It’s time! After a period lost in space, and with the Elves that managed not to become German-Shepherd-snacks safely back at TLCB Towers, we can reveal the brand new for 2024 LEGO Technic line-up. And it’s such a good one…

42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer

LEGO have released several Technic bulldozers over the years, with recent incarnations being large enough to actually bulldoze. However we kick-off the 2024 Technic range with one that marks its entry point, the lovely 42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer.

Aimed at ages 7+ and with under 200 pieces, 42163 is the best starter set we’ve had in a long time, and includes rotating tracks plus a neat worm-gear driven blade elevation mechanism, controlled via a cog on the roof. A few System parts add realism and – joy – it needs no stickers whatsoever. Top work LEGO.

42164 Off-Road Race Buggy

The excellentness continues with the second new Technic set for 2024, the 42164 Off-Road Race Buggy. Aimed at ages 8+, the 219-piece ORRB looks a bit like ‘RC’ from ‘Toy Story’, and it seems LEGO have remembered more than just that computer-animated movie from 1995, having equipped 42164 with proper mechanical functionality that we thought they’d all but forgotten in recent starter sets.

Harking back to those mid-’90s Technic sets, 42164 includes working rear suspension via a single-shock, a miniature V4 piston engine turned by the rear wheels, opening doors, and – more unusually – tilt steering (like a skateboard).

The set also features good visual details, some almost comically generic stickers (what should be written on the side of a buggy if not ‘buggy’?), and some rather non-off-roady tyres, but overall we think the 42164 ORRB looks great, presenting another fine way for newcomers to begin Technic building…

42166 NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team & 42169 NEOM McLaren Formula E Team

…unlike these two. OK, that’s a little unfair, because LEGO do seem to have got their head around ‘Pull-Backs’ after some dismal efforts, with recent sets being visually appealing and bringing some unusual licenses to the range. 2024 continues this trend with the 42166 NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team and 42169 NEOM McLaren Formula E Team sets.

Aimed at ages 7+ and 9+ respectively, the new sets recreate two of McLaren’s non-F1 race teams, both of which are electrically-powered. Each does a decent job of reflecting its real-world counterpart, although via the assistance of a million stickers, whilst the 452-piece 42169 Formula E car (the most pieces for a Pull-Back ever?) also includes working steering alongside the obligatory kinetic motor. Operating this whilst deploying the aforementioned motor is probably the trickiest thing you’ll ever do however…

42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck

The electric and officially-licensed trend continues with the next new addition to the 2024 Technic range, the superb-looking 42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck.

Constructed from just over 500 pieces and aimed at ages 8+, 42167 resembles a miniaturised version of the 42078 Mack Anthem B-Model, and features some lovely mechanical functions, including working steering, a side-mounted bin emptying mechanism, and a tipping compactor, all controlled by hand via various cogs.

Wearing thoroughly excellent messaging and with a few new parts too, 42167 could be the pick of the range when it reaches stores early next year.

42168 John Deere 9700 Forage Harvester

Away from the starter sets and things are getting bigger, although not by much. This is the 42168 John Deere 9700 Forage Harvester, a 559-piece replica of the ‘self propelled forage harvester’ fitted with ‘ProStream Cropflow’ and ‘XStream KPTM’, according to the excerpts we took from John Deere’s website. We’re not really sure what any of that means, nor that 42168 needed to be an officially licensed set, but we suppose it’s nice to have the added authenticity.

Working rear steering and an elevating and spinning harvesting header (via many yellow cogs linked to a small jockey wheel on the ground) are the working features, which is actually a little less than the smaller 42167 Mack and 42164 ORRB. Still, if ‘Farming Simulator’ is your thing, then the 42168 Forage Harvester may be your cream of the crop when it reaches stores alongside the rest of the 2024 Technic range in January.

42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R

The final new Technic set in our H1 2024 preview is this, the 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R. Yup, LEGO have partnered with another motorcycle manufacturer following their successful collaborations with BMW Motorrad, Yamaha, Harley Davidson, and Ducati, bringing Kawaski’s legendary Ninja to the Technic line-up.

In doing so, 42170 doesn’t actually bring anything new to the Technic Superbike genre beyond the new partnership, but it does offer as much in the way of working functionality as its predecessors, with working steering and suspension, a foot-peg operated two-speed plus neutral gearbox, and a piston engine buried somewhere inside the frame.

Aimed at ages 10+ and with 643 pieces, the 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R will join the rest of the 2024 Technic line-up in stores early next year, which – in case you missed it – includes a few new additions we really weren’t expecting.

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Let us know your favourite new 2024 Technic set in the comments. Us? We’ll be picking up the trash in the 42167 Mack LE Electric Garbage Truck. Although… there is one set number as yet unfilled…