4999 / 10268 Vestas Wind Turbine - What has changed?
Posted by CapnRex101,
10256 Taj Mahal was released ten years after its predecessor but remained remarkably similar to 10189 Taj Mahal, with the only alterations being the colour of a Technic axle and the addition of an orange brick separator.
There is similar continuity between 4999 Vestas Wind Turbine and the brand new 10268 Vestas Wind Turbine, although the latter set contains 826 pieces while the 2008 model included just 815 so there have clearly been several changes.
While it might not be possible to identify every update without actually building the set, a number of changes are visible in official images. You can read about them after the break...
Both 4999 Vestas Wind Turbine and 10268 Vestas Wind Turbine contain three minifigures, two of whom work for Vestas while the third lives in the cottage. However, the figures have been updated for the 2018 model, featuring a couple of different heads, dark blue hard hats and a modern ponytail hair piece. In addition, the workers' torsos now feature printed Vestas logos rather than stickers and the dog has been updated, reflecting the design change which took place in 2011.
A few flowers are scattered around the cottage and these have been updated as well. Not only do they include modern flowers, with five petals, but the stems now feature a hand grip and are attached to 2x2 jumper plates. These account for the greatest change in the total number of pieces as the original set did not include 2x2 jumper plates and the old flowers were manufactured in groups of four rather than individually.
The turbine housing has been altered quite significantly as well. 4999 Vestas Wind Turbine featured a dark blue stripe which is absent from 10268 Vestas Wind Turbine, corresponding to a change in Vestas' branding on their real wind turbines. Moreover, the conical hub now includes a 2x2 round jumper plate and the blades are fitted at an angled pitch. This was also possible with the model from 2008 but was not shown on the packaging.
4999 Vestas Wind Turbine came with some tools for the minifigures and those are found in the new set too. However, they are now packaged in a small bag and the selection includes a spider wrench, an adjustable wrench and a ratchet which were not present in the previous rendition of the wind turbine.
Furthermore, the colour of a 1x1 plate on top of the van has been changed from dark blue to tan and the panels on either side are printed, matching those on the turbine housing. 4999 Vestas Wind Turbine contained several stickers and I am sure their replacement will delight many LEGO fans. Finally, a brick separator has been added to the set.
Of course, the most important differences between 10268 Vestas Wind Turbine and its predecessor are the introduction of a new plant-based plastic and their availability. 4999 Vestas Wind Turbine was only available to Vestas employees while the new 10268 Vestas Wind Turbine will be released around the world on the 23rd of November, costing £159.99, $199.99 or 179.99€.
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51 comments on this article
Not a single mention of the price? Seems like it's relevant to bring up here.
This set will be $NZ 399 so will probably pass on buying it. I have 3 of the LEGO city version which I have doubled the height and installed LEGO red micro motors in, controlled by a 9V train controller for slow speed.
This is honestly the first absolute must-buy for me in 2018. I've been contemplating BL'ing the original for a long time and never got around to it. Glad I didn't . Looking forward to it.
@Golem25: Because of the previous version's limited availability I have had a hard time finding any info about what it cost. Certainly it doesn't seem to have been reported here on Brickset when the original first came out.
I like it but 800 pieces for 180€? The motor will add to the cost but that seems steep
Recent set pricing seemed to indicate that TLG had grasped the basic concept of currency exchange rates. And now this folly blows away that theory.
We're back to NZ getting clobbered with a fraudulent 25% price-gouging mark-up over UK pricing....
@Aanchir: the old one did not cost anything since it where a gift to all the Vestas employees and not for sale anywhere..
@Spartan, this eventuality is as likely as the dinosaurs eating the minifigures included in the Jurassic World sets. :)
I always get a chuckle out of ads that feature a company's employees looking like idiots. Here we get an official LEGO pic with a Vestas employee sleeping on the job. They have to love that!
One of these wind turbines went up a few miles from my house last year to power a California State Prison. Seems like an easy scene to MOC with this set, a pile of tan and bley bricks, and populated with all the "crooks" that the City PD rounds up!
I'm wondering why the new set includes Power Functions instead of the new Powered Up system? For the inflated price it should probably include both, and a 50.00 LEGO gift card lol.... I'm only hating on the price so much because I want it so badly :(
I'm just glad they included a brick separator this time...
As a Mechanical Engineer student and Lego fan this is a must, seems it comes with electric functions.
@Block-n-Roll : you're not wrong there. But in all fairness: prices differences due to echange rate differences is a just a silly excuse. Because by that logic the reverse effect would also be true: price drops due to exchange rate differences. But oddly, that never happens. I'm looking at you too, Apple.
I think it's a nice set but just can't justify nearly 200€ for this in my country. I thought about returning to Lego dark ages because Lego has made some steep price increases of late AND I love collecting sets. But prices as these push me towards building more of my own designs. Still need bricks for that, but not at these prices.
It's already the second article about this monstrosity. Maybe because of all the bad comments which accumulated beneath the first? :D But bad things deserve bad comments. So does this set.
Year I have the small City one that cost like a 10th of this on sale. I hook it up every Christmas when I set up my train, both it and the train can go around my mother's tree.
@Golem25 - Quite the opposite. 4999 Vestas Wind Turbine was reportedly given to Vestas employees so comparing the price of 10268 to its predecessor would be futile.
I would not like to live in that house.
I missed the first incarnation of this set, it looks spectacular, in terms of size, in a similar way to 10247 Ferris Wheel and I think it will look great as a display model.
I'm just gonna say that I really don't like the new flower stem piece that requires another piece just to use it.
I like the house, and the hilltop design, but I'm not so keen on the actual turbine.
To me, the most important difference between 10268 Vestas Wind Turbine and its predecessor 4999 Vestas Wind Turbine, is the small little January 2019 spruce tree, manufactured from sustainably sourced plant-based plastic. This set has a message to send and that is Green, Renewable Energy, that the company and probably the owner wish to send to the world.
Look beyond the price and piece counts (sometimes), and you will see a bigger picture.
If you compare the price of a sealed 4999 on the aftermarket (particularly before this announcement) to the price of this one brand new, that's when it's not such a crazy price tag.
The pile on about price is getting a little tired. We are aware it is expensive. You are not adding anything new to the conversation. It would be nice to read a comment section that discusses the merits of a set rather than 50+ comments about price that are all more or less identical.
@Zordboy: In a lot of cases (like if you're putting the flower on a piece that already has hollow studs) the new flower stem doesn't require any other pieces to use it. And there's a lot of advantages to the new one: it can be held more securely by a minifigure than the old one, it's much sturdier when stacked, and it's now compatible with lots more types of connector like clips, Technic cross axle holes, 3.2mm holes like on https://brickset.com/parts/design-23443, and even Technic pin holes and antistuds like in the new Whomping Willow set due to the part of the stem piece just above the bar being the same diameter as a stud.
The stacking issue in particular came as a huge relief when I first saw the stem had been redesigned — I can't tell you how often the stacks of flower stems in Temple of Airjitzu get knocked down via normal play. Antistuds in polyethylene simply don't have the kind of clutch that they do in ABS or polycarbonate. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the clutch testing LEGO did before introducing the new bio-based polyethylene helped them realize that mold wasn't meeting their usual clutch standards even when using the same oil-based polyethylene that part has used for decades.
Sure, it may seem inconvenient in a re-release like this where the new flower stems have to be used in a context originally intended for the old style, but for brand-new designs it's not hard at all to find good ways to use them — sometimes, as in the Whomping Willow set mentioned above, ways that are even MORE parts-efficient and/or effective than they would be using the old style.
^^ The price is a key part of the conversation about whether a set has any merit. If they released a Star Wars set with a green Chewbacca, would your first thought be about the set's play value or about the stupid colour of the Wookie? In this case, the price is obviously the major factor in how people are judging the set's merit. I can genuinely say that if this was on sale at half the price then I'd still think it was a rip-off and I wouldn't buy it. It's ludicrous pricing for what it is and on that basis alone the set has no merit.
Just by way of comparison, look at a couple of others in the Creator Expert series - 10247 Ferris Wheel (2464 pieces) and 10257 Carousel (2670 pieces). Both cost the same price in the UK (but $50 less in NZ) but are vastly superior in every way. Granted, they don't have Power Functions included, but their merits are off the chart when compared to 10268 Big Boring Spinny Thing With Weirdly-Sited Cottage.
This is a case of art imitating life.
There are a bunch of wind turbines about 40 miles from my place. On a clear day, you can see them, and I drive past them weekly. And.... I almost never see them turning.
Overpriced and needing external electricity to spin them- sounds about like a wind turbine.
Maybe they've been redesigned to turn very, very slowly so as not to chop up the avians? After all, they're not trying to generate airflow like airplane propellors. The speed of the turbine rotation is not the only variable controlling the amount of electricity generated.
I'm disappointed that it doesn't come with piles of dead birds to place beneath the vanes.
Calamitous price-to-part ratio, just buying the parts on Bricklink will get you roughly 30-50% off instantly.
Easy pass for me, regardless how well designed this set is.
Really like these things. Though I never had the set, that truck/trailer with a windmill was very appealing. Really regret not buying it (and those farm sets from similar days). Is this advertising a real company?
I know we're talking LEGO here, but it's worth clearing up the fallacy about wind turbines being bird killers.
http://theconversation.com/wind-farms-are-hardly-the-bird-slayers-theyre-made-out-to-be-heres-why-79567
I've always love this set, sorry previous set, so I'm super excited we now have the opportunity to purchase for our own collection. Can't wait to add it.
^^
"Calamitous price-to-part ratio, just buying the parts on Bricklink will get you roughly 30-50% off instantly."
the price guide for new items on Bricklink puts it between 330 to 740 USD if purchased per parts (depends on location/item state).
Stud.io calculates it at 340 USD - more than 2/3 of the cost is 4 lots, the green BURPs, the green baseplate, and the white upper and lower curved part in the column. If one plans to build a farm of those from BL then the BURPs can be ignored.
It comes down to those white parts in the column - will they even get to Bricks and Pieces ? Will they be immediately snatched by parts resellers ? Will there be a price war then or they will try to cash out ?
If you want to replicate the set now by buying all the parts from BL (or Lego store for PF) in new state (ignoring stickers, box, instructions) then you won't get cheaper than the official price. Nowhere close to the -30 to -50%
If you plan to replace / omit some of the parts then it is another game...
As nice as the set looks, one has to talk about the price, even if it has been mentioned before.
It's not just the ridiculous price to part ratio, it's the overall, as Jang likes to call it, "amount of stuff" you get for your money, which imho just isn't worth the pricetag at all, power functions notwithstanding.
Hate to play devil's advocate, but the 4999 clone version by Lepin (37001) can be found for around 41 GPB or 46 EUR including worldwide shipping on the well known Chinese marketplace with the name that sounds like a kebap takeaway ;-)
@CapnRex101 Just because the original had a limited release does not mean the price of the new set shouldn't be mentioned. Better to include than omit, I reckon, if only for the sake of presenting a complete picture.
@ bigginsd It's called "a forum". We tolerate each other's opinions and debate, just like we tolerate your opinion and we don't need to be in agreement. Price is a significant part of a Lego set having merit and the fact that nearly everybody complained about it, means something.
On the other hand, if you think the price of this set IS NOT an issue, nothing prevents you from sending all forum members this set as a christmas gift. That would be merit too. ;-)
@ papluh : I bricklinked it myself and came to around 70€, minus the power functions but with a few wrong colors. But it doesn't have to be an exact replica of the real set. In fact I appreciate it giving it my personal touch. It might even lead to other designs about the same subject.
@ Legorides
sure you can get creative with replacements, but then it is not Bricklinking the set, but creating a representation.
Also what did you get for columns ? To color match bottom and top there is only few options and none of them are cheap to buy 9+9 of those (generally would eat up most of your suggested 70Eur budget)
@ Block-n-Roll
Thanks for posting that; it's always infuriating when the demonstrable environmental advantages of wind turbines are swept aside by the tired and fallacious claim that they are responsible for a disproportionate number of bird fatalities.
Maybe Lego is trying to tell us that fake wind turbines that don't generate real green energy will cost you a lot
Finally one of my favorite sets will come back.
@ Block-n-Roll
Yeah?
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Benjamin_K._Sovacool
Found that link towards the bottom of the page. What was it that Twain said about statistics?
I also found comments after that about how it's not enough to just say that "birds die" when you don't specify what types of birds. Killing even a single migratory raptor can cause a net _decrease_ in the loss of birds just because so many of them find other birds to be tasty little morsels. And killing a single migratory raptor could be enough to push that species closer to extinction, and bigger birds make bigger targets. In the US, however, the wind industry gets to self-report bird deaths, and then only when they are determined, by the wind industry, to have been killed by wind farms. Naturally, wind farms never kill birds in the US.
Is this a Lego or an Environmentalist website? My goodness. Let's be reasonable.
With regard to the price, I do want to point out that this set has quite a few large pieces. I'm not saying that makes it worth $200, but definitely worth a little more than just 10 cents per piece + power functions. I would be pretty satisfied with a price tag of around $150.
I'm still dithering about this set--like so many others, I'm baffled that it is less heavy than the Saturn V and contains far fewer pieces, yet costs $80 more--well over the cost of the power functions and base plate. Obviously there is also the question of a Vestas licence, but even so, that's a big markup over a comparable set. On the other hand it's a set I've always admired, and I'd certainly rather have this than several of the other major releases of 2018. I have a feeling I'll break down and get it by the end of the year, if not on day one, which I suspect means that TLG have got the price about right after all. Sigh....
I am wondering how our "Lego Fans" visiting this site evaluate the fairness of a set in terms of price. Did anyone use BrickLink to evaluate the value of the components individually? There is a tool called BrickStock that I'm usually using, to get a perception of value of a set.
Listed here are the most Expensive elements in the set 4999 (I have only this data), and here it is consisting out from the whole 800+ elements, only selected 33 elements out of the following lots:
Line 3608: Plain White Torso with White Arms, Dark Blue Legs, Red Construction Helmet, Glasses
Line 3624: Plain White Torso with White Arms, Dark Blue Legs, Red Construction Helmet, Vertical Cheek Lines
Line 3640: Plain White Torso with White Arms, Red Legs, Black Ponytail
Line 3656: Technic Turntable Large Type 2, Complete Assembly with Black Outside Gear Section
Line 3672: Door Frame 1 x 4 x 6 Type 1
Line 3688: Slope, Curved 8 x 6 x 2 Double
Line 3704: Electric 9V Battery Box 4 x 11 x 7 PF Complete Assembly with Orange Switch and Dark Bluish Gray Covers
Line 3720: Slope, Curved 8 x 6 x 2 Inverted Double
Line 3736: Electric, Power Functions Extension Wire with one Light Bluish Gray End (length 50cm)
Line 3752: Baseplate 32 x 32
Line 3768: Electric, Light Unit Power Functions with Black PF Connector Lead
Line 3784: Rock Panel 4 x 10 x 6 Rectangular (BURP)
Line 3800: Electric, Motor 9V Power Functions M with Dark Bluish Gray Bottom
And the new prices for these elements are already...
New parts for them: $209.81
Used parts for them (let's say 40% reduced): $125.89
I have not even counted the remaining 800 normal pieces to the price. If included:
Total new parts if separated: $313.78 (excluding box and instruction book)
So, is it not fair to price the set at $199?
If based on all the complains and Lego continue to listen to you, we will see many more 1x1 decorative plates which cost 2 cents each being added to all the sets just to boost the piece count to 'please' the public. I think they can do so for this set if they wish, 200 more 1x1 decorative plates cost just $4 more. Which I do not hope to see.
It’s kinda cool to see the set make a comeback, and to be completely honest the “Made From Plants” actually looks good on the front of the box.
The reason why so many here in the US falsely believe wind turbines to be bird killers is good old propaganda doing its' magic. In this case there has been decades of it, to the point where some people here even think wind turbines are more harmful than fossil burning fuels. The stupid is so hot it burns. Please know that no external power systems are used to spin the wind turbines, which would kind of defeat the purpose lol. Also, even at very slow turning speeds these things generate huge amounts of 100% clean energy - which is why our fossil fuel boob sucking government has been so opposed to them - bad for air polluting profits and all. Cancer, asthma, birth defects, and early mortality rates all be damned.
@Purple Dave: Okay, but elsewhere on the same site you linked to: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Renewable_energyDisadvantages_of_wind_power
"Wind turbine blades have been known to be a cause of avian and chiropteran mortality, though to what extent is still unknown. Chances are, however, it's still less than from coal or what would happen if significant Climate Change occurred... Furthermore any significantly tall structure will on occasion kill birds that fly against the windows. Most reports in the media of bird fatalities from wind turbines come from the Altamont Pass Wind Farm in California, which happens to be located in the middle of a flight path and uses turbine designs which are now long obsolete for practical reasons as well as being deadlier to birds than more modern designs. Essentially the latter is the wind power equivalent of Chernobyl."
And anyhow, singling out windmills as uniquely prolific bird-killers seems kind of strange when there are several sets depicting a bird killer that humans have spread across the globe much more extensively than windmills, and which have helped drive at least 63 species including several bird species to complete extinction: cats.
http://www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/media-releases/articles/invasive-predators-major-cause-of-species-extinctions
@ Phathead : it’s called freedom of thought, like you have too. And by your logic of “If you don’t like the price, don’t buy it and stop complaining” you can also “don’t like other people’s opinion? Respect that and move on”. This constant getting triggered by somebody else’ opinion and wanting them to shut up, is amusing but childish.
Secondly, I don’t know if you were unable to read comments on other massively expensive Lego sets like the Millennium Falcon (I guess you refer to that since it was 800 bucks): a lot of people had an opinion about that price. So your point there is useless: people DID complain about that too. And a lot of people bought that too and enjoy the heck out of it. Why would this be any different?
I like to refer to Jangbricks’s video’s when he talks about price. He talks about “value of stuff”, not just number of bricks etc. It might very well be that lots of people do think they get value on this set. Good! We all wish everybody heaps of fun with their purchase and I believe it will look beautifull as a collectable or as part of a Lego city because it is a nice design.
So why you want everybody on these boards to be mindless yes-men who have no other thoughts than the one that you prefer OR have to like EVERYTHING Lego does, is beyond me. You can be fan of anything and still be critical or does that short circuit your brain? But again, you have that freedom of thought too so enjoy it to the fullest man because people fought hard for that freedom. ;-)
And, as always, have a damn fine weekend sir!
@ Audiobean : I understand your point and agree with some points you make. To me personally, it doesn’t matter if my Bricklink version of this set is 100% accurate but if people want that accuracy, than yes, it might cost closer to Lego’s asking price.
A lot of people bricklinked the first Modular Houses like Cafe Corner and Green Grocer (myself included). Wanting 100% accuracy still made it expensive due to some parts but still way better than most asking prices from second hand or Lego scalpers. But a lot of people I know settled for less and still made a great looking design. Or made their version of a Lego set, in different colors or a slight diversion of the original design. They used the Lego set as an inspiration.
I believe this set will do the same. Shown in the comments, a lot of people love the design but are taken a back about the asking price. They view it “it’s a windmill and costs 200 bucks: I can make that cheaper and look similar”. I respect that thinking because Lego inspires them and they might even come up with great variations.
I think The Architecture line up ties in to what you say: you get a lot of tiny 1x1 pieces that drives up the total piece count (and the price accordingly), but more people (I think) have an emotional respons to the building represented and deem it more valuable, although those sets are expensive unless you find them discounted
Like I said earlier, Jangbricks brings this up nicely in his wonderful video’s, “value of stuff”: it’s a personal thing, sure, but when you approach it logicaly like you do, people tend to disagree if the emotional response is less. A model depicting the Chicago skyline (just an example) or the Chinese Wall will generate more emotional responses than “a simple windmill” despite the wonderful design behind it.
Does this new one still include the highly desirable green rock pieces?