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Subject: 
Re: I need technic!!!!!!!!!!!
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.technic
Date: 
Fri, 2 Aug 2002 15:33:50 GMT
Viewed: 
769 times
  
In lugnet.technic, John Barnes writes:
I'm not sure your assessment is accurate. I would concede that the "Technic"
word may be dropped from TLC's vocabulary, but I see no evidence that there
is much slackening in the pace to create new sets and parts.

I think what is happening is that what we have seen (become familiar with)
as Technic is a grouping of specialised pieces oriented toward more
mechanical modelling. What seems to be happening is that mechanical
modelling is spreading into a lot of the other themes.

I think 8466 was a worthwhile "big set" and possibly exclusively Technic.
But I would be surprised to see such a large set being released more than
once a year. Why are they selling them on discount? Could it be that the
general buying population don't want complex sets with 1000+ pieces which
take hours to assemble?

Agree with you 100% John!  I also found it strange that a large Technic car,
with the same functionality as the 8880 Super Car, would go on a 50% off
sale from Shop@Home 1 YEAR after release.  I think the problem may be that
LEGO may have saturated the Technic market recently with large sets.  Proof:
- 853 was the first supercar-like Technic car, released in 1977
- 8860 Auto Chassis followed 3 years later in 1980
- 8865 Test Car came out 8 years later (1988)
- LEGO waited 6 years before releasing the 8880 supercar (1994)
- 5 years later came the 8448 Super Street Sensation (1999)
- 1 year later LEGO released another 1000+ pieces model, the Silver champion
- 1 year later, the 8466 (2001)

(I focused on cars above, and didn't list the Airtech Claw Rig 8868 from
1992, and the Space Shuttle 8480 from 1996)

Now don't get me wrong; personally, I love large technic sets, especially
cars.  But releasing 2 1400-piece sets in back-to-back years (8448 and
8458), and then releasing an 1100-piece car 1 year after that is very
different from their previous patterns of release.  Maybe from now on we'll
only see large Technic vehicles every few years, because I doubt they want
to put these large sets on 50% off after only 1 year of production....

I think the new "Technic"-like pieces which are showing up in sets like the
R/C racer and some of the newer SW figures point the way to the future. Lots
of interesting new parts of different sizes and kinds to enable people to
devise some truely intricate mechanical constructions as part of their own
models. I think (and hope) that lugnet is frequented by imaginative people
who see sets mainly as sources of parts for their own models. If they make
smaller sets - like the SW figures - you just have to buy a larger number of
smaller sets to get enough parts to make your AFOL style/scale models.

I think the variety of parts with holes and the variety of pins and pegs to
join them together with is greater now than it ever was before. It's just
not called Technic.

JB

Well put John!  I also love the variety of new pins and parts to join them
with, as well as the whole assortment of studless beams (half-width and full
width).  Eventhough the 8010 Technic Darth Vader and the 8558 Bionicle
Cahdok and Gahdok do not say Technic on them, they have a huge assortment of
new and useful technic parts.  We're also supposed to get a Silver Champion
in the Blue-white colors of the BMW-Williams F1 car this fall.  And it will
be in the Racers line, not Technic.  But is there any doubt that it IS
technic?  Overall, I think we're seeing an evolution in Technic, and
personally, I welcome it with open...... building fingers and wallet!

Play well!

John



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: I need technic!!!...!!!
 
I'm not sure your assessment is accurate. I would concede that the "Technic" word may be dropped from TLC's vocabulary, but I see no evidence that there is much slackening in the pace to create new sets and parts. I think what is happening is that (...) (22 years ago, 2-Aug-02, to lugnet.technic)

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