[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.
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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.
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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.
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In this post, we take a look at the latest in the Ultimate Car Concept Series, 42172 LEGO Technic McLaren P1. We unbox this set, and then examine the first part of the build experience. Along the way, we make some mistakes. How can you prevent making them yourself?
Ever since the very early days of LEGO Technic (Or ‘…sets for expert builders’), there has been a ‘working’ car chassis, bringing us an understanding of how the mechanical aspects of a car might work. Features such as functional steering, gears, pumping cylinders, suspension and a differential. I suspect most of my understanding of how cars work might date back to the early 80s when I first assembled the 8860 Car chassis, and having my Dad and Grandpa explain what was going on over Christmas dinner. It was some time before I attempted to put together a Technic set with greater complexity.
These functional cars have continued to be a feature of the Technic range for over 45 years. The concept received a leg up in 2016 with the introduction of the 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS. This marked the beginning of what is now referred to as the LEGO Technic Ultimate Car Concept Series. After tackling marques from the likes of Bugatti, Lamborghini, and Ferrari, the latest set, 42172 McLaren P1, is the fifth in this series.
And I am getting underway with the construction right now. This is my first experience with one of these vehicles. There are many of you out there who have put these sets together before, and I called out for advice on how to approach this the other day and responses had a very consistent theme… “Take Your Time” “Don’t Rush” and “Make sure you get it right!”
Of course, the 24-hour news cycle is as relentless in the world of LEGO Fandom as it is in the rest of the world. And I have a full-time job that sometimes interferes with the LEGO construction. So, some compromises might have been made. And so were mistakes.
My review will be presented in a couple of instalments. In this post, we will cover the packaging and the build experience for the first part of the chassis. (Box 1) The rest of the review will follow in a week or so as, frankly, I need to finish building the thing. We will look at how the instructions and building experience have improved and how I went about troubleshooting some of the errors I made along the way.
Next time, I will finish the build and give you my thoughts on the experience. There is no doubt that spending $AUD699.99 on a LEGO set is a significant investment, and I am sure there are those of you out there who are wondering if this is the kind of set you were looking to get involved with. I am writing from the point of view of someone who has put together a lot of LEGO bricks over the years but has not tackled a major Technic project for some time.
In the meantime, go and pour a cup of coffee, pull up a seat, and read on… Or you can skip over the detailed builder’s journey and skip straight to the halftime report here
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It’s the middle of an even year, and at this time, for the last eight years, we have seen the reveal of a new 1:8 scale supercar in the LEGO Technic Range. These sets have been associated with a challenging build experience and magnificent packaging. Previously, we have seen releases involving collaboration between the Technic Team and the engineers at
This year, the tradition continues with the results of a collaboration between the LEGO Groups and McLaren Automotive to create a 1:8 scale LEGO Technic 42172 Mclaren P1.
Decked out in bright yellowish orange/flame orange, this 3893 piece model measures 59cm long, 25 cm wide and 14 cm high. It will be available on August 1 2024, from LEGO .com and LEGO stores. It will be priced at €449.99 / £389.99 / $449.99 / 589.99 CAD / 699.99 AUD.
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Branko has taken a look at the twin engined NEOM MCLAREN Formula E… will this twin engined pullback car impress him? Or just startle members of his family?
For me, pullback cars have been a bit of a hidden theme in the LEGO catalogue for nearly 10 years. I’ve always enjoyed the clean simplicity of pullback action but most of the LEGO sets with pullback action have been quite simple and didn’t quite attract my attention. I must admit that this year was no different until I was handed this 42169 NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, containing 452 pieces and retailing for AU$69.99/£46.99/US$49.99/€52.99. For a pullback vehicle this is quite a sizeable set and at a reasonable price too!
The box shows the play features available: pullback action and steering. There is also a reference photo of the source material, the real Formula E car with some stats; 470hp (lots), 320km/h (lots) at 854kg (less than I expected!).
Is this car is able to provide a good classic pullback ‘zoom’ experience or is it perhaps too heavy with so many pieces? Will this electric vehicle (sic) outshine old-fashioned petrol cars, as seems to have become so common, or is this just an over-hyped piece of plastic? What if you just like racing cars; does the pullback effect get in the way of a nice display?
This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes, all opinions are our own.
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Branko’s been away for a couple of weeks too. He took the 42170 to the Netherlands, while visiting his family… Reasons follow!
When receiving the LEGO® 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R motorcycle I considered how qualified I was to review a motorcycle. While my sons, wife and me all ride (or have ridden) motorbikes, it seemed appropriate to bring this set with me when visiting my dad, who has ridden motorcycles for more than half a century and is more knowledgeable and passionate about these two wheelers than anyone I know. Apologies upfront for the quality of photos; I was not able to bring a photo setup; my dad lives on the other side of the planet.
The new 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R contains 643 pieces with a recommended retail price of AU$99.99/£69.99/US$84.99/€79.99. This is the spiritual successor in the mid-sized-Technic-motorcyle-class to the 42063 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure from 2017 and the 42107 Ducati Panigale V4 R from 2020. These are not to be confused with the BIG motorcycles from LEGO like the 42159: Yamaha MT-10 SP and 42130: BMW M 1000 RR that contain almost three times more pieces.
First thing my dad noted when seeing the set was “Yep, that’s Kawasaki green, strange they are usually more green, but I guess they make black ones too.” As it turns out this particular model is indeed sold as largely black with some Kawasaki green accents which are captured nicely in the LEGO model. How does the rest of the model stack up compared to the real thing? Read on to see if this set is worth adding to your collection.
This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes, all opinions are our own.
The Grand Prix has come to town (Melbourne this week) and to celebrate I’m taking quick look at the LEGO Technic 42165 Mercedes-AMG F1 W14 E Performance Pull-Back. If I was better organised, I’d present the 42171 Icons version – designed for an adult audience. I’ll look at that in weeks to come. In the meantime, what better thing to distract the kids while you are building a larger scale vehicle than a small scale version of the same car, in a more playable format.
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Today, Branko returns to look at the largest of the LEGO Technic 2024 Space sets. It keeps the white, light grey and reddish orange of City Space sets, but does it fit in? Read on to find out!
This year LEGO is really pushing the space concept across a lot of different themes which reminds us that LEGO plays across borders and you can mix an match to your heart’s content. For Technic it is quite new to offer such a clear connection for play to the minifig scaled worlds of LEGO City and Heartlake City. As we explored recently with 42178 Surface Space Loader, the space themed Technic sets promise to provide a playing platform for minifigs, although no minifigs are included in the sets.
How does this behemoth fit in this idea? Does it integrate nicely with other themes or is the scale not right? Join us on a journey to explore how minifigures and minidolls experience the largest of the Space Technic play-sets released so far, and how this set fares by itself, without minifigs.
The 42180 Mars Crew Exploration Rover contains 1599 pieces (a lot of pins) and retails for AU$ 199.99/£129.99/US$149.99/€149.99, which puts it among the range of largest Technic sets. It is not exactly cheap, even by Technic standards, but there is a lot happening in this set which we will explore further below.
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Branko is back to check out another Technic Set: this time its an Orrery – 42179 Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit
My expectations for this set were very high; I have a fascination with space and I love an orrery (that is essentially what this set is) as a way of illustrating movements of our planet. This set allows you to explain several of the main impacts of the solar system on life on our planet, but it falls flat on one important point.
This 526 piece solar system containing a sun a moon and a the real estate of a whole planet, will set you back $AUD99.99/£69.99/$USD74.99/€79.99 which, considering current real estate prices in Australia, is not a bad deal!
Read on to find out why you should absolutely get this set to learn or teach about seasons while also having a neat display model, but also what my concern is with one aspect of the set.
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