February 10, 201213 yr Very nice and interessting models. I will try to get: * the crawler (for motors and the new "unimog" suspension parts which I do not own yet ) * the chopper (looks great ) * the tractor. I like it! I do not think it 's ugly, not at all! Yes, it does look a bit like the one we allreay got, but then again, dont they all look alike? Yeah, gonna be one expensive year
February 10, 201213 yr Helicopter surely has pitch control. Otherwise, why would those vertical links be there: I wouldn't be surprised if it uses the new 28-tooth turntable as the means of getting static pitch control into the rotating frame of reference. Then some of the parts at the rotor head transfer the vertical motion from the top turntable piece to the 4 ball joint links. See how many parts it takes to do it if you don't have the swash plate from 8856! Unfortunately that also means little or no cyclic pitch, unless they've done something clever with levers, to pivot the turntable about its centre in one or both directions. I did something like that with a large turntable in my swash plate pump. Mark
February 10, 201213 yr Shame he did not drive the off road off the table. Edited February 10, 201213 yr by Alasdair Ryan
February 10, 201213 yr Shame he did not drive the off road off the table. Yeah I could be fun to see, how rugged the design was of the crawler (When it is no my parts ) Edited February 10, 201213 yr by jacobkristensen
February 10, 201213 yr Shame he did not drive the off road off the table. I was wondering to myself how many times he did drive it off of the table during the show. I am sure it happened at least once.
February 10, 201213 yr Just watched the new video and at first I was a little disapointed with the looks of the crawler but looking at it now it just looks right - and a definate add to the collection. However that Helicopter is something else, I cant wait to get that!
February 10, 201213 yr Yeah I could be fun to see, how rugged the design was of the crawler (When it is no my parts ) Would also be good to get an underside view of the servo motor! Mark
February 10, 201213 yr "A pipe carrier truck" I had a good laugh at that too :) Just watched the new video and at first I was a little disapointed with the looks of the crawler but looking at it now it just looks right - and a definate add to the collection. However that Helicopter is something else, I cant wait to get that! What is the fascination with the helicopter guys really? It's all manual and does nothing really! If we could at least see it fly,not that would be something else ;) The crawler is the star of 2012 for sure ;)
February 10, 201213 yr But why it has to be a flagship or star of the year?, this isn´t playboy or a barcelona-madrid match... The most expensive or motorized set it hasn´t to be the most wanted, for example I love the helicopter, I usually build trial trucks that in my opinion are better than the lego set. The helicopter opens me another new world with a lot to learn... but this is my opinion... .
February 10, 201213 yr But why it has to be a flagship or star of the year?, this isn´t playboy or a barcelona-madrid match... The most expensive or motorized set it hasn´t to be the most wanted, for example I love the helicopter, I usually build trial trucks that in my opinion are better than the lego set. The helicopter opens me another new world with a lot to learn... but this is my opinion... . Because its the flagship so it's always the best like every year,I'll buy the helicopter and drive over it with my crawler ;)
February 11, 201213 yr What is the fascination with the helicopter guys really? It's all manual and does nothing really! If we could at least see it fly,not that would be something else ;) Of course I can't speak for everyone, but I believe it is general consensus that the helicopter is great because it's been years since LEGO launched a large Technic helicopter, because it has lots of varied functions (probably including collective pitch control - previously a single set, launched on the year the Technic theme started, had it) with complicated mechanisms, and also a little because we know less about it than about the Crawler. As for it actually flying, check out RC helicopters on the web. You won't find anything on this size, with this price range, and with this simplicity (believe me, for all the complexity the LEGO helicopter might have, an RC heli on this size blows it out of the water). So, unfortunately we can completely dismiss the possibility of an all-LEGO truly flying helicopter. Coldly analysing the Crawler, it ends up as four wheels with two motors to move them and a third to steer them (or the other way around). Its value lies in the new motors, just like the 8275 Bulldozer 5 years ago.
February 11, 201213 yr What is the fascination with the helicopter guys really? It's all manual and does nothing really! If we could at least see it fly,not that would be something else ;) The crawler is the star of 2012 for sure ;) A large helicopter like this is a departure from LEGO's norm. The last few years, most of the sets offered by LEGO have been some sort of construction equipment or truck (with a few exceptions). LEGO hasn't built an airplane or helicopter to this scale in a very long time, and it has a great set of functions. The swashplate, mLAs used for the landing gear, the winch, the ramp....lots of good stuff! I like the fact that the helicopter doesn't have anything motorized. All this does is increase the price, and I have the parts necessary to motorize it already. This, to me, is the flagship model this year. I don't even think I will buy the Crawler. There really isn't anything that complicated about it, other than the new motors. There have already been several people to reverse engineer the Crawler based on the limited number of pictures available. That just tells me there isn't that much going on with the set. It looks nice, and I understand why people like it, but it's not my cup of tea. I don't expect the helicopter to fly, and I'm perfectly fine with that. I think most of us would consider 8258 a great set, but that wasn't even remote controlled. I see no difference. Just because the helicopter doesn't fly, doesn't make it a poor set. Just my humble opinion on that.
February 11, 201213 yr I'm way more excited about the helicopter than the crawler as well. The crawler looks like an over sized 8297 to me.
February 11, 201213 yr What is the fascination with the helicopter guys really? It's all manual and does nothing really! If we could at least see it fly,not that would be something else ;) The crawler is the star of 2012 for sure ;) Comparing the two: The 9398 Crawler has 4WD. It's been done quite a few times. I even used the 8856 helicopter swash plates to do front wheel drive before the 8880 car was released! The crawler's 4WD is based on the Unimog, which shows over 500 AFOL sales on TechnicBricks! Therefore many of us already have 99% of the parts, as demonstrated by multiple attempts to build the Crawler from the pictures. Having enjoyed the Unimog (only 2!), the Crawler is missing the pneumatic parts! As others have said, it is primarily the motors that set it apart from previous sets. I suspect the L-motor might be a repackaged 5292 motor (a motor powerful enough for RC buggies but now in a more useful package for Technic models, perhaps following the precedent of the NXT motor transformation to the PF XL motor using the same motor unit). The servo motor is the real prize - new functionality for TLG and something we have asked for for ages. Truck trial enthusiasts will buy the Crawler but if TLG don't release the motors separately soon, they will have missed the rest of the AFOL market (hope for January 2013 if we lobby enough!). The 9396 Helicopter has precedents for rotor pitch control in 852 and 8856. Pitch control is rare in the Technic range. TLG are always looking for something original to put in a set and this is sufficiently rare to fit the bill. It's really about time a helicopter was done properly in a set. I don't bother buying any helicopter without pitch control because it's lame. I know Technic can do it - I've done it, so I've been waiting for TLG to catch up with AFOL achievements in pitch control in the range of sets they release. Flying is something LEGO models historically "can't do" (without helium assistance) so the closer we get, the more it whets our appetites. Inventors always want to solve the impossible problem. Who knows whether a few 9396s and L-motors could generate enough lift to cancel their weight? There has never been a better set of aerodynamic parts from TLG - rotor blades, tail blades and the latest range of body parts. Anyone who has 8856 cannot fail to buy 9396. Compare those blades with the previous lumps of plates! 9396 also has swooshability - ask Space and Star Wars fans about that! 9396 has a future among us. How fast can you make a set of blades rotate safely? How much lift can you generate? How easily can you make sets of more than 4 blades? Notice that the blades are reversible, so if we use 4 sets contra-rotating, like a larger version of a £300 Parrot AR Drone, how close would it be to lift-off? Ultimately it might be the tail rotor blades that are closer to actual flight for the same reason that most flying birds and insects are small. Lift = Area = L^2, Mass = Volume = L^3. If a LEGO model could ever fly unaided, I intend to do it! Both the motors and the aerodynamic parts are proof TLG is listening to AFOL input. That is the best prize for the community. TLG know we buy sets as parts packs. If the Helicopter had had the new motors, the Crawler's sales would be hit! Mark
February 11, 201213 yr LEGO Techinc posted a new blog entry, its about Technic Super cars, and 8466 is included. Whats funny is last year, they posted a blog about helicopters and then a helicopter came out in 2012. Maybe they are going to make a new super car with transmission and everything for 2013! You can read it here. EDIT: They used Blackbirds drawing and animations and picture!!!! Edited February 11, 201213 yr by sama
February 11, 201213 yr sama: Eric Albrecht IS Blakbird Seriously?! I never knew that!! Edited February 11, 201213 yr by sama
February 11, 201213 yr After seeing the second half sets i must say the helicopter is the best. I like RC models but this time, but the 9398 Crawler doesen't give me "that chill". Don't get me wrong, it is an awesome with all the new motors and stuff, but i think in the last years, there were much better flagships. A good example of a very good set that wasn't a flagship is 8265 Front Loader, which was almost as good as 8258. Even though 8265 is not motorized, i LOVE this set, maybe even more then 8043.
February 11, 201213 yr Hi, I also agree that the Helicopter is the most interesting set this year. I’m really looking forward to get one and even more doing modifications on the original set. cheers
February 11, 201213 yr IMHO we are very fortunate to have two very interesting sets the 2H this year! The helicopter because it is like the re-edition of mythic set (8856, Whirlwind Rescue), the new blades, a promising set of functions and a very nice looking design to which one will hardly become indifferent. And the 4x4 will certainly be my favorite. It is of course the largest set, it is the first tie we get an RC wheeled vehicle in the LEGO Technic theme and last but not the least it brings only two parts we have been demanding for years. If it won't make it a must have set, I don't know what it will. Certainly we will have the chance to buy the motors as spares from TLG or somewhere else, but that has been true also for everything else.
February 11, 201213 yr Just found this on Technic Delicatessen. It's a video from YT user sunnykoo explaining HIS view of the crane truck and the crawler. Already posted on my blog! jojoguy10
February 11, 201213 yr @ sunnykoomos: Good detective work! @ Parda & jojoguy10: Thanks for sharing! "In this photo, we can see that the [upcoming Lego Power Functions] L-motor is 3 x 5 x 3.5/4 (width x depth x height) without motor holder; 3 x 7 x 3.5/4 (W x D x H) with motor holder." Could there really be a larger "XXL" motor in the 9398 4x4 Crawler set? Edited February 11, 201213 yr by DLuders
February 11, 201213 yr He says motor holder. So could the front of the L-motor be a separate piece? I kinda looks like it, but what's its purpose? No other motor needs a holder in front of it, unless it's actually a tiny reduction gearbox. I don't think it is but that would be great if it was because it means the actual motor has a very high output speed (like i've wanted since 1997) with the option of having a lower output speed for those who prefere the slower speeds of the current motors therefore having the best of both worlds.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.