I bought that with my student loan. No regrets :)
Probably did more for your education than any one of your classes at the time. Absolutely not joking.
8880 Super Car (2010)
51–60 of 63 posts
Re: 8880 Super Car (2010)
#52I _really_ enjoyed building and playing with LEGO as a kid but lost interest in it as I grew older. I remember having started but never finishing a kit from the technic series and whenever I see such a set I'm wondering what exactly is it (adult) LEGO enthusiasts are you getting out of building/owning such a set?
Below are some reasons I can think of, none of which I find personally convincing enough to start building such a kit, so I'm hoping someone can share their perspective on this matter
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?
Re: 8880 Super Car (2010)
#53Re: 8880 Super Car (2010)
#54I _really_ enjoyed building and playing with LEGO as a kid but lost interest in it as I grew older. I remember having started but never finishing a kit from the technic series and whenever I see such a set I'm wondering what exactly is it (adult) LEGO enthusiasts are you getting out of building/owning such a set? Below are some reasons I can think of, none of which I find personally convincing enough to start buildin…
Lego for me were about building new things from scratch; of my own invention. I never understood the make-this-exact-thing in Lego. I have bought a few of those newer kits, and they were more like puzzles (but with instructions, hmmm...).
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?
Re: 8880 Super Car (2010)
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
While I'm sure there's a large audience for all these highly realistic looking sets using tons of custom parts, I can't get myself to like them. I love the 8880 set for showing how much can be achieved in functionality and aesthetics by adhering to universal building blocks.
I am in the same boat - to me the "generic" Technik is the only lego that's worthwhile.
Ha ha, spent a day building a differential out of raw Technic parts — the thing was the size of a lemon. Then saw they introduced a specific differential part for Technic — the size of an acorn.
Edit: found the differential: https://www.walmart.com/ip/LEGO-Technic-differential-gears-G...
Re: 8880 Super Car (2010)
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am in the same boat - to me the "generic" Technik is the only lego that's worthwhile.
Ha ha, spent a day building a differential out of raw Technic parts — the thing was the size of a lemon. Then saw they introduced a specific differential part for Technic — the size of an acorn. Edit: found the differential: https://www.walmart.com/ip/LEGO-Technic-differential-gears-G...
I think there is something special about building it out of random gears that really makes you understand how it work. Thanks for the link!
Re: 8880 Super Car (2010)
#57I just completed the Bugatti Chiron 42083 set which has a lot of similarities to this set. https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/bugatti-chiron-42083
While I'm sure there's a large audience for all these highly realistic looking sets using tons of custom parts, I can't get myself to like them. I love the 8880 set for showing how much can be achieved in functionality and aesthetics by adhering to universal building blocks.
I was going to say that the 8880 also did have some special parts, or ones that at least I wasn't aware of existing in other sets at the time. The ball joints used for steering and power on the same wheels (I don't know what they're called), probably some parts in the transmission, etc.
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.
Re: 8880 Super Car (2010)
#58I was more into computers than into Legos when the 8880 came out, but I liked this one: http://www.technicopedia.com/8865.html ... which I never actually had, but I had enough pieces from other sets to build one from the pictures in catalogs.
Impressive! I had set 8865 and it was the only set I had which had those suspension and wishbone pieces.
I don't remember where I had the suspension from, but I definitely had it from somewhere else. I may have bought a few missing pieces, though, or improvised. Details from 30 years ago are fuzzy :)
Re: 8880 Super Car (2010)
#59I'm a few years too young to have had this set, but I did have the Space Shuttle/submarine set ( http://technicopedia.com/8480.html ) and the red supercar with some flexible part ( http://technicopedia.com/8448.html ) and the pneumatic crane ( http://technicopedia.com/8460.html ). Was I spoiled? Sure sounds like it now. I can only hope to give the same joy to my own kid some time i a few years
I've got the space shuttle, sadly all the cables have perished and the little red motor no longer works.
Re: 8880 Super Car (2010)
#60I'm a few years too young to have had this set, but I did have the Space Shuttle/submarine set ( http://technicopedia.com/8480.html ) and the red supercar with some flexible part ( http://technicopedia.com/8448.html ) and the pneumatic crane ( http://technicopedia.com/8460.html ). Was I spoiled? Sure sounds like it now. I can only hope to give the same joy to my own kid some time i a few years
I've got the space shuttle, sadly all the cables have perished and the little red motor no longer works.
I have to admit my Lego Technic hasn't come out of the box in a while, no idea if that stuff still actually works. I used it ~2 years ago to make a prototype for work though, great stuff for that too.