8880 Super Car (2010)(technicopedia.com) |
8880 Super Car (2010)(technicopedia.com) |
Building the 8860 made me realise how much Lego instructions have improved, as every step is basically a game of spot-the-difference trying to work out what pieces have been added. Not so bad for a small build, but in these complex builds it's a long process, especially when all the parts have been mixed into a larger collection of bits.
The 8860 instructions: https://bricks.argz.com/ins/8860-1
For example, the instructions in the Lego UCS A-Wing from 2020 don't highlight changes; the Space Shuttle Discovery (released 2021) instructions do (with a red outline around the pieces added). The Shuttle set's a bit bigger, but the two sets are fairly similar in terms of scale and build complexity; it seems that it's really up to the designer to decide how explicit the instructions are (whether or not things are highlighted, how many things happen in each step, when specific parts are called out with arrows, etc.).
Such models are a great way to learn how such machines work on a high level, but it's still missing some significant details. In hindsight I kind of wish someone left a busted small displacement sportbike engine in my parents' garage once I learned how to turn a wrench. It's an incredibly compact package containing a high-strung DOHC engine, multi-disc clutch, and multi-speed constant-mesh gearbox w/shifter. Just remember to drain the oil before conveniently forgetting about it in a dark corner for your inquisitive kid to discover.
But most of all it fed my own inventions and experimentation with parts. I knew them almost all by heart.
I think the coolest build it fed were the 6 or 7 generations of crash test cars I built to “study” how car crashes work and how to build a car that’s safe. The satisfaction you get from building a crash car to the latest design from memory then smash it into the wall from across the living room. Man that was fun.
One day I tried a rollover test and the custom wheel hub pieces broke. Now I can never rebuild the 8880 set again … sad
I wonder if the new Bugatti build comes close to the awesomeness of the 8880? Been thinking of getting that to relive some fond memories
Apologies in advance for enabling your Lego addiction.
I really had no idea what's been happening in Lego since the mid 90's, though. Looking at the set GP linked to, it probably has a much more custom parts than the 90's ones even if those also sometimes had specialized parts, and I'd have to agree with you.
Technicopedia: 8880 – Super Car - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16788407 - April 2018 (14 comments)
http://www.technicopedia.com/853.html
- which didn't have a rear differential. My father (an engineer) made one from regular bits which was spun by a large pulley with (trigger warning!) the centre drilled out so an axle could freely pass through it.
It was also great when the electric motors and battery box came out. With a bit of gear work, you could actually take that 853 and motorize it... working engine and all.
They were not joking.
Not too long ago I wanted to gift a technic set and I was shocked at the prices. The fact that most modern sets also use a lot of custom parts was also something that goes against the lego mindset IMHO.
It would still be something that I would totally buy for my children, but not as a gift for somebody else.
It was gathering dust on some window sill for a long time and when I went to college, they donated the assembled car to some kid without my permission. He wasn't even poor and they didn't give him the box or assembly instructions.
I'm still angry about that. I never built the alternative F1 car.
Today it's incredibly easy to order a replacement for a missing or defective piece online. I imagine if I had this set intact today, it would've been trivial to continue.
The challenge of completing a complex puzzle? Building something that pleases you aesthetically? The desire to find out how stuff works by rebuilding simplified mechanical toys? Having a toy you can just play with? Having a collectible item?
Plastic models (of spacecraft, aircraft, cars, etc.) fulfilled that role for me: make a thing to look like a thing — and with so much more fidelity than Legos.
There is a sculpting aspect to model kit building; building in 3-dimensional space that I like about it. You understand the thing in 3 dimensions as well (whereas you were most likely only familiar with it in 2 dimensions, such as, for example, the way the Millennium Falcon spaceship is represented on screen or in stills).
There too is an aesthetic about the thing you are building. A car model might be of a car you have always liked the design of, could never hope to afford. In building (and later displaying) the model you are coming to grok the form and design lines you have enjoyed.
Honestly though I tend to not really have the room or inclination to display my models. Not sure if the journey was the reward and I ought to bin them? LOL, why do I do it?
I can only hope to give the same joy to my own kid some time i a few years
I wonder which are the other 4 sets.
What has always bugged me a bit is that the large car models are a bit too heavy for standard Lego motors to power them.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/lego-technic-8458-sil...
The permutations in these sets are extraordinary.
Edit: found the differential: https://www.walmart.com/ip/LEGO-Technic-differential-gears-G...