Several items previously available in Europe have been added to the North American line:
8812
Aero Hawk I ( helicopter)
8816
Off Road Rambler (small off-road vehicle)
8829
Dune Blaster (off road race car)
8858
Rebel Wrecker (off road tow truck)
8714
LEGO Technic Team (mini-figures)
The big news is a new numbering scheme for Technic sets with new sets numbered in the 8200's. The 8225 Road Rally V is a small yellow race car with a mini-figure. The 8210 Nitro Bike GTX is a small red motorcycle with a new windshield. This windshield is of significance because it is only the second Technic Set to ever have a windshield. What set was the first to have a windshield? The small yellow universal set from the early 1980s, the 8020 set.
Three more new sets have been announced as coming in April.
The first new set is the 8235 Front End Loader . This is a small set in yellow with 165 parts and one mini-figure. The first Technic Fire Engine is a pumper, the 8280 Fire Engine is of course in red and has 436 parts and two firemen minifigures. Finally the largest new set will be the 8460 Pneumatic Crane Truck with 841 parts. This set shows a further expansion of the numbering scheme into the 8400's. Both the fire truck and the crane truck look very impressive in the pictures.
Four new sets have been announced for an August release in Europe and will mostly likely be seen in North America in 1996. The Sky Wasp helicopter, 8412, is a small set in black and gray with a blue seat and yellow trim. The main rotor can be tilted using the flex system. Set 8422 the V-Twin Super Bike is a red bike with grey trim. It has a two cylinder engine and a chain drive. Over all it is very similar to the existing 8838 Shock Cycle motorcross bike. The 8440 Octan Indy Racer is a medium size race car in red with black trim. It has a six cylinder engine and a sophisticated suspension system. From the picture it would seem to be a very nice new addition to the line.
Finally the big news. The Technic Control Center, 8094, released in 1990 introduced computer control to the LEGO line. Now comes Technic Control Center II, 8485, an new version with the same program control box and three motors. The set is self is in mainly black with grey, yellow and red trim. The featured model is a large helicopeter. Two other models are shown, a hovercraft and a mechanical dinosaur (it looks better than it sounds). This set will almost certainly be quite expensive so start saving your money now.
8412
Sky Wasp ( helicopter)
8422
V-Twin Super Bike
8440
Octan Indy Racer
8485
Technic Control II
The new sets are numbered in the 8200s and in the 8400s, breaking away from the long standing 8800 series. Most of the 8800 numbers, but far from all of them, have been used previously. The previous Technic Control set, 8092, was a universal set and thus had a number in the 8000 range. The new Control II set has a 8400 number instead. An examination of the UK 1995 LEGO catalog reveals a basis for the new scheme. The 8200 sets are all included in a section of the catalog devoted to Starter Sets. The more sophisticated 8400 sets are in a following section devoted to Advanced Sets. It is not clear how future universal sets will be numbered.
Joe Lauher lauher@sbchem.sunysb.edu
