Tag Archives: Formula E

LEGO Technic H1 2024 | Set Previews

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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…

Bricky E-ish

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The future of racing is electric. Because the future of everything is electric, unless we can sort hydrogen out.

Formula E is the FIA’s flagship electric racing series, in which unsuccessful Formula 1 departees drive, um… not particularly quickly around giant carparks. Oh. At least the cars look cool.

Cue R. Skittle‘s ‘Formula e Concept’ – suggested to us by a reader – which looks a lot more like a traditional racing car than the wild current Formula E car. However with twin BuWizz batteries and motors, it might also have performance more in line with a traditional racing car than a Formula E car too.

A Power Functions servo motor provides the steering, there’s clever independent pushrod suspension, and – apparently – torque vectoring for a drift mode! If this is the future of electric racing sign us up!

Join the electric revolution at R. Skittle’s Flickr album via the link above.

Positively Charged

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Formula 1 is looking increasingly out of place by the day. Despite the return of some great tracks in 2020 and the addition of some new ones (thanks to Coronavirus), the multitude of penalties, strict development regulations, huge costs, and one-team dominance often make it not very fun at all.

Worse, it seems manufacturers can’t translate the sport to the products people actually buy. Honda have announced their departure, just as they have a decent engine after years of struggle. Williams, once a dominant force, have handed themselves over to an equity company in a desperate bid to not be completely crap. And Ferrari… well they’re still earning a disproportionally huge revenue and marketing cigarettes to children.

So what alternatives are there for racing fans? The WRC is becoming cool again, but is still in the shadow of its glory days, WEC/Le Mans would be fantastic if more than one manufacturer could build a top-tier car, and NASCAR is still blobs driving round in a circle. Which leaves Formula E… We know we know, it used to be awful, but hear us out.

No less than nine of the twelve teams are backed by manufacturers, including BMW, Porsche, Nissan, and even Jaguar, and gone are the ridiculous days of drivers having to change cars mid-way through the race because the batteries were too small to last race distance.

The batteries are a common part shared between all teams however, along with the the chassis and aero – which we think is a shame as all the cars look exactly the same – but the motors, inverter, gearbox, and software to run it all are team-specific. The stupid fan-boost remains, but apart from that it’s really starting to look rather good, with the current Formula E cars called ‘Gen 2 Evo’ to ensure their differences to the formula’s  slightly rubbish beginnings are clear.

It’s one of these Formula E ‘Gen 2 Evo’ cars that we have here today, as built by previous bloggee R. Skittle and featuring its own electric propulsion thanks to LEGO’s new Powered-Up bluetooth system. A full gallery of over twenty images is available to view and you can charge over to Flickr via the link to take a closer look. Which it might be worth doing with the actual Formula E too…

Lego in Lock-Down

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Lock-down is easing here in TLCB’s home nation, but for many of you it’s still very much in force. Plus it’s not like Coronavirus has gone away, so we fully expect it to return, with the world watching on in horror, like a second Trump presidency.

However you guys have been busy during your time indoors, utilising your existing LEGO sets to create new models and maybe bag yourselves an awesome SBrick Plus Pro Pack! We’ve got three blog-worthy competition entries for you today, starting with  David Bersia’s brilliant Formula E racing car, built only from the parts found within the 42093 Technic Chevrolet Corvette.

Being electric the Corvette’s V8 engine naturally makes no appearance here, but Davide’s model does include working steering and a properly good execution of Formula E’s Gen 2 bodywork. Click here to head to Flickr to see more of Davide’s creation, where building instructions and two other Lock-Down B-Model contest entries can also be found.

You don’t need a Technic set to enter TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model competition though, as our next two entrants demonstrate. On the left newcomer 14sandee has redeployed the pieces from the excellent 75895 Speed Champions Porsche 911 Turbo set to create his neat single-seat racer, whilst on the right previous entrant Tomik has used the 40171 Friends Hedgehog to construct, er… a hedgecopter? Points for originality with that one!

There’s more to see of 14sandee’s Porsche 911 Turbo B-Model via the link above, and Tomik’s hedgecopter on Flickr and Eurobricks, where he has published some other ingenious B-Model contest entries too…

Electric Avenue*

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As the Volkswagen empire of evil tries to re-brand itself after dieselgate, electric vehicles have charged (hah!) to the front of their strategy. Which is a good thing. If the world’s largest automotive company gets behind EVs, even if they are not the silver bullet for halting global warming that some would have us believe (those batteries have to be made somewhere), we’ll hopefully be a bit further down the path towards a planet that isn’t a burning ball of dust.

Porsche – as one of the newer members of the Volkswagen group – are also in on the electrified action, with the new (and most excellent looking) Taycan, a series of hybrids, and this; the 99X works Formula E entry.

Built by previous bloggee Malte Dorowski this neat and ridiculously complicated recreation of the 99X captures the sci-fi looks of the real Formula E racer perfectly, and there’s more to see of his electric Porsche at his 99X album on Flickr. Click the link to take a look.

*Obligatory title song

75898 Speed Champions Formula E Panasonic Jaguar Racing | Set Preview

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LEGO have electrified the Speed Champions range! This is the new 76898 Formula E Panasonic Jaguar Racing GEN2 & I-Pace eTrophy set, the latest addition to the brilliant officially-licensed Speed Champions line-up (and the set with probably the longest name yet).

Bringing both Formula E and Jaguar into the Speed Champions fold is an exciting tie-up, particularly if it opens the door to other sets from Jaguar’s glorious back-catalogue.

The new 76989 set includes two cars from the Panasonic Jaguar Racing team; both the GEN2 Formula E racer and the road-car based I-Pace eTrophy support racer. Each car takes the scale up slightly from past Speed Champions sets, allowing for two mini-figures to sit side-by-side in the I-Pace, plus the set also includes a start/finish gantry and accurate decals to recreate the real Panasonic Jaguar team livery.

We think that the I-Pace – whilst a superb real car by all accounts – doesn’t translate particularly well in brick form, looking a bit like an iron, but the Formula E car certainly looks striking in the brick, especially in Jaguar’s electric blue. 76989 will reach stores in January of 2020, bringing with it two welcome partnerships to the Speed Champions range. More please LEGO!