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I think the 8043 Motorized Excavator has to be one of the best sets ever; four motors, cool gearbox, easy controls, pretty complex and cool build. It’s a very compact model and looks nice too.

And still, a pretty decent set;)

In my experience the chain runs smooth as a whistle on the 12t gear...no problems like with 8t gears.

5: 10 7: 6 3: 4 8: 3 1: 2 6: 1

Many thanks for your excellent review, Jim. A very enjoyable read and great pics! As per usual;) One small question about the inventory: does this set contain 2 types of black friction pins? On the first page it mentions 146x type 4121715 AND 561x type 6279875...

With my answer I had the 8868 Rebirth MOC (fantastic model btw) in mind, but maybe I’m thinking too complicated. I would certainly be interested in an RC/pneumatic combo, and probably willing to fork out € 449,99 for it…😉

For the CAT pneumatics would not be very realistic either, don’t you think? But if it was done with pneumatic, servos for each valve and sensors, I would think the price would reach the level of beyond ludicrous. Plus there would be need for a highly specialized remote control, since I fail to see how the need for many subtle controls could work via touchscreen. Cool as it would be though…;)

Do you mean than sets like 42102 or 42116? I think these are more functional than 8281… I agree with TeamThrifty though. Not only do I wonder why people who post massive complaints over and over again don’t just quit Lego, also do they indeed seem to miss the point of the OP (‘details!’). As an old fart, I can point at (somewhat) infuriating details in set 853, namely skidding rear wheels and absurd gear ratios. Which probably have contributed to the development of the differential and 16t gear in 8860.

Not easy to pick the best ones among these great builds...: 35: 10 8: 6 11: 4 1: 3 10: 2 16: 1

Very nice review. Although the set has nothing much to write home about IMO, your review is a joy to watch.

That looks excellent, perhaps even better than the set itself. It would have been a great hommage to 8285 if it had been released in these colours.

In one of the pics of the build I think a diff and tan 20t gear are visible on the last axle, which gives me good hope that the middle rear axle has a diff as well.

The model doesn't look too bad to me, but the lack of interesting technical functions makes it very doubtful I would buy it. It does seem to have pretty nice ground clearance and lots of open space, so making it RC for offroad driving could be cool...

This one looks pretty cool, and pretty complete function-wise, with a lot of mechanical AND pneumatic functions. I especially like the possibility to lift the first pair or rear wheels (sticker above the second gear on the right). The pneumatic pump seems to be located behind the cab. I hope it has a working fake-engine as well...

Agreed. After having finally seen the picture of the supposed model, I can only conclude that it’s not worth spending more than a few words on it. I mean, look at just the blade: small, ugly and full of holes. No one can convince me that any TLG designer would dare put his signature on that. And the rest is not much better, especially compared to Eric Trax’ wonderful 42100 B-model.

I think we can agree that licensing, developing, producing and ALMOST completely distributing a set, and then pull it back, is pretty stupid. At least business-wise.

That sounds almost too intelligent to be true. I bet Hanlon’s Razor offers a better explanation, as usual: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"

I assume you considered the costs of development, production and callbacks should be all subtracted from that mighty profit...

+1 In the end of the day only TLG make themselves look foolish, by cancelling a set they apparently shouldn’t have developed in the first place, according to their own guidelines. And me being a tiny bit disappointed, as I think it’s a really nice model...

I don't know. Correcting an error would be a valid reason to delay the release, opposed to giving in to cancel-culture like pressure groups...But let's not make this political...

I thought it might be postponed due to an error in the manual. In the picture you see that the axle going to the propellor housings has a pin joiner between the two axle joiners, while there is also a clutch in the drive train to prevent stalling the motor. I think the pin joiner should be placed between the axle joiners going to the propellors. If the manual is wrong on this, there should be a correction/errata sheet. Don’t know if this is a reason to postpone the set, but the way it’s presented in this video at 10:26 it just doesn’t work right... https://flic.kr/p/2jo66pZ

Or just more stability. These frames seem not just a lot sturdier, but also more expensive than a pile of beams, pins and connectors. So the argument of "higher profits" seems questionable to me. That being said, the more I see of this Hauler, the more I like it. It looks more complex and functional than it seemed on first sight. If it's likable enough to buy it, remains to be seen...

That looks very nice. And judging by the amout of great alternate models coming by here, it's really a shame there is no official B-model for this set...

Aha, I didn’t read too well... Nice to see you tried and tested it yourself!

I’d rather assume there are no pins in the lower back...;)