Tag Archives: 2022

2022 | Year in Review

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It’s 2023! Well, nearly. So let’s look back on the year that was 2022…

A (corrupt) World Cup, the death of a queen, three British Prime Ministers, Heard vs. Depp, Musk vs. Twitter, record inflation, rightful protests in Iran, a Russian invasion, and COVID still lingers, although somewhat less potently than when it first arrived on a bat from China or something. It hasn’t been a vintage year has it?

But there was some good news too, including the toughening of various environmental and climate laws worldwide, the hopeful end of the Ethiopian Civil War, and break-throughs in both cancer and Alzheimer’s treatment. But what about The Lego Car Blog?

Stats

Well it wasn’t a vintage year for TLCB either, with our Facebook page disappearing following a post supporting Ukraine, threats from Russia, and a fall in readers from the last two years’  return to the magic million.

We wondered if we were getting boring, and – whilst don’t doubt our inane gibberish probably is – a look at our numbers revealed we published 17% fewer posts in 2022 than in 2021. Ah. TLCB laziness…

Still, 380 posts isn’t to be sniffed at and – whilst we haven’t published every day – the best vehicular creations and LEGO news stories from around the world have appeared here every week, bringing visitors from very nearly every country on earth.

The United States of America once again topped our visitor list, with Germany, the UK, Netherlands and France completing the top five. At the other end of the scale are various countries with just one visitor, most of which are lovely exotic islands. There was also one visitor from Iran; if it’s you, a very special welcome to this humble site of brick-based nonsense.

202 publishable comments were written by readers during 2022 (only some of which were from angry Russians…), countless messages entered our inbox (only some of which were marketing spam), and the site received tens of thousands of referrals from social media (which considering we’re not on it, rather shows its power), with the top pages continuing to be our Review Library and The Rise and Fall of MOCpages, alongside the homepage of course.

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All of that has led to an increase in the revenue we see from the adverts that appear on this site. None of our staff (nor TLCB Elves, what with them being mythical) are paid, thus we can give away what this site earns to those who need it more than we do; thank you for taking the time to visit us – it really does make a difference.

What’s Next?

More inane gibberish on the subject of Lego vehicles most probably…

After a wonderful competition with our friends at BrickNerd during 2022, 380 posts published, and a site that spans Interviews, Reviews, and the publication of thousands of fan-made models, we’re happy to keep things a little more ‘underground’ in 2023. This means we won’t be chasing the magic million (achieved previously by posting more content), nor rejoining social media, such are its ills. Rather, if you still like what we do, we’ll keep doing that. Several posts a week, showcasing the best Lego vehicles from around the world, plus occasional LEGO news, reviews and interviews will keep us happy. We hope it keeps you happy too : )

Thank you for visiting us, please do let us know what you think of what we do via the comments or the Contact Form, and we’ll see you in 2023.

TLCB Team

LEGO Technic H2 2022 | Set Previews

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Our Elves have been sneaking again! Although we forgot to write about their discovery of the new H2 2022 Technic sets until we saw that LEGO had released them for sale on Monday. Never mind…

So, although you can find these on LEGO.com for sale right now, here are the two new LEGO Technic sets for August 2022!

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42144 Material Handler

First up (above), and looking excellent, is the brand new 42144 Material Handler, an 835-piece recreation of those giant grabby crane things that operate in scrapyards. And seeing as literally everyone wants to have a go at smashing a giant grab through the roof a scrap car, LEGO’s decision to create a fully working Technic version looks rather inspired.

The new 42144 set returns proper pneumatics to the Technic line-up, with a boom extending to 35cm courtesy of two large pneumatic cylinders pressurised by hand, whilst a small pneumatic cylinder opens and closes the grab.

A decent level of mechanical functions are present too, with 42144 including working outriggers, steering, a rotating boom superstructure, and an elevating cab.

It all looks rather good, but so it should do, as the new Technic 42144 Material Handler costs an enormous £105 / $150.

This sizeable price-tag generates a figure of 13p / 18c per piece, which is exactly double that of the 42054 Claas Xerion 5000 from five years ago, and 50% more than the 42111 Dom’s Dodge Charger set from just two years ago.

Perhaps you might not want to scrap that old car after all…

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42145 Airbus H175 Rescue Helicopter

LEGO’s second new arrival for August 2022 brings a helicopter back into the Technic range, a vehicle type that always seems to translate well to the theme. Unlike past iterations though, 42145 is an officially licensed replica of a real-world helicopter, in this case the Airbus H175.

Now as a car blog we have no idea what an Airbus H175 is, and would have been just as happy with a ‘generic’ helicopter, but aircraft fans are likely to enjoy its real-world basis as much as we do LEGO’s officially licensed cars and trucks.

Measuring over 70cm long and aimed at ages 11+, 42145 includes a motor that powers both the main and tail rotor, the rescue winch, and the retractable landing gear, whilst also spinning the engines too, which is a nice touch.

42145’s mechanical functions are limited to opening doors and a working swash plate to control rotor pitch, but seeing as the latter is fiendishly difficult to create that’s probably sufficient.

On sale now, the new Technic 42145 Airbus H175 Rescue Helicopter costs £180 / $210, making it even more expensive than the 42144 Material Handler above. However with a far more reasonable price per piece figure (even with a motor included), it 42145 looks to be the much better value of the two.

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Both new Technic sets are available now via LEGO.com and other retailers, alongside all of the Technic sets from H1 revealed here at TLCB earlier in the year.

Icons 10304 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 | Set Preview

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There’s a new name for the Creator Expert line, and it’s shifted gear a bit!

This is the brand new LEGO ‘Icons’ 10304 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, following the 10298 Vespa 125 revealed earlier this year. And if that set represented the default vehicular choice of pretty Italian girls, this one is more ‘shady-looking character with a handlebar moustache, chewing a toothpick and throwing dice in an alley’. The Icons range is nothing if not diverse!

Aimed at ages 18+ (or rather, the marketing is…), 10304 is constructed from nearly 1,500 pieces and brings the famous 1969 American muscle car into the LEGO’s burgeoning real-world vehicle line-up.

Like the recent 10295 Porsche 911 Turbo set, 10304 adopts a multiple-options approach, with no less than three stripe colour options, coupe or convertible body-styles, and hidden or exposed headlights, neatly matching the variants available on the real Camaro Z28 when it was new over fifty years ago.

Further features include working steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, a detailed V8 engine, and authentic decals for a dose of added realism.

The new Icons 10304 Chevrolet Camaro set is expected to cost around $170 / £150 when it reaches stores in August of this year, giving you plenty of time to grow a suitable handlebar moustache and practice your toothpick chewing in readiness.

Speed Champions 76911 007 Aston Martin DB5 and 76912 Fast & Furious Dodge Charger R/T | Set Previews

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Dun dunu dun dun, dun dun – dun dunu dun dun, dun dun… and, er… whatever the music is from the Fast & Furious franchise. An explosion with Vin Diesel breathing the word ‘Family’ over it probably. Anyway, it’s new set time, and LEGO have introduced two iconic movie cars to the Speed Champions line-up!

76911 007 Aston Martin DB5

Think the Creator 10262 Aston Martin DB5 ‘Goldfinger’ set is a bit pricey? Well LEGO have revealed its smaller brother, the new 76911 Speed Champions 007 Aston Martin DB5, complete with a Daniel Craig-esque mini-figure!

Ultimately the same car as the one used in ‘Goldfinger’, Craig redeploys the DB5 in 2012’s excellent ‘Skyfall’, which raises all sorts of questions about Bond’s chronology. Anyway, let’s not dwell on Bond’s unfathomable age, but rather rejoice in the new Speed Champions arrival, which looks rather good.

A considerable portion of 76911’s realism is due to a myriad of stickers, which – placed as they are on curved pieces – will probably peel off immediately, but nevertheless it looks nice on the box. It’s disappointing to see the trademark Aston Martin grille is a sticker though – surely a brick-built version would’ve been possible?

We’re also a little disappointed that there are no gadgets, making 76911 more of a standard Aston Martin DB5 than 007’s Q-Branch version, but that’s still cool enough, and the decent printed rear canopy piece will be sure to crop up on all sorts of MOCs in time.

The new Speed Champions 76911 007 Aston Martin DB5 will reach stores later this year, and is a welcome addition to the line-up, even if it has got more stickers than Bond has killed henchmen.

 

76912 Fast & Furious 1970 Dodge Charger R/T

From one infamous movie franchise to another, and also another movie car that has already appeared in LEGO form in a larger scale. We quite like the Technic 42111 Dom’s Dodge Charger set, but it is admittedly a bit out of reach for many ‘Fast & Furious’ fans, who are likely a bit young for its 10+ target age and price point.

A ‘Fast & Furious’ Speed Champions set is probably a far better match, and 76912 looks a fine way to bring the franchise to LEGO fans. LEGO have captured the modified 1970 Dodge Charger R/T rather well (and without relying on stickers), plus never has a hairless-mini-figure looked more appropriate than it does here.

The new 76912 Fast & Furious 1970 Dodge Charger R/T looks like a good effort to us, and with LEGO also now having a partnership with Toyota, perhaps – if all wish for it hard enough – that Supra could be next…

BuWizz Camp 2022

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BuWizz Camp 2022!

Our friends over at BuWizz, who sponsored our recent Festival of Mundanity building  competition and power countless creations appearing here at TLCB, are back for 2022!

Held in their home nation of Slovenia this August, the BuWizz Camp features competitions for BuWizz-powered builds, including Sumo, 1:10 Supercars, Mini Racers, and Off-Road contests, all with awesome BuWizz prizes on offer for the winners, and a chance to meet Lego-legends Racing Brick and Sariel.

Tickets are €10/day/person with food and drink included, and you can check out full event details (including the beautiful cabin setting) at the BuWizz Camp page.

Click here to find out more about BuWizz Camp 2022

…And here to read our 5-star review of the incredible BuWizz 3.0 Pro and BuWizz Motor.

Technic 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3 | Set Preview

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This is the brand new flagship LEGO Technic Supercar, and it’s a rather special one…

Following the Technic 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 42083 Bugatti Chiron, and the 42115 Lamborghini we’d never heard of, this is the brand new 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3, the fourth 1:8 scale officially-licensed Technic Supercar to join LEGO’s already impressive back catalogue.

Constructed from 3,778 pieces (four of which are some beautiful new bespoke wheels), 42143 offers spectacular visual realism for a Technic set, with authentic badging, a highly detailed interior behind spring-loaded opening butterfly doors, and a host of working Technic features.

These include a V12 piston engine (with full-size 2×2 pistons), working suspension via some awesome-looking shocks, functional steering, an eight-speed paddle-shift operated sequential gearbox, and functional ‘air boxes’, although we don’t know what that last one means.

Measuring 59cm / 23in in length, the LEGO 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3 is geared as much towards being a display piece as a functional model, as evidenced by the ’18+’ age (also known as the “It’s not just a toy, honest!” excuse), presentation display stand, ‘exclusive packaging’, and the rather wanky optional accompanying coffee table book, ‘The Sense of Perfection’, for an additional $80.

The rather splendid looking LEGO Technic 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3 will be available from the LEGO online store from June, costing a hefty $400 / £350, with other retailers following in August, and you can see more of LEGO’s incredible new Supercar set (and the wanky $80 book) at the dedicated 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3 page via LEGO.com here.

LEGO Technic 42141 McLaren Formula 1™ Race Car | Set Preview

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LEGO Technic 42141 McLaren Formula 1 Car

Here it is! After dropping a few hints when we revealed the rest of the 2022 Technic line-up earlier, this is the brand new 42141 Technic McLaren Formula 1 car.

Which is a surprisingly generic title, given Formula 1 cars usually have ludicrously long names to encompass their various marketing requirements. This is because 42141 isn’t (perhaps disappointingly) a 1:8 scale recreation of a single McLaren Formula 1 car, rather it’s a homage to recent McLaren Formula 1 cars in general, without actually being one in particular.

The reason for this odd approach is due to Formula 1’s regulations changing significantly for 2022, and McLaren haven’t yet revealed their new MCL36 car. Thus the 42141 set uses the new proportions expected, design cues from last year, and the colour scheme from the 2021 MCL35 (although this may well appear again in 2022) to create an approximation of a modern McLaren racer. Perhaps LEGO could’ve just waited a bit?

The sponsors are all present and correct though, with accurately recreated decals (‘splunk’ being our favourite) adorning many panels just like the real thing. Er, things. Several of the panels are new too, debuting on 42141 alongside the return of the Batmobile Tumbler wheels (which are wrongly the same front and rear, boo.), and the appearance of some new Technic frame pieces.

There are 1,432 pieces in all, contributing to a sizeable 65cm length, and – perhaps less so – to the ’18+’ age range on the box. Which we all know is just a marketing ploy.

With a working V6 engine, suspension, steering, and an oddly-locking differential (we’re not sure why an F1 car would have this?), 42141 contains nothing more advanced than you would expect to find on a 10+ Technic set, but with ’18+’ printed on a black box, LEGO can both sell this set to adults more easily and charge more for it; 42141 is due to cost around $180/£160.

Which to us seems rather a lot for a model that isn’t actually a McLaren Formula 1 car – despite also definitely being one – and which has more marketing than substance.

Then again, that might just make it the most realistic Formula 1 car you could ever wish for…

LEGO Technic 2022 | Set Previews! (Pt.2)

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It’s been two months since the survivors of the select group of Elven ‘volunteers’ tasked with uncovering the new-for-2022 Technic sets returned from The LEGO Company’s HQ. We were down a couple of Elves of course, but you don’t make an omelette without a few Elves getting eaten by the guard dogs. Or something.

But no! Some eight weeks later three very bedraggled and rather thin Elves have made it back! Which means we have three more brand new Technic sets to share with you – huzzah. So without further preamble, here are the final* three new additions to the 2022 Technic line-up.

42140 App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle

The first is this, the ‘Transformation Vehicle’, which is a title both rather meaningless and wrong, as it doesn’t transform at all. What it does do is flip upside-down, revealing another body underneath, and we’d be lying if we said we weren’t properly excited about this!

Controlled by LEGO’s new Control+ app, 42140 can skid steer after the cat via your mobile phone, and if you accidentally turn it over against a chair leg, you can simply carry on using the blue body rather than the orange one shown here, thus continuing the pet torment.

It doesn’t appear as if 42140 does anything else, but nevertheless it looks great fun, although – full disclosure – we may have been influenced heavily by adverts for the Tyco Rebound as children. And yes, toy commercials really were like that in the mid-’90s.

The 42140 App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle includes 772 pieces, is aimed at aged 9+, and is expected to cost around $130/£115 when it reaches stores in March. Your cat’s definitely going to meet its match.

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42133 Telehandler

From $130 cat-chasing devices to a 143-piece pocket-money starter set. The 42133 Telehandler is one of the smallest Technic sets in the 2022 range, costing just $13/£9, and – as starter sets go – it’s perfectly good. There’s working steering (although at the front rather than the rear), and a boom that can raise/lower mechanically too, whilst keeping the fork level. A decent entry point for the Technic range.

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42139 All-Terrain Vehicle

The largest of the final three* sets to join the 2022 Technic line-up is this, the 42139 All-Terrain Vehicle. We’d call this a ‘quad’ in our home nation, which of course it isn’t as it has six wheels. All six are suspended, with a pendular axle on the front and shocks at the back, there’s working steering via the handlebars, a tipping load bed, winch, and a piston engine with a high/low range gearbox.

Which all looks rather good we think, although the stickers are probably unnecessary, plus there’s a chain-saw and a few logs so you can pretend to be a lumberjack.

42139 is aimed at ages 10+, features 764 pieces, and is expected to cost around $80/£65 when it reaches stores. It’s also probably our favourite of the bunch. Unless we want to chase cats.

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*You may have noticed a few asterisk symbols in this post. That’s because these aren’t quite the final three new Technic sets. There’s one more to come, and it might just carry both ‘McLaren’ and ‘Formula 1’ licensing….

Speed Champions 2022 | Set Previews

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The first month of 2022 is almost done, and our Elves have been sneaking! Sent on a mission to infiltrate The LEGO Company’s HQ, they have to sneak for fear of being eaten by a guard dog, but those that do manage to avoid the teeth of the German Shepherds return as heroes, held aloft by their peers to Elven chanting, and awarded a meal token by us TLCB staff.

You’d think they’d have figured out this is a wildly insufficient reward, but the office catapult ensures a regular flow of ‘volunteers’. Anyway, on to their finds – the brand new for 2022 LEGO Speed Champions sets. And they’re corkers!

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76906 – 1970 Ferarri 512 M

The first new set of 2022’s Speed Champions line-up is already one of our favourites ever, and we’ve only been looking at the box. The new 76906 1970 Ferrari 512 M is a glorious homage to the car that was… er, soundly beaten by Porsche at Le Mans. It did win the 12 Hours of Sebring though, and was regarded as equally fast as the conquering Porsche, just not as reliable.

LEGO’s Speed Champions version of the Ferrari 512 M looks magnificent, utilising a Star Wars canopy piece amongst some very cleverly printed parts to accurately capture the real car.

The historic livery means there’s no need for a smorgasbord of stickers, and LEGO have resisted the urge to include a pointless gantry or other trackside paraphernalia too, keeping the piece number, and – more importantly – price down to pocket money levels.

Expect 76906 to cost around $20 when it reaches stores later this year, and we absolutely love it.

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76907 – Lotus Evija

The second new set for 2022 jumps forward from 50 years ago to, well… the future actually, as the Evija isn’t even out yet. 76907 brings another legendary car maker to the Speed Champions line up, and – we hope – opens the door for some of the greatest classic racing cars ever made.

But before we start fantasising about classic Team Lotus F1 cars (although their tobacco sponsorship liveries might prove a bit tricky these days…), the first Speed Champions Lotus is their newest model, and is interestingly pictured on the box navigating the driveway of Goodwood House.

247 pieces, relatively light stickerage, and a good approximation of the new supercar make 76907 a solid if not especially memorable effort, but a welcome addition nonetheless. We’re exited for more Lotus sets to come.

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76908 – Lamborghini Countach

Yup, finally! The definitive 1970s-1980s supercar has made it into the LEGO Speed Champions range, and it’s every bit as good as the previous 76899 Lamborghini Urus isn’t…

LEGO have chosen a ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ spec Countach for 76908, which means a big wing, white bodywork, and a stronger ’80s vibe than parachute pants.

There are 262 pieces, including a mini-figure armed with a spanner (this is a classic Lamborghini after all), and some well chosen decals to enhance the model’s accuracy, without it being reliant upon them. A great effort, and well worth the expected $20 price when it arrives in March 2022.

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76909 – Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance & Mercedes-AMG Project One

The longest title of the 2022 line-up goes to 76909, thanks to it being the first double-vehicle set within the new Speed Champions range, and because modern F1 cars have every sub-brand possible squeezed into their names for depressing marketing purposes.

Silly name aside though, it does look rather good. The Mercedes-AMG-F1-ReallyLongName does a great job capturing the real deal, with even the tyres matching those used on the actual racing car. There are of course lots of stickers, but they’re more appropriate here as real-world sponsorship liveries are effectively giant stickers anyway.

LEGO’s 8-wide replica of the much-delayed Mercedes-AMG Project One looks fine, if nothing more, and would probably be the weakest set within the 2022 line-up if sold on its own.

564 pieces, two mini-figures, and an ‘interactive digital building guide’ are included, for an expected price of around $30/£35.

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76910 – Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro & Aston Martin Vantage

The final new Speed Champions set of 2022 is this, the 76910 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro & Aston Martin Vantage.

With double the cars and double the pieces, but not double the price ($30 is expected), 76910 looks to be a good value addition to the line-up from a price-per-piece perspective.

Which is handy, as despite the slightly older starting age indicating more complicated building techniques, we’re less than sold on the visuals of either the Valkyrie or Vantage, which seem heavily reliant on stickers to replicate their real-world counterparts. Which is cheating, obviously.

Still, we expect 76910 will race off the shelves. A pair of lime-green Aston Martins can’t not appeal to a nine-year-old!

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That’s the 2022 Speed Champions line-up, and it is – we think – mostly really good. The new sets will be on sale from March of this year, and should continue the roaring success of the franchise. More real-world classics please LEGO, they work beautifully! We’ll take that Ferrari 512 M…

Something Boring is Coming…

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Huh? A building contest celebrating the unexceptional? A collaboration between one of the best Lego blogs around and, er… this smoking hole in the ground. Stay tuned for more imminent mundanity! Let’s start 2022 with a yawn.

Technic 42130 BMW M 1000 RR | Set Preview

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After being less than impressed with the first group of 2022 Technic sets, we were hoping something special was yet to be uncovered. And it has been!

This is the brand new 42130 Technic BMW M 1000 RR, the largest motorcycle set LEGO have ever made, and perhaps the largest scale ever used for a vehicle too, at an enormous 1:5.

So, the awkward bit; 42130 will cost over $200.

Which is a lot. But then the real BMW M 1000 RR costs around $30,000, so that astronomical figure for a motorcycle is rather authentic.

What upwards of $200 gets you is 1,920 pieces, including some splendid new wheels, windshield and brake parts, ultra-realistic and suitably M-Sport coloured farings, working steering, front and rear suspension, a three-speed gearbox, and a four-cylinder piston engine.

Two display stands and a black ’18+’ box (plus that hefty price tag) mark the 42130 Technic BMW M 1000 RR set out as part of LEGO’s recently created ‘adult’ product line, and if you consider yourself one of those you can get your hands on it early next year.

Despite the price, we just might…

LEGO Technic 2022 | Set Previews! (Pt.1)

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It’s that time of year again! Yup, this year’s select group of Eleven ‘volunteers’ – fired over The LEGO Company’s perimeter wall by way of the office catapult – have started to return, and today we can share with you the first batch of their finds!

So here they are, the brand new for 2022 LEGO Technic sets (Part 1)…

42132 Chopper

We start at the smaller end of the Technic range with this, the rather lovely looking 42123 Chopper. Aimed at ages 7+ and with just 163 pieces, 42123 should make for an excellent pocket-money set, and we think it’s absolutely perfect.

In recent times many smaller Technic sets have been woefully lacking any Technicness whatsoever, but not 42123, which features steering, chain drive, and a miniature piston engine. It also looks great and there’s a B-Model too. Perhaps one of the best Technic starter sets in years.

42134 Monster Jam Megalodon

Aaaand cue the Pull-Backs, which have historically been utter garbage. However last years’ sets brought two Monster Jam licensed monster trucks to bedroom floors, and we thought they were rather good. They still had zero Technic functionality, but if you’re going to jump a Technic set over a book-based ramp it might as well be a monster truck.

Continuing the success of the 2021 Pull-Backs, LEGO are bringing another pair of Monster Jam trucks to the Technic line-up for 2022, the first being 42134 Megalodon. A good representation of the real truck, 42134 resembles a giant shark with wheels, and what’s not to like about that? 260 pieces, colourful stickers, a reasonable B-Model, and a pocket-money friendly price are all expected.

42135 El Toro Loco

El Toro Loco (the crazy bull) is 2022’s second Pull-Back, and whilst perhaps not quite as accurate to the real Monster Jam Truck as 42134, it still looks pretty good. And it’ll no doubt jump over a line of toy cars beautifully.

247 pieces, lots of stickerage, and a B-Model too make the continuing Monster Jam line of Pull-Backs the best of the genre by some margin. They may not be particularly Technicy, but you can’t fire any of the other LEGO sets into a group of unsuspecting Elves in quite the same way, and for that alone there’s merit.

42137 Formula E Porsche 99X Electric

Ah, this is awkward. After praising the Monster Jam monster trucks as the best Pull-Back sets, here’s er… another, better, Pull-Back set. Or is it?

The 42137 Formula E Porsche 99X is certainly a bigger, more complex set. With 422 pieces and aimed at ages 9+, the building experience will be more in-keeping with proper Technic sets, and it does looks fairly accurate – no doubt helped by the real-world racing sponsorship decals.

But should a 422-piece Technic set do nothing beyond being a Pull-Back? OK, there is a mechanism to release said motor once it’s been wound, but that’s it. No steering, no suspension, and – albeit realistically as this is a Formula E racer – no engine either.

What 42137 does offer is LEGO’s first attempt at augmented reality, in which the model can appear to be somewhere it’s not courtesy of an app.

Said app might be really cool in practice, but if the set using it has no other features, is it a Technic set at all? It’s a thumbs down from us.

42138 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

Wait, what? Another one? LEGO must be really pleased with their new augmented reality feature…

The final set in Part 1 of our 2022 Technic preview is yet another Pull-Back, and another Ford Mustang, following the Speed Champions and Creator sets from past years.

This time it’s the latest Shelby GT500 variant that gets reborn in LEGO form, and it does look rather epic, particularly in lime green with racing stripes (although the sticker rear lights are rather lazy).

What’s considerably less epic is the feature-count, which – like the 42137 Formula E Porsche 99X – is limited to one; a pull-back motor with a mechanical release.

The augmented reality app may well be awesome, but a near 550-piece Technic set with just one working feature seems very weak to us. Perhaps we’re just getting old.

So there you have it, Part 1 of the 2022 LEGO Technic line-up, a new augmented reality app, and all but one set being a Pull-Back. We’ll take that little chopper motorcycle…

LEGO Technic 42127 The Batman Batmobile | Set Preview

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Controversial opinion: The world needs another comic book superhero movie rehash like a second Trump presidency.

And yet, thanks to Hollywood seemingly only funding sequels, prequels and spin-offs, that’s exactly what we’re going to get. Again.

And, as LEGO have a licensing agreement with DC Comics, that means we’re going to get another Batmobile set. Again.

This is the new LEGO Technic 42127 ‘The Batman’ Batmobile, and it looks bloody awful. Vaguely reminiscent of a muscle car with a barbecue in the boot, the new Batmobile makes for both a poor Technic set and movie car.

1,360 pieces, working steering, opening doors, a light brick that we don’t understand, and a barbecue in the boot do not seem to warrant an age recommendation of 10+, which we suspect has everything to do with marketing to a target group and nothing to do with build complexity.

42127 joins a series of ‘The Batman’ sets that span several LEGO themes, precluding the movie’s arrival in 2022. Still, at least LEGO have released a new Batmobile Tumbler set too…