For me, Technic is machinery. As a child I didn’t have LEGO Technic but I had Fisher-Technic (awesome stuff, but I digress), so my real first encounters with LEGO Technic were after I got out of my dark ages and the machines that resonated most with me were bulldozers, bucket wheel loaders, front end loaders or a tipping truck. These systems have something ‘Technic’ about them; they can drive, sure, but they can also do something else! These sets came in Yellow and Black, I think you see where I’m going here. This new Volvo L120 Electric Wheel Loader has this exact colour scheme and the same functionality of sets that I hold dear in my memory so I am excited!
The 42209 Volvo L120 Electric Wheel Loader is a new set containing 973 pieces retailing for AU$149.99/£89.99/$119.99/€99.99 and was provided by LEGO for review. All opinions are my own.
Where I did not expect to like this set. I mean; it’s grey, it’s a car, seen it all before, so I thought. I was wrong.
I’m not sure about Technic cars. I know cars appeal to many people, and most people drive cars so they can relate to them, but in a model their appeal is mostly in their shape or appearance. For me Technic is about mechanisms; things that move. A pair of wheels, some steering and even a transmission just doesn’t excite me that much anymore. Colour me surprised by The 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R a medium-large scale Technic car that excites me.
This car is available from the 1st of June 2025 for AU$249.99/£129.99/US$139.99/€139.99 containing 1410 pieces. This number of pieces puts it below the really large scale vehicles, but well above the smaller Technic cars.
Join me as I explore why this car was different for me, providing (almost) more excitement than the new 42209 Volvo L120 Electric Wheel Loader (review coming soon).
A new episode of the Extra Pieces Podcast, our ongoing collaboration with JaysBrickBlog, is now live. In this post, you will find the links to the sets we mention.
You can find the episode here or on your favourite Podcast Player. Please leave a 5 star review if you enjoy the episode, and let your friends know about it too, so you have something to talk about with them 🙂
In this episode, we look at Awesome August, and some of the recent releases, including the LEGO® Technic range and the LEGO Ideas Jaws Set. Jay presents his review of the Dungeons and Dragons Minifigfures due for release in September or October (depending on your location). We also look at the latest LEGO Ideas Announcement and speculate on just what might be going on with the ongoing review of the Pixar Lamp submission.
A couple of weeks ago, Branko took a look at the 42174 Koenigsigg Jesko Absolut, in Dark Grey. He wasn’t overly wrapt with it, although it is certainly a functional car. The same car has been released in White as well. Will this colour his opinion?
The Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut will be available in Dark Grey and White! This is another example of a recoloured set, meaning that it is the same as the ‘original’ 42173 Grey Jesko except for the colour.
In this article, we set out to discover how much the colour has really changed between all of LEGO’s recoloured sets, and we will see how this one compares.
When we last looked at the 42172 LEGO® Technic McLaren P1, we successfully unboxed a set for which the unboxing is regarded as an integral experience as the building and completed construction using the first box of construction elements.
While we still have another two boxes to build up, it is apparent that the most intense parts of the building process are now behind us: We have constructed a chassis with the engine, a 7-speed flappy paddle gearbox, rear wheels with independent suspension and a couple of seats. In fact, we are within Coo-ee* of the type of build that we had for a working car set back in the early days of Technic builds, when everything would be laid out on display for the proud builder to show off to their friends, family, and anyone who would stand still for more than 30 seconds in their presence, and foolhardy enough to ask “So, what have you been up to lately?” (For the benefit of non-australians, Coo-wee is what we are taught to call out when we are looking for someonewho might be lost in the bush, but within hearing range.)
In fact, only the front wheels and the steering mechanism are all that currently stand between the end of box one and that endpoint that gave us those visible chassis sets from the early days of Technical Sets [8860 et al.].
There are so many new cars joining the LEGO Technic Range on August 1, be it the super detailed, fully functional 42172 McLaren P1, the affordable Keonigsegg Jesko Absolut or the 42182 Apollo LRV. If you want any of these cars to move, you need to push them along the tabletop yourself. But not all of the new releases rely on a steady hand to propel them from Point A to Point B…
The 42176 Porsche GT4 e-Performance Race Car is motorised and remote-controlled and comes with a brand new Technic Move Hub with a rechargeable battery.
Let’s find out how a dedicated Motor Hub integrate into a remote-controlled race car model?
The set has 843 pieces and will be priced at $AUD249.99/$USD169.99/149.99€/ £169.99. It is available for preorder at LEGO.com com…now. Thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
Today, Branko takes a look at another of the upcoming Technic Releases for August 1, the Mercedes-Benz G500 Professional Line.
While building this car, I finally got it! I think I now understand why some people so passionately dislike electric cars! As I was building this beast of a vehicle with the intricacies of the transmission, a 6-cylinder engine and several differentials with or without locks, I suddenly realised that if this was an electric vehicle, it would be a lot less entertaining! All these great inventions have been made over the last century to harness the power of controlled explosions (combustion) in a way that allows us to move vehicles how we want. And these inventions are captured in functional detail in this model with lovely mechanisms and gears. Next: cue electric cars; they do away with the need for any of these inventions. They can just provide power to any wheel any way you want it when you want it with no need for mechanical trickery. Where is the fun in that!?! I can imagine to some people, this feels like using a cheat code in the motoring world, not playing a fair game. I do feel sorry for those people for their perceived loss of classic engineering and, frankly, I love the cheat code that EV’s provide, but I digress.
The LEGO Group and Mercedes-Benz have worked closely together to bring us this detailed model of their four-wheel drive G500 Professional line SUV, in New Reddish-Orange*! If you read my review on the boring-grey Koenigsegg Jesko you will not be surprised that I am delighted that this model contains a bit of colour. And a new* colour even!
For me, Technic models do not need to accurately capture the outer appearance of their real counterparts, but in recent years, there has been an increase in attention to the outer detail, and this is no exception. When finished, it is very clear what this car represents, and it’s a vibrant, striking, and big presence. But, as expected with Technic, the fun with the model is the functionality! The car comes with forward- and reverse-gears, 8 cylinder engine, high and low gear, differential between front wheels and between rear wheels and between front-to-rear with the ability to lock front-rear and rear left-right (if you’re confused just keep reading after the break). All five doors can open and have a working door latch, there is an opening roof window, cargo trunk, working suspension and a spare wheel.
This set is available from the 1st of August 2024 for AU$ 399.99/£219.99/$249.99/€249.99 (affiliate link) and is available to pre-order now. It contains 2891 pieces, which is always an odd statistic with Technic sets with a large portion attributed to pins (over 700 in this set). The set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes, but all opinions are my own.
This is a great set. Yes, that’s a period. I’m not really into cars, or Technic all that much but this is just an impressive set that provides a great balance between looks and functionality. It does come with hefty price tag so keep reading if you want to find out if this is a set for you. Or if you want to see a simple demonstration of the effect of differential lock.
[Words: Ramblingbrick; Pictures: BrankoTheFather] Since we posted Branko’s review of the Lunar Rover a couple of days ago, I have been asked several questions, including “What is the Scale?” and “Will the 31152 Creator 3in1 Astronaut fit in it?” Branko didn’t really address this in his original review, so today, we thought we should take a closer look.
It is a bit of a bugbear for me to see that most cars on the road are white, black or the fantastic mix, grey (sometimes ‘silver’). I realise there are practical reasons for white and resale reasons for black and grey, but I wish there was more colour on the road. Everyone knows red cars are faster, right? So, why? Why? WHY, did Koenigsegg decide to offer their $ 3 million hypercar, the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut, in light grey or black?!? And why did LEGO decide to pick exactly *this* model, and not another model in some cheerful colours, and then translate the black version to dark grey!? Who designed this; LEGO Batman?
At 801 pieces and AU$89.99/£46.99/US$49.99/€52.99 this is one of the mid-sized Technic sets and, as seems to have become the norm, is a car. I like Koenigsegg’s cars typically, they have an exotic space-ship style to them and it is nice to see what the Technic team could do with the shape, after we experienced the speed champions version in 2021.
When looking past the colour of this set, there is quite a nice build; there are a few nifty tricks used to capture the shape of the car, and the mechanisms remain easily visible once the car is finished, so nothing disappears completely during the build process.
LEGO generously provided this set for review, but all opinions are my own.
Admittedly, I like space, especially space science. I was prepared to be disappointed by this set, mostly because of the wheels. Initial photos showed that LEGO had decided to create these wheels as regular rubber tyres, whereas the real original wheels are made from really nifty mesh with metal strips.
I expected a somewhat shallow display model that missed most of the key elements that made the Lunar Roving Vehicle such a special machine. This is a battery electric vehicle (like a Tesla EV) with four individually driven wheels providing about 0.25hp each (much unlike a Tesla). This vehicle was used on Apollo 15, 16 and 17 in the early 1970’s to traverse the moon scape.
Despite my trepidation I was delighted by this set; it does not just provide a surprising accurate model of the LRV; but it also demonstrates how it was packed to travel to the moon, and highlights a lot of the components that are mounted on it. (yes; the rovers should still be sitting there, on the moon, waiting for someone to take it for another spin).
Seeing the back of the box I initially thought there would be 4 alternate models in the box, but no; there are two ways of presenting the final build; in packed configuration or in assembled form. There are heaps of details that stimulated me into reading up on the vehicle a bit more and the finished builds makes for a striking (and LARGE) model.
The set contains 1913 pieces, which is not a historic reference as far as I can tell, and has a recommended price of $AUD349.99/£189.99/US$219.99/€219.99. I am very grateful to the LEGO Group for providing this set to review ; I might have passed it by otherwise, much to my loss! All opinions are my own.
I suspect that by expecting to be disappointed, I set myself up to be delighted by the lack of disappointing aspects and the inclusion of delightful details.
Are you confused about this rambling about delight and disappointment yet? Read on to see why this set is one of the best demonstrations of what a Technic model should be, learn a few things about space travel more than half a century ago, and convince yourself to give this set good consideration in your budget.
