Review: 8457 Technic Power Puller

[allanp]

The Space Shuttle will be covered in the 1996 update to Technicopedia which is not too far away.

This is gonna be good folks!

[grepin]

This topic made me look into this set again, and a few weeks later (today, to be more precise), I finally got my copy!

It's complete, aside from the extra parts for modifications - I didn't check the inventory, only (re-)assembled the set - and so I'm able to provide a few photos of the box and the VHS tape.

I'd just like to apologise in advance for the poor quality of the pictures, as my camera isn't that good - and neither is the photographer

The inside of the box (1):

The inside of the box (2):

Box front:

Box back (1):

Box back (2):

The VHS tape (1):

The VHS tape (2):

And the model itself, in its temporary home (if it gets a place in the showcase I intend to buy):

Here's a gallery with the photos:

http://imgur.com/a/PVfl9

[Badger]

sweet review :)

[Rijkvv]

Thanks for this great review!

I think this is a great set. Grey engine parts would look better than clear though.

What is the overall quality of the stickers? Do they tend to peel off?

even though I don't see why Europe would have wanted this set (I think Power Pulling is a strictly American sport, or am I wrong?)My Flickr set for this set (to see the images larger)

You are wrong.

It is not well-known as it might be in the USA, but there still is a European competition. In fact, the same video you posted at the begin of your review contains many, if not all, European pullers. The fourth, for example (1:55 in the video) is a Dutch puller.

Edited May 23, 2011 by Richie

[mostlytechnic]

Thanks for this great review!

I think this is a great set. Grey engine parts would look better than clear though.

What is the overall quality of the stickers? Do they tend to peel off?

You are wrong.

It is not well-known as it might be in the USA, but there still is a European competition. In fact, the same video you posted at the begin of your review contains many, if not all, European pullers. The fourth, for example (1:55 in the video) is a Dutch puller.

Cool, glad to hear I was wrong. But is it known enough (especially a decade ago) to drive sales of a set in Europe?

And I agree, the clear engine parts are dumb.

I can only comment on the stickers on mine, which I bought second hand, so I don't know what the stickers went through before they got to me. However, they're overall pretty good. One of the smaller ones is peeling off badly, but the rest seem pretty well attached. Considering they're across multiple tiles, that's pretty good I'd say.

[parda]

Great review!

sorry for say this but your driver has a missed sticker...

I love this set!

[airsoftg36c]

Oh wow. Very nice set. I'd kill for that driver. I have a whole collection of those guys.

I am in LOVE with the flex system. I was first introduced to it through a very old, very vintage technic race car set.(You know the ones where you open the box and slide the tray out?)I found it MISB at a thrift store in Downtown Dallas

I'm still kicking myself for opening it and using it.

[Brickend]

Would be fun to rebuild one of these with new power functions.

Edited May 28, 2011 by Brickend

[Iysk]

Do any currently stocked S@H sets have the Yellow Helmets? I've been wanting to make a Power Rangers' theme and I lack one.

[Hoexbroe]

Interessting review. Thanks for this trip down memory-lane!

I actually got to build this set!

Soon afer moving to Spain -but still years before coming out of my dark ages, I was asked to build this for a guy who had received it as a gift, but had no experience with Lego what-so-ever.

I had fun building it, and the enginious technique of the progressive brake on the sled.

Who knows, maybe it helped accelerate my coming back to Lego, which happened some 4 years later...

[alois]

There is no speech, just background music.

I heard our national anthem! That's no background music to me.

[parda]

Oh wow. Very nice set. I'd kill for that driver. I have a whole collection of those guys.

Please show your collection of technic figures! Mine's is almost complete too..

[BrickWild]

I wish I had that set! You can try accessing the Power Puller site on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine!

[DLuders]

Here's a Polish 8457 Power Puller set available for you to obtain -- don't delay!

[garson]

Here's a Polish 8457 Power Puller set available for you to obtain -- don't delay!

darn you dluders always providing information when people need it, i couldve gotten that set cheap if you didnt advertise on eurobricks

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Amazing review and cool set!

I didn't known this kind of tractor ...until now!

The steering system and the engine are great!

[Hopey]

Not sure which is worse form; resurrecting such an old thread, or posting a new one for a rather trivial topic. Oh well.

I was just having a browse of eBay and on a whim, put a £50 bid on a supposedly complete power puller set, and bugger me if I didn't win it; £54 including delivery. I understand this is something of a bargain.

Problem is, I've kind of gone over my agreed budget with this, and Wifey's not going to be pleased. Now, I put the bid on mainly because I know of its value, and not because I particularly wanted any of the parts; the wheels are awesome but just two of them isn't particularly useful, and I haven't yet found a situation where my 6L half beams just have to be yellow.

So, my options are to convince Wifey that it's worth keeping as a collectors item, or sell it on hopefully for a bit of a profit.

I'm a little torn, any suggestions?

[DLuders]

I bet some other Technic AFOL in the UK would be happy to buy it from you!

[allanp]

Well, if you're not fussed about the parts, the set is not one of the most interesting either. The wheels are awesome and the many engines are pretty neat but there's not much more to it. Besides that it has the worst steering ever. So probably best to just sell it. Afterall, you only bought it for it's financial value, which you will only see when you sell it.

[Hopey]

So I got this yesterday, turns out is is complete, with all the stickers and everything, and is in very good condition, hooray.

I built it, and I have to say, wow, it's very cool. Even bigger than I expected, and just crazy.

Up until now, I've not really weighed in on the "golden age" debate, although I was leaning towards it being now, due to the wonderful complexity of sets like the 8043. But this has made me think again.

I don't know how this ever got produced. Someone conceived and designed this ridiculous vehicle, with massive wheels and five engines, and it actually made it all the way through development and into production. I'm amazed. I've not seen anything nearly as crazy before or since.

I think I'm going to have to keep it.

The steering is terrible though...

[Jeroen Ottens]

Great review

It does bring back a lot of memories too, me being one of the designers of this set.

To answer some questions:

When we developed this set, we actually developed it in blue (with silver wheelrims and some yellow accents). However team Larsen was already an existing team and they had yellow and red as their trademark colour. Since Lego wanted to sponsor them we had to adopt the colour scheme to theirs.

The gear on liftarm construction in the drivetrain was a late adjustment. We first had all gears fixed, but when the model ran into a wall it was actually so strong that it churned up the gears (100% of the times actually. We churned a lot of gears just for the fun of it (and to show off the awesome power to the other designers).

The steering had been a major headache in the development as well. We first tried to make a mechanism with gears & axles, but that interfered too much with the drivetrain, so in the end we found a solution with the flexcables. It did work a lot better in our office than the official ones in the stores in my memory though. Probably bad memory, cause I wouldn't know why it would be different.

[mostlytechnic]

Wow, thanks for sharing there Jeroen!

I can't say too much about the steering, since the unit I had was old enough that the cables were permanently curved. However, the concept of the flexcable steering is nice, it just seems sloppy in this exact design. Perhaps changes in the flex cables between what you designed and what got produced?

I have to agree with Hopey above - this is a fantastically crazy and unique set that would never get produced today. It may not have the variety of functions that a set today has (like the Unimog, Excavator, etc) but I am glad to have built it!

[Blakbird]

I don't know how this ever got produced. Someone conceived and designed this ridiculous vehicle, with massive wheels and five engines, and it actually made it all the way through development and into production. I'm amazed. I've not seen anything nearly as crazy before or since.

Keep in mind that LEGO did not conceive of this vehicle. This is a model of a real tractor pull vehicle, and they really have that many engines. Of course, on the real mode they are all V-8s, but 4 cylinders were necessary for this scale. And the steering on the real thing is also useless since the front wheels are never on the ground, so it is actually accurate!

[phool]

The Space Shuttle will be covered in the 1996 update to Technicopedia which is not too far away.

[CisFran]

I recently bought a used Power Puller set for USD60,

It's missing a few pins, the battery box, motor and the minifig but most of the major parts are intact (specially the big wheels!).

I put a medium motor, receiver and current battery box (fixed on the chassis), so that I can watch it move. It's not that fast though but I enjoyed building it!

(I didn't install the chains since it is messing up the rotation of the engine and stuck up)