42030 - Volvo L350F Wheel Loader

[AndroTech]

Finally we have some new information about the Technic flagship for year 2014. It is time to open a new topic, and discuss some of them here.

But first some pictures .....

And the original .....

Time for discussion .....

Also the two videos, that are known by now .....

Edited January 29, 2014 by Povratnik

[Zmei_gorini4]

I think I would certainly try to buy it. When it becomes available.

Interesting what will be the model of "b".

Edited January 29, 2014 by Zmei_gorini4

[LegoPanda]

it looks great, what will be the price, because i will certainly buy it

[JM1971]

Am I seeing the box correctly, XL,M and L motors + servo?

Looks pretty good.

[AndroTech]

Have you noticed, that they have used portal hub from Unimog And Crawler, and installed it horizontaly.

.... and there is definitely green fake motor inside ...

I like this Volvo more and more .....

Edited January 29, 2014 by Povratnik

[Freekysch]

It looks ok, it is very nice because it is RC, but i am not that excited overall. Let's just say, it was not love at first sight (like it was with 8258, 8043 - when i first saw them, i knew i had to have them)

[AndroTech]

it looks great, what will be the price, because i will certainly buy it

As Cwetqo said ....

1626 pieces - 200 euro

[unimog123]

It looks ok, it is very nice because it is RC, but i am not that excited overall. Let's just say, it was not love at first sight (like it was with 8258, 8043 - when i first saw them, i knew i had to have them)

I totally agree. It looks like it has a lot of good parts and motors, but the design is decent and I hate the jerky steering! It seems so unrealistic that I'm not sure if I want it or not, and if I did only for the yellow parts and motors.Oh........and unimog wheels of course.

Edited January 29, 2014 by unimog123

[JTS]

Fantastic!

And steering all done with the servo, which a lot of people on here (many of whom I consider experts!) said was impossible.

So that leaves XL for drive and an L motor for each bucket function? So where do we think the M motor will go?

Also, I think that an L motor to tip the bucket is massive overkill..

[Balrog]

I am pretty sure I am going to get this set. This is a great supplement to my collection in terms of yellow pieces and PF elements.

[Gee]

I just hope that they manage to get some uniformity with respect to the shade of yellow of the pieces. It's massively disappointing that TLG can produce good looking and mechanically complex sets but can't even manage to ensure that the pieces are all the same colour.

[jantjeuh]

It it me or are the bucket 'arms' too thin? They look a lot more massive in the original. Not a fan of the 5 x 7 LBG liftarms used, they throw off the colour scheme. Time to introduce yellow ones? Oh, and I really wish those LAs could be black. The backend looks great, the frontend needs a lot of work IMO!

And steering all done with the servo, which a lot of people on here (many of whom I consider experts!) said was impossible.

Noone claimed it was impossible, they just predicated it would be jerky, unnatural, and have a lot of backlash. Which all turned out to be true. Would've preferred to have seen mini LAs used for the steering. Oh well, we can always mod it.

Edited January 29, 2014 by jantjeuh

[Conchas]

It's massively disappointing that TLG can produce good looking and mechanically complex sets but can't even manage to ensure that the pieces are all the same colour.

They can! It is just a matter of cost.

The more you try narrow the color variance, the higher the production costs raise. And the variance/cost relation should follow something like an exponential curve.

This phenomena affects some colors more than the others. Dark red is another example of an hard one.

It also has to do with the suppliers, the amount of row material (ABS grains) that you acquire, etc.

Raw material for some colors is also much more expensive than others.

[Technic Gearhead]

The more I study it, the more I appreciate it. I'm pretty excited about the yellow wheels also.

Can a Volvo dumper be far behind?

[jantjeuh]

Can a Volvo dumper be far behind?

Have you seen this beautiful hauler by Designer-Han, based on the Volvo A40D?

[Technic Gearhead]

Have you seen this beautiful hauler by Designer-Han, based on the Volvo A40D?

Yes I have and it's brilliant!

Mine is getting yellow wheels this summer too.

http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q717/TechnicGearhead/Lego%20Technic/Hauler_6x6_zpsa81ecaf3.jpg

[D3K]

Four big wheels, yellow parts, LA's and a Volvo license..

Could this be the B-model?

Or does Volvo make something like this:

?

Ideally it would include an extra pair of wheels and heaps of yellow 5x11 panels as spare parts, and the B-model could be pretty close to Designer-Han's dump truck!

[Gee]

They can! It is just a matter of cost.

So why don't they then? The managed it back in the 80s and 90s when they were making Technic bricks as opposed to liftarms. I say this as producing bricks is more expensive due to the greater amount of plastic involved, yet they managed to get the quality control right. Disappointing.

[dr_spock]

I like that new bucket. Not sure if I'll get this set yet. Who's going to do the first review of it on EB?

[Conchas]

So why don't they then? The managed it back in the 80s and 90s when they were making Technic bricks as opposed to liftarms. I say this as producing bricks is more expensive due to the greater amount of plastic involved, yet they managed to get the quality control right. Disappointing.

Market and Toy makers competition has changed a lot, as almost everything else since then.

Every thing needs to be calculated and justified. if price increases exponentially, a set point must be defined to guarantee profitability at desired level.

These values are now much different then what they were in the 80s/90s.

Now speculating a bit, guess there are other factors that may have a role here too.

Like increased variety of parts/molds, materials used and different injection techniques for all these, like injection temperature. All these variety should also contribute to increase the difficulty and consequently the costs to achieve a zero color variance.

[bricky300]

In the front close to the lower La's I spot a new piece. It is like an H-formed piece, similar to the new dogbone piece but bigger.

Edit: Or is it the the old known 7x5 frame? In the first picture it is a little blurr but in the second it looks like the frame...

Edit2: The more I look at it the more I think it is the 7x5 frame. Awww what a shame...

Edited January 29, 2014 by bricky300

[shadowhearth]

All I can see - a great collection of Motors, IR receivers ( V2 ), good wheels and all non yellow parts for mocs...

I thought I dont like MK2 crane, but now design wise it is actually very cool looking where this... is sort of a mess... Its not something that looks "nice!"

My bet is its a 199eu set. I would love to pick it purely for mocs, but as a set it self I dont like it. Something to pick up on sale some day.

[JM1971]

First time I've seen a brand name with technic lego, is there some deal with volvo?

[jantjeuh]

Yes, it is licensed, just like the M-B Unimog 8110.

[Gee]

Like increased variety of parts/molds, materials used and different injection techniques for all these, like injection temperature. All these variety should also contribute to increase the difficulty and consequently the costs to achieve a zero color variance.

I could probably understand if it were the case that liftarms were a different shade of yellow to body panels of half bushes, but the variance is within the same part, even down to specific sizes of part for example 2 7L liftarms that are different shades.