As for me, this set will stay in my mind as the biggest missed opportunity in term of lego pneumatics... explanation : it would have been very cool to introduce a new air tank piece ( more squared to fit more easily in technic creations ) inside the excavator, put the pump insode the charging box, and add a switch on the input of the air tank so that when you connect the charging station you can fill the air tank with air, and lock it down before taking away the charging station ( so you would really have a charging feature here instead of one giant box, and the boring pump coming out of the excavator... )
The way the set looks definitely implies that could have been a possibility. Might have been they couldn’t get a well designed compressed air tank that wouldn’t break under play.
It would have to be a big and strong air tank for it to hold enough air to do movements with the excavator without constantly having to recharge though... Not to mention those hoses are attached rather firmly.
Good review! In itself I still think this is a perfectly fine set, and not too outlandishly priced. It has just one problem: I can't help but think of the mighty Arocs. Which had quite a bit more pieces, Power Functions, more pneumatic pieces and was overall a much more ambitious build, yet was priced the same. And sure, that was 9 years ago, and inflation is a thing. But I'd argue everything it offered over this Volvo more than makes up for that.
This set is awesome. It's a classic technic set, it needs to look good enough but has a ton of playability and you still how the mechanism replicate the real ones. That's how I got into mechanical engineering: by Lego sets that showed how things work, instead of showing how things look
They could've put a battery box in the yellow container and a small motor + pump for the pneumatics at this point. Two lever control doesn't make sense anymore if you need to keep pumping the air so swapping hands all the time.
The issue I have with this set is that the fact that it’s two separate vehicles means that both vehicles are far too simplistic and undetailed in their design. If this set has about 1000 more pieces I think this would’ve been awesome
This set really didn't need the licencing. They did the pneumatic breakdown truck just a couple of years ago without any licencing, and it was one of the best value and function-able sets in years. This set could have also been like that if the Licence wasn't there.
Maybe it's an LNG truck, those actually do have cylindrical fuel tanks! It's on the correct side for that, LNG tanks as far as I've seen are always on the left side on Volvos, while diesel tanks are usually on the right.
Feels a bit like a late successor to the 8872 truck with forklift, actually a pretty nice idea. Now they just have to get rid of all that licence stuff and lower the price accordingly. Could very well be a generic truck with a generic excavator, no need to have it branded as Volvo. Oh and a beacon or something like that to turn the excavators top part would've been nice like they did on 8837
to me it rather seems like the successor of the Mack Anthem, it's about the same scale/style just less detailed and higher priced, but then again catalog price means nothing at this point when by xmas it'll be 25%-30% by most online shops and retail stores, so we all know that's the real price and the catalog price is just FOMO tax.
@@thingamajig depends on the criteria. Size and price categorie yes. But I can't remember in a long time to have such a construction site set, and the two mentioned above are the ones that instantly came to my mind from my childhood.
Nope, just a second battery pack. It can be taken off-site for charging then taken back to charge the excavator. Or it can be used when the local grid isn't reliable. Charge the power unit on low power, then fast charge the excavator from the power unit when its own battery is dead.
I know with this price point there have to be compromises in terms of both playability and looks but this combo seems to be compromises gone too far. It has several shortcomings in functionality and it doesn't look good. Lego used to make and still continues to be making very authentic, good looking Technic sets despite the limitations of the Technic pieces with builds that have similar functionality to this sets such as the Mack Anthem semi truck and the Heavy Duty Excavator 42121 or the Skid Steer Loader 42116, each one of them designed for different price points with the Mack Anthem at $180 all the way down to $10 for the small Skid Steer Loader. They all however have one thing in common, excellent playability for the complexity of the pieces they have and authentic good looks. The excavator 42121 for example, despite being a standalone set sold for a very affordable price, it both plays and looks so much better than this excavator set at the similar scale. You can see the review of all those sets here on this channel and you'll see what I mean.
I don't understand why LEGO is skimping on a third pneumatic cilinder to operate the bucket. Since the LEGO excavator 8851 I haven't seen them use it anymore.
That is kinda true, as the 42053 and 42144 excavators do have 3 pneumatic cylinders. However, I would happily change the charging station for an extra cylinder (or like sb else here suggested, an electric air pump in there and an air tank in the excavator)
Happy to see Lego release an actual playing set. I will still not buy it, as other brick companies simply make better sets these days. I remember buying the arocs for the price of this set.
@@MeeHow44 Cobi, blue brixx and phantasy to name a few examples. Especially blue brixx made some insane stuff you can buy a 6000 piece castle for around the price of this set and they are most times better quality than lego.
@@MeeHow44have a look at mould king technic. Its as good as lego, and more consistent in colours. Edit: check when you buy anything to see if its a stolen MOC - in that case buy the instructions from rebrickable or wherever else..
I totally agree that other companies also make great sets these days. I think it's a good thing that Lego has some actual competition now. But this set specifically is far cheaper than the Arocs. The Arocs cost 230$ back in 2015. Adjusted for inflation that is 305$ today. This new Volvo set is just 200$, so the Arocs is technically 50% more expensive. So they can't really be compared in terms of value.
Just got into Lego but I don’t understand why they didn’t use a 3rd cylinder for the bucket? I’m not sure if they have done it before but it feels like it was needed in this set especially for that price
They should have removed or at least shrunken the charging station. That way the flatbed could also have been smaller in exchange for extra details and a not-so-awfull-bucket.
Pretty all much functions work perfectly… w pros to dodałeś. Lepiej będzie- all functions work pretty much perfectly. Pozdrawiam. Jak zawsze spoko recenzja, chyba się skuszę na ten zestaw…😅
It's a nice build, and good to see a playset, but I think it should have been three separate sets, without licence, with the "charging box" just left out entirely. That just doesn't belong in the Technic theme. Let children build that from their own parts if they want. That can't be too hard. Having 3 smaller sets would give customers MUCH more choice of what to buy, also within all kinds of budgets. One could, for example, buy just the excavator, or just the truck, or the truck and the trailer, or the truck and excavator as two separate models, and the trailer 6 months later to link everything together. Having 3 models put together in 1 set (pushing it out of budget for a lot of exactly the people who would want this) just doesn't feel right to me.
On the other hand, Technic sets are known to be built at wildly varying scales. At least buying a set like this one guarantees all vehicles are going to work together without any issues.
I'm not gonna lie I came here to dunk on this set. But you know what I think it's fine, it's just not for me. I would have loved this as a kid, but nowadays I value the authenticity a lot more. Some suspension would have been nice, or at least motorizing it. One of the two.
I would have said second best, as for me the best is the air tech claw rig, that really made pneumatics shine in both A model and B model, with a surprising cycle loop feature in the B model...
I really want to like this set but in makes me so angry. It looks a good set apart from being ruined by the continuing insistence of LEGO using as many different colours of pins, axles, and even other components that totally ruin the look of a perfectly good set. I've just bought this week the 1979 Technic Bulldozer 856 and 1980 Technic Car Chassis 8860. As well as the awesome build experience with non dumbed down instructions, the final look of these sets that use a handful of basic colours, with just black axles and grey pins, is far better than any modern day set. They just have a far better looking finish to the current day models that are covered in multicoloured spots, with a mismatching frame made up of millions of different garish coloured elements. Unfortunately, it makes me not purchase what potential is a great set.
As for me, this set will stay in my mind as the biggest missed opportunity in term of lego pneumatics...
explanation : it would have been very cool to introduce a new air tank piece ( more squared to fit more easily in technic creations ) inside the excavator, put the pump insode the charging box, and add a switch on the input of the air tank so that when you connect the charging station you can fill the air tank with air, and lock it down before taking away the charging station ( so you would really have a charging feature here instead of one giant box, and the boring pump coming out of the excavator... )
Such a cool idea!
The way the set looks definitely implies that could have been a possibility. Might have been they couldn’t get a well designed compressed air tank that wouldn’t break under play.
@@g.williams2047 maybe.... tho they already made one before...
It would have to be a big and strong air tank for it to hold enough air to do movements with the excavator without constantly having to recharge though... Not to mention those hoses are attached rather firmly.
Good review! In itself I still think this is a perfectly fine set, and not too outlandishly priced. It has just one problem: I can't help but think of the mighty Arocs. Which had quite a bit more pieces, Power Functions, more pneumatic pieces and was overall a much more ambitious build, yet was priced the same. And sure, that was 9 years ago, and inflation is a thing. But I'd argue everything it offered over this Volvo more than makes up for that.
This set is awesome. It's a classic technic set, it needs to look good enough but has a ton of playability and you still how the mechanism replicate the real ones.
That's how I got into mechanical engineering: by Lego sets that showed how things work, instead of showing how things look
They could've put a battery box in the yellow container and a small motor + pump for the pneumatics at this point. Two lever control doesn't make sense anymore if you need to keep pumping the air so swapping hands all the time.
They should reintroduce the air tank
The thing is, there is no hub small enough. Both the City and Spike Essential hubs are the size of the cabin on the excavator.
Let's remember that LEGO has yet to make a Control+ pneumatics set! I despise that double bucket on the excavator tho...
The issue I have with this set is that the fact that it’s two separate vehicles means that both vehicles are far too simplistic and undetailed in their design. If this set has about 1000 more pieces I think this would’ve been awesome
This set really didn't need the licencing. They did the pneumatic breakdown truck just a couple of years ago without any licencing, and it was one of the best value and function-able sets in years. This set could have also been like that if the Licence wasn't there.
Not a single comment about “running on liquified dinosaurs” 😔
The flatbed can also be used for the car transporter scale cars, after removing a few pieces of course
Maybe it's an LNG truck, those actually do have cylindrical fuel tanks!
It's on the correct side for that, LNG tanks as far as I've seen are always on the left side on Volvos, while diesel tanks are usually on the right.
Feels a bit like a late successor to the 8872 truck with forklift, actually a pretty nice idea.
Now they just have to get rid of all that licence stuff and lower the price accordingly.
Could very well be a generic truck with a generic excavator, no need to have it branded as Volvo.
Oh and a beacon or something like that to turn the excavators top part would've been nice like they did on 8837
to me it rather seems like the successor of the Mack Anthem, it's about the same scale/style just less detailed and higher priced, but then again catalog price means nothing at this point when by xmas it'll be 25%-30% by most online shops and retail stores, so we all know that's the real price and the catalog price is just FOMO tax.
@@thingamajig depends on the criteria. Size and price categorie yes.
But I can't remember in a long time to have such a construction site set, and the two mentioned above are the ones that instantly came to my mind from my childhood.
All the blue pins!
I would have preferred if the battery charger was a air container with a pump and that the excavator had a third pneumatic piston for the bucket
Actually, I'm really tired of seeing sports cars and motorcycles. This set reminded me of the old ones...
Great review, thanks!
but what powers the charging station? liquidsaurus?
Nope, just a second battery pack. It can be taken off-site for charging then taken back to charge the excavator.
Or it can be used when the local grid isn't reliable. Charge the power unit on low power, then fast charge the excavator from the power unit when its own battery is dead.
The budget wasnt big enought to include a third cylinder in order to control the excavator bucket
Mainly interested in which recent vehicle/car sets can fit on the back of the trailer
I think Lego could make more of theese medium sized sets that consists of 2 vehicles. This, 42009 B-model, they are great for playability.
Thhe truck seems strange, Trailer is OK. Excevator looks and functions quite good :)
Using two small buckets to achieve one big is a no go what the hell
Maybe one of the small buckets can be used by itself to dig a narrow trench?
I know with this price point there have to be compromises in terms of both playability and looks but this combo seems to be compromises gone too far. It has several shortcomings in functionality and it doesn't look good. Lego used to make and still continues to be making very authentic, good looking Technic sets despite the limitations of the Technic pieces with builds that have similar functionality to this sets such as the Mack Anthem semi truck and the Heavy Duty Excavator 42121 or the Skid Steer Loader 42116, each one of them designed for different price points with the Mack Anthem at $180 all the way down to $10 for the small Skid Steer Loader. They all however have one thing in common, excellent playability for the complexity of the pieces they have and authentic good looks. The excavator 42121 for example, despite being a standalone set sold for a very affordable price, it both plays and looks so much better than this excavator set at the similar scale. You can see the review of all those sets here on this channel and you'll see what I mean.
Kind of a weird question but is there available sheet music for the piano piece playing during the speed build section?
Now the question is, is it the same scale as the EW160E so I can have a much better functioning excavator on the back?
there were at least 10 excavators and 4 backhoes before in technic lineup. and they put 2 small buckets together.
I don't understand why LEGO is skimping on a third pneumatic cilinder to operate the bucket. Since the LEGO excavator 8851 I haven't seen them use it anymore.
That is kinda true, as the 42053 and 42144 excavators do have 3 pneumatic cylinders. However, I would happily change the charging station for an extra cylinder (or like sb else here suggested, an electric air pump in there and an air tank in the excavator)
Very nice review as always! But your color grading makes details of black parts almost illegible. Like some LEGO instructions from former years)
Happy to see Lego release an actual playing set. I will still not buy it, as other brick companies simply make better sets these days. I remember buying the arocs for the price of this set.
What other brick companies make better sets than Lego? Serious question, you got me interested…
That was a long time ago though. You have to consider inflation, even though that may not make up the whole price increase.
@@MeeHow44 Cobi, blue brixx and phantasy to name a few examples. Especially blue brixx made some insane stuff you can buy a 6000 piece castle for around the price of this set and they are most times better quality than lego.
@@MeeHow44have a look at mould king technic. Its as good as lego, and more consistent in colours.
Edit: check when you buy anything to see if its a stolen MOC - in that case buy the instructions from rebrickable or wherever else..
I totally agree that other companies also make great sets these days. I think it's a good thing that Lego has some actual competition now.
But this set specifically is far cheaper than the Arocs. The Arocs cost 230$ back in 2015. Adjusted for inflation that is 305$ today. This new Volvo set is just 200$, so the Arocs is technically 50% more expensive. So they can't really be compared in terms of value.
Hi! Just wondering if u will be reviewing the Mclauren P1?
Yes, in a couple of weeks.
Just got into Lego but I don’t understand why they didn’t use a 3rd cylinder for the bucket? I’m not sure if they have done it before but it feels like it was needed in this set especially for that price
Will you be reviewing the New McLaren? Would love to see your thoughts!
In a few weeks, I hope. The price is a bit steep.
Are most technics on one scale? I have the Peugeot racing car, I don’t feel it would fit in here
Pretty much every set is at a different scale.
They should have removed or at least shrunken the charging station. That way the flatbed could also have been smaller in exchange for extra details and a not-so-awfull-bucket.
Pretty all much functions work perfectly… w pros to dodałeś. Lepiej będzie- all functions work pretty much perfectly. Pozdrawiam. Jak zawsze spoko recenzja, chyba się skuszę na ten zestaw…😅
Pretty much all functions powinno być.
It's a nice build, and good to see a playset, but I think it should have been three separate sets, without licence, with the "charging box" just left out entirely. That just doesn't belong in the Technic theme. Let children build that from their own parts if they want. That can't be too hard. Having 3 smaller sets would give customers MUCH more choice of what to buy, also within all kinds of budgets. One could, for example, buy just the excavator, or just the truck, or the truck and the trailer, or the truck and excavator as two separate models, and the trailer 6 months later to link everything together. Having 3 models put together in 1 set (pushing it out of budget for a lot of exactly the people who would want this) just doesn't feel right to me.
On the other hand, Technic sets are known to be built at wildly varying scales. At least buying a set like this one guarantees all vehicles are going to work together without any issues.
I'm not gonna lie I came here to dunk on this set. But you know what I think it's fine, it's just not for me. I would have loved this as a kid, but nowadays I value the authenticity a lot more. Some suspension would have been nice, or at least motorizing it. One of the two.
For 200€ you could buy Mercedes Benz Arocs #42043 second hand, best pneumatic set ever.
I would have said second best, as for me the best is the air tech claw rig, that really made pneumatics shine in both A model and B model, with a surprising cycle loop feature in the B model...
But yes, i would rather buy the Arocs XD
The music goes well
Really sick of this mediumish scale of technic vehicles.
to me this sets seems unfinished or rushed
I really want to like this set but in makes me so angry. It looks a good set apart from being ruined by the continuing insistence of LEGO using as many different colours of pins, axles, and even other components that totally ruin the look of a perfectly good set.
I've just bought this week the 1979 Technic Bulldozer 856 and 1980 Technic Car Chassis 8860. As well as the awesome build experience with non dumbed down instructions, the final look of these sets that use a handful of basic colours, with just black axles and grey pins, is far better than any modern day set. They just have a far better looking finish to the current day models that are covered in multicoloured spots, with a mismatching frame made up of millions of different garish coloured elements.
Unfortunately, it makes me not purchase what potential is a great set.
Nỉce trick lego
No stud version of 8872: Forklift Transporter with pneumatics addet. Not impressive. In 1993, Lego did not need a license to design and sell sets.