No? How about a rather stylish road roller? Or a lathe? The possibilities are endless.

You wouldn’t expect a new set with just one alternate model to compete with this. However, in 9393’s case, it just might…

Lego 9393 Buggy

It’s just the sort of thing one pictures when the words ‘Technic Buggy’ float into my brain. A sharp looking, robust little vehicle that makes a superb toy. This one has a sting in the tail: an exceptionally neat 4 cylinder engine made using axles that jump up and down when actuated by the ‘crankshaft’ that’s actually more of a camshaft but who am I to argue… MOC builders have been doing this for years to give their smaller cars working engines – I think Tyler Reid did it first, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. Anyhow, it works well here, spins nice and fast and makes the buggy clatter along very happily.

I can’t believe it. On the strength of it’s superb second model, New Technic takes the overall win**. Bravo!

**Only if you don’t put in those three-quarter pins that’ll limit the steering lock and replace the pole reverser handles at the front with 2L axles to avoid the consequent rubbing…

DuggaDuggaDugga!

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Your favourite Lego Cars blog (whaddaya mean there’s only one…?) goes off topic again…

Welcome to our review of Lego’s latest big thing with wheels. As a fan of all things mechanical, and Lego, I couldn’t fail to notice this; an impressively faithful rendition of the 1917 Sopwith Camel, pioneer of the earliest days of airborne warfare.

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It’s another one of those models that seems to have been created by an aficionado of the real thing. If anything about it looks a little strange – e.g. very short front, stubby fuselage – it’s because the real one was exactly the same. Even the colours are spot-on.

So, what do get for your eighty quid ?

Answer; a well-stuffed box with lots of fine goodies, some of them pieces I haven’t seen before in strange and exotic colours. It’s quite a lot of money for the number of pieces you get, but since many of them are big and/or special; even chromed, it’s well worth it.

Once you’ve emptied the whole lot into a big and unsortable  pile you can get cracking: a couple of hours of enjoyable building await. There’s nothing too tricky here, although you do need to take care of installing the long strings that control the flaps to avoid snagging – follow the instructions carefully and you’ll be alright.

Speaking of which, is it just me or does everyone find it difficult to see individual brown pieces in the instructions when there’s already a mass of them ? Perhaps this old git should admit defeat and get his eyes tested… At least there isn’t the trouble differentiating black from dark grey that there used to be.

When finished, what you’ll have is a surprisingly large model and nowhere to put it… still, it can always hang suspended on a wire from the ceiling, ready to strafe unsuspecting visitors.

It’s a working model, too. The control stick in the cockpit will activate the turning flaps with a side to side motion and the tail flaps with a back and forth movement, all done via the aforementioned strings. Very clever.

Of course, Lego have been here before, with this from 10 or so years ago:

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… the previously inflated price of which is about to get a lot more reasonable. It’s a pretty good effort, but it’s easy to see where the newer one improves things.

The Sopwith Camel was a hugely significant aircraft, and not just for Lego. It was famously tricky to fly, with a deliberately front-heavy instability that made it highly manoevreable – a feature of most modern fighter aircraft, which are so unstable they wouldn’t fly at all without computer controls.

No computers in 1917, of course, just very skilled and very brave pilots. This ‘plane shot down more enemy aircraft than any other in World War One.

The engine was an air-cooled rotary (not to be confused with the Wankel rotary, a totally different design), sometimes known as a radial engine, whereby instead of a rotating crank in a fixed block, it was the cylinders that rotated around the fixed crank. For aircraft, this had several advantages. The rotating mass of the cylinders did away with the need for a heavy flywheel – the engine was the flywheel – and, when exposed to the air, it could be effectively self-cooling, without the need for a radiator. This made for a much better power to weight ratio than conventional in-line engines of the time.

This type of engine nearly always had an odd number of cylinders – typically seven, or in some cases, nine, in the Sopwith Camel. The only inaccuracy of Lego’s model is that it has eight. Still, at least it spins round with the propellor.

Speaking of which, shouldn’t the guns right behind it shoot it off ? Nah, Sopwith had that covered with another innovation; a synchronization gear that blocked the guns from firing when the blades were in front of them. The pilot could keep his fingers on the trigger and not worry about shooting himself out of the sky.

All very interesting, I’m sure, but the very best thing about this model is it’s sturdiness: strong enough to swoosh about the house, making authentic ‘duggaduggadugga’ noises and scaring the cat….

Get one. You won’t regret it.