I bet it makes your car go faster, too!

Supplementary sets, depending on what you need, they may help a lot.

Supplementary sets, depending on what you need, they may help a lot.

As long as that style is “exposed industrial hardware”

It's missing some "speed" holes

@ulibu said:
"Nice, metallic pieces, engine parts, flexible hoses.
And all for inflation corrected 10 ct/pc.

They don't do that anymore.
Not even the whole class of sets, pff, parts pack to get even more crazy on your own creations, soooo oldschool.
I want a build-to-put-in-shelf unicorn-vomit-inside 3D puzzle."

The thing about "inflation corrected 10ct/pc" is, that the average set usually doesn't have to be inflation corrected because it still mostly was 10 ish ct/pc. This set is just a really really good deal!

So....seems like the idea was you'd get 5222 Vehicle Chassis Pack first, and then several add-on packages like this one or 5218 or 5219 to go from there? I do kinda like that idea, making good use of the modular aspect of Lego. Not quite sure about the execution though....

Also, it is called the Styling Pack.....but it does include the engine!

@WizardOfOss said:
"Hey....where have the Olivia Rodrigo sets gone? Article published too early? Or are the sets already retired?"

Lol. I was just able to read your last comment, so I'll quickly reply over here:

Contrary to some of the people responding that they've, somehow, never heard of her, she's one of the most popular artist with GenZ audiences in the world right now. It's okay to not know something, but putting that kind of ignorance on display only informs others they're deeply out of touch with popular culture right now.

I'm sure Olivia is well compensated for her name and likeness -- as is her record company. LEGO is trying to look for crossover markets, so it's definitely them paying for the license, not the other way around.

Interesting point about Taylor Swift. I can imagine LEGO would love to get on board with her, but it may not be the case for TayTay herself. You have to imagine that at this point Taylor Swift has already been an A-list artist for the better part of two decades, as she started out very young, and if you've been following her for any length of time, you've seen her mature and trying to get away from the teen girl with guitar image -- which is where Olivia is at right now. Pairing up with LEGO wouldn't really fit with that narrative.

... Or she might just ask a crazy price for a license that LEGO isn't willing to pay. She can.

@WizardOfOss said:
"So....seems like the idea was you'd get 5222 Vehicle Chassis Pack first, and then several add-on packages like this one or 5218 or 5219 to go from there? I do kinda like that idea, making good use of the modular aspect of Lego. Not quite sure about the execution though....

Also, it is called the Styling Pack.....but it does include the engine!"

The engine is an important part of any car's style, but it's really not there for anything more important than looks.

These panels and tubes are pretty easy to use to style your own creations. I think they were a good idea. I used especially the tubes quite a lot back in the late nineties.

@WizardOfOss said:
"So....seems like the idea was you'd get 5222 Vehicle Chassis Pack first, and then several add-on packages like this one or 5218 or 5219 to go from there? I do kinda like that idea, making good use of the modular aspect of Lego. Not quite sure about the execution though....

Also, it is called the Styling Pack.....but it does include the engine!"

Things like this would also make sense in a variety of multi-packs. Maybe an Idea Book as well.

I mean, I like Technic, but Technic MOCs are just trickier than stacking bricks. Having sub-assemblies for various mechanisms would help.

There were three of these extra Technic packs that year: https://brickset.com/sets?query=5218-5220

The best of them was of course the Pneumatic set 5218, which was probably the most convenient way ever to get some sought-after air tanks!

@Lance_McCormick said:
"I mean, I like Technic, but Technic MOCs are just trickier than stacking bricks. Having sub-assemblies for various mechanisms would help."

I think the one all-Technic creation of mine as a kid was a big block of beams and gears that did absolutely nothing.

This would have been a great parts pack for early BIONICLE MOCs.

Metallic silver galore!

Btw, this set is earmarked to be paired with the other packs from that year. Look at some of the combinations here:

https://www.toysperiod.com/img/cache/0e/0x0/d4e4o5g414f4w5w5n4z5m44426a4k4l4y5v294w274v2u234y2y2z3j4l4f4s2u204q2.jpg

https://www.toysperiod.com/img/cache/a7/0x0/d4e4o5g414f4w5w5n4z5m44426a4k4l4y5v294w274v2u234y2z2z3j4l4f4s2u204q2.jpg

Maybe wait with the Olivia Rodrigo discussion until that topic is reinstated? And maybe use that time to familiarize yourself with her ;-)
(I know here name, I know she's popular, I have heard some of her song, I have long forgotten about those by now......so I'm good)

I only posted it here wondering where it suddenly went.... ( @Huw ?)

Meanwhile we have a unusual but fun Technic set to discuss....and I agree with greenhorn that 5218 was by far the most interesting of the bunch!

The dark ages, really.. everything they did was far fetched. Technic wasn't the same more and the cool designing (box, instructions) was horrible.

@PurpleDave said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
"It's okay to not know something, but putting that kind of ignorance on display only informs others they're deeply out of touch with popular culture right now."

That’s a rather ageist interpretation of things. The youth are not the exclusive owners of popularity. Popularity is frequently a generational thing. There are things that are still wildly popular with older generations that Gen Z/Gen Alpha barely know about, but you don’t see people saying that makes them “deeply out of touch with popular culture”. Or in cases like @AustinPowers , where someone assumes that just because a thing is popular within their social circle, then _EVERYONE_ must know about that thing (this is especially problematic in the internet age, when young people have been able to shrink their social circle based on homogeneous beliefs and values). You see that sort of assumption with really young kids, who haven’t really had time to fully develop a sense of independence. Even all the way through high school, most of the people they spend a lot of time with will be around the same age as them, and will probably have shared much of their life experience. When they start college or enter the workforce, that might be the first time they really have exposure to a large group of people with different experiences.

Then again, I’ve lost track of how often other Bricksetters assume that every theme they grew up with would outsell all the stuff that’s in current production, so being out of touch with the idea that people can have different experiences isn’t exclusive to the youth either."

Oh, I totally agree with 'the youth' not having exclusivity on what's popular, but some artists, like Olivia Rodrigo for instance, have cross-generational appeal and as such enjoy popularity among various generations. While her main fan base definitely skews to the younger side, her songs have been played extensively on radio, she has been widely covered on TV, and she has even performed with Robert Smith from The Cure, who easily could've been her grandfather. So, she's not just a random TikTok celebrity who went viral for 15 minutes with saying 6-7. She's a genuine global pop star, and she has been for about half a decade now.

For comparison: imagine LEGO would've announced making Madonna or Janet Jackson sets in 1989, and someone would've said: "Never heard of her!" Now, I'm not saying Olivia has the same lasting cultural impact as Madonna or Janet, because popular culture itself has changed so much, but she's definitely in the top 5 of most popular female singers of this era.

So yeah, we're in agreement, but I'm just saying that it comes off kind of dumb when people write they don't know something or someone when those things or persons are certified global phenomena. I know next to nothing about football/soccer, yet you don't hear me saying: "What is a Messi?"

(And I actually do know who that is, because some folks are unavoidable.)

@WizardOfOss said:
"Maybe wait with the Olivia Rodrigo discussion until that topic is reinstated? And maybe use that time to familiarize yourself with her ;-)
(I know here name, I know she's popular, I have heard some of her song, I have long forgotten about those by now......so I'm good)

I only posted it here wondering where it suddenly went.... ( @Huw ?)

Meanwhile we have a unusual but fun Technic set to discuss....and I agree with greenhorn that 5218 was by far the most interesting of the bunch!"

I've never heard of it, so why did they make a set out of this??? ;-)

So were 5220 and the other sets like it the start of technic sets that were more enclosed - I don't know if I'm asking this right - but the sets that moved away from frames with lots of visible gears to recognizable/licensed vehicles with panels covering everything up?

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
"It's okay to not know something, but putting that kind of ignorance on display only informs others they're deeply out of touch with popular culture right now."

That’s a rather ageist interpretation of things. The youth are not the exclusive owners of popularity. Popularity is frequently a generational thing. There are things that are still wildly popular with older generations that Gen Z/Gen Alpha barely know about, but you don’t see people saying that makes them “deeply out of touch with popular culture”. Or in cases like @AustinPowers , where someone assumes that just because a thing is popular within their social circle, then _EVERYONE_ must know about that thing (this is especially problematic in the internet age, when young people have been able to shrink their social circle based on homogeneous beliefs and values). You see that sort of assumption with really young kids, who haven’t really had time to fully develop a sense of independence. Even all the way through high school, most of the people they spend a lot of time with will be around the same age as them, and will probably have shared much of their life experience. When they start college or enter the workforce, that might be the first time they really have exposure to a large group of people with different experiences.

Then again, I’ve lost track of how often other Bricksetters assume that every theme they grew up with would outsell all the stuff that’s in current production, so being out of touch with the idea that people can have different experiences isn’t exclusive to the youth either."

Oh, I totally agree with 'the youth' not having exclusivity on what's popular, but some artists, like Olivia Rodrigo for instance, have cross-generational appeal and as such enjoy popularity among various generations. While her main fan base definitely skews to the younger side, her songs have been played extensively on radio, she has been widely covered on TV..."
But even that is relative.
For example the radio stations that my mother listens to have never ever featured a song by her. Same goes for Taylor Swift, as well as many other artists that supposedly "everybody knows".
Everyone lives in a certain self imposed bubble, if they like to admit it or not.
Take my kids. When we talked about how famous Olivia Rodrigo was even though I had never heard of her, they asked me about the artists that I liked to listen to and who were very popular over here during my youth. When I mentioned artists like OMD, Roxette, Ace of Base, they gave me the same blank expression that I gave them about Miss Rodrigo.
Just goes to show that both cultural as well as temporal bubbles do exist, have existed and probably will always exist.

As for this set, I don't see it as worthy of discussion. It's not even a proper set anyway, just an add on parts pack, and from one of the darkest times in LEGO history too.

@ToysFromTheAttic:
In the US, there’s a radio format called “Top 40”, where pretty much all they play is the current top 40 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 or whatever they’re calling it. If that’s what someone listens to, then yeah, you’re going to hear a lot of the songs that have captured the attention of the youth. But you’re also going to hear the same songs on pretty much endless repeat every two hours, like your radio is broken and you only own one mix CD. And a lot of the stuff you hear on those stations is just earworms that are designed to stick in your head, but don’t have much substance. They’re the “fast fashion” of the music industry, capturing the attention of the masses today, but totally forgotten a year from now. I can’t listen to that type of music.

That’s not to say that everything that ends up on those stations is devoid of value, but that I’m going to find more songs that appeal to my tastes listening to Little Steven’s Underground Garage, or Coolest Conversations With The Mighty Manfred. Different tastes. First time I actually knowingly sat through a Taylor Swift song was just over a week ago when I watched Toy Story 5.

@PurpleDave said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic :
In the US, there’s a radio format called “Top 40”, where pretty much all they play is the current top 40 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 or whatever they’re calling it. If that’s what someone listens to, then yeah, you’re going to hear a lot of the songs that have captured the attention of the youth. But you’re also going to hear the same songs on pretty much endless repeat every two hours, like your radio is broken and you only own one mix CD. And a lot of the stuff you hear on those stations is just earworms that are designed to stick in your head, but don’t have much substance. They’re the “fast fashion” of the music industry, capturing the attention of the masses today, but totally forgotten a year from now. I can’t listen to that type of music.

That’s not to say that everything that ends up on those stations is devoid of value, but that I’m going to find more songs that appeal to my tastes listening to Little Steven’s Underground Garage, or Coolest Conversations With The Mighty Manfred. Different tastes. First time I actually knowingly sat through a Taylor Swift song was just over a week ago when I watched Toy Story 5."

I think this right here is the main difference in mainstream pop culture between the US versus Europe. Since the US is such a massive country, it has so many media outlets to cater to vastly different audiences. You might be rocking out to Little Steven (who is awesome, by the way) and watch ABC and NBC, while your neighbour is listening to a country radio station and watching FOX News. Each their own reality. But some massive pop stars can cross those cultivated boundaries. At least, they used to.

The major radio stations in the country I'm from will play Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift next to The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen with Rihanna, Martin Garrix and The Weeknd in between -- plus a selection of regional artists in various genres. We also don't hear music in just one language, as most of the US does. Just looking at the current top 10, and I see four different languages. When is the last time that happened in the States? I think we both know the answer. ;-)

Sure, there are different channels for different audiences, and even some strict formats, but unless someone is living in that kind of self-imposed bubble you're referring to, or when they've simply tuned out from what's going on in the world outside their family life and sphere of interest, it's hard not to encounter these type of mega stars at some point. My late mother couldn't name any Taylor Swift song, and I'm not sure if she liked or even recognised any of her songs, but she did know who TayTay is because she is so omnipresent in popular culture and media. She probably knew more about Taylor's private life than I do, without ever sitting through one of her albums!

But yes, I'm aware that these bubbles exist, as I encounter those on a regular basis. For instance, earlier in the year, I had to explain Bad Bunny to people. And last year Rosalía. I guess that's what happens when most of your friends only listen to the same kind of music they listened to when they were teenagers, and never moved beyond that. Plus, life gets in the way sometimes. I get that. Maybe I should do a poll to see if they know who Olivia Rodrigo is... . :-)

A modern take would be you buy a generic all black F1 chassis, with engine, steering etc like 8860 , then you select which team paneling you want to support.

@stepwise said:
"So were 5220 and the other sets like it the start of technic sets that were more enclosed - I don't know if I'm asking this right - but the sets that moved away from frames with lots of visible gears to recognizable/licensed vehicles with panels covering everything up?"

Technic was undergoing drastic changes starting from ca 1997 and those were still ongoing in 2000. One of those was the introduction of panels in 1999. Just look at the supercars of those years. In 1994 you had 8880 Super Car, in 1999 you had the 8448 Super Street Sensation, and in 2001 you had the 8466 4x4 Off-Roader. Notice how those 'holey' panels started to be used instead of technic beams.

You could say that in that sense, there was more emphasis on paneling, but the emphasis had also became more on flex tubes for organic shaping (which became widespread in 1998), which resulted in models that still had plenty of 'holes' to look through.

But those models were still very much allowing you to see the functions.

Long story short, those panels started to evolve. In 2002 a newer type of panel was created with more smooth coverage and around 2009 newer, more covering panels started to appear that allowed for a full system of shapes, not just curved ones. Look no further than 8070 Super Car from 2011. Notice how more of the model is paneled off compared to the previous cars!
The final switch to completely covering everything up is hard to say (for me, I'm not really a technic specialist), but I think it was around ca 2014. That said, it was a gradual process that just hastened with each new type of panel.

For more about the history of panels, Bricket had done a two-part retrospective on them that goes in more depth about the different types:

https://brickset.com/article/42654/a-history-of-technic-panels-part-1

https://brickset.com/article/43147/a-history-of-technic-panels-part-2

With regard to stuff that "everybody knows about," I'll just leave this here: https://xkcd.com/1053/

@RogueWhistler said:
" @Lance_McCormick said:
"I mean, I like Technic, but Technic MOCs are just trickier than stacking bricks. Having sub-assemblies for various mechanisms would help."

I think the one all-Technic creation of mine as a kid was a big block of beams and gears that did absolutely nothing."

The homeschool group my family was part of got together and ordered a lot of copies of 1034, one for each family. When we weren't using it for educational purposes, I used to build constructions that were just strings of gears and other mechanisms with it. I still have the parts, although I don't know how well the electrical components work now.

@ToysFromTheAttic said:"So yeah, we're in agreement, but I'm just saying that it comes off kind of dumb when people write they don't know something or someone when those things or persons are certified global phenomena. I know next to nothing about football/soccer, yet you don't hear me saying: "What is a Messi?"

(And I actually do know who that is, because some folks are unavoidable.)"

I'd never heard of him before the Editions sets were announced, but since the World Cup started, I *have* been hearing a lot about him, what with him setting records and all.