Lego Set Preview – The 2014 Technic Line-Up

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Lego technic 42025

It’s that time of year again, when several lucky Elves ‘volunteer’ to get thrown over the perimeter fence of The LEGO Group’s development HQ. Weeks have passed since the office sling-shot fired the Elvish task-force into the Danish darkness, but today the final Elf returned and thus we now have the complete Technic line-up for the first half of 2014! Some of the stolen images have watermarks on, but hey – we’re not picky.

42025 – Lego Technic Cargo Plane

The main picture of this article is the main Technic set of 2014, and it marks a return to air-based Technic not seen for some time. The ‘feature’ model for the start of the year, LEGO’s new Cargo Plane features some rare Technic colours and a whole host of Power Functions and mechanical goodies, including; turning propellors, opening nose-cone, lowering ramp and adjustable flaps. Targeted at the upper end of the Technic age-range 42025 is aimed at builders aged 10+ and will likely sit at the top of 2014’s prices.

Lego Technic 42021 and 42022

42021 – Lego Technic Snowmobile, 42022 – Lego Technic Hot Rod 

Next up are the two mid-range vehicles in the 2014 LEGO Technic line-up; 42021 and 42022, a snowmobile and hot rod respectively. Each is aimed at a slightly younger audience than 42025, but they still include a variety of proper Technic mechanical functions, including steering, suspension and piston engines. Each also continues LEGO’s expansion into brighter colours and decals, making them very visually appealing sets. Like all of the 2014 Technic range, instructions are provided for two possible models and these will also be available digitally via Lego.com.

Lego technic 42026 and 42027

42026 – Lego Technic Black Racing, 42027 – Lego Technic Desert Racer

Our third volunteering Elf snaffled two new starter Technic sets aimed at the 7+ age group; 42026 and 42027. As with all starter models their simpler build does mean less functionality than the larger Technic sets, but the LEGO Group does enhance the play value with pull-back motors. The Elves, being optimistically at the mental capacity of a 7 year old,  love these, and we suspect they’ll be the biggest sellers in the range next year. Bold colour choices abound in 2014 with more lime green and a dash of bright orange – we’re sure that we’ll see these re-surface on a few muscle car MOCs throughout the year.

Lego technic 42020

42020 – Lego Technic Double Rotor Helicopter

Probably our least favourite of the 2014 LEGO Technic sets is this transport helicopter, but the range has to start somewhere. The rotors spin in unison and it features some useful looking rotor blades, but not much else. It will be cheap though.

Lego Technic 42023 and 42024

42023 – Lego Technic Construction Team, 42024 – Lego Technic Container Truck

The final two new Technic sets in LEGO’s 2014 range get back to the heart of the brand; big chunky construction equipment with loads of mechanical features. It’s safe to say we’re delighted with these two sets.

On the left is 42023, the Construction Team, and the first multi-model set we’ve seen in years. Featuring a tracked excavator, front-loader and a dump truck it looks like a great way to expand a Technic collection with some excellent mechanical models. Aimed at ages 8+ the three models are quite simple, but they’re also full of play potential. Bravo LEGO.

And finally, the last model in LEGO’s 2014 Technic range is 42024, container truck (or ‘skip lorry’ as we’d call it here in the UK). Aimed at the 10+ age group it features some strong mechanical features including working steering, a lifting container arm and extending support legs. It’s also – despite the modern studless construction – rather retro looking in a classic red-yellow-blue combo, and we like that.

Overall it’s a pretty strong line-up for 2014, and there will be further additions, including a new flagship, for the second half of the year. As always we may review some of these sets throughout the year, and if you’d like to read The Lego Car Blog’s expert reviews on official LEGO sets from previous years, check out the Reviews page here.

The Ace of Spades

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Lego Ace of Spades

If you like to gamble, I tell you I’m your man
You win some, lose some, it’s all the same to me
The pleasure is to play, it makes no difference what you say
I don’t share your greed, the only card I need is
The Ace Of Spades, the Ace Of Spades

Jon Hall returns with his Motorhead inspired ‘E-34 Shadowhawk’. See all the photos here.

They See Me Rollin’…

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Lego Road Roller

Not the most exciting vehicle we’ve ever blogged, sure, but without 12-ton machines like this our journeys would be a lot bumpier. Ralph Savelsberg’s Hamm HW90 road roller can be found on Flickr here.

Rat Fink!

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Lego Rat Fink Hot Rod

Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth’s 1963 Kustom Kulture icon ‘Rat Fink’ is one of the heroes of the hot rod scene. Over the years it’s featured on T-shirts, posters, die-cast models, and now (surely the crowning achievement) here at The Lego Car Blog. Misterzumbi has recreated the ’60s legend brilliantly, and for some reason something about it reminds us of The Lego Car Blog Elves… See more on Flickr.

Dashing Through The Snow

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Lego SnowmobileOver to Eurobricks now, where TLCB favourite Piterx has built a most excellent winter toy. Fully remote control by way of LEGO’s Power Functions system, Piterx’s snowmobile is as capable on the white stuff as the real thing. There’s a video of it in action on YouTube, and you can join the discussion on Eurobricks here.

Technic Snowmobile

Life-Size Lego Lunacy

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Life-size Lego Car

This, Lego car fans, is a real, working, 100% LEGO, fully drivable car.

Snappily titled the ‘superawesomemicroproject’ it’s the product of two men, Australian marketer Steve Sammartino and 20 year-old Romanian engineer Raul Oaida, who built the life-size Lego hot rod using over half a million Blacktron-coloured LEGO pieces.

Their creation is powered by 256 LEGO pistons mounted within four enormous orbital engines fed by compressed air, with only the wheels and loaded components featuring non-LEGO construction.

Funded via crowdsourcing, the superawesomemicroproject has reached speeds of 30km/h with a driver on board and will probably go faster than that, all while built purely from little blocks of Danish plastic.

To read more about this amazing vehicle check out the superawesomemicroproject at Steve and Raul’s website, and watch the incredible video below.

Thanks to Bricknerd who beat us to the punch.

Battlefield Recovery

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Lego M31 Armored RecoveryBreaking down in battle presents problems. The local recovery firm may be a little unwilling to venture out to get you, spare parts might be a bit tricky, and their tow truck is probably on the small side. Thankfully the US military had it covered in World War II with their massive M31 Armored Recovery Vehicle (ARV). Daniel Siskind has recreated the wartime machine beautifully, and you can see more on Flickr.

Alex Baldwin

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Lego Crane

Jennifer Clark’s Demag all-terrain crane was uncovered on MOCpages today, and it’s one of the best we’ve seen this year. Fully remote controlled and featuring a huge variety of functions, you can see more of this Technic masterpiece here where there’s also a link to Jennifer’s own website containing full details of all her builds.

Mr. T

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Lego Ford Model-T

The Elves are still hard at work, despite the miserable weather outside The Lego Car Blog Towers. Today’s find, by an Elf who’s now pegged up by the ears near a radiator to dry out, is an unusual model in Lego form.

We’re not really sure why Ford’s Model-T is overlooked by the Lego-building community, what with it being one of the most numerous (and famous) cars ever produced. Brickshelf’s solic helps to give the vintage vehicle some plastic recognition with his superb Technic Model-T truck. It comes compete with authentic leaf sprung suspension, Power Functions control and a working piston engine. See all the photos on Brickshelf at the link above.

Technic Ford Model-T

Ice Road Truckers

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Lego Truck Trial Tatra 8x8

As the icy finger of winter draws ever nearer to The Lego Car Blog Towers we’re beginning to post a little less often. Whilst the Elves, being elves, are used to Christmas working, most of the staff here will be drunk on a variety of festive beverages for the next few weeks and thus quality (never our strongpoint) is likely to take a turn for the worse.

It seems appropriate then to round off the last full week of (mostly) sobriety with a wintery model; something red, something good at ploughing through the snow, and something that’s able to carry a lot of presents in the back. No, not Santa’s sleigh, but a monster 8-wheel-drive Tatra T813 Kolos trial truck.

Built by gkurkowski, the T813 Kolos features all the usual Technic Truck Trial toys, and there’s a whole gallery to peruse on Brickshelf. Check it out at the link above.

Technic Tatra T813 Kolos

Cozy Coupe

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Lego Little Tyke Cozy Coupe

We post all sorts of exotic vehicles here at The Lego Car Blog. From super cars to tanks, if it goes fast or explodes it seems to get the Elves’ attention. This though, is probably the most important car we’ve ever blogged. Why? Because it’s probably the one car every single one of us has had a go in!

The Little Tyke Cozy Coupe is a right of passage for any toddler, either at home, pre-school or at a well-heeled friend’s house. Reminisce on Flickr courtesy of Legohaulic.

GMC CCKW

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Lego GMC Army TruckThis nondescript abbreviation is an American GMC army truck built during World War 2, that then saw service in the Korean War a few years later. Featuring 6×6 drive the CCKW was used to transport all manner of military goods and was built in a variety of specifications. =DoNe=‘s closed cab flatbed version is shown here and you can see more on Flickr.

 

Reach Half a Million Readers a Year!

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Lego MinifiguresWe’ve been a bit cautious about posting this blog update, as we can scarcely believe it, but here goes…

The Lego Car Blog is reaching Half-a-Million people annually.

No, we don’t know how either, and honestly it’s more than a little bit scary. We don’t know how long we’re going to keep TLCB in operation, but it definitely feels bigger than us now. So, how would you, yes you reading this very sentence, like to be writing these words rather than reading them?

We would like to open the TLCB up to guest posts so that we can share the responsibility… er, we mean, offer an opportunity, to aspiring writers and bloggers with a passion for little plastic bricks to reach half-a-million worldwide readers.

Maybe you’re at school or college and would like to try writing for a large audience for the first time. Perhaps you’re an adult builder and you know of a Lego community or event that’s been overlooked that you’d like to share. Or maybe you’ve just bought an official LEGO set and would like to review it to help others make a purchase.

If this sounds like you then please get in touch with us through the Feedback and Submission Suggestions page, telling us a little bit about yourself (age, occupation, where you’re from, and include a contact email or Flickr account) and what you would like to write. You can remind yourself of what we look for by visiting our Submission Guidelines page. The team will then get in contact with you directly (and we’ll remove your contact details from your message for security).

Become a Guest Blogger and write for TLCB!

TLCB Team 

DAF 2800

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Lego DAF Truck

If you were a 1980’s dutch mini-figure truck driver you’d probably have spent your day in one of these, a DAF 2800 articulated HGV. Thietmaier is the builder, and you can see more on Flickr here.

Saving Lives at Sea (Part II)

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Lego Technic QuadFollowing yesterday‘s RNLI Land Rover, previous TLCB bloggee pitrex contacted us with his own Technic life guard build. Featuring a host of Technic functions, piterx’s quad and jet-ski combo includes; Power Functions RC drive, working steering and suspension (quad), controllable impeller (jet-ski), and a working winch on the trailer. About as good as an official LEGO Technic set then! Join the discussion on Eurobricks via the link above.