Subject:
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Re: 8460/8431 Changes
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.technic
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Date:
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Wed, 2 Oct 2002 05:23:27 GMT
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Viewed:
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979 times
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I received 8431 today and have done a brief comparisson between its
instructions and those from 8460. Overall I think the sets are nearly
identical, except for some part substitutions that Lego made due to the
fact that some of the 8460 parts aren't in production anymore.
8431 includes a loose instruction sheet in the box which on one side
contains the pneumatic tubing chart (and the do's/don'ts pictures).
This is identical to the fold out inside front cover of the 8460
instructions, with the omission of the three pictures of trucks and
their respective page numbers (sort of a table of contents in the 8460
instructions).
The flip side of the loose sheet shows some part substitutions. They
draw one part with a big X through it, then an arrow pointing to a
different part. Here are the substitutions (using terminology from
http://w3.one.net/~hughesj/technica/registry/registry.php)
1. Technic Bush 1/2 Type II -> Technic Bush 1/2 Smooth
2. Toggle joint, 92 -> Angle connector #6
3. Technic Axle 2 -> Technic Axle 2 Notched
4. Technic Pin 1/2 + Technic Handle (a.k.a. Knob) -> Technic Pin 3/4
#1 and #2 are because Lego moved away from using teeth to lock toggle
joints or plates into certain angles, and instead started producing
single-piece angle connectors for various angles.
#3 is because Lego switched over to notched #2 axles
I'm not sure why #4 was changed. Perhaps the Technic Handle has been
obsoleted. I don't recall seeing it in any recent sets, but it wasn't
all that common back in the mid-90's either. I guess Bionicle and Star
Wars don't need handles.
I didn't do a detailed comparisson, but here's what I found after a
brief comparisson of instruction books. The cover (front and back)
features new pictures. Pages 2-91 seem to mostly be a reprint of 8460
pages 3-92. Almost all of the steps appear identical (even to the point
of showing the older style axles and 1/2 bushings). In a few of the
steps (such as the ones using the Technic Handle or toggle joints),
those pieces are X'ed out in the "parts needed" box, and some minor
annotation was added to indicate the new substitution. The assmbly
diagrams themselves weren't re-drawn, so in the rest of the instructions
you still see the "old" construction (with Technic Handles and toggle
joints).
The 8460 instructions then had (pages 93-99) a couple of pictures of one
of the trucks, then instructions for motorizing the crane's winch using
#8720. Since #8720 is long-gone, I understand why they omitted these
pages.
Overall, it looks like Lego's approach to the re-release was to keep the
model as intact as possible, just making substitutions for pieces no
longer in production. Even in these cases they made minimal changes to
the instructions. IMHO, this minimalist approach to a re-release is a
win-win. Lego keeps development costs down, and we get a set that is
nearly identical to the original.
Incidentally, whomever built the model for the cover picture used some
of the old pieces by mistake. You can clearly see the toggle joints
used for the ratchet mechanism near the back of the crane.
Anyway, I'm thrilled that Lego re-released 8460 as 8431. My dark ages
coincided with 8460's original release, and I didn't grab it quick
enough afterwards (my priority was hunting down an 8880). I hope Lego
continues this trend of bringing back some of the classic sets.
Dave
In article <H3B727.A9J@lugnet.com>, "Greg Muri" <gmuri1@yahoo.com>
wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> Has anyone received the 8431 Crane Truck re-release? I have been looking at
> the pictures in the latest catalog and it looks like the new version no
> longer contains the large technic turntable. Can anyone confirm this? Is
> there any other changes that are not as obvious?
>
> Thanks,
> Greg
>
>
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: 8460/8431 Changes
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| (...) <snip> (...) I guess the Technic Handle is discontinued. As for the <part:4274 Technic Pin 1/2> -> <part:32002 Technic Pin 3/4> substitution, as you can see: (URL) only used the 1/2 pin in that context because of the lack of something like the (...) (22 years ago, 2-Oct-02, to lugnet.technic)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | 8460/8431 Changes
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| Hello All, Has anyone received the 8431 Crane Truck re-release? I have been looking at the pictures in the latest catalog and it looks like the new version no longer contains the large technic turntable. Can anyone confirm this? Is there any other (...) (22 years ago, 1-Oct-02, to lugnet.technic)
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