This set (and the theme in general) seems like a gentle introduction to Technic for system builders. I have only a faint recollection of this theme. I did not buy many sets in 2010 but that was the year of 8043 - one of the best Technic set ever.

World Racers is the qwilfish of Lego

@Zackula said:
"World Racers is the qwilfish of Lego"

I have no clue what you mean by this (aside from knowing what Qwilfish is), but I wholeheartedly agree anyway.

I am so confused as to what this is meant to be, looks cool though! :)

@ecleme11 said:
"I am so confused as to what this is meant to be, looks cool though! :)"

World Racers was a theme with just one wave, with hero and villain racing factions... strangely enough, the high-tech team with streamlined vehicles is actually the heroes.

As I peek out of the window into the neighborhood the air is full of smoke. The fireworks have mostly died down (it’s past 1am) but the occasional sounds blast out, disturbing those who dare sleep. Happy 250th everyone.

This theme released just before the start of my dark age, and I remember thinking these sets looked so insanely cool. I was never particularly into cars or racers (although I did collect a lot of Xalax), but something about the vehicular combat here really appealled to me. Twisted Metal/Mad Max vibes, I suppose?

@TheOtherMike said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"Forget the set, Happy 250th USA!"
A measly 250 years.....I bet most of you youngsters weren't even there when it happened!

"

Modifying one I love: An American thinks that a hundred years is a long time. A European thinks that a hundred miles is a long way. (The original said "British," not "European," but given the average size of a European country compared to the average size of a US state...)"

Haha, fair point :-)

I got all of this theme except one set for Christmas in 2010. I don't even remember particularly asking for them as I was being swept up into Hero Factory, but my parents must've thought they looked interesting too lol. I have a lot of fond memories with this theme as a result!

@TheOtherMike said:
"It occurs to me that in the space of just over ten months, we've gone from no World Racers RSotDs to two of them. The first was https://brickset.com/article/125359

@WizardOfOss said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"Forget the set, Happy 250th USA!"
A measly 250 years.....I bet most of you youngsters weren't even there when it happened!

"

Modifying one I love: An American thinks that a hundred years is a long time. A European thinks that a hundred miles is a long way. (The original said "British," not "European," but given the average size of a European country compared to the average size of a US state...)"

I moved to West Virginia for a little while and had to drive 100 miles one way to go to work...

@Hiratha said:
" @Crux said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"Forget the set, Happy 250th USA! We're in the final hours of the day, and in spite of how tenuous things have been recently, remember to find something to enjoy for those remaining few hours, and stay safe.

Heck, if you're out on the West Coast, there's probably still some light to go ride around in a dune buggy or something like whatever's happening in this set."

Forget the USA. I'm tired of your "how can I make this about me?"-meme of a country.

Meanwhile, I quite like this set. I think it deserves its day in the spotlight. Cool vehicles, a nice mix of System and Technic, interesting colours, and a good amount of stuff to play and/or display. And best of all, it doesn't attempt to hold my newsfeed hostage with constant cries for attention."

Personally I think we should all just start loudly celebrating our random national events no-one else has heard of or cares about too. It would be educational.

(I did consider trying to figure out when the next anniversary for my country would be but I don’t know if I want to spent that much time defining “England”, “Great Britain”, and the “United Kingdom” in order to figure out what the starting point for any of them is.)"

Well I'm just back from Isle of Man and 5th July is Tynwald Day, the National Day of the Isle of Man, when the laws are read aloud, petitions are presented and everyone celebrates their Manx heritage

@terfsten said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"It occurs to me that in the space of just over ten months, we've gone from no World Racers RSotDs to two of them. The first was https://brickset.com/article/125359

@WizardOfOss said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"Forget the set, Happy 250th USA!"
A measly 250 years.....I bet most of you youngsters weren't even there when it happened!

"

Modifying one I love: An American thinks that a hundred years is a long time. A European thinks that a hundred miles is a long way. (The original said "British," not "European," but given the average size of a European country compared to the average size of a US state...)"

I moved to West Virginia for a little while and had to drive 100 miles one way to go to work..."

Ironically, it wouldn't be so much the distance that would bother me. In itself 100 miles isn't that far. But to go to work and back....even with modest traffic conditions that would be like 3-4 hours a day?

I currently have a 50 mile (one way) commute, and the only reason I keep up with that (well, besides the crazy housing market) is that I usually only go to the office twice a week, and work from home the other days. In the past I have worked for another company with a similar distance thiugh much worse traffic conditions, and working at the office 4 or 5 days a week, but that got old pretty quickly. I work to live, don't live to work.

@Tupperfan said:
"As a Canuck, I can't help but get flashbacks of the recent clamours for annexation, though..."
I wouldn't worry too much. Statehood requires submitting a petition to Congress, and you can't be forced to do that. Conquest would trigger a response from every other NATO country, and probably open us to going it alone if Russia and/or China (by which I pretty much exclusively mean China at this point) decided to start something.

@WizardOfOss said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"Forget the set, Happy 250th USA!"
A measly 250 years.....I bet most of you youngsters weren't even there when it happened!"
My DNA was.

@Hiratha said:
"(I did consider trying to figure out when the next anniversary for my country would be but I don’t know if I want to spent that much time defining “England”, “Great Britain”, and the “United Kingdom” in order to figure out what the starting point for any of them is.)"
Arguably, you'd need to go by the most recent transition of monarchy and/or the Magna Carta. Just as how on June 21, 2238 we get to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the ratification of the US Constitution, which is when the current United States was truly founded.

@TheOtherMike said:
"Modifying one I love: An American thinks that a hundred years is a long time. A European thinks that a hundred miles is a long way. (The original said "British," not "European," but given the average size of a European country compared to the average size of a US state...)"
1. The United States of America
2. Alaska
3. Wrangell–St. Elias National Park in Alaska
4. Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska
5. Belgium
6. Denali National Park in Alaska
7. Katmai National Park in Alaska
8. Also four other National Parks in Alaska

@terfsten said:
"I moved to West Virginia for a little while and had to drive 100 miles one way to go to work..."
I moved to the other side of the state and have driven 200 miles to get an ice cream cone.

@ecleme11 said:
"Well I'm just back from Isle of Man and 5th July is Tynwald Day, the National Day of the Isle of Man, when the laws are read aloud, petitions are presented and everyone celebrates their Manx heritage"
You're part cat?

@WizardOfOss said:
"Ironically, it wouldn't be so much the distance that would bother me. In itself 100 miles isn't that far. But to go to work and back....even with modest traffic conditions that would be like 3-4 hours a day?"
It depends on the commute. I'm about 15 miles from work, and it takes between 20-25 minutes, mostly on the freeway. If I could eliminate the first 2.5 miles and the last mile from that drive, it would reduce my drive time to under ten minutes. And if I drove in during the worst part of rush hour, that drive time would probably be back up to what I currently drive. That 200 mile drive for ice cream calculates at about 2.5 hours, so a 100 mile commute could potentially be done in about 90 minutes. If you're looking at spending eight hours just commuting each day, you really need to examine your financial situation.

I once read about someone who lived in Pennsylvania but worked in NYC. He would commute into the city Monday morning, kept a barebones apartment to stay at until Friday, and would head home for the weekend. He took photos of himself standing in his own driveway in PA holding that day's newspaper every day that he was home, just to prove he was living out of state. Between three nights every weekend, plus holidays and vacation days, it kept him just below the 50% mark (barely) for being a NYC resident, which allowed him to pay non-resident taxes. And ultimately, that was more cost effective than actually relocating the family into NYC or the surrounding area. But that meant he bookended the week with two absolutely terrible commutes, as well as not getting to see his family at all during the week.

@Tupperfan It was late and I forgot to type something like “to who it may concern.” :)

@PurpleDave said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"Ironically, it wouldn't be so much the distance that would bother me. In itself 100 miles isn't that far. But to go to work and back....even with modest traffic conditions that would be like 3-4 hours a day?"
It depends on the commute. I'm about 15 miles from work, and it takes between 20-25 minutes, mostly on the freeway. If I could eliminate the first 2.5 miles and the last mile from that drive, it would reduce my drive time to under ten minutes. And if I drove in during the worst part of rush hour, that drive time would probably be back up to what I currently drive. That 200 mile drive for ice cream calculates at about 2.5 hours, so a 100 mile commute could potentially be done in about 90 minutes. If you're looking at spending eight hours just commuting each day, you really need to examine your financial situation.

I once read about someone who lived in Pennsylvania but worked in NYC. He would commute into the city Monday morning, kept a barebones apartment to stay at until Friday, and would head home for the weekend. He took photos of himself standing in his own driveway in PA holding that day's newspaper every day that he was home, just to prove he was living out of state. Between three nights every weekend, plus holidays and vacation days, it kept him just below the 50% mark (barely) for being a NYC resident, which allowed him to pay non-resident taxes. And ultimately, that was more cost effective than actually relocating the family into NYC or the surrounding area. But that meant he bookended the week with two absolutely terrible commutes, as well as not getting to see his family at all during the week."

Those 3-4 hours I mentioned was meant as the daily total, so for 200 miles. Might be possible in three hours, but only in absolutely ideal conditions. In real life conditions, I generally consider myself lucky if I can average 80 km/h from home to office, so 70 mph would be unthinkable, at least without some serious speeding whenever I get the opportunity.

happy late 4th of july! The sphere laucnher cannon was a fun piece. too bad that one got discontinuied.

@WizardOfOss said:
"Those 3-4 hours I mentioned was meant as the daily total, so for 200 miles. Might be possible in three hours, but only in absolutely ideal conditions. In real life conditions, I generally consider myself lucky if I can average 80 km/h from home to office, so 70 mph would be unthinkable, at least without some serious speeding whenever I get the opportunity."

70mph is a fairly common speed limit on freeways across the US, so again, if you can limit your time on surface roads, and you don't have to fight congested rush hour traffic, you can travel pretty quickly. And in Metro Detroit, if you're not driving at least 10mph over the limit, you better stay in the slow lane.

But depending on your commute, 3-4 hours to travel just 100 miles one way is absolutely plausible. And you're going to be fighting much of the same traffic on the return trip, so there are absolutely people who spend their entire waking day either working or commuting during the week, just based on the combination of where they want to live and where they want to work. Heck, just driving from one side of Los Angeles to the other probably takes that much time, for a much shorter distance, which is why they've added the Rich People Lanes to their freeways (technically, it's a carpool lane, but you can pay a fairly hefty fee to legally drive in those lanes without a passenger).

@Tupperfan said:
" @B_Space_Man said:
"Happy 250th everyone. "

Thanks so much! So, it's like in the movie, with the Fourth of July for all of us (Aliens notwithstanding)?

As a Canuck, I can't help but get flashbacks of the recent clamours for annexation, though..."

Just think though, if the US did bring in Canada there would probably then be enough sane and decent people in the Senate and House to impeach the president and three fourths of the supreme court!

@terfsten A 100 mile one way commute is wild enough, but through the mountains of West Virginia? That is quite a feat.

This set is wild. A truck doing a mobile pitstop (an entire engine swap) whilst an opponent drives around still shooting at you (so you and the truck shoot back) is something you don't see... ehm, ever?

It's a wild and exciting concept I must say. And unlike themes like Agents where the various weapons were concealed, here they are loud and proud, as if to ward off any would-be enemies. I mean, oppenents. In the race. We were racing. Definitely not just killing each other violently. Racing...

Getting back to the "How Americans perceive distance" vs. "How Europeans perceive distance" thing )and also bringing Midwestern Canada/Midwestern US in): https://www.tumblr.com/prokopetz/78006833580/emerald-observance-europeans-i-drove-forty?source=share

@Warper said:
"happy late 4th of july! The sphere laucnher cannon was a fun piece. too bad that one got discontinuied. "

Yeah, it's not often you see a new launcher designed to launch an existing ammo piece.

@Binnekamp said:
"This set is wild. A truck doing a mobile pitstop (an entire engine swap) whilst an opponent drives around still shooting at you (so you and the truck shoot back) is something you don't see... ehm, ever?"

Clearly you've never been to Los Angeles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaZmZakFQek

The “arguably” and “it could be argued” was why I wasn’t doing that, for the record, although I fully expected people to have a go, so, have fun! I had energy to help make hummus today or consider the various permutations of When Nation Began but not both, and the hummus was more important.

@ecleme11

Happy Tynwald Day!

@PurpleDave

I can’t tell if you’re joking or genuinely don’t know that the reason the cats are called Manx is because they’re from the Isle of Man and that’s what you call people and things which are from the Isle of Man, but either way I assume someone reading this thread doesn’t know, so, that’s the explanation.

@Hiratha said:
" @PurpleDave

I can’t tell if you’re joking or genuinely don’t know that the reason the cats are called Manx is because they’re from the Isle of Man and that’s what you call people and things which are from the Isle of Man, but either way I assume someone reading this thread doesn’t know, so, that’s the explanation."

I’ve only ever known “Manx” to be associated with the cat breed. We did have to learn some degree of UK history, mostly as it relates to the formation and early years of the US, and again WWI, and again WWII, but I don’t remember if the Isle of Man even got mentioned as being a “thing which exists”. It didn’t take much effort to infer from context what the OP meant, but I still wouldn’t have assumed that’s how the cat breed got its name. Not without looking it up, at least.

@PurpleDave

@terfsten said:
"I moved to West Virginia for a little while and had to drive 100 miles one way to go to work..."
I moved to the other side of the state and have driven 200 miles to get an ice cream cone.

As a fellow Michigander with a love for ice cream, I 100% understand! I live in Indiana now, but there are a lot of weekends I drive up just to be "home" for a few hours. Besides I got used to those long drives in West Virginia so it doesn't feel so impossible to do anymore!

@WizardOfOss said:
"Ironically, it wouldn't be so much the distance that would bother me. In itself 100 miles isn't that far. But to go to work and back....even with modest traffic conditions that would be like 3-4 hours a day?"
It depends on the commute. I'm about 15 miles from work, and it takes between 20-25 minutes, mostly on the freeway. If I could eliminate the first 2.5 miles and the last mile from that drive, it would reduce my drive time to under ten minutes. And if I drove in during the worst part of rush hour, that drive time would probably be back up to what I currently drive. That 200 mile drive for ice cream calculates at about 2.5 hours, so a 100 mile commute could potentially be done in about 90 minutes. If you're looking at spending eight hours just commuting each day, you really need to examine your financial situation.

It was West Virginia so long stretches of windy mountain roads. There is no work in West Virginia, so I was lucky I could drive down to Virginia in about 45 min - 1 hr. Some others that I worked with drove from even further out. One guy was from western Maryland... it's a different way of life out there for sure!

@kdu2814 said:

@terfsten A 100 mile one way commute is wild enough, but through the mountains of West Virginia? That is quite a feat.]]

That's how everything is in West Virginia. I had 3 options for a walmart... all of them were an hour away. There is no work. You get used to long commutes through the mountains as just an accepted everyday way of life. Now I moved back home to the midwest and walmart is 10 min. up the road. My wife, who I met and married in West Virginia, is ecstatic lol.