valenciaeric

In theory to improve the turning circle and reduce stress on the axles but in practice it makes no difference as the turning circle on Lego 4x4s is so bad.

So this is pretty much the same as the Lambo and Bugatti with the Land Rover. If you have the older model then the newer one brings little to the table apart from adding to your collection.If you missed out and don´t want to pay reseller prices then the new one will make you happy.

There will be the usual half dozen new parts to make it seem like something is different.

Yeah they use those metrics because punters like us do too. We now see several sets with more than 3k pieces over all themes and quite a few with more than 5k too. They tested the water with the 911, which at the time was expensive but then saw it sold well and resale values went through the roof so they made the next ones more detailed and more expensive, with longer shelf lives as they new they could push the envelope that far. Perhaps with the 2 Liebherrs they pushed too far and we won´t see similarly priced sets with multiple motors again for a while.

Yes but TLG are the masters of their own universe in price setting and when they want to they can adjust them to give better value for money to push sets they think won´t be as popular. I honestly wouldn´t be interested in this one even at half the price as it is Assault on Hoth UCS in Technic flavour - 3 mini builds with not a lot going on in any of them.

Yup it´s like a combo of a couple of those smaller Alfred Pedersen designed sets from the early 2010s but with a 2024 price tag. Not my cup of tea and it seems that those of us who want technical Technic sets need to go to the Chinese models as Lego no longer caters for that publis.

I didn´t think I would like it but this is probably my favourite of the admittedly shoddy wave so far. You can see where BTTF got their idea for the Delorean from.

Poverty spec Arocs but even then only 25 euros cheaper and a worse parts inventory.

I work in Euros so 42000 was 100 euros or 80 GBP back in the day - half what the McLaren cost. USD has appreciated a lot since 2013 so the price increases there are not as much as in EUR or GBP, for instance.

Let´s not forget that the McLaren was almost a 100% price increase over 42000 with about 25% more pieces.

They did locking diffs, they did automatic gearboxes and they have done the full cyclic on a helicopter - 3 things people had on their wishlists for years but unfortunately the sets they implemented them on were not that good (I won´t comment on the Airbus since I don´t own it). The licensing obsession probably stems from the last successful new own brand line being Friends. Nexo, Dots, Monkey, Hidden and a few others I have forgotten all tanked, whereas 2nd generation Harry Potter and Indiana Jones became instant best sellers so why risk losing when there are sure fire ways to be a hit. With Playmobil it is the same, I only see branded stuff on the shelves nowadays.

I fancied building something new in the summer but since the current range didn´t inspire me as most of it is more expensive duplicates of stuff I already have (if you have the Bugatti and Sian then you have the Ferrari). I would never buy a knock-off of an original set (if I don´t have it it´s because it didn´t inspire me or is a really old one with outdated parts solutions) but I tried a Chinese MOC brand and the only real downers were the manual being hard to read and that 2 parts out of 3700 were missing.Everything else, packaging included, was to the same quality as a Lego or Playmobil premium product and the set was technically superior and had the buggy motors Lego hasn´t made for years, which are quite useful. Of course, new buyers are arriving every day and they won´t remember the old prices or models so can only compare with what they know - it´s similar to the dumbing down of the City Police and Fire sets to target younger builders.

Indeed, everyone is free to make their own buying decisions and of course who am I to tell them what to do? Losing a 5 figure amount every year will not hurt Lego as indeed they have been getting more money in since I quit than before so it really only benefits me personally but since I was told to deal with the things I don´t like, that´s my way of doing it. The bigger issue is that they seem to be like a big oil tanker, stuck on a fixed route that takes a huge effort and time to change even slightly and when they do make big changes like stopping B models, the new powered up / control plus, they are generally not well received by the community. The next step may even be to eliminate the printed manuals and I am sure they will say it is for ecological reasons.

So in summary, the company has got so big it cannot change anything in its processes anymore. I have dealt with it buy not buying any Lego since 2021 and TBH it hasn´t been much of a hardship.

The best Technic years for larger sets were 2015 and 2016. 2015 wins alone just on the back of the Arocs but 2016 had 4 really strong sets. Nice variety of models with excellent functions, no stupid control plus, reasonable pricing and B-models. It´s been a slow slide into mediocrity since then.