As I’m mid way through the Technic 911 kit they’ve just sent me an email promoting this:

N+1 still applies to Lego doesn’t it?!

What’s it supposed to be – looks like a cross between a beetle and a 2cv

All about the AFOLs

Gary_M – Member

What’s it supposed to be – looks like a cross between a beetle and a 2cv

It’s a VW Scarabée
😉

Big Lego transport expo thingy coming to Chester soon. The Lego cathedral is quite spectacular too.

Well it’s obviously a german spy’s car going by the 2 stick grenades and the false plates…….

On the other hand Im getting a bit miffed with Lego.

Most of the kits now are packed full of tiddly little parts, specific to the model. You dont get anything like the number of substantial building blocks as you used to. Look at that car ^ half of the pieces are specific to that model.

Why not just bang out an airfix and be done with it?!

Also is that a surfboard on the car roof? No self respecting surfer is going to go round in that to catch some waves.

I’m not a fan of all these propriety model-specific lego pieces, and it doesn’t look very “tecnic”? I remember the old car chasis had a function diff and moving pistons, gearbox and stuff, and the JCB had compressed air pistons to move all the arms. i’m not impressed. 2/10.

@hammyuk – hadn’t considered that, and the cover as a tourist is complete with a folded towel ready to deploy…… 😉

Not part of the Technic range Horatio. Know what you mean with the proprietry pieces but to be fair I’m “displaying” (in the home office!) the kits I have so am not free-building.

That attitude will no doubt change when I have kids!

On the other hand Im getting a bit miffed with Lego.

Most of the kits now are packed full of tiddly little parts, specific to the model. You dont get anything like the number of substantial building blocks as you used to. Look at that car ^ half of the pieces are specific to that model.

Why not just bang out an airfix and be done with it?!

Yep, its all too elaborate these days, when I was I kid it was just a variety of blocks, base plates, wheels and a vivid imagination.

Apologies for the thread hijack, but anyone aware of Lego bargains at the moment? For an 8 year old around the £30 mark?

It’s no 853 though, is it?

/me fondly remembers the 853 car of her childhood…

Rachel

This was my favourite as a youngster, 6080, and yes pretty much all “regular blocks” that could be redeployed for that medieval themed dragster build 🙂

Echo the initial 2CV/Dyane thoughts.

In the first picture, is the orange block one of two ramps for the realistic big yellow cab ride home for car and occupants?

Look at that car ^ half of the pieces are specific to that model.

Wrong. An existing part in a new colour is fairly common but a genuinely new part is not. Even a very large model wouldn’t have more than a couple. You’ve actually just underlined the genius of modern Lego designers. What is very common these days is innovative & imaginative building techniques – You’ve been fooled into thinking a very clever arrangement of old parts is something entirely new.

So the wheels, wheelarches, roof panels, etc are specific?

The wheel arches are the only entirely new part in that set.

The wheels themselves will have been used on other sets. The hubcaps look to me like the part that goes on the bottom of the pirate ships to help them glide across the carpet! (Or a thousand other uses!)

Roof bits definitely not new, there have been loads of cool curved pieces for years now.

There’s a feature in this month’s Top Gear magazine that mentions how few specific parts there are in the Technic car kits. Iirc there were 2 out of the 2700+ parts in the 911 GT3 kit

@bearnecessities – Amazon (tax dodging gits that they are etc) had the technic drag racer for £36 down from 50 last week. Out of stock last time I looked but might be same price when they get more in. Looks like a pretty good set.

I get the 2cv comparison but would still like that to sit on the shelf next to the camper van my wife got me a few years back!

This is missing all the Technics because it’s Creator series not Technics series.

As to special pieces, I often hear this but as someone whose son has vast amounts of lego it’s not really true: as has been said the only new piece on the VW (apart from the colour) are the wheel arches and it’s rare for a set to have a entirely new piece (the reviewers on something like brickset get *very* excited when a new piece or colour appears). The hubcaps are usually seen on the underside of boats. The roof curved pieces are ancient. The door handles are telephones. Etc etc.

captainsasquatch
Do you have any details of the “Big Lego transport expo thingy coming to Chester soon”.

Thanks Diz

Nice morris minor 😀

the green mini is far better

How about Brick Live at the NEC?

Brick LIVE

form an orderly queue and don’t go knocking toddlers out of the way!

8860 FTW!

Brick shows are amazing fun.

Showed the Beetle to my wife and she immediately said the back end was a 2CV. It won’t be taking pride of place from my son’s camper van.

Cfh I think I might still have my complete 8860 kit somewhere. Fantastic model.

I had the 8860, but loved the 8865 more …

Pop up headlight !

CaptainFlashheart – Member
8860 FTW!

I recently bought that on ebay, having had it as a kid (little bro has taken ownership of all Lego unfortunately…) It’s sitting in the garage waiting for my eldest (aged 4) to have enough patience to be able to build it.

He’s currently into space stuff, since we watched the ISS go over the other week. I bought the wee space shuttle kit as a stop-gap until this arrives:
8)

If he can build that, then he can have a crack at the 8860 Chassis.

And now thanks to Notter I’m going to have to buy the Knights’ Castle, one of my all-time favourites…

/me fondly remembers the 853 car of her childhood…

I still have that upstairs, boxed.

8860 FTW!

And that one. I built it back up last year to make sure it was still complete, need to do the same with the 853 really. Hm, that’s a project for the weekend then.

Had lots of lego as a 70’s child, loved every brick of it.My Mrs has a few of the Star wars models, a huge death star,falcon and r2d2 etc, all in storage, waiting new house move.They look great but thats it,for me they miss the largest part of the fun of Lego, Imagination!

ahhhh…. the 8860

I threw mine down the stairs to protest at a minor indiscretion committed by my younger brother..

yeah.. That’ll teach him

I’m not a fan of all these propriety model-specific lego pieces

they are very “contrived” the abstract nature of lego is it’s appeal for me going for realistic you may as well buy an airfix kit.

@ bearnecessities re lego bargains around £30

http://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/lego-bricks/c-827/lego-classic/p-10635/lego-classic-large-creative-brick-box-10698/?gclid=CNXlgfqE9c0CFUORGwodXB0D1g

plus get a big baseplate or two

I prefer this which does have much more of the original Lego look and nothing like a 2CV

On the other hand Im getting a bit miffed with Lego.

Most of the kits now are packed full of tiddly little parts, specific to the model.

I agree. And as the father of two daughters, I find the gendered nature of the kits – all pink and princesses – to be a bit depressing. Though I note that my girls have much more fun with the bog standard bricks than they do with the kits.

Certainly a lot more specific parts than there used to be – turned me off technical lego when I’d saved for ages and got a whirlwind helicopter (8856) back in 1991 with odd plastic tubing in sheaths (oww missus..) for tilting the rotors (2nd model was an awful boat thing). Loads of stuff only good for that kit (although I guess probably a few more options nowadays).

Have the big original car chassis (probably not all there, but must be >95%) to build with the kids along with a couple of other kits.

WillH,

If he’s into the space stuff there is also 8480. One of my favourite kits.