Tag Archives: Mack

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…

OK Boomer

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This mighty Mack Granite boom truck was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr, and – as we unfortunately discovered – it’s just the sort of vehicle that can be used to raise an Elf to a door handle, enable them to break into the stationary cupboard, and eat all the glue sticks. Thanks JLui15.

Still, the model is excellent, and the aforementioned heist-come-feast isn’t exactly JLui’s fault. An elevating boom, a working winch, and functional outriggers all extend from the exceptionally tidy Mack Granite base, and there’s more to see at JLui15’s ‘LEGO Technic Mack Granite Boom Truck’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to boom on over.

Mack and Cheese

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This beautiful creation is a Mack R Series, one of America’s most ubiquitous heavy duty trucks, introduced in the 1960s and built for almost forty years, they were even made under license in Iran.

R Series trucks came in a huge variety of cab and drive configurations, with this lovely Lego version depicting a simple 6×4 single cab hauling a container trailer.

It’s the work of previous bloggee Vladimir Drozd, who has captured the Mack’s subtle curves brilliantly using a wealth of ‘cheese slopes’, curved bricks and wedges.

Underneath the superbly replicated bodywork Vladimir has fitted a Power Functions remote control drivetrain, with motorised drive and steering, working suspension, and a mechanised fifth-wheel trailer hitch, whilst the trailer itself also includes suspension and working support legs.

Photographed and presented beautifully, there’s more to see of Vladimir’s wonderful Mack R Series on Flickr – click the link in the text above to take a look.

My Other Truck’s a Mack

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This excellent looking Technic Mercedes-Benz truck was discovered by one of our Elves on Brickshelf today, coming from previous bloggee mpl and being constructed solely from the parts found within the enormous Technic 42078 Mack Anthem set.

Like its parts-source, mpl’s Mercedes-Benz alternate features a detailed cab interior, opening doors, functioning steering, and a working fifth wheel.

Interestingly, mpl has chosen only to re-use the parts from the tractor portion of the 42078 set, whilst retaining the infuriating trailer. We’d probably have had a go at improving that too, but that’s only because it annoys us.

There’s more to see of mpl’s 42078 Mercedes-Benz B-Model (and that carry-over trailer) on Brickshelf via the first link above, plus you can read our review of the original set via the second.

My Other Truck’s a Truck. And a Bugatti…

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…and a whatever this is. Making their TLCB debut with not one but three creations is Wojtek Hildebrandt, who has constructed a trio of alternates for TLCB Lock-Down B-Model Competition.

The first is – apparently – a ‘Mechanical Ant’, built from the Technic 42080 Forest Machine set, and it’s terrifying. Particularly if you’re an Elf, because through a combination of mechanical, pneumatic, and motorised functions, all of those spiky-looking implements can be made to whirl menacingly. There’s articulated steering too, making the ant easily manoeuvrable, and a rotating and raising cabin to get a better view of the carnage occurring beneath. Head to Wojtek’s ‘Mechanical Ant’ album on Flickr by clicking here to see more.

Wojtek’s second contest entry takes the enormous Technic 42078 Mack Anthem set (which includes instructions for one of LEGO’s best B-Models in years), and adds another alternative build, this rather brilliant Mack terminal tractor. A working six-cylinder engine sits alongside the offset cab, which features a rotating seat and working steering. The huge parts source has also allowed Wojtek to build an assortment of towing options, including an articulated trailer and a sliding container mount for the truck itself. Find out more by clicking here.

Wojtek’s final competition entry is even more unusual, and takes one of LEGO’s most iconic recent sets, the spectacular Technic 42083 Bugatti Chiron, to create this; the ‘Bugatti EB-Double’. A twin V8-engined truck complete with a Bugatti grille and taillights from the Chiron, Wojtek’s creation features working steering, a huge deployable rear wing (that operates automatically depending upon which of the four gears is selected), working suspension, and a cab that does something very weird indeed, converting the ‘EB-Double’ into a Mercedes-Benz Renntransporter-esque vehicle for maximum originality points. There’s more to see of Wojtek’s amazing alternate on Flickr – click here to make the jump!

My Other Truck’s a Mack

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LEGO enormous 42078 Technic Mack Anthem set both impressed and infuriated us in equal measure when we reviewed it here last year. One of the set’s major plus points though is the huge quantity and variety of parts included, making it a superb acquisition for builders looking to expand their brick collection. Or build a C-Model…

This is mpj’s Volvo 8×4 crane truck C-Model (so called because the set already includes instructions for a rather nice B-Model), built entirely from the parts found within the 42078 Mack Anthem set – although with a few new stickers added.

Volvo Trucks own Mack Trucks (but not Volvo Cars weirdly) so there is a neat link between mpj’s model and the truck from the set. Like the original, mpj’s build features purely mechanical functions, with the outriggers, crane rotation, three-stage boom, and two-axle steering all controlled by hand.

The design also leaves around 1,000 of the 42078 set’s 2,500 parts unused, so there’s plenty left over to create all sorts of items for the Volvo’s flatbed.

There’s more to see of mpj’s excellent C-Model at the Eurobricks forum, where you can also find a link to instructions should you wish to turn your own Mack Anthem into a Volvo 8×4 crane truck for yourself. Take a look via the link above, and you can read our review of the original 42078 Technic set by clicking on the first link in the text.

Mack Mystery

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Here at The Lego Car Blog we love hearing your suggestions when our Elves may have missed a blog-worthy creation. However we do also receive self-requests, which we politely decline. This week though, we received an unusual email to our direct mailbox from a builder wishing to share their model with us, but not wanting the fame/glory/riches/girls that obviously follow when someone’s creation is published here.

We pondered this, and decided that we would grant their request to publicise their model anonymously, as… well, we’re anonymous too*. It also helped that the model is spectacular.

This gorgeous recreation of the Mack RL700L from the movie ‘Convoy’ comes from, er… we can’t say, and it is near perfect replica of the movie star truck. Complete with accurate decals and incredible detail throughout, it’s one of the finest truck builds of the year so far, with presentation further enhanced by a ‘Convoy’ appropriate desert background.

There’s more to see at, wait… no there’s not. However you can click on the images here to see them in a larger scale and you can check out the summary/trailer from the 1978 film in which this truck featured by clicking here.

*We have enough trouble declining countless offers of affection without the intense celebrity that would doubtless occur if we weren’t anonymous here.

Game of Bricks – Light Kit (42078 Mack Anthem) | Review

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The Lego Fan Community is a marvellous thing. Like all the best products, LEGO has the scope – and the adaptability – to allow for improvement, with bluetooth remote control, custom decals, and even bespoke mini-figures available through third party providers to help builders to personalise their own creations and official sets.

One area that LEGO themselves dabble in is LED lights, with a pair available through their Power Functions range. But what if you want more? Like, lots more?

That’s where Game of Bricks come in, a new start-up offering tailored lighting kits for existing LEGO sets. The guys at GoB contacted us to see if we’d like an early test of a one of their kits, and a box for the huge 42078 LEGO Technic Mack Anthem set duly arrived here at TLCB Towers. So how did it fair? Read on to find out!

Packaging & Product

First impressions were excellent, with the Game of Bricks Mack Anthem kit arriving in a secure and rather nice box, with a mass of wires and lights neatly packaged within it. Unpackaging it undoes much of that neatness unfortunately, as a lot of lights means a lot of wires, but more on that in a bit.

The wires themselves are extraordinarily thin, so much so we feared breaking them, but it turns out they’re remarkably robust, and their slim profile allows them to (mostly) fit between bricks without issue. Attached to these are the lights themselves, each glued inside a non-Lego brick that replaces the non-functional light pieces on the model. These non-LEGO replacements are a good match, although their clutch power is slightly variable, and each has a hole drilled through it to allow the ultra-thin wires to pass through.

Power comes from a battery box (or two in the case of our kit) that takes AAA batteries and plugs into the wires via a USB connection. This makes disconnecting the battery boxes to change them an easy process, plus you can plug your lights into a USB port should you wish. So far, so good.

And then we got to the instructions… Continue reading →

42078 Technic Mack Anthem | Review

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Lego Technic 42078 Mack Anthem Review

It’s review time here at The Lego Car Blog and this time we’ve got a big one. Literally. This is the 42078 Mack Anthem Technic set, and it’s huge. Very possibly the longest Technic set ever(?), 42078 consists of two separate models, and one large white shipping container.

Inside all of that bigness there are no motors, no electronics, and no pneumatics, just lots of cogs and gears. This is an old-school Technic set. Apart that is, from the way it looks.

There’s been a trend within the Technic range in recent years to add ever more visual realism, sometimes to great effect, and 42078 continues this but takes it to a whole new level. Sort of. We’ll explain…

The Truck

The Mack Anthem truck is a realistic replica of the real deal, being officially licensed from Mack and including some of both the biggest and smallest stickers ever fitted to a Technic set to help achieve the desired look. It’s also festooned with lights and intricate detailing (including a unique golden bulldog mascot piece), contains a fully equipped interior that even includes a bed in the sleeper portion of the cab, and features… well, not all that much Technic.

It’s a trick that the Lego Community has used for years, adding working functions to visually realistic creations, to get the best of both worlds. LEGO have definitely taken this approach with 42078, and we think they may have started with the look and added functions afterwards, which is probably the opposite to the way Technic sets were designed in the past.

The result is rather a pleasing one as the truck looks great, certainly better in reality than it does in the pictures. The hood opens up to reveal a miniature straight-6 piston engine (of the sort the Lego Community has been building for years) driven by the rear wheels, the doors open to reveal a very realistic interior, there’s steering via Hand-of-God that also turns the steering wheel (although not much – surely as you’ll never steer this set from inside the cab it could have a realistic steering wheel ratio LEGO?), and a working fifth wheel. And that’s it.

So not a lot if we’re honest, especially considering its size, but just enough to qualify it as a Technic set. And then we come on to our earlier-mentioned ‘sort of’; the trailer…

Lego Technic 42078 Mack Anthem Review

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Anthem Air

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Lego Mach Anthem

LEGO’s own 42078 Mack Anthem set is the flagship of the H1 2018 Technic range. With nearly 2,600 pieces it’s one of the biggest Technic sets ever, but that hasn’t stopped Paliason deciding to go even bigger. This is what he’s built, a simply astonishing Mack Anthem 70″ sleeper truck complete with a Landoll 825E-AG lowboy trailer, upon which is spectacular Sikorsky H19 Chickasaw U.S Air Force rescue helicopter.

Lego Mach Anthem

Each of the three builds is a work of art in its own right, featuring beautiful custom decals and a variety of functions. The Mack Anthem includes a piston engine underneath a tilting hood, a detailed cab interior inside opening doors, and working steering, whilst the Landoll trailer behind it features a working detachable gooseneck and side extensions.

Lego Sikorsky H19 CHICKASAW

The amazing Sikorsky H19 rescue helicopter adds a pair of Power Functions motors that turn the main and tail rotors, and features one of the coolest cockpits we’ve ever seen in LEGO form.

There’s much more to see of Paliason’s incredible trio of creations at the Eurobricks discussion forum. Make the jump to Eurobricks by clicking here, and if you’d like to see how LEGO themselves did it way back in 1990 you can read our review of the classic Model Team 5590 Heli-Transport set by clicking here.

Lego Mack Anthem Truck & Sikorsky H19 Helicopter

Space Truckin’

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Lego Space Truck

Today’s creation is huge, very well travelled, and is a frequent visitor of truck-stops. Just like your Mom.

Built by Robert Heim it’s called ‘Space Truck 2’, and unlike your Mom it looks seriously cool. Join the convoy in space via the link to Flickr above.

Optimus Primary

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Lego Mack Superliner 6x6 RC

Lego models aren’t often constructed in primary colours these days. However a quick look back through our Review Library reveals that once-upon-a-time primary colours were very much in vogue. Due mostly to the fact that other hues were not available, but still.

Today’s find takes us back to the era of crayon-coloured Lego models, being this glorious primary-coloured Mack Superliner 6×6 RC by Flickr’s spongebrickpl, and it makes us think that basic colouring is due a resurgence!

There’s more to see of spongerbrick’s blue, yellow and red Mack Superliner complete with Power Functions six-wheel-drive, pendular suspension and remote control steering via the link above, and if like the Elves you’re still learning your colours, this scientific explanation may help…

Lego Mack Superliner 6x6 RC

Mack Daddy

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Lego Mack LMSW 6x4 Wrecker

This utterly wonderful vehicle is a 1940s Mack LMSW 6×4 wrecker, as used by both civilian towing companies and the British and Canadian military during the Second World War. The LMSW was powered by a 10-litre 6-cylinder petrol engine driving the two rear axles, with a Garwood single and later double crane (as shown here) mounted above them, each of which was capable of lifting 8 tons. The fiendishly complicated-looking booms and stabilisers are actually very simple, using steel wires to winch into position without the need for hydraulics and other complications.

Lego Mack LMSW 6x4 Wrecker SBrick

This stunning Model Team creation comes from Flickr’s Dirk Klijn and he’s recreated the classic Mack absolutely beautifully. Underneath the unbelievably realistic and superbly detailed exterior is a fully remote controlled drive train, with a combination of XL and Servo motors plus a third-party SBrick bluetooth controller allowing the model to be driven via the SBrick app on a mobile phone.

Dirk’s model is one of the finest Lego trucks you’ll find anywhere and there’s more to see of his Mack LMSW on Flickr. Head over to the Mack’s Flickr album via the link in the text above for all of the superb images.

Lego Mack LMSW RC SBrick

Technic 42078 – Mack Anthem | Set Preview!

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Lego Technic 42078 Mack Anthem Review

A crack team of Elves recently returned to TLCB Towers after their top secret annual invasion of The LEGO Group’s Billund HQ, giving our experts first look at next year’s new Technic sets. You can read our assessment of each of the new-for-2018 sets via the link above, but we left one set off the list, the 2018 flagship… the enormous 42078 Mack Anthem.

Top of the H1 2018 Technic line-up, 42078 continues LEGO’s successful run of officially licensed vehicles, following sets from Volvo, Volkswagen, Porsche, Caterham, Mercedes-Benz, BMW Motorrad and others.

Aimed at ages 11+ 42078 is one of the larger Technic sets of recent times and it includes a huge array of mechanical parts. Yes, mechanical, as 2018’s flagship for the first half the year includes no Power Functions motors (something we expect means that a seriously motorised set will arrive in the second half of the year).

Instead a multitude of hand-powered linear actuators are present along with two huge sliding booms deployed to stabilise the side-loading trailer. It’s this trailer which actually looks the more technical build, featuring an elaborate container loading mechanism that holds a wealth of wonderfully useful pieces.

Lego 42078 Mack Anthem

In contrast the Mack Anthem truck, whilst big, seems a little devoid of functionality, with only working steering and fifth wheel, and an opening hood revealing a miniature straight-piston engine as its features.

And herein lies our issue. 42078 is more visually detailed than probably any Technic set to date, taking the theme to new levels of aesthetic realism. Lights, a complete interior, stickers, and even aerials and a hood ornament aim to blend the looks of a Model Team set with the functionality of a Technic one – surely the best of both themes?

Perhaps we’re just a bit grumpy today, but whilst a great idea in principle, the 42078 Mack Anthem offers neither the realism of a Model Team / Creator set nor the technical realism of a Technic one (although we must confess to rather liking the garbage truck B-Model). It’s a big green and grey compromise, a Range Rover Evoque convertible, trying to mash two genres together that are really best left separate. Which means we’re willing to bet that it’ll fly out of stores.

For us though, we’re still waiting for a 2018 Technic set that we can get excited about, because the 42078 Mack Anthem isn’t it.

Lego Technic 42078 Mack Anthem Review

Free Plowing*

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Lego Mack TerraPro DSNY

New York is a city where summers are hot and winters are freezing. This means a variety of civil service vehicles need to be deployed to cope with the swing in the weather; bins need emptying a lot in the heat and roads need clearing of snow in the cold.

New York’s Sanitation Department seems cleverer than most though, as someone there had the genius idea of fitting their refuse collection trucks with a snowplow. The trucks need to navigate the streets to collect refuse anyway, so why not have them clear the snow at the same time?

This brilliant Town-style replica of a snowplow-equipped Mack TerraPro refuse truck used by the New York Department of Sanitation comes from Flickr’s sponki25 and it not only looks the part but it’s packed with neat features too. There’s more to see at sponki’s photostream – click the link above to check it out.

Lego Mack TerraPro DSNY

*Insert appropriate ‘Your Mom’ joke.