New images of March Technic releases
Posted by Huw,
German store JB Spielwaren has published new pictures of the two Technic sets due for release on 1st March: 42120 Rescue Hovercraft and 42121 Heavy Duty Excavator.
Both are 2-in-1 models and you can view the 'B' models after the break.
Thanks to Xenius for the news.
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56 comments on this article
That plane sub-model for the hovercraft is actually kinda cool, at least in my standards
Yeeesssss! Just when I was wondering if Technic had lost its way, 42121 scoops onto the scene!
Happy, happy days :-)
I guess they are ok and the B model option is nice, but there is something curious about 42121 that makes it look "Juniorized" to me. Perhaps it is the predominance of large system pieces in the body? I am just not sure, so probably will pass on these due to lack of space.
I'm quite sure the sites Safety Officer would be confiscating the keys of that Excavator until the OBVIOUSLY heavily damaged windscreen was replaced with a clear windscreen that the operator could actually see through...
This should be Spielwaren instead of Speilwaren of course :P
Wow - this new transparent clear pieces are so ugly. You can't even see through this windscreen.
@Schmopiesdad said:
"I guess they are ok and the B model option is nice, but there is something curious about 42121 that makes it look "Juniorized" to me. Perhaps it is the predominance of large system pieces in the body? I am just not sure, so probably will pass on these due to lack of space."
Which large System pieces? The largest thing I see is a 4x6 plate and then the next largest is the 2x4 tile, not exactly massive
I like both of these, that excavator is something I might get if on a decent reduction.
42121's B model should've been called the Trackedtor.
42120, being a Rescue vehicle with orange livery, is giving me flashbacks...
42121 Is finally a more affordable construction vehicle!
I think that the windshield piece is one that is slightly textured so would be relatively opaque even with the old transparent clear.
That being said, I hope the operator doesn't need to see what they're doing!
Now I understand what people on the forums are saying about the new clear plastic pieces--they look awful!! Given one can buy a pair of perfectly clear polycarbonate safety glasses for $2 or less, it can't be cost as to why LEGO discontinued its use. For crying out loud, I have junk store CLONE BRAND pieces that are clearer (which I need to get around to disposing of--they make a mess out of sorting. But, I really like 42121 . It's at a size I can easily afford, and build.
42120 is neat, but I kinda like the old RES-Q hovercraft better, which was more or less an amphibious landing craft.
The Excavator looks pretty neat, except for the horrible looking semi clear part. Might actually pick it up at a discount.
What bothers me about the Plane B model, is the Lime landing gear.
(Also can we please finally delete colored axles and pins)
@PjtorXmos said:
"The Excavator looks pretty neat, except for the horrible looking semi clear part. Might actually pick it up at a discount.
What bothers me about the Plane B model, is the Lime landing gear.
(Also can we please finally delete colored axles and pins)"
+1000
But at least finally something that is more like what Technic used to be.
42121 made me audibly go naww.
Then the B model did the same.
Any idea on prices for these? Neither should break the bank of course, it's just a matter of how cheap they will be
Affordable, reasonably good-looking, and functional models of something other than cars and trucks! They even have B-models! Love these, I've been missing this kind of thing from the Technic line for the last couple of years. Give me a $35 excavator over a $50 sports car that looks like it's been bashed in with a shovel any day of the week.
With regard to comments about the trans-clear colour on the excavator's windscreen, @BovineBrick is correct in saying that element is inherently textured.
I am not denying that LEGO's trans-clear colour has become cloudier during recent years, although that is not the culprit here.
@CapnRex101 said:
"With regard to comments about the trans-clear colour on the excavator's windscreen, @BovineBrick is correct in saying that element is inherently textured.
I am not denying that LEGO's trans-clear colour has become cloudier during recent years, although that is not the culprit here."
Thanks for the information.
Still strange, why would a windscreen not be a completely transparent element?
@CapnRex101 said:
"With regard to comments about the trans-clear colour on the excavator's windscreen, @BovineBrick is correct in saying that element is inherently textured.
I am not denying that LEGO's trans-clear colour has become cloudier during recent years, although that is not the culprit here."
Could it be because of TLG producing PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic, and prioritizing clear plastic for face shields? I asked a store employee recently about so many sets 'Out of Stock' or 'On Backorder,' and they said PPE production was the priority these last few months.
So maybe they're just getting back into full production again?
@Wavelength said:
"42121 made me audibly go naww.
Then the B model did the same.
Any idea on prices for these? Neither should break the bank of course, it's just a matter of how cheap they will be"
Excavator is £35
Hovercraft is £30
I like the excavator, but i still love the good old pneumatic system.
Liking that excavator!
I don't buy Technic sets but I like both of these I like construction vehicles in General working in thst field, and the Rescue Hovercraft is very cool too!!
Are either of these Romote control btw?
@PicnicBasketSam said:
"(...) Give me a $35 excavator over a $50 sports car that looks like it's been bashed in with a shovel any day of the week."
THIS.
Ye gods, LEGO releases too many darn cars.
@chrichrichri said:
" this new transparent clear pieces are so ugly. You can't even see through this windscreen."
This is not a new but but has been used in 42070 truck for headlights before.
I don't like the technic excavators that have
a) only two functions on the boom: reduced maneuverability
b) are using linear actuators: tedious to operate
I pre-built 42121 from first pictures and got the impression that the boom/arm will come out - too - massive compared to the superstructure.
However, I would like to have a few of the these new 3x2 parts.
@chrichrichri said:
"This should be Spielwaren instead of Speilwaren of course :P
Wow - this new transparent clear pieces are so ugly. You can't even see through this windscreen."
It's not new, it's been around since 2017. Its used on the 42063 BMW motorbike and the 42070 6x6 tow truck. Looks fine to me.
While I’m definitely getting the Excavator, I am a little sad with the overall functionality. I prefer the joint configuration where the boom, stick and bucket work independently of each other, allowing for more varied poses and playability.
While the method of linking the stick and bucket movement to a single mechanism is somewhat common with other excavator toys, I’ll personally be looking into modifications to separate the joints.
That excavator looks pretty good. That's a dramatic angle on the box artwork!
The excavator should have dual main boom cylinders due to its size. Usually anything over 36,000 lb machine has a 2 main cylinders on the boom. In relation to size of the cab to the house, lego is saying this machine is a 80,000 lb to 100,000 lb excavator or so. So looks goofy with one also in lego terms the mechanism as designed on this set is probably over stressed based on some past models. With that said it looks pretty good otherwise and like the alternative build.
An update on 8294 which is an improvement on 8047, but not quite as heavy duty as 42006 which was only slightly more expensive at £50. Shame there is no 3rd actuator to turn the bucket as there seems to be room to fit one, but probably gave up on figuring out the extra gearing needed which could be an interesting project. I didn't realize there were rescue hovercrafts until now, so cool the fans turn and rotate but does the B model have any functionality?
42121 looks like a minifigure scale. My son might seat the minifigure and play with other city sets.
@ambr said:
"An update on 8294 which is an improvement on 8047, but not quite as heavy duty as 42006 which was only slightly more expensive at £50. Shame there is no 3rd actuator to turn the bucket as there seems to be room to fit one, but probably gave up on figuring out the extra gearing needed which could be an interesting project. I didn't realize there were rescue hovercrafts until now, so cool the fans turn and rotate but does the B model have any functionality?"
The B model has a gear on the top that wouldn't be there if it wasn't controlling something (I'd guess directional, with the tail fins possibly), and also gears attached to the wheels which would probably spin the propellers
@PjtorXmos said:
"The Excavator looks pretty neat, except for the horrible looking semi clear part. Might actually pick it up at a discount.
What bothers me about the Plane B model, is the Lime landing gear.
(Also can we please finally delete colored axles and pins)"
Colored axles and pins are included so that kids and casual LEGO fans can build the sets more easily. They will never go away.
@Mr__Thrawn said:
" @PjtorXmos said:
"The Excavator looks pretty neat, except for the horrible looking semi clear part. Might actually pick it up at a discount.
What bothers me about the Plane B model, is the Lime landing gear.
(Also can we please finally delete colored axles and pins)"
Colored axles and pins are included so that kids and casual LEGO fans can build the sets more easily. They will never go away."
Or for hardcore fans! I can guarantee that no one with a gallon bag of pins wants the colors to all be the same. Color-coding pins and axles makes sorting, rebuilding, and Mocing infinitely easier. Plus, it's part of the medium. No reasonable person looks at one of the Technic supercars or a GBC module and sees red or blue pins and says "yuck." It's like studs with System builds. If you want everything you build to be entirely studless, then just go make models out of wood. Studs are part of the medium.
@CapnRex101 said:
"With regard to comments about the trans-clear colour on the excavator's windscreen, @BovineBrick is correct in saying that element is inherently textured.
I am not denying that LEGO's trans-clear colour has become cloudier during recent years, although that is not the culprit here."
They could always have used a large System windscreen instead of that part. Or not, because that would upset the Technic purists (I'm not seeing excessive amounts of System pieces on the excavator, I'm not sure what the issue is with a few cosmetic tiles and grilles...)
@Paperdaisy said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"With regard to comments about the trans-clear colour on the excavator's windscreen, @BovineBrick is correct in saying that element is inherently textured.
I am not denying that LEGO's trans-clear colour has become cloudier during recent years, although that is not the culprit here."
They could always have used a large System windscreen instead of that part. Or not, because that would upset the Technic purists (I'm not seeing excessive amounts of System pieces on the excavator, I'm not sure what the issue is with a few cosmetic tiles and grilles...)"
Now I want to go back through and see how many Technic sets have used System windscreens... Most don't even have windscreens at all so it shouldn't be a long list
@Mr__Thrawn said:
" @PjtorXmos said:
"The Excavator looks pretty neat, except for the horrible looking semi clear part. Might actually pick it up at a discount.
What bothers me about the Plane B model, is the Lime landing gear.
(Also can we please finally delete colored axles and pins)"
Colored axles and pins are included so that kids and casual LEGO fans can build the sets more easily. They will never go away."
The instructions are already so bare bones with a max of 3 pieces per step. Every Technic set can be built by a 5 year old (and that was already true 10 or more years ago). You don't need to turn all the axles and pins into a rainbow, and make all the models look ugly. Aren't Technic sets supposed to be a slight challenge (they never really were but ok) considering the age, that is written on the box.
@fakespacesquid said:
" @Mr__Thrawn said:
" @PjtorXmos said:
"The Excavator looks pretty neat, except for the horrible looking semi clear part. Might actually pick it up at a discount.
What bothers me about the Plane B model, is the Lime landing gear.
(Also can we please finally delete colored axles and pins)"
Colored axles and pins are included so that kids and casual LEGO fans can build the sets more easily. They will never go away."
Or for hardcore fans! I can guarantee that no one with a gallon bag of pins wants the colors to all be the same. Color-coding pins and axles makes sorting, rebuilding, and Mocing infinitely easier. Plus, it's part of the medium. No reasonable person looks at one of the Technic supercars or a GBC module and sees red or blue pins and says "yuck." It's like studs with System builds. If you want everything you build to be entirely studless, then just go make models out of wood. Studs are part of the medium. "
1: I build technic moc and sorting pins and axles is a small price to pay for a model, that actually looks good. Also who the hell has a gallon of unsorted pins. If you are a hardcore fan, you probably already have your pieces sorted into separate boxes.
2: For how long exactly are colored pins and axles a part of the medium!? Since like 2015 or something? Technic has been running on a very sparse palette of pin and axle colors for the longest time without anyone complaining. Maybe with the black 43093 and 2780 pins I heard some complaints, and I kinda can accept those. What I absolutely can neither accept nor fathom, is how anyone can find axle lengths to be confusing, especially after odd lengths became Grey and even lengths remained Black. There was literally no chance you could confuse two axles, especially with the measuring prints in the instructions.
3: "No reasonable person looks at one of the Technic supercars or a GBC module and sees red or blue pins and says "yuck."" I honestly don't agree with that statement regarding the Technic supercars at all. It can be argued over if the Technic cars are still Technic models/ should be Technic models, however they are first and foremost display models, because there really is nothing there, that would suggest otherwise. I have heard plenty of people complain about the looks of pins and axles on the Technic cars.
I'm actually in favor of much more bare bones body work on Technic models and would prefer it, if the "3D blue print" aesthetic of earlier technic models returned, because you could actually see the functions in action.
4: I never complained about studs, in fact I see a trend in System sets to become less studded over the last 5 years or so.
i like the excavator, it has some technic inside ... that's something nowadays :)
those back sides of the boxes look strangely unfinished artwork ...
@PjtorXmos said:
" @fakespacesquid said:
" @Mr__Thrawn said:
" @PjtorXmos said:
"The Excavator looks pretty neat, except for the horrible looking semi clear part. Might actually pick it up at a discount.
What bothers me about the Plane B model, is the Lime landing gear.
(Also can we please finally delete colored axles and pins)"
Colored axles and pins are included so that kids and casual LEGO fans can build the sets more easily. They will never go away."
Or for hardcore fans! I can guarantee that no one with a gallon bag of pins wants the colors to all be the same. Color-coding pins and axles makes sorting, rebuilding, and Mocing infinitely easier. Plus, it's part of the medium. No reasonable person looks at one of the Technic supercars or a GBC module and sees red or blue pins and says "yuck." It's like studs with System builds. If you want everything you build to be entirely studless, then just go make models out of wood. Studs are part of the medium. "
1: I build technic moc and sorting pins and axles is a small price to pay for a model, that actually looks good. Also who the hell has a gallon of unsorted pins. If you are a hardcore fan, you probably already have your pieces sorted into separate boxes."
1, gallon bags of each pin. I can assure you that they're well sorted, helped by the fact that they're not all black and grey. And again, no reasonable person would say that colored pins make a model look bad. It's such a minute detail and anyone who works with Technic knows that colored pins have been around forever. Case in point,
2, colored pins and axles began in 1995. Meaning that it was all non-colored for 18 years, and then we've had 26 straight years of color. OR, you can count when they started to become ubiquitous, in 2001, in which case there have been 20 straight years of color. Either way, they've become ingrained for decades. The amount of time that we've had colored pins is longer than the time that we didn't have them. They've been around longer than they haven't.
3, Exactly, that's why I said "no reasonable person." Also, if it says Technic on the box and they're comprised of 99% Technic elements, how are they not Technic models?
4, I said "it's like," meaning that I was comparing the complaint of colored pins to the complaint of studded models. Plenty of adult fans complain about colored pins, plenty of adult fans complain about studded models, and both complaints are pretty baseless so that was my comparison. I never said that you complained about studs.
The excavator looks good.
@fakespacesquid said:
"
1, gallon bags of each pin. I can assure you that they're well sorted, helped by the fact that they're not all black and grey. And again, no reasonable person would say that colored pins make a model look bad. It's such a minute detail and anyone who works with Technic knows that colored pins have been around forever. Case in point,
2, colored pins and axles began in 1995. Meaning that it was all non-colored for 18 years, and then we've had 26 straight years of color. OR, you can count when they started to become ubiquitous, in 2001, in which case there have been 20 straight years of color. Either way, they've become ingrained for decades. The amount of time that we've had colored pins is longer than the time that we didn't have them. They've been around longer than they haven't.
3, Exactly, that's why I said "no reasonable person." Also, if it says Technic on the box and they're comprised of 99% Technic elements, how are they not Technic models?
4, I said "it's like," meaning that I was comparing the complaint of colored pins to the complaint of studded models. Plenty of adult fans complain about colored pins, plenty of adult fans complain about studded models, and both complaints are pretty baseless so that was my comparison. I never said that you complained about studs. ""
1: Oh I can definitely link you to at least one reasonable person from the top of my head. Search for "Held der Steine" on Youtube. You'll find the finest reviews of Lego sets by someone who has insights into Lego sales, because he is a shop owner. Sadly he only makes his content in German, but man, that guy has been a huge marketing dissaster for Lego in Germany.
2: The colored axles in the 90s were pretty rarely found and were employed mostly to get a more uniform look in some sets. Blue pins and red 2 stud long have been there for quite a while, you are correct about that one. What people like me are talking about, when saying "colored pins and axles", is the displacement of the grey axles by red 3s, the yellow 5s and 7s, and the numerous tan and brown axles with stops. (Let's be honest 3 long pins don't have to be blue, they are distinct enough already)
3: There are still no functions there, they are Technic models by the looks maybe, but "Technic" also heavily implies "functions", which are definitely not there.
4: Ok sure.
@PjtorXmos said:
" 1: I build technic moc and sorting pins and axles is a small price to pay for a model, that actually looks good. Also who the hell has a gallon of unsorted pins. If you are a hardcore fan, you probably already have your pieces sorted into separate boxes."
I’m a bit late to the party, but have built some old Technic sets that don’t have color-coded pins and axles. I for one appreciate the colors, because I enjoy building much more than sorting/searching. When I buy an official set and dump open a bag of pieces, I don’t want to spend more time arranging them than assembling them. Finding an axle of the right length is easier and faster with the alternating gray and black. Finding the correct pin is simplified by scanning parts by color, if they’re in a small number of piles. Having said this, it’s possible my building methodology may have developed differently if I didn’t have the option to distinguish parts by color.
That excavator looks almost minifig scale, and I think it could be, with a few modifications, for people who might want to add it to their cities.
@bananaworld said:
"
Yeeesssss! Just when I was wondering if Technic had lost its way, 42121 scoops onto the scene!
Happy, happy days :-)"
I think it looks really cool too but I just find it kinda weird that we have a technic set that uses a solid window piece which is something we only see on Technic motorbikes exclusively
Love that excavator, it's just the thing I've been waiting for since coming out of my dark ages!
technics, at least non large scale motorcycles, should not use window bricks. It just feels so uncanny like its meant to be Creator or something (that little blue plane from 2021 looks too Creator as well)
Window parts just don't belong on Technics. This would look a lot better if it used rubber hose pieces or something
@PjtorXmos: don't bother trying to explain Technic to people like @fakespacesquid. They just don't understand what Technic is about. Never have and probably never will.
A sentence like
"Also, if it says Technic on the box and they're comprised of 99% Technic elements, how are they not Technic models?"
says everything.
To understand you probably have to have grown up with original Technic from its beginning to about 2010, when Technic slowly started to decline. A little more every year, until nowadays it is just a shadow of its former self.
Colour coding is just the final straw that broke the donkey's neck. Technic nowadays is boring at best. Zero challenge, almost zero proper functions in any set. Form over function, simplicity of building over rewarding and challenging, educational builds. Plus ridiculous pricing.
I have switched to CaDa for proper Technic builds nowadays and I have zero regrets. Unless LEGO reverts to releasing sets like 8043, 42009 and the like, I can never see myself buying another LEGO TECHNIC set ever again.
As for Thomas aka Held der Steine, everyone I know feels like and totally agrees with him.
International markets won't be affected of course, but I can totally see the influence he has on the German market, and you can see by TLG's reaction towards his videos and the lawsuits against legal competitors that they realize how dangerous the situation can turn out to be in future.
I was kind of hoping for more monster jam sets, but it's more likely in the summer
@AustinPowers said:
" @PjtorXmos: don't bother trying to explain Technic to people like @fakespacesquid. They just don't understand what Technic is about. Never have and probably never will.
A sentence like
"Also, if it says Technic on the box and they're comprised of 99% Technic elements, how are they not Technic models?"
says everything.
To understand you probably have to have grown up with original Technic from its beginning to about 2010, when Technic slowly started to decline. A little more every year, until nowadays it is just a shadow of its former self.
Colour coding is just the final straw that broke the donkey's neck. Technic nowadays is boring at best. Zero challenge, almost zero proper functions in any set. Form over function, simplicity of building over rewarding and challenging, educational builds. Plus ridiculous pricing.
I have switched to CaDa for proper Technic builds nowadays and I have zero regrets. Unless LEGO reverts to releasing sets like 8043, 42009 and the like, I can never see myself buying another LEGO TECHNIC set ever again.
As for Thomas aka Held der Steine, everyone I know feels like and totally agrees with him.
International markets won't be affected of course, but I can totally see the influence he has on the German market, and you can see by TLG's reaction towards his videos and the lawsuits against legal competitors that they realize how dangerous the situation can turn out to be in future. "
I'm still kinda cringing at the idea of mixing systems (if you want to call it like that). That's the reason why I didn't switch to the competition. So I'm basically buying up old Technic sets and parts on Ebay and Bricklink.
Funny thing, I actually know Thomas personally. I grew up in Frankfurt and frequented his shop for quite few years.
I always assumed there was a degree of gatekeeping among Technic fans given the complaints people have about Bionicle, but this is the first time I'm actually witnessing it and I gotta say, it's pretty surreal.
Anyway I need to resist the urge to get 42121.
@PjtorXmos said:
"Funny thing, I actually know Thomas personally. I grew up in Frankfurt and frequented his shop for quite few years."
I know him personally too. I work in Frankfurt and live in the vicinity. The funniest thing is, not only have I been to his shop many times (even before he was as well known as he is today), but I once met him in the Frankfurt LEGO store as he was the customer in front of me at the checkout.
As for mixing systems, I am not really doing that, as I am not building Technic MOCs as much as I used to. Those CaDa sets for me are build and display / play models, not parts packs.
@AustinPowers said:
" @PjtorXmos: don't bother trying to explain Technic to people like @fakespacesquid. They just don't understand what Technic is about. Never have and probably never will.
A sentence like
"Also, if it says Technic on the box and they're comprised of 99% Technic elements, how are they not Technic models?"
says everything.
To understand you probably have to have grown up with original Technic from its beginning to about 2010, when Technic slowly started to decline. A little more every year, until nowadays it is just a shadow of its former self.
Colour coding is just the final straw that broke the donkey's neck. Technic nowadays is boring at best. Zero challenge, almost zero proper functions in any set. Form over function, simplicity of building over rewarding and challenging, educational builds. Plus ridiculous pricing.
I have switched to CaDa for proper Technic builds nowadays and I have zero regrets. Unless LEGO reverts to releasing sets like 8043, 42009 and the like, I can never see myself buying another LEGO TECHNIC set ever again.
As for Thomas aka Held der Steine, everyone I know feels like and totally agrees with him.
International markets won't be affected of course, but I can totally see the influence he has on the German market, and you can see by TLG's reaction towards his videos and the lawsuits against legal competitors that they realize how dangerous the situation can turn out to be in future. "
As usual a complete misrepresentation again: your hero received a cease and desist letter from TLG because he was purposefully referring to models from competing brands as "Lego". He's not a victim here.
And do we really have to read you profess your love for other companies below every Brickset article? Do you get some weird satisfaction out of reading about products you seem to hate so clearly and you have professed will not buy anyway anymore?
@AustinPowers, we love having you around but please refrain from mentioning competing brands all the time!
The majority of readers have no interest in them and as you can see many people get annoyed when you keep on about them. This is a *LEGO* website after all.
Thanks!
@Huw : as you wish.
But as for the majority of readers having no interest in them, I'd rather say the majority of readers simply have no knowledge of them, hence they can't really have interest in them by default. I mean, I also had "no interest" in alternative sets before I got to know them.
But like you said, this is a LEGO dedicated website. I sometimes forget that because Brickset to me generally sounds like it is aimed at fans of brick sets, not LEGO sets alone. And yes, I know you are not allowed to use the term LEGO in your website name even though you generate tons of free advertising for TLG.
@fakespacesquid said:
" @Paperdaisy said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"With regard to comments about the trans-clear colour on the excavator's windscreen, @BovineBrick is correct in saying that element is inherently textured.
I am not denying that LEGO's trans-clear colour has become cloudier during recent years, although that is not the culprit here."
They could always have used a large System windscreen instead of that part. Or not, because that would upset the Technic purists (I'm not seeing excessive amounts of System pieces on the excavator, I'm not sure what the issue is with a few cosmetic tiles and grilles...)"
Now I want to go back through and see how many Technic sets have used System windscreens... Most don't even have windscreens at all so it shouldn't be a long list"
That would be interesting to know. 42055 does have a System windscreen on the control cab.
I like the excavator - and looking back through the archives, the functions appear to compare favourably with previous similar models. The more I look at it, the more likely i am to buy it.
The windscreen, while frosted, is actually a nice piece to use - provides nice balance with the similar yellow piece on the right of the vehicle, and keeps the whole model compact. Without that piece, you'd need to build the cab 5M wide (as has been the norm for prior models), and have to scale the whole thing up. I think this model is nicely balanced in construction and visually.
I also like the use of some System parts to fill in aesthetic details without having to resort to a bunch more stickers.
With the move to more panels to complete the form of Technic models, I'd like to see more models with removable sections so you can see more for the underlying gears & mechanisms. Part of the aim of Technic is the teaching aspect associated with engineering, which would be greatly enhanced by being able to see it in action.