DLuders

Yes, by all means, call your Lego Customer Service in Denmark. If you find out something more, be sure to let us know. Perhaps you can find out the nature of their "quality" problem (poor fit-and-finish, poor motor performance, strange noises, or whatever)....

The Lego Customer Service woman most definitely told me that there were "quality" problems.

Very well, Rufus, I did what you said and "took it up with them directly" for the 11th time. I telephoned Lego Customer Service in the USA again just now at 1-800-835-4386 and talked with Myrda (sp?) ______. She put me on hold for several minutes to check on the 88003 & 88004 Power Functions motors. There is a "quality problem that has delayed the release of these products." The Lego Group did not want to release them until the quality issues were solved. She did not reveal the nature of the quality issues. There is no release date known at this time.

@ Hopey: Well, the entire rotor head could still allow the helicopter to move forwards, backward, or sideways. According to this Wikipedia article, Weavil's concept employs "Collective Control" -- "Collective [directly controls] angle of attack for the rotor main blades via the swashplate . [The secondary effect is to] Increase/decrease pitch angle of all main rotor blades equally, causing the aircraft to ascend/descend. [it is used in forward flight to] Increase/decrease torque. Note: in some helicopters the throttle control(s) is a part of the collective stick. Rotor speed is kept basically constant throughout the flight. [it is used in forward flight] To adjust power through rotor blade pitch setting/ [it is used in hover flight] To adjust skid height/vertical speed." Nico71's Helicopter did that too:

The 87083 "Dark Bluish Gray Technic, Axle 4 with Stop" can be inserted into a Lego Technic Liftarm only from one side, while the 99008 "Tan Technic, Axle 4 with Center Stop" is sandwiched in between Liftarms.

I don't own the 42000 Lego Technic Grand Prix Racer set to be able to replicate your rotor design, because you used the 11949 "Technic, Steering Portal with 2 Pin Holes and 2 Ball Joint Arms" part that comes only with that set. Nevertheless, your concept looks very promising! I reposted your two pictures, and added a few LDD closeups:

I love all of your creations -- thanks for sharing them! Note that when I tried to download the PDF for your 9394 Red Shark alternate, it only loads up 5.93 MB of the 6.89 MB total. When I try to reload the file, it says that the "File is damaged and cannot be repaired" [Never mind; it loads fine for me now].

On Rebrickable, Timothy Endersby posted his Lego Mindstorms NXT Double-Tracked Tank. It is surprisingly capable. His description on his :"Double-tracked is my attempt at a robust tank using the rubber treads. I used the rubber treads instead of the hard plastic treads since they have much better grip (and I have no plastic treads). This worked very well. The only down side to this is that there was no suspension. Also, the gears connecting the front and back treads would often catch on the ground. Overall though, I think this could outperform almost any other Lego tank the same size with hard plastic treads." He created 10-page PDF Building Instructions and a Zip file containing LDraw building files. See 6 pictures on his Mindstorms Podcast website.

In his Flickr photoset, Oxycrest posted 9 pictures of the 41999 4x4 Crawler outside in the forest:

Perhaps the new motors that come with the Lego Mindstorms EV3 set (to be released August 1, 2013) is taking up the production capacity of TLG's suppliers. After all, if TLG blows THAT DEADLINE, thousands of school districts worldwide will be most upset....

The Lego Mindstorms EV3 ships August 1, 2013 (or so says The Lego Group) . There is this PDF Brief on the features of the EV3's Remote Control (with a pistol-grip style, shown in this 29-second video).

Did it ever occur to anybody that the possible reason for Shop.Lego.com's 5-per-customer limit on 9398 4x4 Crawlers is that RESELLERS are parting-out 9398's to make a quick profit? Heck, for USA people you could sell the three motors that come with the 9398, and already get back nearly 1/3 of the USD $199.99 cost you paid for the set: ($18 ea. x 2 PF L-Motors) + ($29 ea. for PF Servo Motor) = $36 + $29 = $65. The likely true value of PF L-Motors is probably $10, and the PF Servo Motor maybe $12. But, we don't know because The Lego Group never posted its prices. It can post prices for its upcoming sets months in advance, but can't even do this simple courtesy for its customers. Maybe TLG secretly just wants to sell maximum numbers of 9398 sets, and doesn't care whether they get parted-out or not. However, putting profits ahead of its commitments is going too far. Jacking around its customers, with one blown promise after another, is not indicative of a company that cares. Lego's vaunted good-guy image is a fraud.

It's because those Bricklink motors that are available to USA people like me are overpriced. I had wanted to buy MANY motors directly from The Lego Group (to save money), but not anymore. 99499c01 "Light Bluish Gray Electric, Motor 9V Power Functions L with Dark Bluish Gray Bottom" (Lego 88003) -- minimum price on Bricklink for USA customers is USD $18 and up. 99498c01 "Electric, Motor 9V Power Functions Servo with Dark Bluish Gray Bottom" (Lego 88004) -- minimum price on Bricklink for USA customers is USD $28.99 and up. For comparison, on Shop.Lego.com's Power Functions Category webpage, an 8883 Power Functions (PF) Medium Motor costs only USD $7.49 and a 8882 PF XL Motor costs only USD $9.99. Why would I want to pay exhorbitant Bricklink prices when I should have been able to obtain the PF L-Motor and PF Servo Motor directly from Lego? The whole matter is moot now; I'm not going to reward Lego's poor regard for its customers with my money.

@ cgg199: As Cheryl ____ from Lego Customer Service was telling me the release date over the telephone on July 11th, I was literally typing it into my post on the Community.Lego.com Technic Message Board topic https://community.lego.com/t5/TECHNIC/When-Will-Power-Functions-L-Motor-Servo-Motor-and-v2-Receiver-Be/td-p/6561598/page/2 . No new post there is made public without being moderated first. The "Official" Moderator, WhiteAlligator, must have confirmed my statements by looking in the same Lego computer system as Cheryl _____ did. WhiteAlligator is the same one who posted the July 9th date. Mind you, these are Lego employees and not some intermediaries doing this. The 88003 Power Functions L-Motor and 88004 Power Functions Servo Motor were listed as being released on July 12th. Now, who knows what the TRUE date is? I'm not pursuing this anymore. You can fool me some of the time, but not all of the time.

I don't know what's worse for The Lego Group -- being staffed by pathological liars, or being an incompetent business. They kept telling me "Sorry" over and over; they sure are a sorry lot.

(Sigh) The weekend has arrived, and another blown deadline has come and gone March 2013 June 2013 July 9, 2013 July 12, 2013 . There no release posted today on Shop.Lego.com , PowerFunctions.Lego.com , or on the Community.Lego.com Technic Message Board . It's obvious that The Lego Group is not sincere. I'm no chump -- I'm tired of getting jacked around; I'm spending my money elsewhere. Page NOT FOUND

Are you building an older version of the Kenworth K100? -->

Good explanation -- how many months did you work on this? P.S. You sound like Jean Claude Von Damme!

Oh, really? I just telephoned Lego Customer Service at their USA headquarters, and Cheryl ____ there said that the 88003 Lego Power Functions L-Motor and 88004 PF Servo Motor "are going to be released online tomorrow [July 12]." I specifically asked her "In the USA?" and "Via Shop.Lego.com?" and she confirmed "Yes."

You know, I feel sorry for you pushovers who accept poor customer service. I work at a U.S. Air Force Base Civil Engineer (CE) Squadron, in the same section as CE Customer Service. Our base is just like a small city of 7,000 people, and CE is the "public works department." When our customers contact us to find out WHEN something will get fixed, or when a some key material supplies will be delivered, we FIND OUT. We don't just say "Sorry, I don't know" over and over. We have INITIATIVE to find out and RESPOND to the customer! Our squadron has won "Best in the Air Force" awards multiple times, for a reason. I can assure you, the U.S. Government is far larger (and has more bureaucracy than) The Lego Group. I fault Lego Customer Service for LACK OF INITIATIVE and a careless attitude. In my book, they fail.

It's a nice set. For full RC motorization, consider Attila Nagy Abonyi's "...8265 Front Loader, fully motorized with 3 PF M and 1 PF XL motors. The set has been heavily rebuilt, as I had to find place for the 4 motors + 2 receivers. I left the V6 engine where it was. The outlook is the same as the other models without RC motors. Pictures: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=395957 . INSTRUCTIONS: LDD: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/biker/8265RC/8265motorized.lxf . Brickshelf: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=399314 . Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/44797124@N07/sets/72157622840497504/ ."

@ legomuppet9: What I see is a smug, arrogant, private company (making record profits) which thinks it can "do no wrong". If you're not doing anything to help resolve the matter, then butt out. I'm tired of dealing with these clowns.

When I telephoned today, Eileen ____ from Lego Customer Service in Enfield, Connecticut USA said that (in regards to the PF L-Motor and PF Servo Motor availabilty), "They are not available now and we don't have a release date". She did at least acknowledge that they were SUPPOSED TO BE released yesterday (July 9). When I pressed for a new date, she handed me off to her supervisor (Jessie ___ ). He "apologized" for the delay, but (when pressed) couldn't provide a release date either. I told him about the sad history of their blown deadlines, official website postings, etc. Only then, did he agree to get somebody there to post an answer on the Community.Lego.com Technic Message Board thread https://community.lego.com/t5/TECHNIC/When-Will-Power-Functions-L-Motor-Servo-Motor-and-v2-Receiver-Be/m-p/6561598#U6561598 sometime. He believes that the release date is "soon", perhaps within the next week.

@ legomuppet9: I don't like being LIED TO and MISLED, over and over, by some Lego Group officials that are too lazy to answer my basic question. I must have asked them 10 TIMES over the past few months. I don't want to buy some overpriced PF motors from Bricklink because (1) They may not be truly "New", and (2) It encourages the "parting out" of 9398 4x4 Crawler sets by resellers just trying to make a profit. I'm going to contact TLG's Customer Service every day until I get an answer.