NewtoTechnic
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NewtoTechnic's Stats
NewtoTechnic's Stats
- 4.4Average Rating
- 31Helpfulness Votes
- 0Featured Reviews
- 11Review Count
- October 17, 2020First Review
- March 23, 2021Last Review
Rough Terrain Crane
Rough Terrain Crane
Posted:October 17, 2020
NewtoTechnic
Age:
35-44
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Overall:
4
/
5
Perspective from one with no Technic experience
" I am a new dad that had his Lego interest rekindled by playing Duplo with my child, and decided to “fill the gap” and try Technics. Thus this review is from an adult perspective of someone who had played much Lego as a child and had nearly zero Technic experience.
Pro
- Incredible, efficient design to integrate all the different functions, some notable:
o Cable rolls in nice and tidy
o Finished model is sizable but very solid
o All the functions and its selectors work very well – simple and no-fuss; operation is simple
o Can actually lift decent weight
- A very good “parts set” with good alternate builds available online. The additional “building in construction” provides many flat grey panels for future rebuilding
- Some nice details
- A good overall colour scheme
- Provide hours of immersive experience - for me model A took 18hrs, and model B took another 9 hours (disassemble and rebuild)
Con
- Meager extra pieces – for example, no extra for a small 3-pin(?)part that totals 396 in the set
- Design:
o More details/pieces needed for areas near the head/tail lights and the cockpit.
o Sticker: never a huge fan of Lego sticker design; but it’s better than many other sets.
o B model – a mixed bag- I wish this is a complete different build and not a half-rebuild. The finished model looks fine (but similar to model A) and the functions are interesting and decent (but with a buggy cable design); the biggest issue is playability: all it does is driving the two piles, while the crane can lift anything that can be attached and is not too heavy. Some amazing alternate models are online but they are often for-purchase.
o A hook element would’ve also been useful for the crane
- Instruction can be more clear in some steps, and more “check points” to make sure the mechanical parts are working will be helpful
- It’s new to me and not a huge deal, but the plastic quality doesn’t seem to be as good as regular Lego pieces; many larger pieces have nub/molding marks. Not sure this is just a bad batch or technic sets use different plastic and this cannot be avoided.
I wish…
- Perhaps it’s because I might have jumped a few steps, but I really, truly wish for more explanation on the parts I am building: names of the piece/mechanisms, what they do…etc, as for a good portion of the build I feel rather “in the dark”. it will be more educational and interesting. I understand that Lego instructions are meant to be language-less, but if Lego is going digital (which a lot of people seem to dislike), perhaps more functions can be included so it’s not just a copy of the paper version. Maybe a book/document of “Technic 101” can also help?
- Include a few operable panels to reveal inner works
- A more general comment - if more techniques, such as call-outs/fading/outlining, can be used in the instructions, i’d prefer the numbers of step to be reduced in all lego sets (easily 25-30% of the steps/pages can be eliminated). If you compare an instruction from 20 years ago and a recent one, the increase in thickness is substantial – adding more paper and cost.
Overall, while it’s not perfect, this set was fun and a very different experience as Technic might be more different with regular Lego than I thought, making/challenging me to think differently – and that to me is well-worth the price of admission. "
Pro
- Incredible, efficient design to integrate all the different functions, some notable:
o Cable rolls in nice and tidy
o Finished model is sizable but very solid
o All the functions and its selectors work very well – simple and no-fuss; operation is simple
o Can actually lift decent weight
- A very good “parts set” with good alternate builds available online. The additional “building in construction” provides many flat grey panels for future rebuilding
- Some nice details
- A good overall colour scheme
- Provide hours of immersive experience - for me model A took 18hrs, and model B took another 9 hours (disassemble and rebuild)
Con
- Meager extra pieces – for example, no extra for a small 3-pin(?)part that totals 396 in the set
- Design:
o More details/pieces needed for areas near the head/tail lights and the cockpit.
o Sticker: never a huge fan of Lego sticker design; but it’s better than many other sets.
o B model – a mixed bag- I wish this is a complete different build and not a half-rebuild. The finished model looks fine (but similar to model A) and the functions are interesting and decent (but with a buggy cable design); the biggest issue is playability: all it does is driving the two piles, while the crane can lift anything that can be attached and is not too heavy. Some amazing alternate models are online but they are often for-purchase.
o A hook element would’ve also been useful for the crane
- Instruction can be more clear in some steps, and more “check points” to make sure the mechanical parts are working will be helpful
- It’s new to me and not a huge deal, but the plastic quality doesn’t seem to be as good as regular Lego pieces; many larger pieces have nub/molding marks. Not sure this is just a bad batch or technic sets use different plastic and this cannot be avoided.
I wish…
- Perhaps it’s because I might have jumped a few steps, but I really, truly wish for more explanation on the parts I am building: names of the piece/mechanisms, what they do…etc, as for a good portion of the build I feel rather “in the dark”. it will be more educational and interesting. I understand that Lego instructions are meant to be language-less, but if Lego is going digital (which a lot of people seem to dislike), perhaps more functions can be included so it’s not just a copy of the paper version. Maybe a book/document of “Technic 101” can also help?
- Include a few operable panels to reveal inner works
- A more general comment - if more techniques, such as call-outs/fading/outlining, can be used in the instructions, i’d prefer the numbers of step to be reduced in all lego sets (easily 25-30% of the steps/pages can be eliminated). If you compare an instruction from 20 years ago and a recent one, the increase in thickness is substantial – adding more paper and cost.
Overall, while it’s not perfect, this set was fun and a very different experience as Technic might be more different with regular Lego than I thought, making/challenging me to think differently – and that to me is well-worth the price of admission. "
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Calgary
From:
Canada
Age:
35-44
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
18
hrs
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Challenging
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+5points
6of 7found this review helpful.