Reviews
4.7
958 reviews
Expected more from Lego
I have always expected great things from Lego since their name is synonymous with quality. I have enjoyed designing and building MOCs for some 35+ years. I was overjoyed to get this 42100 model, but very disappointed about the new Control+ system. I have tried time and time again to get the Control+ app to work on different devices, but needless to say, it doesn't perform 100%. The connection & testing of the hubs with my phone didn't work at all to begin with. I had not yet built the model because I wanted to do a quick test to see how the hubs worked with the new motors, but it kept failing to connect. I gave up and started building the model. As I completed the base, I did as the instructions said and tried to connect the hub to my phone. For whatever the reason, it worked... for this part. I proceeded to build and got to the next part to test (as there are 4 testing parts). The second one worked. I finished the model and tried to test all functionality, but I am still unable to sync the 2nd hub so that all functions are able to be tested. The model looks great sitting there, but otherwise functionally unless. I read a few reviews on the app and it appears that others have had similar issues. I generally buy sets for their parts and to see how Lego engineers figure out complex problems, which I was able to do with this model, but the Control+ app so far has been a big disappointment and you can't use the motors without the hubs, so there's that money down the drain until they improve the coding & testing of the app. On the Control+ page of the Lego website, it states very few Android devices that it was test on, but I would assume since it was Android, it should just work anyways, so I am guessing it is a bug within the app itself as I tried it on 3 different Android devices. Overall, I am very surprised that this doesn't work, but being so new, bugs are expected, just not from Lego and especially at the price. I would only recommend paying this price for the amount of parts you get and not the new hubs & motors until they get these bugs fixed.
Updated Nov 27, 2019It took me 23.25 hours to complete this mostly by myself but with approximately 30 minutes of help from one other adult and several hours of help from my toddler. đŸ˜‰There were a few extra tiny pieces with each bag but that is normal...I wasnt missing any pieces for completion. It will take far less time with more than one person working on it and it helps to have all matching pieces grouped together since most of the bags have several types of pieces included.The app controls the movements and Little Mister is just thrilled with the result. He had Mama, control that, please on repeat since he wanted to see this digger pick the pieces up and dump them into his quarry truck see photos.The construction was not difficult and I followed the instructions exactly. There was only one spot in book one where I actually wrote on the page where a piece went because it wasnt exact in the photo.The app includes challenges that you can complete with your excavator and you can collect badges for your achievements. I ran this over some of the lego pieces on my coffee table and the app showed exactly the degree of slope that each track was experiencing. It plowed right over them. Slowly, of course.Anyway, this was an amazing build and I give the engineers and designers major kudos for the end result since it actually worked during the final testing phases. As I stated in my initial review or photos, the first two tests failed. After a 10 minute phone call to lego tech support, I found that it wouldnt pass at those times but by the time you are completing your build that may be fixed.Overall, I would highly recommend this if you enjoy legos, building, or even puzzles. My only tips would be to 1 make sure you have good lighting because the pieces are tiny duh, and they need to be exact when you are constructing this, and 2 set aside a work area that you can cover when you arent working on it. I used a fitted sheet over the coffee table to keep Litt.
Everything You Want From a LEGO Build
What an incredibly fun, challenging build this was!
Directions were extremely clear - at no point did I feel I was flying blind. When things didn't work or fit, it was inevitably my mistake. Figuring out those mistakes was part of the fun.
Mid-build Bluetooth motor testing went perfectly. I had a couple of issues with a previously-connected power pack having problems reconnecting, but that was because I exited, but did not terminate, the Connect Plus app. It was easily fixed by taking out a battery and, essentially, rebooting the pack.
When all was done, the last test - the moving of the scoop front to back - failed. I heard the ending purring perfectly, but the gears and scoop did not move. I figured out that I didn't put one key dowel into the red motor input (I accidentally put it in a hole just to the side), and with very little deconstruction got it in the right spot.
That didn't end the problems - the hinges that connect the front scoop panel to the motor/gears were connected wrongly. After about an hour of trial and error, I finally got everything in the right spot, successfully calibrated the unit, and I was off to the races.
I hope this doesn't sound like a criticism of the set - as I said, every error was my own fault, and it was a sick kind of fun figuring out every which way I went wrong. When the unit finally worked perfectly, it was incredibly gratifying.
I will say the Bag # 5 set of parts (the last stage of construction) was a little tedious - lots of ladders, lights, trim, but I do have to say the once it was done (after about 90 minutes of work), all these little bits added up to a better-looking, more realistic excavator.
I haven't played much with the set other than to test out what it can do, but that will come, now that I finally worked out the bugs.
Bottom line: I absolutely LOVED this build. It required a level of focus and attention to detail that I found very, very rewarding.
This takes the place of the Roller Coaster (10261) as my favorite build. I can't recommend this any higher!
Directions were extremely clear - at no point did I feel I was flying blind. When things didn't work or fit, it was inevitably my mistake. Figuring out those mistakes was part of the fun.
Mid-build Bluetooth motor testing went perfectly. I had a couple of issues with a previously-connected power pack having problems reconnecting, but that was because I exited, but did not terminate, the Connect Plus app. It was easily fixed by taking out a battery and, essentially, rebooting the pack.
When all was done, the last test - the moving of the scoop front to back - failed. I heard the ending purring perfectly, but the gears and scoop did not move. I figured out that I didn't put one key dowel into the red motor input (I accidentally put it in a hole just to the side), and with very little deconstruction got it in the right spot.
That didn't end the problems - the hinges that connect the front scoop panel to the motor/gears were connected wrongly. After about an hour of trial and error, I finally got everything in the right spot, successfully calibrated the unit, and I was off to the races.
I hope this doesn't sound like a criticism of the set - as I said, every error was my own fault, and it was a sick kind of fun figuring out every which way I went wrong. When the unit finally worked perfectly, it was incredibly gratifying.
I will say the Bag # 5 set of parts (the last stage of construction) was a little tedious - lots of ladders, lights, trim, but I do have to say the once it was done (after about 90 minutes of work), all these little bits added up to a better-looking, more realistic excavator.
I haven't played much with the set other than to test out what it can do, but that will come, now that I finally worked out the bugs.
Bottom line: I absolutely LOVED this build. It required a level of focus and attention to detail that I found very, very rewarding.
This takes the place of the Roller Coaster (10261) as my favorite build. I can't recommend this any higher!
Nice set, good building experience, but...
Build was pleasant and individual module builds went together easily without needing 4 hands and/or extreme finger gymnastics during assembly of those.
Building instructions are clear and easy to follow, however I personally feel that full pages for installing or pushing just a single or pair of pins is a bit overkill especially with all the colors used for pins these days for visual assembly aids.
Finished model is pretty robust for its weight.
Control+ app works good in conjunction with this model and it is fun to operate.
The Cons I see from my side are:
No B model, sadly that is a tendency with new LEGO technic models even with the high price large set Technic models. Is LEGO moving the technic line to the build once and then put it in a showcase type of customer? In that case might as well remove all the electric functions since some handcranks will suffice for a showcase.
Powered up still very rough around the edges even after having been introduced over 3 years ago.
Still no rechargeable Li-Ion battery modules for any of the powered-up hubs available to date from LEGO
Poorly documented Powered-Up app especially on the code block level.
Missing legacy support for previous Power functions motors, servos & lights. IMO it should be possible for LEGO to make an adapter for bang-bang control of the older PF peripherals with the Pwr-Up hubs.
My cripes with missing B-Model and Pwr-Up resulted in a reduced rating for an otherwise great model.
Building instructions are clear and easy to follow, however I personally feel that full pages for installing or pushing just a single or pair of pins is a bit overkill especially with all the colors used for pins these days for visual assembly aids.
Finished model is pretty robust for its weight.
Control+ app works good in conjunction with this model and it is fun to operate.
The Cons I see from my side are:
No B model, sadly that is a tendency with new LEGO technic models even with the high price large set Technic models. Is LEGO moving the technic line to the build once and then put it in a showcase type of customer? In that case might as well remove all the electric functions since some handcranks will suffice for a showcase.
Powered up still very rough around the edges even after having been introduced over 3 years ago.
Still no rechargeable Li-Ion battery modules for any of the powered-up hubs available to date from LEGO
Poorly documented Powered-Up app especially on the code block level.
Missing legacy support for previous Power functions motors, servos & lights. IMO it should be possible for LEGO to make an adapter for bang-bang control of the older PF peripherals with the Pwr-Up hubs.
My cripes with missing B-Model and Pwr-Up resulted in a reduced rating for an otherwise great model.
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