looking for advice on technic sets as gift

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zondervan
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looking for advice on technic sets as gift

Post by zondervan » Thu Oct 22, 2015 9:41 am

Hi all. My story: ordered earrings from a jeweler friend who lives in another country. For my wife. Instead of money, she wants me to buy some technic stuff for her husband and send it to her because it's not available where they live.

Problem: I don't know my way around LEGO stuff at all. He's interested in motorcycles and programming, but those things don't have to be involved.

Can anyone advise me about what to get for around $100? I just want to be sure it will all work and be complete, and I have no way of making sure I know what I'm doing. First time LEGO recipient, technically minded, but his wife wants him to feel like a child.

Would love to hear whatever you can suggest. Thank you.

grommom
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Re: looking for advice on technic sets as gift

Post by grommom » Thu Oct 22, 2015 11:03 am

This appears to be sold out but perhaps you could request a restock. http://moc.bricklink.com/pages/moc/moci ... citem=1284

I think the fact that it's an automaton is really appealing, but I'm not sure if the Pegasus will appeal to your friend.

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ncbarrett
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Re: looking for advice on technic sets as gift

Post by ncbarrett » Thu Oct 22, 2015 11:30 am

42029 customized pickup is a nice set and runs $99.99.
image.jpeg
42036 Street motorcycle is a really nice bike, but only runs $39.99
image.jpeg
Both of these are available at S@H or toys r us.
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I have inoperable cancer and am unable to work. Any gifts would be appreciated. Thank you!

zondervan
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Re: looking for advice on technic sets as gift

Post by zondervan » Thu Oct 22, 2015 6:22 pm

Thanks a lot. So, for example, the street bike gives the hobbyist something to 'do'? Please keep in mind I have no idea how all this works -- just asking if there's definitely a "journey" in assembling it.

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ncbarrett
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Re: looking for advice on technic sets as gift

Post by ncbarrett » Fri Oct 23, 2015 4:38 am

zondervan wrote:Thanks a lot. So, for example, the street bike gives the hobbyist something to 'do'? Please keep in mind I have no idea how all this works -- just asking if there's definitely a "journey" in assembling it.
You can see the instructions on brickset.com
Here is a link to the bike.
http://brickset.com/sets/42036-1/Street-Motorcycle
Scroll down on the page until you see instructions, then you can download the instructions to see what is involved in the build.
I have inoperable cancer and am unable to work. Any gifts would be appreciated. Thank you!

SpaceNinjaDino
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Re: looking for advice on technic sets as gift

Post by SpaceNinjaDino » Fri Oct 23, 2015 3:19 pm

Building any LEGO set is very simple. You can see the age for the motorcycle is 9-16. I got into Technic around 9 and never needed help. It only gets complex with Mindstorms or making something uniquely detailed without instructions.

Unlike model, erector sets or robot sets where you use glue, screws and tools to construct, these sets snap together. They are built to be snapped and unsnapped 100 times so you can arrange the pieces in any way. This is why LEGO is so great.

He should start with that motorcycle. If he likes that and does like programming, then he should consider Mindstorms 3.0 (very expensive, but it's the easiest way to build working robots or functional machines).

Neo
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Re: looking for advice on technic sets as gift

Post by Neo » Fri Oct 23, 2015 4:19 pm

zondervan wrote:Hi all. My story: ordered earrings from a jeweler friend who lives in another country. For my wife. Instead of money, she wants me to buy some technic stuff for her husband and send it to her because it's not available where they live.

Problem: I don't know my way around LEGO stuff at all. He's interested in motorcycles and programming, but those things don't have to be involved.

Can anyone advise me about what to get for around $100? I just want to be sure it will all work and be complete, and I have no way of making sure I know what I'm doing. First time LEGO recipient, technically minded, but his wife wants him to feel like a child.

Would love to hear whatever you can suggest. Thank you.
I think the current Lego motorcycle is a great design but it may not be challenging enough for an adult - whether it would be a good match would depend on how much time he has - if he is a busy guy and he has a short build time the motorcycle will be perfect - if he has a great deal of time on his hands then the motorcycle may not be complex and flexible enough to hold his interest for long.

To program you need a Mindstorm Robot AND a computer - unless you buy all of it second hand it is going to cost over $200. Even used- a mindstorm EV3 or NXT computer going to be expensive after you include a sensor and a motor or two. The nice thing about the older NXT sets is that there are still third party sensors and actuators available that go way beyond the number of sensors that Lego provides. EV3 big advantage is Linux os and lots of memory. The classic yellow RIS brick can be bought used for about $30 and the Lego software cost $20 plus you'll need a Windows 98 computer! The nice thing about the classic yellow mindstorm RIS computer is that you can run public domain programming languages on it like Tiny C. The bad things about the old mindstorm RIS robot is your going to have a heck of a time finding the original 9v motors and sensors motors for it - and the old 9v motors it uses will be expensive and the parts are getting rarer which means the price might trend upwards again. The RIS workaround is to use the newer Power Function Motors with the original Mindstorm RIS yellow brick computer using a 9v to Power Function adapter cable (available at shop.lego.com)... Learning and teaching robotics is very challenging and it is also time consuming, expensive and complex from the start. I doubt making a robot will make him feel like a child -- it might remind him of his college days at the research lab or work! :-D

The most general Technic set is Lego 9686 Simple & Motorized Mechanism Basic Set (MRSP $160 USD)[1] - it is used by schools to teach STEM via Lego - it has a pneumatic add-on (MRSP $65 USD [2]) and a solar energy add-on (MRSP $110 USD [3]) If your guy is a professional teacher or if he wants to pretend he's back in junior high school (middle school) this is really the Bomb - this is the way to go because of the course work that comes with it. IIRC the buyer is a registered Teacher - then the buyer can get a discount from Lego education of about 10% or 20%...

The most challenging Technic sets have clutch/gear boxes and are motorized. All the big and expensive Technic sets have a clutch/gear box because it allows for more functions. Building these sets is like building a Grandfather clock. The current entry level clutch box Technic set is Lego 42024 Container Truck (MRSP $70 USD [4]) which requires one also buys the Lego 8293 Power Function set (MRSP $30 USD [5]) to motorize it. Together that makes out to $110 - about 10% more than you've budgeted. I got this combo this year for my nephew who is a veteran of the very competitive Detroit Area First Lego League (EV3 Robotics) who is now making the transition to the First Tech Challenge (Tetrix/Pitsco-Android-Java). Stuff like this would frustrate most kids under 12 to no end...so you have to ask yourself what kind of kid do you want to feel like?

If your boy-man is an engineer, has experience in CAD/CAM or 3d printers, is already an AFOL, and has access to the best computers money can buy - he might want to take Lego to the next dimension (cyber space Lego designs) using Lego Digital Designer (LDD) and or LDraw - the software is free. The two books on Ldraw or LDD are inexpensive but sort of out of date. No physical Lego to sort store or cleanup - just virtual Lego and as many digital Lego parts you can think of....if he and his wife live in very tight living space this is the way to go.... :-)


[1] https://shop.education.lego.com/legoed/ ... Mechanisms
[2] https://shop.education.lego.com/legoed/ ... uctId=9641
[3] https://shop.education.lego.com/legoed/ ... uctId=9688
[4] http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Container-Tr ... ng=listing
[5] http://shop.lego.com/en-US/LEGO-Power-F ... ng=listing

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