Random set of the day: Crawler Crane
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 42042 Crawler Crane, released during 2015. It's one of 13 Technic sets produced that year. It contains 1401 pieces, and its retail price was US$149.99 / £109.99, which equates to about US$204 / £153 in today's money.
It's owned by 6,303 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at Brick Owl, BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $248.00, or eBay.
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31 comments on this article
beeg
We had a set with the word "crane" in the name two days ago, and two days before that. One wonders if this will keep up.
We went from a wagon to a mini mobile to a crawler now-
Excellent set, from back when Technic sets focussed far more on functionality!
Looks like it could have been released this year.
We'll have to keep going until every alternate set in the sidebar is a crane!
If this crane crawled, which one is the runner crane?
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Looks like it could have been released this year."
Definitely not. For that it would need to have a license and far far less functions.
Fantastic set, a real Techy heaven build with the two main levers to change the various gear paths to allow the single large motor to either turn, lift or drop the beam, and pull up or down the hook. The design is also really compact considering all that is going on, even using the battery box as a counterweight. The B model of a mobile crane is interesting, although although not sure if anyone has ever dismantled as the A model as just too good.
One of those older sets I've been thinking about buying from someone on Bricklink, but haven't gone through with yet. Should I?
@ulibu said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Looks like it could have been released this year."
Definitely not. For that it would need to have a license and far far less functions."
Yup, and 4 wheels rather than tracks..
This is a fantastic set and mine is still assembled. I've never actually built the B-model so I must try that at some point.. If only there were sets like this being released by Technic today!
It’s got a good language attracting you to play with it. Reads as a toy, with no branding, and it’s blue like a spaceship! How good is the tilting cab?!
Remember when motorized Technic sets didn't cost an arm and a leg, didn't need 18+ branding, smartphones, apps. lengthy calibration/updates and still had B-models e.g. were meant to be taken apart, rebuilt and played with, not just gathering dust on display?
@danishbricklayer said:
" @ulibu said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Looks like it could have been released this year."
Definitely not. For that it would need to have a license and far far less functions."
Yup, and 4 wheels rather than tracks.."
And not be a crane but a sports car.
Milan Reindl is one of those Lego designers who excels at everything he creates.
One of my favorite Lego.
From the thumbnail, it looks more like an old Meccano set!
@edoarado said:
"Milan Reindl is one of those Lego designers who excels at everything he creates.
One of my favorite Lego."
Milan worked on the basic concept for this set; the actual model was created by Michael Jeppesen. Michael also designed 42006, which uses the same claw. Funnily enough, Milan also designed the B-model for it!
Anyway, this puppy is an all-time classic! Mine is still built; it's currently the B-model. Oh, and @danishbricklayer you should definitely give it a go; it's absolutely massive and well worth building!
Hey look, a Technic set that's actually deserving of the name.
How times have changed.
If LEGO was honest they would change the branding on the current "Technic" sets to "Racers" and admit that they buried the Technic theme years ago. It started when they got rid of the B-models and ended when basically every new set in the line was a car without visible functions. And no a complex gearbox that is completely hidden in the final product is NOT a Technic function, particularly when during the build you have no clue what you are actually building and how it is going to work in the end.
Ah, the blue Crawler Crane. This one's quite memorable, what with it carrying a section of its own boom.
At full length the boom is quite impressive and realistically proportioned:
https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/0317/15/lego-technic-42042-crawler-crane_1_5206362745ebbb1096c1c2bc8adbbfd2.jpg
I had to look up what the B-model was and I must say, it's magnificent. Tower style cranes are rare in lego (especially at this scale). So it's super nice! The way the hook cables are done reminds me of 7905 Building Crane a lot.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ed/60/e9/ed60e9bd92982246b27679c9762121ff.jpg
@PurpleDave, since I missed your message the other day: 75262 only seats three troopers on the platform - there's two forward-facing seats, but only one backwards. It would be an easy enough mod to make, but as it is, the vehicle is a downgrade.
@PurpleDave said:
"If this crane crawled, which one is the runner crane?"
nowhere, since it runs so fast, nobody has ever seen one!
@PurpleDave said:
"If this crane crawled, which one is the runner crane?"
Will people start blocking me if I say 42146?
This set is excellent. Have two copies. Clearly, the Technic concept of the 80s/90s/2000s has been superseded by whatever is we have now. But not all hope is lost: there are still some remarkable Technic models released nearly yearly.
@TheOtherMike said:
"We had a set with the word "crane" in the name two days ago, and two days before that. One wonders if this will keep up."
Cranes are the new Clikits!
@TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"If this crane crawled, which one is the runner crane?"
Will people start blocking me if I say 42146?"
Can't tell which is the faster one. But the latter can turn, the older only does straight line.
@chefkaspa said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"If this crane crawled, which one is the runner crane?"
Will people start blocking me if I say 42146?"
Can't tell which is the faster one. But the latter can turn, the older only does straight line.
"
Sorry, I fell asleep while the Liebherr turned and moved an inch.
@chefkaspa said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"If this crane crawled, which one is the runner crane?"
Will people start blocking me if I say 42146?"
Can't tell which is the faster one. But the latter can turn, the older only does straight line."
Dragsters drive straight lines, while mobility scooters can turn. I think that tells you your answer right there.
Oh, heck yeah! Quite possibly my favorite Technic set ever, from back when Technic was in its modern golden age. The size, the style, the masterful gearbox... it's all fantastic. Even after 10 years of owning it, few sets excite me as much (definitely not any newer so-called Technic sets...). Yeah, it's slow, but it's also the only set in my collection (IIRC) with Power Functions, so being motorized at all is a plus for me. I have it looming behind the rest of the sets on my Technic shelf; it just barely fits.
Saying all this, I realize I miss having this set around... my collection is currently 6 hours away from me (soon to be 30 hours away...) at my parents' house.
@EtudeTheBadger said:
"Milan worked on the basic concept for this set; the actual model was created by Michael Jeppesen. Michael also designed 42006, which uses the same claw. Funnily enough, Milan also designed the B-model for it!"
That was my one reservation about 42042; I already had 42006 and wasn't a huge fan of the claw. I would have preferred a proper crane hook, but then again, two sets with the same claw made them into a collection of sorts. Probably the only LEGO collection I can say I've completed....
@ulibu said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Looks like it could have been released this year."
Definitely not. For that it would need to have a license and far far less functions."
Yep. I was about to say this must have been before the "licensification" of Technic which took off in 2021. Link to spreadsheet with Lego licensed data here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PBbGVgc1fkIpsp5y4oH2O6H4SOZHF6MELOG-RVuW4pY/edit?gid=0
@chefkaspa said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"If this crane crawled, which one is the runner crane?"
Will people start blocking me if I say 42146?"
Can't tell which is the faster one. But the latter can turn, the older only does straight line.
"
I was able to mod this blue one to add steering-control levers to the treads. Just a few more technic parts, and it can be driven like a tank (forward, reverse, rotate, turn-in-forward, turn-in-reverse). I think this is one of the most fun modern technic sets I have.