Review: 42208 Aston Martin Valkyrie
Posted by Huw,
The 15-wide standard for mid-sized Technic models of supercars was established in 2019 and 42208 Aston Martin Valkyrie is one of five that are being released this year.
The most striking thing about it is the prevalence of bright bluish green (teal) which is a relatively rare colour in Technic sets and that might be reason enough to buy it.
Summary
42208 Aston Martin Valkyrie, 707 pieces.
£54.99 / $64.99 / €59.99 | 7.8p/9.2c/8.5c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Yet another licensed supercar but an awesome colour one!
- Extensive use of bright bluish green
- Steering practically useless
The prototype
The Valkyrie is a hybrid supercar costing in the region of four million dollars that's designed to be used on the track but also practical (and legal) enough to use on the road as well. The V12 petrol engine develops 1,160hp and the electric motor 160hp, propelling the car from 0-100 km/h in 2.5 seconds (so just 1.3 seconds faster than my electric BMW i4 M50 that costs a fraction of the price, then... :-) )
Stickers
Licenced Technic sets always require extensive sticker sheets and this one is no exception. A lot of them need to be lined up perfectly on adjacent pieces and I assessed that the chances of being able to do so, especially those that are used to create the sweeping curves on the roof, to be negligible, so I elected not to apply most of them.
Construction
The chassis incorporates steering and a huge V12 engine that takes up most of the space behind the seats. Only one back wheel is connected to it: there is no differential, probably because there's not room for one with such a large engine.
It's a relatively straightforward and quick build, with no complex mechanisms or large repetitive sections. Of course, not applying stickers speeds up the process considerably, and I found it quite exhilarating not having to stop every minute to fiddle about trying to apply a decal to perfection.
The completed model
This is the first Technic model to use teal so extensively. It's not a match for the colour of the real car, most of which appear to be the dark green of the example in then picture above, but it looks fabulous anyway.
The stickers would have added light green stripes along the edges to match those of the real one but I think it looks fine without them. I did apply the stickers for the headlights: it would have looked odd without them.
The real car is very curvaceous and normally that causes problems when attempting to replicate such bodywork with Technic but I think the designer has done an excellent job here, thanks mainly to the curved shells above the wheels.
There are no new elements in the set but many of the teal ones have been produced in that colour for the first time, including the aforementioned curved shell, which was produced for cars of this scale in 2023.
I appreciate that the protruding axles have enabled spring-yellowish-green bushes to be added to the wheels to match the colour of those on the prototype, but they look ridiculous!
Other than the 'working' V12 engine and steering via the gear on the roof, the only other functionality is a hinged engine cowling, and opening gull wing doors and bonnet.
I think the range of movement on the steering is the worst I've ever seen in a Technic set: the wheels only move about 15-20 degree each way.
Verdict
This is very much a case of style over substance, but if you're looking for an eye-catching model of a distinctive car to adorn your desk or shelf, you'll find much to like here.
Here it is lined up with the 15-wide cars that have been released so far this year, 42204 Fast & Furious Toyota Supra MK4 and 42205 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. I think the teal of this one looks great next to them.
In Europe is costs the same (£54.99, €59.99) as the other two, but it'll soon be reduced by 20% at Amazon, like the Corvette is now, making it a more attractive proposition.
In the USA it's $5 more expensive, at $64.99. I wonder why that might be?
64 likes
21 comments on this article
The teal is nice, but I'll pass on this for my nephew (he really likes the F1 sets)
Hey reviewer, it doesn't work like this! You haven't truly experienced the pain of building this set until you applied every single sticker perfectly....or at least attempted to do so. You shall suffer!
From the first pic, I thought this was a GT40.
I do like that it looks OK without stickers. However, those tires are so chonky lol, just absolutely not right for a hypercar.
The steering is practically useless - and given that steering is pretty much the only thing this does, that's a problem.
There's a little mistake in the first paragraph of the "completed model section" - team instead of teal.
Just something I pointed out :)
I've got quite a few of the cars in this size. I particularly like different colours to help them stand out, so this one would be quite good.
None of them have particularly good steering but this one is atrocious. I wonder how easy it is to modify?
@Huw most electric cars accelerate in a straight line quicker than the average supercar and even some hypercars, but introduce some corners like on a track and that’s where the average EV fails :-D
I haven't followed "little technic cars" (which, to me, brings to mind sets like 8832) in a while, but that color caught me eye and I decided to have a look. I was expecting steering plus maybe one other minor feature. I expected my reaction to be "so it's like Speed Champions, but with steering, way more price, and not as nice looking."
But it's actually nice seeing where things have come. The engine is a cool feature, and the doors, and the other moving surfaces were not at all expected. And the design of the rear is very nice. I have a feeling these are probably bigger in-hand than the photos make them look, too. I don't think I'll be turning these into a habbit like Speed Champions became, but I can at least say I get it.
Looks OK but, to me, supercars always look a bit out of place in Technic. Something a bit more industrial always feels much more at home.
Out of all the smaller Technic car sets, this one does perhaps the best job of capturing the "look" of a supercar. The color is also striking, if not perfectly accurate. I'll put it on my wishlist and see what happens...while more expensive than earlier equivalents, it's a lot more affordable than most of the rest of my wishlist!
Looks like it escaped from the speed champions two car Jaguar set. Probably looks more like an XJ220 than the Aston it’s meant to represent too!
You've been hit by
You've been struck by
CAR!
3 straight misses in the 15 wide scale this year oh my lord
Does this one and the others from this year fit on 42098? If so, looks like I need to buy a second transporter!
I don't collect technic but both the car and the color looks good. I support selective use of stickers. I don't feel like I have to apply every sticker. That is especially true for Speed Champions sets.
@Huw : 42176 is a larger scale. You should remove it from the 15-wide standard list.
@jh84007 said:
"Does this one and the others from this year fit on 42098? If so, looks like I need to buy a second transporter!"
Yes it will do. although it's quite long so another might not fit behind it.
I wonder why they still bother to call this line of sets "Technic", since it's absolutely mocking the term, not having a single Technic function that works properly. No differential, no proper steering, just that pathetic "engine" that's not even made of the proper Technic engine parts (naturally, since they would be totally out of scale).
Opening doors and bonnet? Wow. Even City sets have more functionality sometimes.
Hell, until recently, even the small 10 Euro Technic minisets had more Technic in them than these cars, which apart from the colour all look alike (and since being unnecessarily made from Technic pieces don't look much like their respective source material) anyway.
I'm sorry, but I can't overlook those sticker headlights. The printed headlights were already something intolerable for me, but in the form of stickers, it goes to another level. So it's a NO.
Shaping is good, but the 1x1 tiles for the headlights are so ugly. Makes it look like a frog.
@derekthetree said:
"Shaping is good, but the 1x1 tiles for the headlights are so ugly. Makes it look like a frog."
These seem like rounded 2x2 tiles to me.
This car has the best looks of the bunch imho.
But the lack steering is a bummer on most "Technic" models. And a differential should definitely have been added.