What's with all the Technic hate?

[Ratbat]

Something that I have been seeing quite a bit on the site is how many people hate technic. Is there any reason behind it? I don't see what's so terrible about it. A lot of great features in sets require technic to function.

[Rick]

To be honest: I haven't got a clue what you're talking about when you talk about 'hate'. And I'd guess that does for many members. I don't collect Technic, but that doesn't mean I hate it. It has its target group and fans and the occasional Technic pin in my town or pirates models doesn't bother me at all when it's well-integrated in the model, especially if it makes a model much more playable.

Technic isn't my favorite theme because it's about the mechanisms and less about the 'look' of the finished model.

[Zerobricks]

I noticed that on brickset sometimes. When there were new technic sets, some people would be like i dont care, i hate those and such... They just dont know how it works, and what they dont understand scares them :)

[Milan]

Well there is not many people hating it, just don't like it...

As Rick said, technic is more for showing mechanisms then for detailed and nice look...

I also don't like pure technic very much, I admire mix between technic and good look, lets say ModelTeam-like.

It is ideal for me when model has interior mechanisms, gears, axles, differentials...and outer detail body, but it is very expensive, and not practical for lego to make it!

Basically to take the best from both world- functions and look!

Also, problem may be that if you don't try technic, chances are that you will not like it when you see it. You just have to fell the joy when everything is working as you planned!

[Meatman]

I have always noticed that this site is geared more towards people that are more into minifig building. We really need a good Technic site. No one seems to ever post at nicjasno and technicBricks doesn't have a forum. Technic building also seems to be enjoyed more by adults rather than the actual age range that it is aimed towards.

I have yet to go to any Toys R Us or related store and actually see a child buying a technic set. Kids are more into the minfig playsets. The only people I have seen purchase Technic were older teens and adults.

I actually enjoy the look of technic models where you can see the inner working mechanisms. That is the whole point of the technic models that we see being released from TLC.

Edited January 6, 2010 by Meatman

[allanp]

I don't really see any hate for technic. Personnally I love it, to me it's legos flagship theme. If you want something that is gonna stimulate your mind whilst you enjoy it, technic is THE theme to do it in my opinion.

I often wonder why, on brickset, you get a load of comments saying "i'm not interested in the new sets, but then I don't collect technic". Seems a bit retarded to me!

[Rick]

I have always noticed that this site is geared more towards people that are more into minifig building. We really need a good Technic site. No one seems to ever post at nicjasno and technicBricks doesn't have a forum.

Well, many LEGO themes have their 'home' here on Eurobricks. Some of the most successful/active themes have their own blogs that are closely linked the respective EB fora, like http://www.classic-pirates.com for Pirates and http://www.classic-town.net for Town and Train Tech.

The Technic community could make EB their home as well if that isn't already so. It probably just requires some coordination of the mods of the leading Technic websites, fora, and blogs.

[Parax]

There are those who do and those who dont. just like maths. some love it some don't.

I also think that the change from Original Technic to studless alienated many Technic followers, it is a vastly different building style. and does take a LOT of getting used to, I forced myself to use it and once I started to understand its principles I found it easier (but yes its still harder than the old technic) but I think the results are worth it (sometimes) the parts are now free from the right way up issue, and therefore can be more complex.

As for its style, you either like skeletons or not. just liek with technic. I do think that technic has the ability to be bigger, and that Lego should not do too many small sets. They cant compete with 'proper' town sets especially as the town sets are just as functional. Technic should give more function not just complexity of build.

P.

[tomacwhite]

Not sure why anyone would hate it if they're into Lego, its the ultimate theme!

I am 31 years old now, but when I was young I absolutely loved the Town, Space and Train (the electric supplied ones with track switching, working traffic lights, level crossings, it was epic!) but my heart and real desire was always with the Technic stuff. It was just super grown up and you could buy awesome trucks and cars and diggers/loaders etc.

Now I am old(er) I am really just into Technic stuff, so I guess its the same for me the other way around, but I don't hate the other themes, I am just not into them. I guess some younger builders simply don't like Technic Lego, but they might love the Bionicle stuff, which I don't understand as it doesn't even have proper bricks!! ha ha!

Lego Star Wars will always be awesome though :) :) :)

[Fistach]

Well I don't know... :) Just kidding!

[paul_delahaye]

I totally agree, I love technic, trains and town and I think all 3 are very integrated in terms of themes, for example, you can build a train bridge using technic girders and beams, much harder to span a gap just using bricks, you only have to look at the James May (Lego House) program to see how hard a brick girder is.

Like a previous poster said, I don't understand Bionicle either? I don't understand why you would want to make the creature? What is that all about, it's a bit like pokemon! I just don't get it.

Give me another Technic crane any day, oh yeah, thank you Lego we have another one coming this year :-)

Paul

[Legostein]

Hello!

You might want to read this similar topic: Sets can't escape Technic?

It's about the presence of TECHNIC pieces in non-TECHNIC sets. Many people agree that with TECHNIC pieces the functions of sets are better, and that without TECHNIC many things would not work at all.

I can only repeat what I said there. TECHNIC pieces are important to me. Although I don't build or collect TECHNIC, I appreciate the variety and specification of many of these pieces. Some of them are essential for my models even.

So I wouldn't be so harsh and think people hate TECHNIC like poison.

Cheers,

~ Christopher

Edited January 6, 2010 by Legostein

[vexorian]

Like a previous poster said, I don't understand Bionicle either? I don't understand why you would want to make the creature? What is that all about, it's a bit like pokemon! I just don't get it.

It is not like pokemon. The first large bionicle sets until possibly 2004 were full of technic stuff and funcitonality. The exo-toa is a joy to build...

I like technic pieces and mechanism but as a theme, technic seems so dull... I mean, cars and maybe with luck planes or helicopters, all over and over again... I did own large technic sets and although interesting to build, they are just a car and a bike :/ where's the soul in that :) ?

[paul_delahaye]

It is not like pokemon.

What I meant is Bionicle and Pokemon, I don't understand the point of either,

and I'm not sure where you see soul in a random bionicle monster which all look the same just slightly different colours? I would pick a technic truck, car, crane, bulldozer etc over any monster, but hey, I guess we are all different and thats why I use and benifit from the Technic forum and I've never posted on the Bionicle forum.

Each to their own I guess

[vexorian]

What I meant is Bionicle and Pokemon, I don't understand the point of either,

and I'm not sure where you see soul in a random bionicle monster which all look the same just slightly different colours? I would pick a technic truck, car, crane, bulldozer etc over any monster, but hey, I guess we are all different and thats why I use and benifit from the Technic forum and I've never posted on the Bionicle forum.

Each to their own I guess

I don't see a soul in monsters that all look the same. I left bionicle once they sold out and made the canisters become clones of everything but before that there was a time in which each of them was unique. Specially the non-canister sets , the titans and the Rahi in which pressing a part of the set would make it viciously attack... Because they actually had a practical use for the technic pieces beyond things like decorative gears they add to technic cars to make it look like they had a motor... Same with real lego bricked-themes, they work well because they can use the technic pieces to make something awesome for gameplay. Instead of just a car.

I mean, the most interesting functionality I got from technic cars was the motor thing and also the steering, beyond that they weren't able to have much more... I guess maybe the bigger sets are more interesting function-wise, but 8465 was really expensive enough ... There are sets in other themes much bellow its price that are a lot more interesting...

I just think technic pieces do a much better job at things like making the Spyrius robot's arms poseable or at making the boxor's boxing function. If you like your cars, go ahead and like them, but don't assume the other themes are poor or that people don't love technic because they don't understand its functions...

[Brickthus]

What I meant is Bionicle and Pokemon, I don't understand the point of either,

and I'm not sure where you see soul in a random bionicle monster which all look the same just slightly different colours? I would pick a technic truck, car, crane, bulldozer etc over any monster, but hey, I guess we are all different and thats why I use and benifit from the Technic forum and I've never posted on the Bionicle forum.

Each to their own I guess

But the point of Bionicle (from a biased point of view including business truth) was to exploit the collectability attribute to 7 year old lads in order to keep the Technic line going for the rest of us Just a shame Bionicle got too many of the new moulds, leaving Technic without the small versatile parts it should have had years ago!

Ever since I bought my own LEGO, I've bought sets for the parts they contain more than for the model itself. Technic sets do well in this regard.

Some people, those who don't like or understand Technic, are just not gifted in mechanical engineering. Technic enthusiasts need mechanical ability as well as spatial ability.

Even amongst the gifted Technic enthusiasts it takes people a while to understand some concepts. Proportional pneumatics for instance... (which you should be able to do with an 8049 set and a couple of PF motors, one to compress the air and one for the dither). It's more difficult to get working concepts across unless you make a video. For me, videos take longer than a set of pictures because you need 90% chance of 10 minutes reliability first, so a mock-up won't do!

I would call myself a Technic and Trains enthusiast, though I make forays into other themes too. I'm a born engineer with a passion to make things work, so Technic is my 3D pencil and paper. Steam trains need Technic - only 1 of 7 steam locos and more prototypes does without Technic (and Toby's motor wheels are hidden).

I'm quite happy for EB TM&MT to be my main Technic forum. Handy that it has Train Tech alongside it for the trains bit. TechnicBricks is great as a resource but has too many embedded videos for the amount of RAM in my PC!

Mark

[brickzone]

I didn't entirely appreciate technic when I returned to Lego as an AFOL, and I never did much with it as a kid despite being bought some (it just seemed too difficult and looked ugly). However, the greater amount of technic in modern System sets has really opened my eyes as to the potential of technic. The parts even when not used for mechanisms offer a lot of versatility in helping even appearance, let alone play features, and I find myself using them more and more in MOCs. I've been playing around with ideas for Space MOCs, and technic parts seem to be featuring a lot in them - just so easy to use the parts as pretend mechanisms. I've even had the situation of not having *enough* of certain technic parts from my stock that comes mostly from recent parted out System sets.

Now to cap it off I got a really awesome Technic set for Christmas (8285 Tow Truck), and I'm starting to understand why some people *LOVE* technic. Building it was a joy. I don't know that I'll quite grasp the principles of designing my own mechanisms and models incorporating them (technic MOCs as it were) but I think I can incorporate some tricks I learn into my general building.

My advice to anyone less than enthusiastic about technic in System models is just to look at what Lego use the technic for in the models, and simply use the parts the same way in your own MOCs. Seriously, they add a lot of versatility.

I do think this incorporation of Technic into System sets makes more sense from the point of view of Lego getting people into Technic, rather than exclusively focusing on "pure" Technic sets. Pure Technic sets are a bit daunting and do look a bit ugly at times (although actually in recent years although not "realistic" they look pretty swish with all the Bionicle panels and the liftarm construction).

[grepin]

If it's indeed true that some people 'hate' Technic (which I honestly doubt very much), that's solely because they don't understand it.

As some already mentioned, each to his own. Most people stick to a few themes, maybe just one, and simply ignore the remaining ones. That's perfectly natural if you ask me.

[Bricktrain]

I never liked the early Technic, they looked too prehistoric in the designs, but especially over the last 5 years set designs have been much improved and they now look much more finished than the early sets. To me function is only part of the build, aesthetics are important too.

[allanp]

I think the older sets were better considering the parts available back then, and also more challenging. Each year also seemed to bring more new innovations. However I don't think the designers are given as much time to design the sets and new parts as they used to get.

Edited January 7, 2010 by allanp

[Aanchir]

I don't see a soul in monsters that all look the same. I left bionicle once they sold out and made the canisters become clones of everything but before that there was a time in which each of them was unique. Specially the non-canister sets , the titans and the Rahi in which pressing a part of the set would make it viciously attack... Because they actually had a practical use for the technic pieces beyond things like decorative gears they add to technic cars to make it look like they had a motor... Same with real lego bricked-themes, they work well because they can use the technic pieces to make something awesome for gameplay. Instead of just a car.

I mean, the most interesting functionality I got from technic cars was the motor thing and also the steering, beyond that they weren't able to have much more... I guess maybe the bigger sets are more interesting function-wise, but 8465 was really expensive enough ... There are sets in other themes much bellow its price that are a lot more interesting...

I just think technic pieces do a much better job at things like making the Spyrius robot's arms poseable or at making the boxor's boxing function. If you like your cars, go ahead and like them, but don't assume the other themes are poor or that people don't love technic because they don't understand its functions...

A time when each BIONICLE set was unique? You mean the Toa Mata torso and build we used for three straight years on all Toa? Or the Toa Metru torso we used for two straight years? The Inika torso was used for only four years, and it was well worth it since it was the first torso that was actually useful and versatile, rather than a clunky gearbox. I've tried several times to visualize and/or draw a new structure for a BIONICLE character using imaginary torso parts, but besides shifting the neck joint up a stud there's no changes that don't cost twice their value to the part's versatility.

Really, the concept that BIONICLE became "more cloned" over time is a myth. The only difference is that there was a shift from nonhumanoid villains to humanoid villains, because humanoids were by far more popular.

Meanwhile, regarding Technic: I've never really been a collector of Technic sets. Part of the reason is that, as people have said, the finished sets are designed more for functionality than a clean, consolidated appearance. However, I still admire Technic sets a great deal, even if I don't buy them. That car in the January 2010 catalog I was just looking at, for instance, has a brilliant suspension technique.

Another thing: New Technic sets can't be as appreciated from simple catalog pictures. The most useful of their new parts will usually be buried deep within the mechanism where nobody can see them. It's a lot harder to dissect the building techniques used in Technic without an instruction booklet, since unlike System building there's no clear distinction between SNOT and non-SNOT-- Technic is built three-dimensionally almost without question, and it becomes the norm rather than the exception.

Pity this post got so long-- I've been trying to make shorter posts here than on other sites, but with "opinion" posts like this it doesn't really always work out. Hope I got my point across clearly, though.

[CP5670]

Technic has always been my favorite theme, even though I build a lot of Space and City models too. As others have said, I don't see any "hate" for Technic. People might simply not be interested in it, which is fine, as it does take a somewhat different mindset to appreciate Technic.

I'm one of the old timers who is not a fan of the completely studless construction TLG has moved to in the last 7 or 8 years, but I don't think Technic is necessarily about any particular building style. Anything with a focus on mechanisms is Technic to me, and I use whatever type of construction that helps me make mechanisms in the most intuitive and efficient way possible.

I have always noticed that this site is geared more towards people that are more into minifig building. We really need a good Technic site. No one seems to ever post at nicjasno and technicBricks doesn't have a forum.

This place has actually become pretty active lately, and is probably one of the more populated Technic communities out there now. I remember a year ago there was no separate Technic forum and hardly any Technic activity on EB at all, and things have changed a lot for the better.

I think the older sets were better considering the parts available back then, and also more challenging. Each year also seemed to bring more new innovations. However I don't think the designers are given as much time to design the sets and new parts as they used to get.

I see where you're coming from, especially after building several things from the idea books recently. There was a time when the number of Technic pieces was quite small and TLG focused on making the parts as versatile as possible. Over the years, they introduced a much greater variety of parts, but each one is also more specialized. In a way, the move to studless construction is part of this trend.

[allanp]

I see where you're coming from, especially after building several things from the idea books recently. There was a time when the number of Technic pieces was quite small and TLG focused on making the parts as versatile as possible. Over the years, they introduced a much greater variety of parts, but each one is also more specialized. In a way, the move to studless construction is part of this trend.

It's strange because I also think the parts assortment available today is better than in the "golden age" of technic, which many put at around 1988 to 1996. I personally don't mind having lots of specialist parts like wishbones and driving rings and so on, I really like those parts. I guess my main feeling is that the golden age of technic was when sets realised te full potential of their parts, because the designers had more time to design them that way. The design of sets like the 8480, 8880 and 8868 were brilliant when you consider the parts available back then. But now, even tho technic has sooooo much more potential now than ever for great sets and new parts, especially with various blogs saying what many fans of technic would like, it just goes unrealised for whatever reason.

Don't get me wrong, technic is still, and always has been great, Legos flagship theme. The 8258 was the best set in many years in my opinion. But it's gonna take more than one good set to make me think there is a new "golden age" on the way.

[CP5670]

It's strange because I also think the parts assortment available today is better than in the "golden age" of technic, which many put at around 1988 to 1996. I personally don't mind having lots of specialist parts like wishbones and driving rings and so on, I really like those parts. I guess my main feeling is that the golden age of technic was when sets realised te full potential of their parts, because the designers had more time to design them that way. The design of sets like the 8480, 8880 and 8868 were brilliant when you consider the parts available back then. But now, even tho technic has sooooo much more potential now than ever for great sets and new parts, especially with various blogs saying what many fans of technic would like, it just goes unrealised for whatever reason.

Don't get me wrong, technic is still, and always has been great, Legos flagship theme. The 8258 was the best set in many years in my opinion. But it's gonna take more than one good set to make me think there is a new "golden age" on the way.

I was thinking of the generic, structural pieces more than special functional elements like driving rings. The H-brackets introduced last year are a good example. They basically do the same thing that standard, studded plates and beams have done for decades, except that they come in fixed sizes. Another, earlier example is the switch from this piece to the six types of angle connectors. (I certainly see the strength advantages of the new ones, but still for a lot of situations the single old piece was good enough)

In recent times I think TLG's $150 price cap, while understandable, may be one reason why some models we get seem to be underdeveloped. 8258 was one instance of this, and to me that set was a little disappointing given the potential it had. For a flagship model it has a lot of corners cut, and I still haven't decided whether to get it or not.

[tomacwhite]

I am the same with 8258, it just doesn't do quite enough for me. It should have a motorised boom and winch, and the motorised outriggers are pointless because they only do half a job.

Maybe we were spoiled by 8275 which was fully motorised and remote controlled...