At the beginning of December, Lego suddenly released a large wave of new official products in 2024, which can be said to make fans enjoy watching it. In this wave of official **, a total of 11 new mechanical set products are included. Here we will mainly take a look at these 11 new mechanical set products and make a simple analysis of them.
Let's start with two "normal" cars. The first is the 42169 McLaren FE Racing. The set has a total of 452 parts, and the official price is $53. Judging from the box photos, this is a pull-back car set, which is similar to the 42137 Porsche FE racing car the year before last, it should be two pull-back motors, the same charging structure, if there is anything new, it must be not.
But the parts of this set are worth talking about, judging from the box photos, there are new panels. The position of the ABB sticker, the position of the NEOM sticker on both sides of the body is the same pair of new panels, 3 blocks wide on one side and 1 block wide on the other. This panel is definitely useful, but I don't know if it's that useful.
But the ** of this set is on the high side, and at the same time there is nothing new. You know, the last time Lego pulled back a set like this didn't work very well, and this time I'm still not very optimistic about its prospects. I personally don't think it's cost-effective to buy this set just for the new panels, because this pair of panels will definitely be used in future sets, and there is no use case for it now.
The next one to talk about is the 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R motorcycle. The bike has a total of 643 parts and is officially priced at $80. Personally, I didn't expect the price of this set to go up, and this year's Batmobile costs $50, which is the same official price as the 42107 Ducati motorcycle released in '20. But Ducati can reach a minimum price of 230 yuan, and I don't know if this time the 42170 can reach the same low price.
Since the previous paragraph took these motorcycle sets together, this time the Kawasaki motorcycle is in the same proportion as these sets, from the back of the box photo, you can also know that this motorcycle has a two-speed gearbox, which is still more gratifying. Moreover, I have to say that the appearance details of this suit are depicted in place, and those green parts can be said to have found the essence, which is still very good-looking, and it would be better if the holes in the side beams were covered.
It's a good set, but it's certainly like a Ducati motorcycle, you don't buy it in the first place, and it's never too late to buy it when it's 200 dollars.
Then next year LEGO Technic will launch 4 sets in the Space set. Here one by one. Let's talk about the special 42179 three-ball instrument first. The set has a total of 526 parts, and the official price is $80. I don't know why there is a joint name, in fact, whether the joint name is not a joint name will not delay the music ** party to come out of this set. According to this official selling price, even if it is a good price for e-commerce, it will not be very cheap.
There is nothing to say about the function of the suit, turning the joystick at the bottom of the model, the earth and the moon rotate according to the actual rotation period. All I can say about this set is that it's not that Lego can't afford it, but that it's more cost-effective. Kata building blocks cooperated with JK God a few years ago to launch a three-ball instrument, although the sun and the earth and the moon are made of parts, not a piece, but the function is the same, and the click building blocks work well and are cheaper. Personally, I don't think it's necessary to buy this set.
The next thing to talk about is 42178, which is called surface loader LT78 according to the English translation. The set has a total of 435 parts, and the official price is $35. This should be a car that only has concept drawings, after all, SpaceX in the United States does not even have a ground landing, and its success stories can hardly be said to have nothing to do with NASA.
But fortunately, it is cheap, and it is not a dream to have a good price within 200 yuan. Naturally, there are not many functions in this suit, the first is the steering function, and the second is that the angle of the front half of the body can be adjusted, from lying on the stomach to a 45-degree state. Then the boom at the rear of the car should have 2 sections movable to lift the matching small box, but these two sections are movable rod structure and have no gears. In addition, judging from the back of the box photo, this set seems to also have integrated AR gameplay, allowing you to play as if you are actually on an alien surface.
This set should be considered an okay set, but I also don't recommend buying it at the first time, and this kind of set is not recommended to buy a particularly high **, because from the box photo, there are no new parts except transparent glass.
The following two are my personal recommendations. The first is 42180, which translates into English as a manned rover for Mars. The set has a total of 1,599 parts and is officially priced at $150. Of course, this is only something that exists in PPT, after all, the earthlings have not landed on Mars yet, only probes have arrived.
This set gives a lot of accessories, such as a lot of collection bottles, a small rover, a tool box, etc. You can think of it as a water part, but it seems to be an integral part of the scene. Before, I couldn't tolerate this "water part", but now I'm much more tolerant of it.
The functions of this set are not much, first of all, the tail arm can be lifted and dropped, the hook can be retracted, and the turntable can be rotated. The wishbone under the boom can be opened and retracted, and the 6-wheel suspension is realized, but I don't see the suspension spring, so it is most likely a small turntable implementation. The front of the car can be extended to change the wheelbase of the front and rear axles, and you can see a similar function on the 42081 Volvo Loader, and it is estimated that the implementation method is similar.
Of course, I don't recommend buying this set in the first place, because I personally don't think the reviews of this set will be so good. But what I can meet is that ** should not be particularly high. So when the price is low, this is a set that has nothing to do with it.
Then there is the 42181, which according to the English should be called the heavy cargo spaceship LT81. This set is even more unremarkable, in reality, the space carrier will not be designed like this at all, it is completely based on the imagination of the current earth's aircraft. With a total of 1,365 parts and an official price of $100, this set is also a very affordable set.
There are not many accessories for the set, a small rover, a toolbox. The functions of the suit include the retraction of the landing gear, the opening and closing of the bottom hatch, which can grab the toolbox, and then the engine parts on both sides can be rotated at an angle, and there seems to be a hatch that can be opened. This feature is not much, and many of them still rely on connecting rods, but it looks cool, at least the atmosphere of space is there.
This outrageous setting aside, this is a set above the passing mark. You can buy this set shortly after its release. Even if it has just been released, the ** of e-commerce is relatively affordable.
Finally, let's talk about the set of Technics announced on the 2nd. The first is the 42163 heavy bulldozer. A small set of 195 parts, the official price is $11. This set has to be badly reviewed, very poor. I didn't see the B mode from the box photo, it can only be said that it is getting more and more perfunctory, all the suits used to have a B mode, and in the past few years, only the small sets under $20 had a B mode, and now there is no B mode of a suit, which is definitely not enterprising.
There are not many linkage functions of the suit, in addition to pushing, there is also the lifting of the push plate. A package of this size doesn't need to be extravagant anymore. But it's absolutely infuriating to have no B mode, and without new parts, I personally would never buy this set, no matter how cheap it is.
Below is the 42164 buggy. The set has a total of 219 parts and is officially priced at $16. It's still a small set, and the B mode is still canceled. This set is the same as the previous one.,It's not a co-branded set.,I really don't understand the cancellation of the B mode.。
The function of the suit is okay, basically realizing the function of the buggy, the rear axle spring suspension, there should be a steering function, but there is no steering knob from the box photo, and finally the rear axle should be linked to a V4 engine, which can be linked when pushing. This one is indeed satisfying.
So I'm going to rate this set a little bit better than the heavy bulldozer in the previous set. It's possible to buy it at about the cheapest time.
Then there's a pull back car set, number 42166, under the name McLaren Electric Buggy. The set has a total of 252 parts, and the official price is $27. Judging from the number of parts, this set should only have 1 pull-back motor, and the function is naturally needless to say, just like the pull-back car that came out before, but with the addition of a joint name.
I don't have a good opinion of such a set, it's just the appearance. One is that there is no B mode, and the other is that the price has increased, rising to $27, which was $25 before. For such a set, I have always been the principle that it is enough to buy one, there is no need to buy every pull back car set, and the same is true for this one.
Next up is the 42167 Mark LR electric garbage truck. The set has a total of 503 parts and is officially priced at $35. This is another affordable package, but it is certainly not comparable to the 42078 B-mode garbage truck.
Originally, I had higher expectations for this set, but after reading the official **, I still think it's more average. The set has the most basic steering function, there is a claw on the side of the vehicle to grab the garbage can, and the entire cargo bed can be dumped, which can be said to basically restore all the functions of the garbage truck.
The look of the suit is relatively average, but a garbage truck can't have a more complicated appearance. The realization of the linkage function is very similar to a failed ideas work in my personal impression.,So there's no feeling of experience.。 Fortunately, the set is very cheap, and the good price should be around 200 yuan, if it is this**, it is still a very good set, which is worth giving priority.
The last thing to say is the 42168 John Deere 9700 Harvester. The set has a total of 559 parts and is officially priced at $43. Judging by the box photos announced, this is the set I am most looking forward to.
After Lego and Klaas stopped cooperating with John Deere to cooperate with John Deere, the first set can be said to be very diligent, one set a year, plus this set, it can also be said that there are large, medium and small sets. What attracts me the most about this set is the many gears, the tooth ** part of the harvesting device is relatively rare, this set can be said to be very generous, with this set, the ** of the new gear should drop a lot.
The features of the set are not less. The rear wheel has a steering function, the mower can be lifted and lowered to push the harvester, the mower can rotate for harvesting, and the lifting device can adjust the angle and can rotate. Although the latter two functions are a bit of a mess, they are also trying to restore all the functions of the harvester.
In terms of color matching, it also adheres to the consistent color matching of Lego agricultural machinery, mainly green. There is nothing to say about the appearance, there is not much difference in the shape of the combine, Lego is basically restored, the brick parts are used just right, and there is nothing overly decorated. I would give this set a high score and will buy it as soon as possible.
This is the situation of the 11 mechanical set announced next year, which can only be said to be good and bad, but in addition to harvesters and garbage trucks, there is no need to buy them at the first time, and the rest can be sold at a low price**, and some are not even necessary to buy. In the end, I have to sigh that the cancellation of mode B by the mechanical group is really a step backwards.