Summer Technic sets revealed at last
Posted by Huw,
LEGO has just published a Taiwanese version of the 2HY consumer catalogue in which two hitherto unseen Technic sets have been revealed!
The page shows 42144 Material Handler and 42145 Airbus H175 Rescue Helicopter. Let's hope the latter is used for civil operations, otherwise we may have another Osprey fiasco at the last minute!
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Oh Material handler in Red, was not expecting that. Thinking it would be blue
LEGO made sure it's a "Rescue Helicopter" so people don't attack them on Twitter like with the V-22 Osprey.
@M_blockhead_357 said:
"LEGO made sure it's a "Rescue Helicopter" so people don't attack them on Twitter like with the V-22 Osprey."
No, it is because the H175 is actually used ONLY for rescue, unlike the military-only Osprey.
There is a military variant - H175M - which has been offered to the RAF….
I thought Lego doesn't cooperate with military companies at all? Not even on their civilian models?
@nightmarish5 said:
"I thought Lego doesn't cooperate with military companies at all? Not even on their civilian models?"
Wouldn’t that be extremely difficult? I would imagine that many vehicle manufacturers have military stuff as well.
That helicopter is going to be absolutely massive!
I am fascinated by the comingling of English words and Chinese characters and how decisions are made as to how what information should be communicated in which ways. I wonder if that is a marketing, legal, political, or some other kind of decision.
Of the two, I find the Airbus helicopter much more interesting, but that may be because I already have so many LEGO cranes, lifts, material handlers, etc. and not as many rotary aircraft.
I still can’t believe LEGO caved to a bunch of Twitter bots that don’t purchase LEGO and will never purchase LEGO.
Don’t cave to Twitter and don’t apologize to Twitter. It’s only a few percent real humans.
I hope this set makes it. Rotary winged aircraft are inherently interesting and their mechanisms make for great LEGO models.
Will be interesting to see how Lego produce a five bladed main rotor.
The choice of making a H175 model might also have something to do with it being partially designed by, and built in, China.
@nightmarish5 said:
"I thought Lego doesn't cooperate with military companies at all? Not even on their civilian models?"
I guess you haven't read the history of Volkswagen. ...but that didn't stop them from making 10220.
Finally, decent Lego Technic sets! Last year, (or the one before that) Lego asked us what we wanted to see in the Technic range. I mentioned all sorts of stuff, but my most detailed description was of an helicopter with collective and cyclical and adjustable tail rotor. I am not quite sure yet if I will be happily surprised or if the main rotor has only collective and if the tail rotor is controllable. There are apparently plenty of new pieces in that set so I keep my hope high for the time being. I had initially no interest in the material/trash handler but it is now on the buy list as it is so much better than what I anticipated (annoyed that there are 4 controls for the stabilisers - they should all be linked to one control).
It has been such a long time since I bought a large Technic set ( 42100 ), so happy!
And the Liebherr 13000 coming later on. It is a very good year. Very expensive, but very good (Lego-wise).
"42145 Airbus H175 Rescue Helicopter to Peacefully Save People in Need and Never Carry Weapons"
I'm glad we're getting a new pneumatic set, I've wanted one for a while.
@peterlmorris said:
"I still can’t believe LEGO caved to a bunch of Twitter bots that don’t purchase LEGO and will never purchase LEGO. "
This is not what happened. At all. This false narrative needs to end. LEGO has a rule, they've communicated it to everyone, and to not follow the rule due to an imagined technicality (a little splash of orange & couple stickers changes everything) is simply wrong. The rule itself is highly debatable, but people and companies alike should *always* do as they explicitly promise. The Osprey is a post-WWII+ military-only craft and a licensed, realistic set of it should never, ever have been designed, per LEGO's rules. The folks on the product design/corporate side deluded themselves with their rescue stickers. The family that runs the company and upholds its morals corrected the obvious mistake when they learned of it.
I havent bought much technic, but Ive always admired it. Tempted on some RC offerings in the past few years, but never went in on any. All bets are off with a pnematic set though, I've always always wanted to play around with those functions. I just ordered Optimus, so new goal to save up for :D
My brother managed to snag four of the BIONICLE 2008-2009 vehicles off eBay the other day.
Over the years I've gotten a few Techinc-heavy BIONICLE sets. A pre-assembled Kaxium, the Boxor, Vultraz's Speeder, some HERO Factory Bikes, but they were all relatively small or prebuilt sets.
But this time around I built the Rockoh. I've never built a Technic set that big before, such a proper model, and it was exhilarating! The stability, the smoothness of the gears, the way the shells clamped so snuggly to the chassis. These are all feelings I've gotten form System or BIONICLE sets before, but never all at once and to such a heafty and compact degree. Now I just have to find somewhere to put it!
I've never picked up much Technic before, but now I can totally see the appeal!
Rockoh 8941 - an incredibly large amount(15) of rare parts in this set (i.e. many parts in this set are in 5 or less other sets).
I looked at the thumbnail and my immediate reaction was, “Ooh, new Tarakava!” So disappointing…
@ao_ka:
The Osprey is used for SAR as well, but the key distinction is that it’s only used in that capacity by militaries. If there was even a single civilian/Coast Guard operator, it might have been another issue, but any attempts to work a deal have fallen flat.
@nightmarish5:
Most of the Speed Champions auto companies and Boeing have had military contracts in the past, if not also the present. That’s not even getting in to the national governments that are represented.
Oh, the Material Handler is another Pneumatic set! I think this is the first time in a while we've had a new pneumatic set 2 years in a row.
I'm still waiting for the Tow Truck arrive (been on backorder for over a month now), so I'll see if I can get that material handler first day if its price is good.
@Schmopiesdad said:
""
I can't speak for Taiwan but in Japan it is rarely political. Like the translation team sucks, period.
But the general vibe I get from looking at this is that if it's an in-house IP, attempt to translate it. If not, just don't bother.
@Schmopiesdad said:
"I am fascinated by the comingling of English words and Chinese characters and how decisions are made as to how what information should be communicated in which ways. I wonder if that is a marketing, legal, political, or some other kind of decision.
Of the two, I find the Airbus helicopter much more interesting, but that may be because I already have so many LEGO cranes, lifts, material handlers, etc. and not as many rotary aircraft."
Throughout the catalog, if the set name is describing generic things, it is translated into Chinese. This usually happens in Lego's original themes.
As per my observation, if it involves names of licenses, characters, objects with specific names, brands, or companies that don't have an official Chinese translation or Lego doesn't bother to acquire licenses of the Chinese names, the set names will remain in English. I think the partner corporations need to double-check and nod on using the Chinese translation. If not, set names remain in English.
Sometimes, within the same set name, it is partially translated into Chinese and partially not.
Can Technic finally make something more than vechicles?
Give me a robo trex, or a shark.
@lordofdragonss said:
"Can Technic finally make something more than vechicles?
Give me a robo trex, or a shark."
Get 42134 to scratch that shark itch.
Does it really need to be an Airbus helicopter? We don't need useless branding, that just makes the prices go up.
@nightmarish5 said:
"I thought Lego doesn't cooperate with military companies at all? Not even on their civilian models?"
I believe it's just individual vehicles. There have been licenced Boeing sets in the past but they were based on airliners.
Plus Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and a host of other military contractors have worked on almost every licensed NASA vehicle produced, and Lego is fine with making them all the time. It's easy to see where the line is drawn.
In regards to the Osprey topic, there was a lot of misinformation that spread quickly by people who overreacted at the time, as Jang said above the incorrect narrative needs to end, so it's good to apply a bit of your own critical thought when assessing situations like these, especially emotive ones.
@lordofdragonss said:
"Can Technic finally make something more than vechicles?
Give me a robo trex, or a shark."
I'd like to see them do kinetic sculptures again, like that experimental Forma range (where they actually made parts for a shark! It's set 81001), or a version of JK Brickworks' Sisyphus statue.
God, like a demon of the past, the Osprey makes an appearance yet again. That’s one of my biggest hates about Lego, the fact that it even existed. I love the Osprey, it’s an extremely interesting vehicle. And to have it snatched away at the last second.
Not cool Lego.
lego and airbus licensing?!?!?!?!
Those look like some pretty good sets! That helicopter looks mighty impressive and should have some interesting functionality. But I also very much like that Material Handler, pneumatics is always great and if they keep the price reasonable this could be about as perfect as any Technic set could be.
If I was a kid I would love to have that helicopter.
But since I have 8856 from when I was actually a kid, I have no need for this one. Plus, I have way too many LEGO helicopters already anyway...
@Rare_White_Ape:
I was so disappointed when I found out they made a hammerhead skin but never released it.
The H175 is used for a variety of roles, from helimed, to executive travel, search and rescue and governmental transport. So no chance of another Osprey problem :)
@snazzybricks928 said:
"The Material Handler looks nice. Let's hope it's a decent price as well!"
I kinda like EW160E more still, the new one looks a little sparse beside it. Here's hoping the new one is cheaper though!
Curious how they will make the 5-blade rotating mechanism. Lego is good for making either 4 or 6 blade rotors, but 5 will be a challenge.
@martiniman:
I had to make a 5-point hub when I built Starro the Conqueror, and that alone kept me from getting started for at least a couple years. I did eventually figure out a solution, using paired Mixel joints to wrap around a 2x2 round core, but the core isn’t actually attached to the Mixel joints. It’s just kinda pinched in place with filler pieces, as I basically just experimented with what I could attach to the studs on the Mixel joints to reduce the ID until it just pressed against the core. This is _not_ a solution that would work for a powered rotor, so I’m curious now, too. Maybe they finally made a 5-point beam. It took them long enough to make 3-point beams, which can pair to cover 6-point structures. A 7-point beam is probably not happening in our lifetimes, unless it’s 3rd Party.
Give me both!
The helicopter has 5 rotor blades and what appears to be some specialised parts for a blade tilting mechanism. That could be very interesting.
The digger seems similar in functionality to 42053 Volvo EW160E, but slightly smaller.
@Targellian said:
"Will be interesting to see how Lego produce a five bladed main rotor.
The choice of making a H175 model might also have something to do with it being partially designed by, and built in, China."
As always they choose the easy way of making new part for that task instead of utilizing a few more brain cells and combining already existing parts.
If leaks are true, 99.99 EUR / 139.99 USD for 835 pieces 42144 Handler? Pneumatics (in black), sure, but: Hey, TLG! WTH? The Tow Truck 42128 is 149.99 USD with 2000 pcs and the same penumatic piece count.
Ooooh, Neon Fluorescent Yellow (or whatever the new color's name is) Technic pieces!
Sorry, I still throw the BS flag on the Osprey Fiasco, Lego already crossed that Rubicon when they made some of the most lethal weapons of WWI and particularly one personally attributed to the deadliest man in the skies of the time.
They already sold out, the bell can't be un-rung but they're having remarkable success in getting people to memory-hole it. (Pity, the Fokker Tripe and Camel were two of the best sets of their day...)
Interesting no Control+. Yay!