Random set of the day: Air Tech Claw Rig
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 8868 Air Tech Claw Rig, released during 1992. It's one of 6 Technic sets produced that year. It contains 954 pieces, and its retail price was US$139, which equates to about US$324 in today's money.
It's owned by 4,190 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 $820.60, or eBay.
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20 comments on this article
Gas Powered Brick!
One of these feels like it got lost from CyberSlam.
This marvel has got to be in the top 5 (even top 3) of every serious Lego Technic enthusiasts. Rotating the grabber cab with pneumatic was fantastic then, and is still fantastic to this day. Despite being arguably ugly, the b-model also has very cool functions. There is a good quantity and variety of parts in there to built new stuff for a very long time - all powered by electric compressor. Truly a gem, then and now. I am so very longing for a set of that caliber in 2026.
Very surprised that Brickset do not have the instructions for this set.
Just looked at the inventory on Bricklink, and found out that this set has a STAMP; I don't want it anymore.
Just kidding, I'd love to have this set. It's not the Technic set I want the most (that'd probably be 8865), but it's definitely on the shortlist.
@HOBBES said:
"Very surprised that Brickset do not have the instructions for this set."
Peeron does, though: http://peeron.com/scans/8868-1/
A legend among Technic sets! Back in '92, Technic sets prioritized function over fashion, and many were mere suggestions of the real-life vehicles that the sets represented. The Air Tech Claw Rig was relatively realistic for its era. And it had the holy grail: electric AND pneumatic parts in one set!
Lovely heavy solid tyres.
@jschwarz said:
"A legend among Technic sets! Back in '92, Technic sets prioritized function over fashion, and many were mere suggestions of the real-life vehicles that the sets represented. The Air Tech Claw Rig was relatively realistic for its era. And it had the holy grail: electric AND pneumatic parts in one set!"
Yep. It took 23 years to get the same deal again in 2015 with 42043 which is one of my favourite set of all time (the number of functions on this set is off the chart). I hope the next very good set won't be in 2038...
Superb set. 9 year old me struggled enough with getting all the hoses in and correct that making it was a big achievement.
Made even better because with the removal of a few axles and pins the cab and the crane mount come away and the crane & hoses can be unthreaded and the whole set then returned to the original box for storage and (relatively) easy reassembly.
To this day still one of the best Technic sets of all time. No color barf, no unnecessary license, no app control, no smart play, just pure functions and creativity.
@R0Sch said:
"To this day still one of the best Technic sets of all time. No color barf, no unnecessary license, no app control, no smart play, just pure functions and creativity."
Exactly.
Technic will never be this great again.
I am so happy that I managed to obtain many great Technic sets I didn't get as a kid, like this one, via ebay. Others include 8862, 8865, 8480 etc.
So what does that bottom model do with its funny little mandibles?
@R0Sch said:
"To this day still one of the best Technic sets of all time. No color barf, no unnecessary license, no app control, no smart play, just pure functions and creativity."
100%
@Brickalili said:
"So what does that bottom model do with its funny little mandibles?"
Early version of 8479.
@Brickalili said:
"So what does that bottom model do with its funny little mandibles?"
It's a garbage disposal machine with pneumatics that are fully automated. You can see it in this video best. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxFBmRJP824
Very ingenious function, one that we never saw again after that.
@AustinPowers said:
" @R0Sch said:
"To this day still one of the best Technic sets of all time. No color barf, no unnecessary license, no app control, no smart play, just pure functions and creativity."
Exactly.
Technic will never be this great again.
I am so happy that I managed to obtain many great Technic sets I didn't get as a kid, like this one, via ebay. Others include 8862, 8865, 8480 etc. "
I hear you but not all that is new is bad - it's just that there are so few and so far in between. I believe 8455 is superior to 8862 (you cannot beat 10 cylinders!) 8865 must be a nostalgia thing or some sort of a collection (853, 8860, 8865, 8880) It is a nice set but nothing special now - it was indeed special when it came out as it was the first with suspension on the steering wheels. 8480 is a true gem in the same class as 8868. Unfortunately, we need to wait several years to get a decent Technic set. In the "recent" past we got 8043 (which I believe you already own) and 42043; 42128 was also highly praised. Moving forward, it is getting worse as it seems Lego has realized cars is all they need to do (the designers must be utterly bored to death) and this is probably why we have to wait 5-6 years for something decent. My last "decent" technic set was 42145 - the functions are neat but because of the new era mentality where everything has to be hidden and the model must look lifelike, it was extremely hard to understand what part was doing what and how the whole mechanism worked. Technic aficionados do not eat well but we get some crumbs here and there. What we will most likely never see again is set where the mechanisms have priority over the final look.
Now THIS is a Technic set.
I was a year old when it released, so obviously I didn't get it at the time, but I do have 42031, which was built by the same designer (Olav Krøigaard) and has the same colour scheme!
Legend
@R0Sch said:
" @Brickalili said:
"So what does that bottom model do with its funny little mandibles?"
It's a garbage disposal machine with pneumatics that are fully automated. You can see it in this video best. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxFBmRJP824
Very ingenious function, one that we never saw again after that.
"
While the "programmable" pneumatic was indeed quite special, the arm geometry and the mechanism at the front was also very nice. The cylinder extends only about 4-5 studs long and yet the arm swings roughly 90 degrees - that is some clever linkage.
I got this set at around 12 years old and while it was a whole-day build, it was a very worthwhile build. Not bad for 32 steps (+ sub builds). And even then it is just below 1000 pieces, which wouldn't be seen in a Technic set for another 2 years.
Also built the B model (27 steps + sub builds), and ultimately the A model again, which I still have to this day. I did upgrade it with an air pressure tank behind the cab a few years ago.
As previous posters mentioned, this is Technic at its best: function over form, pneumatic, electric, steering and a V6 engine all visible. Never applied the stickers, though, as they spanned multiple parts.
Still own it!
I was building it last month but all the electric parts are no longer working. It's extremely hard to get replacements for it.