Subject:
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Re: Best Buys of Technic in Aus?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.loc.au
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Date:
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Fri, 21 Jul 2000 06:55:29 GMT
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Viewed:
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1042 times
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Being in the same situation (building up a Technics parts collection from
nothing over the past year), I'd agree with David entirely on the merits of
the 8480 Space Shuttle, 8448 Super Car Mark 2, and 8462 Pneumatic Tow Truck.
I've bought all 3 and liked them all, both as models in their own right and
also as a superb parts collection to complement my Mindstorms set.
My experience is that 8448 and 8462 (being in the current catalogue) can be
found locally although you may have to ring around as many stores do not
carry these larger sets. I had to get my 8480 from overseas though, as (at
the time), nobody seemed to know of any here in Australia, although it seems
a few have surfaced locally recently.
In general, I've gone for the strategy of buying a few large sets rather
than lots of little sets, because:
1. the models themselves are just so much more interesting than the small
ones
2. the more unusual parts only occur in larger sets as a rule
3. the smaller sets build smaller models, so you will never acquire a good
collection of the longer parts if you exclusively buy them
This is why I agree that Roboriders and Slizers aren't good investments.
However, I do purchase *some* of the Competition sets. For example, look at
the 8257 Cyber Strikers http://www.lugnet.com/pause/search/?query=8257-1 and
see the fine collection of Technics beams in those extending arms. The
Competition sets are widely available and I often see them discounted, so I
do make opportunistic purchases when the price is low and the set has lots
of good generic parts.
Another category of Technics not mentioned is the Star Wars Droids (8000,
8001, 8002). These are unusual Technics sets in that these sets are
"brick-free". Most Technics sets use bricks and stud-connections for at
least their basic structure. I think these sets have a definite curiosity
value for that reason alone, but they seem to have the usual "Star Wars"
premium pricing and I don't see them getting discounted much (so far). But
they are good sets to improve your Technics parts collections (since they
are all Technics) *provided* you have got your Technics beams and motors
from other sets.
Technics beams (those 1xN bricks with holes punched through) are not as
common in current catalogue sets as in the older sets. Compare the new 8448
Super Car with the earlier 8880. The old Technics sets have a very "chunky"
look because they use beams extensively for external shape. Current
catalogue technics uses a lot more flexible tubing to suggest exterior shape
and hence there are a lot fewer beams in these sets. So, if you are buying
from the current range, you really want to focus on larger sets to get these
beams in reasonable quantities.
In constrast, sets like 8253 Fire Helicopter are examples of "juniorised"
technics. Virtually no beams and they use a special connector type which
faciliates plug-n-play with other such sets. I find it very hard to use
these connectors in other models. So avoid technics sets aimed at the
younger age group; focus on the older age group sets (usually teenage). This
is where the best reusable parts are to be found.
Kerry
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Best Buys of Technic in Aus?
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| Another very good and useful post, thanks Kerry! I had wondered about some of the newer Technic sets being "juniorised" but I'd never taken enough notice of the detail before to be sure, some of them strike me as rather K-NEX like in style (those (...) (24 years ago, 21-Jul-00, to lugnet.loc.au)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Best Buys of Technic in Aus?
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| Thankyou David for a very helpful answer! (...) I think the 8448 was TRU too but we don't have TRU in Tas. Does anyone who frequents these stores know of any that have either of these sets? If so, I'd appreciate an email with the store location and (...) (24 years ago, 21-Jul-00, to lugnet.loc.au)
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