Tag Archives: Review

Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry

And they’re the same lorry…

This is Technic set 42024, ‘Container Truck’ which will henceforth be referred to as a ‘Skip Lorry’ since I write this in the UK and that’s what it is. It’s a mid-market set that sits in the not-too-extravagant £60 sweet spot, so let’s see what it offers…

Firstly, Technic boxes these days look pretty good; a clear image of what’s inside and simple, elegant graphics. Shame you have to rip it to get into it. Now to empty the (un-numbered) bags into my customary unsortable heap and get building…. you may wonder at this point if a rainbow has vomited on your work surface…. Time will tell if all those colours work well (8860) or not (8865)…

It’s a fairly standard build that starts with a gearbox. This seems like an unnecessary complication, since it’s only switching between two functions and there’ll still be two controls, but there is a perfectly good reason for this. Be patient. There’s nothing too difficult here and the two instruction books give you completely clear guidance. What is refreshing is that it seems like there’s a few more pieces per build step than in many recent kits – a possible reflection of it’s intended age group (10-43 since you ask…)

After a leisurely hour or two you’ll have a skip lorry that looks quite nice, and your earlier fears over it’s colour co-ordination will prove unfounded. This is an attractive model. Although the feature count is quite modest, and nowhere near the let’s-stuff-everything-in 42008, what it does, it does well.

Even the stabilizers do a good job… they are linked to a connector that engages with a bar on the skip when left up. This enables it to tip the container, which is something I’ve never seen a skip lorry do; perhaps I’m just not paying attention. It’s an effective, well thought out system.

With the stabilizers down, two linear actuators move the skip in a graceful arc onto the surface behind, accompanied by much furious wheel twirling. As standard, this is a manual control model but said manual control is the usual black gear, when an old fashioned pulley and pin would be more ergonomic given the lowish gearing here.

Or better still, stuff a motor in. It’ll take a PF M motor and battery box with the greatest of ease – so much so I suspect that it was intended to be motorized all along (hence the gearbox). The only reason it’s not being that it didn’t hit it’s price point so equipped. Allegedly. This would be a much better set at £80 with the motor included, but I can see why Lego wouldn’t want it troubling 42008’s market position.

Now let’s talk about styling…

It does look good, and I think the colours help here, although it might be time for Lego to make a bit more effort in the cab area. There’s nothing bad here, but it’s a bit same-again. Detailing is a tad sketchy and ill-thought-out (if the doors had glass, the mirrors would go through it when they open, for instance). Presumably, it couldn’t be seen to out-shine the more expensive 42008. I prefer the grille treatment on 42024, though – those silvered grille tiles always look a little flat. Maybe I’m just pining for the 8292 Cherry Picker from a few years ago – an otherwise unremarkable set with a very attractive cab design. Or you can simply treat it as a blank canvas to put your own ideas on – it’s Lego after all!

One piece (or rather six pieces) of very good news is the tyres – new for this set (and the digger in 42023), they’re proper square-shouldered, not-too-wide truck *ahem* lorry tyres that greatly enhance this model compared to the smaller, wider items on 42008.

They enhance the B-model too – another grader! It looks pretty good though – at least as good as the 57,000 grader B-models that have preceded it… one of these days there’ll be a grader A model but I won’t hold my breath. You have to go online to build it, however, and that’s always a faff….

So, what have we learned? 42024 is quite stylish, in its multi-coloured, unadorned way, and it works quite well (if you add a proper handwheel) or very well if you put a motor in. 8/10 – if you’ve already got a motor. 6/10 if you haven’t.

I’ve just realized that I’ve done an entire Technic vehicle review without moaning about the steering. This lorry has a good system. It really does.

To see all the official LEGO sets reviewed by The Lego Car Blog, including 42008, visit the LEGO Set Review Library here.

Seasonal Service

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With the red and green, it looks like it could belong to a jolly fat man… welcome to TLCB’s review of the Lego Technic 42008 Service Truck.

Not quite the latest in a long line of mid-range truck models that always seem to be the meat of the Technic range, this one with its 1276 pieces and £100 price is definitely edging upwards from mid-range, despite its still-modest size.

It’s got most of the sophistication of a much larger model too, as we shall see.

First impressions: Well, you’ll either get on with the green or you won’t… Personally, I think a grey or black (not red) chassis would have helped. Nevertheless, it is good to see Lego broadening the Technic colour palette once again – long may that continue! You get an entirely typical box, well stuffed with goodies and three instruction books. And a sticker sheet, natch. You’ll need that…

Building it is a reasonably familiar experience for anyone who’s had any other mid-range truck set in recent years, apart from the pneumatics, possibly. This may be unique in combining pneumatics, linear actuators and a PF motor in the same model – I can’t think of any others that have all three – and it’s this fact that makes the price seem pretty reasonable. It’s a fairly intricate and densely packed thing, with little wasted space, but the instructions are typically clear and simple to follow.

After a leisurely afternoon’s building, you’ll have a pretty impressive model with many functions:

Steering: A very well engineered progressive-rate system that operates on the first two axles via the usual gear on the roof. It works very smoothly, there’s a reasonable amount of lock and nothing for me to complain about. Technic steering systems would seem to be improving, at last.

Rear Stabilizers: Operated via the left hand gearbox and motorized, like all the following functions, these raise and lower via a pair of small linear actuators and are of limited use, frankly. They don’t lock in place and they’re not strong enough to lift the rear of the model. Next!

Hook: Anyone expecting this to take an age to raise and lower, like every other motorized crane, is in for a surprise. The thing fairly rips along, assuming you’ve lifted the stop-lever if you’re extending it…. which item won’t stay up on it’s own so you need three hands to do so. Grrr! It has the strength to pull a similar size model onto the ramp, so it does it’s job.

Boom Lifting: Done by a single large linear actuator and operated via the right hand gearbox, this works smoothly and well. It goes a lot further up than it needs to for a service truck, but I’m not complaining. Much.

The pneumatic compressor is actuated via the right hand gearbox and this powers the boom extension and the ramp lowering mechanisms. Each of these items uses a small pneumatic piston to actuate it, which works fine – if rather suddenly, as is the way with airtank-less pneumatics – without a load, but the small pistons don’t have enough grunt to do much actual work. The standard, larger, pistons would have been better.

That’s an impressive array of working functions for what is still a relatively small model; the more so because there’s a motor and battery box packed in as well. Most of them work alright, after a fashion, and it does make this an extremely playable set. The only major gripe concerns operating the motor via the switch on the battery box; you’ve got to be delicate to avoid switching it to the other direction when you want it off. Adding a PF switch would make this a much more manageable thing to use.

You can use it well enough, though…

Model Team trucks are pretty but they break down a lot…

42008 will never be called pretty, exactly, but it looks… purposeful. There’s a fairly minimal amount of detail around the cab, but there’s enough. The doors open to reveal the usual pair of angled-liftarm seats and a rudimentary dashboard and (unconnected) steering wheel. As for the colour, it’s certainly striking… I don’t usually apply stickers to my sets, but with this it’s very necessary; and they do successfully break up what is a big slab of green without them.

Overall, I like it. It ain’t perfect, it ain’t pretty, but it’s packed with features and you get a sense that the designers were being ambitious with it. Perhaps a little over-ambitious, but there’s a lot to admire here. 7/10

Lego Set Preview – The 2014 Technic Line-Up

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

7345 Transport Chopper Review

Explore The Lego Car Blog

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The Lego Car Blog has grown from its humble beginnings as the amateur LEGO-related musings of some incompetent writers, to… er, ok, it’s still basically that. But we do now have a variety of additional content available upon which you can feast your eye-holes. Here we run through what resides away from the main page.

1. Set Reviews

The Lego Car Blog’s resident anoraks have amassed a fairly extensive library of set reviews and set comparisons. These are impartial, honest assessments of some of the sets that the office collectively owns. To see what we’ve reviewed so far take a visit to the Set Review Library here.

2. Interviews

The Lego Car Blog Elves are occasionally quite formidable, especially in large groups. You might be able to take on three or four of them, but what if there’s a fifth, hiding somewhere behind you and armed with a pencil? As such we’ve managed to secure interviews with some of the best builders around, with only a few wounds to patch up once they got here. These have been compiled in our ‘Master MOCer’ Series, where you can read about how each builder got started in the LEGO Community, what influences them, and what they’ve got coming up. You can read all our interviews here, or by clicking on the ‘Interviews’ tab in the main menu.

3. Search

All the content that has appeared on The Lego Car Blog is available to view in our archives by using the search function that can be found at the bottom of every page. The ‘tags’ at the foot of each post are also hyperlinked, allowing you to find similar content. For example, you could view all of the Set Previews that have appeared on The Lego Car Blog by typing ‘set preview’ into the search bar, or you could find all of the science-fiction posts by either typing ‘sci-fi’ into the search bar, or by clicking the relevant ‘tag’ attributed to one of the posts on the main page.

4. Feedback and Submission Suggestions

The Lego Car Blog is, we hope, a nicely accessible site. You can let us know what you think of us, what we’ve missed, and what you’d like to see by adding your thoughts to the Feedback Page here. You can also suggest creations that you think should be here. Not your own, as no-one likes a show-off, but nicety is often rewarded in the LEGO Community. Suggest a creation that you think deserves to be publicised and someone may do the same for you. To read what we look for and ensure your suggestion complies we recommend reading the submission criteria here.

And there you have it! Take a look around, let us know what you think, and if you’ve got an idea for something that you’d like to see here on The Lego Car Blog let us know; it’s your site too.

TLCB Team

31006 Highway Speedster Review

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Ever since they ripped open the delivery bag and saw the cover art on the 31006 Highway Speedster, the Elves have been playing the Miami Vice title music. Fortunately it’s on a TV Tunes of the Eighties playlist and we get to enjoy the Airwolf theme every now and again. Sharp little fingernails had soon ripped open the four bags of parts, eager to be zooming their white Ferrari lookalike across the floor and handbrake turning it on the tiles of the TLCB executive washroom & sauna. Once we’d helped the Elves rescue the tyres from under the TLCB deluxe minibar, they set to work on the 61 stages of the main build. As with the 31005 Construction Hauler this might seem like a lot of stages but this set’s starting age is just 7 years old and so the number of steps is understandable. Having said this, Step 61 is to turn the car the right way up, which even the Elves managed without getting too confused.

All three builds in this set follow a basic, studs up configuration, with some touches of SNOT work. The chassis for each of the models are two 16 stud, old-school Technic beams and the car gradually builds up using an impressive selection of slopes, curves and cheeses. The rear end has the most SNOT with a nice, Ferrari style lighting bar and a lifting glass cover for the engine. Disappointingly, the engine is perhaps the weakest part of the build, being made from just six 1×1 round plates and a couple of 1×2 grille tiles. There’s space for a lot more and it’s a great opportunity to do a bit creative building. The Elves got very excited at step 44, with the addition of a 1×1 round tile in trans-red. This sits inside the air scoop on the bonnet, almost like KITT’s sensor, which provoked a change of 80’s theme music for a while. Further steps build and attach the working, supercar style scissor doors and more body trim on the front of the car. This includes a neat front light cluster, which uses minifigure brackets for some SNOT. Surprisingly the wing mirrors aren’t colour co-ordinated with the rest of the bodywork, something of an omission for an expensive looking supercar. The glass roof neatly seals onto the windscreen, though the cockpit is hard to see into. This is no bad thing, as it is very sparsely furnished. Once the wheels are added, you’re left with a 10 wide by 22 long sports car. The build quality is well up to sustaining the odd crash into a skirting board or tumble from a table. The axles through the chassis (as opposed to clipped-on wheels) and low centre of gravity, give great performance for zooming across carpets in a straight line. The Elves managed runs of over 7 metres along the TLCB decking.

As with other sets in the Creator series, this set comes complete with an instruction book for each of the three builds. This will be a relief to parents and Elf keepers alike, as they’re spared the task of having to download and print instructions from Lego’s website. It’s a horrible sight to see an over-curious Elf dragged into the giant TLCB Lego instructions printer and rolled out flat on the other side. Apart from the waste of paper, it takes forever to get the pipe into their mouths to pump them up again.

The second build is a 16×8 tow truck. Again, this is a mainly conventional, solid Lego construction. A nice bit of SNOT work converts the sports car’s low profile windscreen into a flatter screen on the truck and clips it on quite neatly. The crane moves, pivoting on the back axle and friction pins. A few more parts could have added something more than the little tow hook but this set already has loads of parts for the price. The third build is a Lotus 7 type, front engined roadster. In common with the other models, this car is solidly built for zooming across floors, using conventional techniques with a bit of SNOT on the side.

This set provides good value for money. Its 286 parts currently retail in the UK for around £12.00 or $22.00 in the USA. For the same price, you get just 113 parts in the 79005 Wizard Battle set from the Lord of the Rings range. The set also includes some fairly rare parts. There are two of the white 93273 1x4x2/3 plate with bow, which currently sell on Bricklink for US $0.30 each and aren’t available from a UK vendor. A down side of all of the Creator series for younger builders might be the lack of minifigures. As we noted in the review of 31005, licensed sets are often minifigure rich but lacking in basic bricks with which to be creative and build your own creations. The 31006 Highway Speedster is a great source of a good variety of white bricks to help supplement any Lego collection.

With its value for money, variety of parts and three different alternative builds, 31006 is a great set for the young or old builder. It rates a 9/10 for value & contents and perhaps just an 8/10 for style because of the lack of detail in the engine bay of the main build.

If you’d like to see the complete catalogue of The Lego Car Blog’s set reviews simply click on the ‘Reviews’ tab in the menu.

Don’t Show Me The Money

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The story so far…

The LEGO Company make the 9398 Technic remote control Crawler. It works well and looks awful. LEGO launch a competition to design a prettier body. Said contest is won by a talented Russian gentleman called Egor Karshiev, whose ‘Boss Crawler’ design gets the nod. LEGO announce they will only make 20,000 of these sets, with many unique elements and extra features, and sell them for the same price as the standard 9398…

Cue the most ridiculous speculator-driven feeding frenzy since Beanie Babies tanked…

As I write, just one month after 41999 was released, these change hands, sealed, on eBay for around £350; or nearly three times RRP. Many are being bought by the same UK-based buyer (not me!) in the hope they’ll keep climbing.

I’ve just got the one, bought from LEGO for a very reasonable price, for the purpose of building it, displaying it, even *gasp* playing with it… I’m willing to bet that more than half of these plastic building toys will remain forever sealed in their boxes in the hands of collectors or, worse, speculators; unbuilt and unloved. A shame, because it’s a really good set, and here’s why:

The box is pretty special. A simple, elegant design on the front showing a close-up of the distinctive dark blue panels that so lift this model; it’s made of sterner stuff than usual, too. Inside this treasure chest it’s fairly tightly packed with lots of good stuff; enough for a few hours of leisurely, pleasurable building.

There are four instruction books which are easy to follow, as we’ve come to expect, and there are no mistakes. The build is relatively straightforward, but there’s no shortage of cool features: Continue reading →

8479 Technic Barcode Truck Review

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It’s a Review day here at The Lego Car Blog, and with much of LEGO’s latest product line-up covered we’re going to take a journey back to 1997, and to one of LEGO’s forgotten gems; the 8479 Technic Barcode Truck.

LEGO had successfully produced programable robotic models as far back as 1990 with the marvellous Control Centre and its mark II follow-up in 1995. Both sets allowed children to control a Technic model via a joypad and to program a series of functions into the system so that movements could be repeated. The only drawback was that the ‘brain’ control brick was a large black box that remained external to the models under its control.

For 1997 LEGO designed its first robot where the control brick and memory were integrated into the model itself, allowed by the continuing compacting of computer storage technology. Called the ‘Code Pilot’ it’s a neat handheld battery pack containing the model’s power source, memory, control buttons, and – rather inventively – a barcode scanner, just like you’ll find by the till in any shop. In short, this is LEGO Mindstorms’ genesis. Continue reading →

5590 Model Team Helicopter Transport Review

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Following the launch of The Lego Car Blog’s new Lego Review Library it’s time for another trip back in time to take a look at one of LEGO’s great sets; 5590 Model Team Helicopter Transport.

5590 was part of LEGO’s three set line-up for their spectacular Model Team range that was launched in 1988 for US ‘Shop at Home’ customers, and in 1990 in European stores. We’re using the European name for the set as we can’t really bring ourselves to use the US one.

The flagship of the new range, 5590 took detail to a level previously unseen outside of the Legoland theme park (there was only one back then). Based on an attractive if slightly generic European cab-over semi the set was really two models in one, as the helicopter could easily be a unique set in its own right. 5590 also brought a few new pieces to Lego fans, chiefly those marvellous wheels, but also two new windscreens that would reappear in later sets.

The build is a relatively straight-forward one; whilst a there is no doubt 5590 is a detailed model the techniques used are fairly basic by today’s standards, but for this builder at least that is part of its charm. It features a few working functions too, bridging the gulf between System and Technic for the first time. Working steering, trailer support legs and opening doors all make appearances and certainly add a degree of playability to what could otherwise be simply a nice display piece.

5590 has, like most sets from the era, aged a little when compared to sets from the late ’90s. There is barely a smooth piece to be seen and SNOT (studs not on top) was but the dream of a madman back in 1988. However, it is still perhaps one of the best Model Team sets made to date, combining detail, a ruggedly playable exterior, and sheer scale that wowed children perusing LEGO’s catalogue back then, and continuing to wow collectors on eBay and Bricklink today. If you can find one for sale you won’t be disappointed, but you will likely be quite a bit poorer.

9/10

To read all The Lego Car Blog’s set reviews and comparisons, including the 5580 counterpart to this set, click the ‘Reviews’ tab in the main menu.

New LEGO Set Review Library!

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You can now find all The Lego Car Blog’s LEGO set reviews in one place!

The Lego Car Blog Team is pleased to announce the arrival of a new feature at The Lego Car Blog! We’ve been busy cataloging all our past set reviews so that we can bring you a new ‘Reviews‘ tab in the main menu; a resource that contains a library of every LEGO set we’ve ever reviewed! Clicking on a picture will take you straight to the review for that set, or to the comparison page where it’s matched against a similar set of a different vintage.

All newly reviewed sets will be added to this Review Library as well as continuing to appear on the homepage, and you can still find all our reviews via the Search or Category functions if you wish.

As always you can let us know what you think of the new Review Library via the Feedback page or the comments, and if you’d like us to review a particular set (or if you’d like to review one and get your name here on The Lego Car Blog) you can get in contact in the usual ways.

TLCB Team

The One We’ve All Been Waiting For

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Ohhh yes…. 42009, the Mobile Crane MkII, is finally here. Was it worth the wait ? Was it worth 150 smackers ? Was it worth spending my entire day off building it ? Read on…

Well, what do you think ? I mean, look at it. Before I get down to it, a quick word about how we do our reviews around here. LEGO doesn’t send us review copies (yet; hint, hint…) so we spend our own money on sets for review, but these are sets that we’d have wanted anyway. This might explain the usually positive flavour of our musings; we’re not going to spend our hard-earned on something we know we won’t like. I haven’t reviewed the 42000 Grand Prix racer because I won’t be getting it.

We do still try to be objective.

Enough already, get on with it!

So, to business. First impressions: Wow, that box is heavy! 2,600 pieces, plus motor and battery box would explain that. It’s the largest Technic set ever, by some margin. Not the most expensive, though, which remains the 8110 Unimog at a fiver more than this; which fact rather gives the lie to the notion of LEGO inflating their prices with each successive generation. You get 550 more pieces and a fiver in exchange for the ‘mog’s pneumatics.

Fortunately, the bags are numbered to reflect the three main stages of the build. This isn’t quite the advantage it might be with the chassis forming well over half of it… Many, many bags all numbered ‘1’. Give yourself plenty of room. And time. That said, it never took me long to find a piece, and I never sort first as LEGO suggest.

There are six instruction books; 3 for the chassis, 2 for the crane part and the last one for the boom. Books 4 and 5 could have easily been combined to make it 1 for the crane part; book 5 is inexplicably slender. There were no mistakes, as we’ve come to expect, and this time not all the build steps are quite so tiny. There is nothing to confuse here as long as you concentrate and don’t forget to insert the 15 long beams alongside the stabilizers; causing you to perform major surgery part way through, or anything silly like that…

At the end of an enjoyable 6-8 hours of building, what have you got ? It’s a very robust, playable, multi-functional and impressive thing. There’s lots going on here, so I’ll break it down. Continue reading →

31005 Construction Hauler – Set Review

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A lot of modern Lego is focused on licensed products. These sets can be a great way of introducing children to the fun of building something from Lego. Unfortunately there are normally instructions for just one model, which often isn’t rebuilt into anything else. If you’re looking for old-style models, built from lots of bricks and with alternative models, then the Creator sets are for you.

One of the elves’ favourite Creator sets is the 31005 Construction Hauler. They’ve been clambering onto the desk at TLCB towers to play with it, when they should be out scouring the internet for MOCs. Elves have been busily driving the low-loader around and then using the digger to shovel paperclips about. Sadly, an elf has also been seen wearing one of the traffic cones on his head.

The first thing to be built is the cute little JCB-type digger. With a fully articulated backhoe and front loader, this small vehicle has lots of play potential and would be a great pocket money set in its own right. Unfortunately it has the weakest bit of design of any of the builds. The backhoe is attached via a 2×1 hook plate, which might not withstand the pulling and pushing of vigorous play.

The Tractor unit takes 32 pages of instructions to build and is packed with lots of lovely little details, such as wing mirrors, fuel tanks, sun visor, air-horns, lights and side mounted wind deflectors. Not bad for a 4-wide which is about 11 studs long and a great way to get young builders thinking about the sort of details that they could include in their MOCs. The finished unit feels solid in the hand and is sturdy enough to be zoomed across carpets or off the edge of desks… Continue reading →

The Title Must Include The Word ‘Groovy’

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And replies to this post must be addressed to ‘dude’, and end with ‘man.’

Moving on….

Welcome to the better-late-than-never Lego Car Blog review of the fab 10220 VW Camper van.

You may already have guessed that I rather like this model, despite not being a big fan of the original. I have had a go in one, and I can tell you that they are fun, if slow, and somewhat heavy drinkers that handle like a ship in a swell. And they have a crumple zone. You. They do serve as the only vehicle that my own old car can reliably go faster than… unless some dastardly tinkerer has stuffed a Porsche engine in one – hopefully it’ll have the Porsche’s brakes as well. The one I drove did not want to stop…

To the model!

It’s very detailed, as you can see, and is a joy to build. Give yourself plenty of time to enjoy the many details as you go along. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, so no problems there.

What you end up with is something that’s as good as all but the very best mocs out there, particularly on the inside. Don’t expect any snazzy functions, though. Lego took the (probably wise) decision to concentrate on the aesthetics inside and out rather than try to cram in a steering system. Like all but a few car builders, it’s refined looks or functions – not both.

This is why they managed to make it look so nearly perfect. The colour scheme, the vehicle’s stance on the road, all the detail, it really is something to display with pride. I said nearly perfect; the front looks OK, but the awkward steps between the red and white are not sufficiently hidden by the black tube that forms the border between them. It might have been better had the front been built differently. Still, full marks for effort, and it’s great that all the openings, errr… open, including the windscreen and the pop-up top. It’s all a considerable advance over the earlier VW Beetle set. And I do love the fact that all the windows are glazed.

Wouldn’t want that gorgeous interior to get dusty. There’s loads of great stuff in here, and this is the area where this model really shines. Behind the front seats it’s all studless, apart from the top of the folding table. There’s a sofa that folds into a bed, a little sink unit, lots of cupboard space and underneath it all is a nicely detailed model of the flat four engine. There’s even an accurate dashboard and foot pedals. My favourite part in here has to be the T-Shirt in the wardrobe that says ‘Make Lego Models Not War’; for once I don’t mind a couple of stickers. Those dinky little curtains are ace as well, and the lava lamp and…. I could go on but you get the picture. Considering the scale – 14 studs wide – there’s as much going on in here as possible, and this’ll be the reason such a relatively small model has a high piece count and price (£80). It’s well worth it.

Best of all, it’s the right size for those big old build-it-yourself homemaker figures from the ’70s. Dress a couple up, sixties style and you have a groovy shindig. Or something. Or, if you’re as creative as Iain Heath , build some Miniland Figures, with or without questionable substances…

Their names are Credence Sandstorm and Crystal Bliss, apparently..

If you ever get tired of this model, this set makes a great parts pack as well, with lots of the kind of hinges, SNOT bricks and curved pieces that are manna to car builders. There’s even a little present from the designers hidden in the engine bay, in the form of two trans-clear headlight bricks that could be any colour, but the designer must realise how precious these are to anyone who’s ever built a large car with a curved headlight. Thanks for that, and thanks for the wonderfulness that is this lovely model. 10/10.

Purchase the LEGO Creator 10220 Volkswagen Camper here!

S.M.I.D.S.Y.

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Bikes are a slightly neglected species here on The Lego Car Blog, probably because all the elves are issued with cars (Austin Allegros, since you ask…), so I thought I’d bring you a quick roundup of some of the Technic bikes that Lego has blessed us with over the years.

LEGO bikes through the ages

We’ll start with 857; the motorbike with sidecar that Lego started with in 1979. Pretty basic now – it has a single cylinder engine, it steers…. that’s it. No suspension, although there is something they had the temerity to call a ‘kick start’ which is nothing more than an axle with an elastic band attached to one end. Looks nice, though, with some neat sculpting for details like the mudguards and fuel tank that give it something of a Model Team look.

It might have been better without the rather plain and unattractive sidecar, however; the wheel of which is too far forward (for manoeverability, such outfits had the sidecar wheel closer to the rear). And wouldn’t the whole thing have looked better in black ? Still, it’s a nice thing, if somewhat fat. We’ll call it a Harley Davidson with a cylinder lopped off.

Unlike later bikes, this was a biggish set at the time, second only to the 853 Car Chassis, and there wasn’t really enough going on here to justify it’s 409 pieces and high price. At least they managed to put the chain inside the swingarm; which is a lot easier if the swingarm doesn’t, erm.. swing. Probably the weakest of the early sets, for all it’s vintage charm. 6/10.

Moving on, the red one is 8422 from 1995, a much slimmer and more effective design, and one that manages to correctly place it’s chain within a swinging swingarm. It has a V-Twin, decent suspension and a stand. As well as somewhat fussy styling that doesn’t quite work, except at the front with those printed light pieces. I think the designer was so thrilled with the invention of the liftarm triangle he just couldn’t help himself. They’re all over the place.

That said, this was a big improvement on the earlier 8838 ‘Shock Cycle’ and does look something like a touring BMW model. The set has 315 pieces, about 100 of which are entirely unnecessary. If only some of those had gone into the front suspension, which uses those large springs to support the weight of the front end, it might not have wobbled so much. 7/10.

Fast forward to 2008, and it’s the turn of 8291, the green dirt bike with 248 pieces and a lower price than the other two. It may be cheaper, but it’s also better. It features a horizontally opposed twin, long travel suspension and not much of a saddle. At least there’s now an exhaust to keep you warm… The chain migrates outwards to the wrong position, but that’s the only real downside. Even the front struts don’t wobble quite so much, because they’re mounted closer to the vertical.

This is certainly the most playable and robust of these three; the newer style of Technic seems to lend itself better to bikes and provides this with a real advantage. 8/10. We have a winner!

I haven’t touched on 2010’s 8051, probably the best bike to date and certainly the best looking, mainly because I haven’t got that one, or the new 42007 orange dirt bike, which looks like a rehash of 8291. Both of these still have that wobble-strut front end, though.

I haven’t mentioned B-models, either – they’re almost always dragsters or choppers and a lot less interesting than the main models, with the honourable exception of 857; which, being an early set, has a plethora of building ideas on it’s box and instructions for three quite different variations of the same basic frame. Three cheers for that.

If you’re a non-biker, you might be curious about the title of this piece. It’s a acronym for the words uttered by every myopic car driver who ever put an innocent motorcyclist in hospital:

‘Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You.’

Use your mirrors, people. Even Rovers have them, you know…

Lego Mindstorms EV3 Preview

New 2013 LEGO Mindstorms on the way!

Time for some BIG news. Today LEGO unveiled the next generation of their incredible Mindstorms Robotics System, titled ‘EV3’. This isn’t just big news for the Lego Community, Mindstorms have taken the computing and robotics world by storm, with the previous RCX and NXT incarnations in use by many of the world’s top universities, NASA, and of course, the First LEGO League.

Apple Compatible

Due for release in the second half of 2013, Mindstorms EV3 will be faster, more intelligent and more easily programmable than ever before. And, for the first time ever, LEGO Mindstorms is now compatible with Android and Apple’s OS. Using the latest Linux OS firmware, EV3 has been designed with more emphasis and education; a complete sequence can be programmed in less than 45 minutes (so school classes can successfully complete a program in one period). Debugging is built in to the program; if the EV3 recognizes a command that doesn’t match up with expected hardware, it will immediately alert the user to the error.

As with the previous Mindstorms versions EV3 is open-source so it can be programmed outside of the Mindstorms software via programs like LabView and RobotC, as well is in other languages like Java. Expect to see some hugely advanced robotics hitting the internet a few weeks after launch.

Powerful Programming

The new LEGO Mindstorms EV3 programmable brick uses an ARM 9 300 MHz processor and has 16 MB of Flash memory and 64 MB of RAM (expandable to 32 GB with a mini SDHC card). There are 4 output and 4 input ports, as well as USB 2.0 for daisy chaining EV3 programmable bricks. A 178 x 128 high resolution display allows for graph reading and sensor data observation, while also allowing for basic programming via a three-color, six button interface.

New for 2013: Lego Mindstorms EV3 Elephant

Pricing and Release Date

We expect the Mindstorms EV3 kit to reach stores towards the end of summer, priced around £300 / $350, with a variety of bolt-on goodies released alongside the main kit, or soon afterwards.

The internet will soon be buzzing with Preview information, so to get you started visit Wired Magazine, and start saving…

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