[SURVEY] TLG Technic Team needs your input

[howitzer]

1 hour ago, DrJB said:

Youtube is full of fantastic machinery for agriculture, construction, production plants ...  Granted, most kids (and any adults) would not relate.

How about some machine-tools ... lathe or milling machine?

TLG is likely after machinery that most people can relate to, that is why cars are very popular. There are others though that are plain fascinating: Loom, Spirograph, and the like.

Also, when it comes to off-road vehicles, it is often a delicate balance between functions and looks, and TLG has been leaning more towards looks.

Another example: typical components/machinery inside a combine harvester: Header, feeder, rotor, sieve, auger. All of these are truly genius-grade mechanisms.

Last one: there were books that show collections of mechanisms: non-circular gears, Geneva mechanisms, and the like. Again, not sure how much appeal those offer to the non mechanical engineer.

The need for people to be able to relate to the set is very important, which means it must be immediately recognizable on the box or online catalogue. Now, cars and such fulfill this requirement very easily, but spirograph or milling machine wouldn't, even if it was otherwise the best set ever. So I fear these kind of machines are going to exist only in the realm of MOCs also in the future and official sets won't happen.

[JintaiZ]

6 hours ago, syclone said:

On the surface. It has recently surpassed Classic Space, Castle and Pirates in the Ideas 90th anniversary fan vote, passing into the final round. It's just many who are interested in Bionicle have their own forums, websites... I see a lot of Bionicle builds on Twitter for instance, even dedicated expos if I recall correctly. 

True, but bionicle is one large theme while Classic Space and Classic Castle are subthemes. Castle combined (and Space combined) got more votes than Bionicle.

Yes, there are LEGO bionicle fan websites, but those websites aren't so popular these days...

[TeamThrifty]

10 hours ago, DrJB said:

machinery that most people can relate to, that is why cars are very popular

Relatable is imporant, no doubt... but i do wonder about cars. I'm not a car guy and felt i was in the monority being bored by another gearbox in a brick-built shellsuit... but looking through peoples responses, there are many requests for construction and agriculture, but no requests for cars. Now that could just be because there are loads of cars, but i'm wondering if they're perceived popularity is simply because they're available.

If a ferrari was on the shelf next to an awesome flagship JCB backhoe... which would sell the most?  (...and JCB is a perfect fit for licenced technic sets.)

If the Xerion had been a 3000 piece flagship masterpiece, would it have matched the Porsche in terms of sales? Who knows, but i suspect its a pretty close run thing. 

[CrankyCraig]

 

On 2/25/2021 at 4:51 PM, TeamThrifty said:

If a ferrari was on the shelf next to an awesome flagship JCB backhoe... which would sell the most?  (...and JCB is a perfect fit for licenced technic sets.)

If the Xerion had been a 3000 piece flagship masterpiece, would it have matched the Porsche in terms of sales? Who knows, but i suspect its a pretty close run thing. 

Who knows, indeed.

Recently, many of us more interested in the development of technical functions in models have been somewhat underwhelmed with the unveiling of car after car, and find it difficult to comprehend how or why our beloved non-car technical marvels from the past are seemingly ignored updates in favour of them. Most of these decisions will, without doubt, be made based on the balance sheet, and analysing this information for each past set would likely help us to understand so many of Lego's decisions made both historically, and going forward. My interest in this information is so great, that I'm prepared to offer anyone that has access to it one of my male ovoidal reproductive glands in exchange for it. 

If interested please message me, and let's get this ball rolling.

[sirslayer]

1.If you could choose, what 3 IPs/Brands would you like to have in the LEGO Technic portfolio?

Caterpillar

Nasa

PACCAR Inc

2.What types of vehicles should we do more of in LEGO Technic (ex: boats, super cars, helicopters, excavators etc.)?

Helicopters, Construction vehicles, Rc based Cars, trucks, trains and Floatable boats

3.Which LEGO Technic vehicle and which price point you would like to see (please state only one top choice)

Big cargo planes under $100 USD dollars

4.If not vehicles what would you like to see from the LEGO Technic platform?

Sport Cars.. too many of them. 

5.What is the trigger point for you to purchase LEGO Technic?

All the above!! (Below)

7.Will technology, for example, Control+ increase the likelihood of your LEGO Technic purchase?

Yes

8.Why/why not?

RC vehicles are fun.. especially with a lot of Technics.

9.What are some improvement areas you see for your experience with the LEGO Technic Control+ platform?

The programming!!

10.What kind of technologies would you like to see in LEGO Technic?

More pneumatic and conveyors belts and rollers..

11.Do you see clear connection between our Build for Real communication and product offerings?

Huh????

[Maaboo the Witch]

4 hours ago, sirslayer said:

1.If you could choose, what 3 IPs/Brands would you like to have in the LEGO Technic portfolio?

Caterpillar

We're already gonna have that.

4 hours ago, sirslayer said:

11.Do you see clear connection between our Build for Real communication and product offerings?

Huh????

"Build for Real" is the Technic tagline. Were you unaware of that?

[sirslayer]

6 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

Build for Real" is the Technic tagline. Were you unaware of that?

No, I have no idea!!!   

Maybe I should stare at my Technic boxes more often!! 

I didn't realized we have a Caterpillar model!!?? 

6 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

We're already gonna have that.

[Maaboo the Witch]

7 minutes ago, sirslayer said:

No, I have no idea!!!   

Maybe I should stare at my Technic boxes more often!! 

I didn't realized we have a Caterpillar model!!?? 

It's in the Technic product videos. As for the Caterpillar, the D11T dozer is this year's flagship.

[sirslayer]

Right on.. thanks for the info

[allanp]

The build for real question isn't that well stated, but I think it's basically asking, do you think that the technic models we offer feel "real" to you, as their "build for real" slogan would suggest. I answered no mostly because of how unrealistic all the mechanisms are, but the goofy choice of colours used for the mechanical internals doesn't help either.

[RNRS001]

I've asked for a Scania or a truck that's not a tipper or has a crane and its steering doesn't rely on the hand of god. There's so many other options for trucks and of the 5 big trucks I've got 4 of them feature a crane in one way or the other. The Peterbilt tow truck has a crane. The red truck has a crane. The crane, well, it's a crane. The Unimog has a crane. The Arocs has a crane... No more cranes please. 

Why no firetruck with a ladder? Or a concrete mixer? Or a tanker trailer? Something with lifting axles? A street sweeper? The list of other trucks out there is endless. 

Also, make them all in the same scale. I really liked what the Mack truck looked like but it'd look weird on display. I realize I'm a minority when looking at the big picture as there's not many who've bought all the big trucks but still. The "wrong" scale of the Mack Truck is what stopped me from buying it. 

Edited February 28, 2021 by RNRS001

[howitzer]

14 minutes ago, RNRS001 said:

I've asked for a Scania or a truck that's not a tipper or has a crane and its steering doesn't rely on the hand of god. There's so many other options for trucks and of the 5 big trucks I've got 4 of them feature a crane in one way or the other. The Peterbilt tow truck has a crane. The red truck has a crane. The crane, well, it's a crane. The Unimog has a crane. The Arocs has a crane... No more cranes please. 

Why no firetruck with a ladder? Or a concrete mixer? Or a tanker trailer? Something with lifting axles? A street sweeper? The list of other trucks out there is endless. 

Also, make them all in the same scale. I really liked what the Mack truck looked like but it'd look weird on display. I realize I'm a minority when looking at the big picture as there's not many who've bought all the big trucks but still. The "wrong" scale of the Mack Truck is what stopped me from buying it. 

I believe cranes are so common because they provide a cool, playable function that's easy to present well in marketing. The low number of firetrucks is indeed baffling, I also mentioned them in my wishlist. A concrete mixer we just got and it's a nice presentation of the problem with them: the drum has to be a big single-use piece as brickbuilt drums tend to be quite ugly, so can't really release those too often. Lifting axles would be cool but that's not exactly a primary function of a truck. Street sweeper might be an option but I guess the coolness-factor isn't really there, and same goes for garbage trucks. Trucks transporting something like Mack Anthem or the old Forklift transporter are great but those get old fast. Maybe a delivery truck with rear lift? I haven't seen much of those, not even MOCs. I once tried to build one but the geometry of the lift is really hard to do properly with Lego.

[TeamThrifty]

23 hours ago, CrankyCraig said:

many of us more interested in the development of technical functions in models have been somewhat underwhelmed with the unveiling of car after car, and find it difficult to comprehend how or why our beloved non-car technical marvels from the past are seemingly ignored updates in favour of them

I genuinely couldn't agree more, i know there's a lot of love for cars, but they leave me cold. I don't hate them or anything, they're just not for me. The opposite is the BWE, it didn't sound like my kind of thing, but when i saw it, it was proper technic and i had to have it! Loved the build too... Now it didn't have fancy gearboxes or anything, and maybe wasn't ground-breaking enough for dome, but it was pure technic with no fancy bits and i loved that.

[Ngoc Nguyen]

12 hours ago, RNRS001 said:

a concrete mixer?

42112 would like to have a word with you.

[iLego]

In this survey, many of us have expressed our love for interesting mechanisms and hence our dislike (or non-preference) of the recent spate of technic cars. But how many of us have expressed the same with the wallet ?

Seems like many of us end up buying anyway. TLG will obviously listen to the wallet more than the survey.

[Frequenzberater]

I have not bought any new technic set in the last three years. And that means a lot, since I own a huge collection. I hope I am not the only one. 

[eric trax]

I do not understand that the TECHNIC department is ignoring agricultural machinery. I know that there have been several sets on this subject over the years. The topic is very extensive and grateful. Lots of interesting mechanisms that are eye-catching. Hiding a large HUB in a combine or forage harvester is no problem. This is something that can be a flagship without any complexes. But we still get cars and construction machines. Over and over...

We need a space shuttle like a 8480. Once upon a time, the technic was filled with much more diverse ideas.

I skip the smaller models because other vehicles or machines appear there more often. However, it is a less risky market.

[1gor]

On 2/23/2021 at 4:17 PM, AVCampos said:

After a quick glance at the questionnaire, it feels more like a letter to Santa than a survey!

IMHO it is a best description of a survey.

8 hours ago, eric trax said:

I do not understand that the TECHNIC department is ignoring agricultural machinery. I know that there have been several sets on this subject over the years. The topic is very extensive and grateful. Lots of interesting mechanisms that are eye-catching. Hiding a large HUB in a combine or forage harvester is no problem. This is something that can be a flagship without any complexes. But we still get cars and construction machines. Over and over... 

I second that

[Void_S]

13 hours ago, eric trax said:

I do not understand that the TECHNIC department is ignoring agricultural machinery. I know that there have been several sets on this subject over the years. The topic is very extensive and grateful. Lots of interesting mechanisms that are eye-catching. Hiding a large HUB in a combine or forage harvester is no problem. This is something that can be a flagship without any complexes. But we still get cars and construction machines. Over and over...

We need a space shuttle like a 8480. Once upon a time, the technic was filled with much more diverse ideas.

I skip the smaller models because other vehicles or machines appear there more often. However, it is a less risky market.

Possibly, they supposed that it may not be so highly demanded. I recall the green tractor set (A is the tractor / B is a buggy), which was presented ay US market as the buggy as primary model.

Anyways, I support this question. Agricultural area provides a lot of amazing solutions which just scream to be made in Technic sets.

[ctx1769]

I asked for Ford in the brand question eg a Ford Model T in black of course  , I asked for steampunk as a theme and said Lego should let the designers go mad.

also for more pneumatic and a physical control+ device without being too expensive.

 

[PicnicBasketSam]

I put down that I would like another space shuttle. 8480 is a bit before my time but it's an incredible and important set, and a modern version could be amazing... I would be seriously impressed if they came out with a set as complicated as that one today, though no modern set would have a fiber-optic system that costs more to produce than the set itself would sell for.

[Bartybum]

I forgot to mention when filling out the survey that I'd be quite interested in RC walkers (Strandbeest, Klann, etc.), because they're quite interesting in their own right.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Bartybum

[RNRS001]

On 3/1/2021 at 8:46 AM, Ngoc Nguyen said:

42112 would like to have a word with you.

Sure, but the mixer is still made out of one piece. It kind of defeats the idea of using interesting building techniques. Creating that model with a working system inside the mixer, no hand of god steering, 2 steering front axels would be completely different from what's out there. 

[brolansys BLS 21]

I procrasted on this long enough but I finally did it.

1.

- Bell Equipment (South Africa)
- Any of the "major" space agency's (NASA/Roscosmos/ESA/JAXA/etc)

I'll admit that I do think that LEGO has more design freedom and originality by not using a IP/Brand for it's Technic designs.  
For instance would it have been better (and cheaper for consumers) for the LEGO Technic group to have come up with their own original tiltrotor/tiltwing VTOL aircraft than having to work with Bell-Boeing on the 42113 V-22 Osprey (search & rescue variant concept) set only for it to belimited release/cancelled over the aircraft's military association?

2.

- More futuristic/concept vehicles (even licensed collaborations ones like the 42081 Volvo Concept Wheel Loader ZEUX or the 42063 B-model "BMW flying motorcycle concept")
- Space/sci-fi inspired vehicles
- Logging vehicles
- Walking excavator

3.

I'm not sure of a vehicle at this time.  While my most expensive Technic purchase was around USD $170, I don't think I would pay anything higher than that at the moment.

4.

- Walkers/legged contraptions
- Animals
- Great Ball Contraption modules (GBC's)
- Mechanical clock

5.

Technology, New Elements, MOC's

6.

- Functionality, does the model have some interesting functions (for it's price point

- A good b-model/secondary model
- It's on sale, LEGO ain't cheap where I live.

7.

No

8.

It's expensive right now and I'm concerned about app's phone compatibility for remote controlling into the future.

9.

While I don't have any Control+ components yet, I would like to see some sort of adapter/converter piece to be able to use the it with the older Power Functions motors which I already own.
A physical remote instead using a phone.

10.

- More pneumatic elements (bring back the air tank)
- Multi colour and/or flashing LED's (could allow for flashing lights on an emergency vehicle for example)
- Small motors like the Micro Motor from 90's era LEGO Technic

- I know this point doesn't really have to do with the question, but I would like to see more prints, less stickers (at least start doing more printed interment panels for drivers seat area/cockpits/control area of vehicles) as someone who doesn't like applying stickers on the sets (for fear of screwing them up and/or using the parts for MOC's), I hate how bare a cockpit area looks with a blank panel because a sticker should go there.
Why a multi use printed 1x1, 1x2 or 2x2 tile piece with a layout of button, dials, gauges, screen readout, etc that could be combined with other printed tiles to form a larger instrument panel, would be good to see.

11.

Don't know

(I mean I saw the footage of lifesize Technic Chrion which was pretty impressive but is any customer going to spend a fortune on Technic parts (and new unknown parts we don't have access to) to do something similar?)

 

[Parazels]

Voted for PU M-motor; more B-models and less licensed sets.

Edited March 7, 2021 by Parazels