28 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

Nicely priced to boot

One could say that the price isn't... astronomical? 

I just finished the build, and I've got to say I'm impressed about the functions. I saw the review videos of course but that doesn't do it justice to try for yourself how they work, the steering mechanism is really clever. It's also instantly recognizable if you know the source material, and while it's not the most difficult set out there, it still offers a bit of technical challenge to finish. Many people have commented about the places where you have to insert two pins with pinhole at the same time, but I didn't have any problems whatsoever inserting them.

The only thing that bothers me is the instructions, there's absolutely no information on what you're building and why that goes there. Many other sets related to real life objects have additional background information so why wouldn't this one need it? It would be noce to know the names of the parts of the machine and their purpose and it would pace the build nicely to insert some little information on the pages.

I also found a small error in the instructions, the black 36T gear isn't placed properly and intersects the DBG beam:

7 hours ago, Erik Leppen said:

So we're complaining for years how the theme has become slick and smooth and repetitive instead of functional and technically interesting, and now, for once, we're getting an out-of-the-ordinary set with original and novel functions, and people aren't getting it because it's not slick and smooth enough?

Some people are weird...

... I don't know, i never complained about that!

And calling other people weird just for their different opinion, doesn't make you better, does it?!

I see it came across much harsher than I meant it... I think I should have said "communities are weird". Which we are, I think :) And I should have added a "", because I have no mean intentions. I just observed this difference. Also, when I say weird, I don't mean worse or better than anyone. I don't mean "weird" as a negative. I just found the conflicting opinions (of different people, you're right, I glossed over that ), well... amusing. I imagine the designers who might read this, will think "man, these are a hard to please bunch" :) (which we are, myself included)

So, sorry for the needless slap-in-the-face 

I also spy a lot of parts used in Monster Mutt Dalmatian. Guess we know now why the designers chose her for this year's Monster Jam sets!

Bought it this morning. Unfortunately the gold-coloured stickersheet (unprotected in box) had been folded and isn't going to apply nicely. And it seems stickersheets aren't in the list of broken parts you can order?

So I sent them a description instead and I'll see what I get.

3 hours ago, pleegwat said:

Bought it this morning. Unfortunately the gold-coloured stickersheet (unprotected in box) had been folded and isn't going to apply nicely. And it seems stickersheets aren't in the list of broken parts you can order?

So I sent them a description instead and I'll see what I get.

They don't have a part number like actual parts have, but nether do instruction booklets and I have personally gotten a replacement for instructions once when I had a faulty one so there's hope.

Just call them. They will provide you a new one. I got replacements in the past.

I have replaced blue, red, yellow and some tan parts with black or dark bluish gray and I am waiting for Gear 12 Tooth Double Bevel to try to replace the knobs

Edited June 10, 20231 yr by fred-eric
add

On 6/8/2023 at 2:07 PM, pleegwat said:

Bought it this morning. Unfortunately the gold-coloured stickersheet (unprotected in box) had been folded and isn't going to apply nicely. And it seems stickersheets aren't in the list of broken parts you can order?

So I sent them a description instead and I'll see what I get.

Got the replacement sheet this morning.

On 6/10/2023 at 10:48 AM, fred-eric said:

I have replaced blue, red, yellow and some tan parts with black or dark bluish gray and I am waiting for Gear 12 Tooth Double Bevel to try to replace the knobs

replacement of knobs does not work :-(

The unprotected sticker sheet seems to offer a pretty good explanation for the low price. 

1 hour ago, fred-eric said:

replacement of knobs does not work :-(

That's what I suspected. Knobs may be big, but in fact they have less slop than gears. Lego designers certainly knew what they were doing here.

On 6/17/2023 at 11:13 AM, Davidz90 said:

That's what I suspected. Knobs may be big, but in fact they have less slop than gears. Lego designers certainly knew what they were doing here.

I suspect the more crucial thing here is that they are easier to align correctly.

17 hours ago, aeh5040 said:

I suspect the more crucial thing here is that they are easier to align correctly.

you can reverse the Axle and Pin Connector Perpendicular 3L with Center Pin Hole from step 96 to lock the direction in straight ahead position

but with the Gear 12 Tooth Double Bevel, the system locks

Just got my copy in the mail! Out of curiosity (pun intended), has anyone found a way to motorize it yet?

After some disappointing sets and hearing mixed reviews, I ended on the fence on getting this set. But  I picked this up for €75, reduced from €95, so clearly didn't need too much incentive. On paper, it was right up my street, as I do like real space-themed sets. 

What I liked: the build was fine - there is not a huge amount going on in the set, function wise, but there is something in each set of bags. The alternative steering modes are ingeniously executed, I thought. And finally we have a lego model with a decent turning circle. The final model looks fine, and the motion in the arm is good - a bit slow on  the non-manual movements. 

The new wheels look good and authentic, but in practice are a bit frustrating. It can only really move on a flat soft surface (basically carpet). Any obstacles (even a lego stud or slope) and the wheel mount bends back. I guess that is just a limit of the material and the wheel mount design, which can't be any other way on a model like this. It'll be interesting to see how those wheels behave on a more traditional axle. 

I also have to agree that the lack of info on the model is a big miss. I was lucky enough to get the Cuusoo (as Ideas was) Curiosity rover 21104 (as my return from the dark ages set) and that had lots of extra info in the booklet. This included an emphasis on the suspension, including explaining how the suspension system ensures that all 6 wheels stay on the ground, regardless of the terrain, and even had some bumpy landscape as part of the build to demonstrate this in the display model. This set (42158) has a working implementation of the same suspension, but there is no mention of it, even in the AR app, that I can find. The implementation is good - the central DBG bar is very asymmetric in the photo below, as the wheels on each side cope with the different slope directions. In practice, the model can't drive over rough terrain (except for carefully engineered rough terrain, which kinda defeats the purpose) due to the wheel mount flex issue. The Cuusoo model implements this really well at a small scale, but of course cannot steer.

See the photo below for a demo of the two rovers in action. 

Overall I'm reasonably happy with the set at the price I paid, and good to have another member of the Little & Large club:

 

loaders:

not technic:

not technic:

not all lego:

 

 

Edited August 7, 20231 yr by DrJimbo
clarifications

Is there an io file of the Mars rover?

Edited March 4, 2024Mar 4 by Tofelofogus
looking for io file

7 hours ago, Tofelofogus said:

Is there an io file of the Mars rover?

Not yet, but there is an .ldr file on ldraw forum of it. You can import it to Studio, but sometimes pins and connectors appear as a black boxes if different part versions were used.
https://forums.ldraw.org/thread-27728-post-52239.html#pid52239

On 3/4/2024 at 10:12 PM, R0Sch said:

Not yet, but there is an .ldr file on ldraw forum of it. You can import it to Studio, but sometimes pins and connectors appear as a black boxes if different part versions were used.
https://forums.ldraw.org/thread-27728-post-52239.html#pid52239

Excellent, thank you. 🙏