Review: 42179 Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit
Posted by Huw,Unless I am mistaken, the last time LEGO made a retail Technic set that was not a vehicle of some sort was in 1990 when it released 8094 Control Centre. (*)
So, the release of 42179 Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit, the first static model to be produced for 34 years, is something of a big deal. Let's find out if it was worth the wait...
Summary
42179 Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit, 526 pieces.
£69.99 / $74.99 / €79.99 | 13.3p/14.3c/15.2c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
An interesting and educational static model that works well but it's not very elegant
- Accurate movement
- A welcome change from vehicles
- Bulky mechanism
- Expensive
- Unattractive
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
(*) Excluding Bionicle and other constraction figures.
New parts
The half-spheres used for the sun and Earth are new and, as you'd expect, the pair that form our planet are printed with land masses. The sun could also have benefitted from some printing, solar spots and so on because, as it is, it's a bit uniform and featureless.
The two halves of the spheres are connected using pins, which has necessitated the inclusion of unsightly holes and protrusions. The Star Wars planets did not suffer from this problem, but I guess, this being a Technic set, the designers felt obliged to connect them with Technic pieces.
The completed model
The model is about 30cm at its widest point and 25cm high and, to be honest, looks a bit bulky, particularly the arm between the sun and Earth, and the mechanism underneath our planet.
The reddish-orange rings add a splash of colour and provides continuity with the colour scheme of the other space sets, but I think I would have looked better if they were black.
The white curved parts have been added as a decorative flourish, but look a bit odd and out of place to me.
Despite this being a static model, the designers have still managed to include wheels in the set, whose rubbery surface helps prevent it toppling over and from moving about on smooth surfaces.
The mechanism is operated by rotating the handle with the gold pin joiner. Doing so causes the planet to rotate around the star and the moon around the planet. The movement is very smooth and appears to be accurate, although the relative sizes of, and distance between, the celestial bodies are not.
Gold pointers on the rotating parts point at stickers on the rings indicating months as the Earth goes around the sun, and moon phases as our satellite rotates around us.
The printed continents look pretty good, so it's unfortunate that the shape of the sphere is marred by the pin connecting points.
Verdict
The mechanism is interesting, and I believe it replicates the movement of the spheres accurately. It's edifying to operate it for a few minutes, but it does not offer any playability beyond that, or really any reason to do so again.
Unfortunately, it's not very elegant. It's undoubtedly an achievement to build the mechanism in Technic, and it's good that it's largely visible within the framework, but when compared to the beautiful brass and wood orreries you see elsewhere, this is plain ugly, and not something I'd want to have out on display in my home.
I guess its biggest strength and selling point is its educational benefit. I can see it being of use in schools to demonstrate how the spheres interact in primary school science lessons.
I would like to be able to recommend it, the first static model for decades, but it's hard to do so, particularly at the price of £69.99, $74.99, €79.99 for 526 pieces.
Models such as this are however a very welcome change from those with wheels, wings, hulls or rotors: there are not enough of them, and LEGO should be commended for making this one.
Unfortunately, I think it misses the mark, and can't see it being particularly successful, so we'll probably have to wait until 2050 for the next one...
This is definitely a model for which a video showing it in operation is needed, so take a look at Sariel's:
135 likes
81 comments on this article
It's certainly an interesting mechanism, but it is so unattractive as a display piece.
I honestly don’t mind the mechanism being large and bulky, I think it gives the set a vaguely steampunk appearance.
When it was announced I put it on my wishlist, but I removed it when more pictures turned up. If it was a set within a 35€ set, I'd buy it for fun, but as this uses a lot of pieces, I rather spend my money on sets that I desire more (can't afford all of them anyway ;) )
The problem I have with a lot of LEGO Technic stuff is that it can often seem little more than an assemblage of rods and gears instead of a coherent model. Sadly, this set isn’t doing too much to dispel that notion.
@pvp3020 said:
"I honestly don’t mind the mechanism being large and bulky, I think it gives the set a vaguely steampunk appearance."
I think I would like it more if it actually did have a steampunk design.
They couldn't have made it uglier even if they tried. The only interesting part is the Earth sphere and even that is ugly with that misaligned print and the pin connections.
@johleth said:
" @pvp3020 said:
"I honestly don’t mind the mechanism being large and bulky, I think it gives the set a vaguely steampunk appearance."
I think I would like it more if it actually did have a steampunk design."
Shiny brass-coloured gears? Gimme!
my first thought when I saw the picture was: This is not an official lego set. becuase it looks so ugly! What a shame.
That is one ugly lump of meh.
Great concept, great movement, not so great final product. It would have been better if they leant into the wooden and brass style and the parts were predominantly brown and pearl gold in colour, similar to how the support structure of the globe set (21332) was realised.
Thank you for the review Huw. I had been tempted by the model, but hadn't yet had the opportunity to look at it. AFOLs have been wanting a working model like this for ages, so it really feels like a missed opportunity. You have definitely talked me out of wanting the model.
My maths suggest we will need to wait until 2060 (not 2050). Sigh.
I'm probably in a minority here, but I find the model to be quite beautiful. It's elegant, functional, and I love how the mechanism is clearly visible. Even the pin holes in the Earth/Sun spheres don't bother me, because it highlights the model's Lego technic DNA, and shows how a children's toy can be used to create a very sophisticated piece of machinery. I am really looking forward to buying one of these!
I can't understand why the Earth print doesn't have its equator align with the seam between each half. I like the mechanism enough that the colorful overall look does not bother me as much, but the printing undermines some of the educational value.
Calling this model "static" is a weird choice of words...
What I find most awkward about this set is there was an MOC a while back, if you search for "Earth, Moon and Sun Orrery" that works the same, looks better, is smaller, and has brick-built planets, yet they settled on this monstrosity.
Stickers on rounded surfaces never last long and will peel off in really short time. I really hoped for this set but it disappoints in almost everything.
I'm also in the (probably) minority section because I love the way it looks. It was fun to build, I love the way it moves and how all the gears come to life when you operate it and I actually think it looks pretty good on display. I've put it next to some other Space-themed sets and than I also understood the white panels on the model. I hope Technic gets a few more non-car related sets because I can think of a dozen other items which could be built like this.
It looks great.
I have the CaDA JK Brickworks licensed one. It's excellent. The movement is precise, 365 turns for each day gets you one year rotation.
Works flawlessly for an 'off' brand. The brick technic quality was close to Lego's. Has a wider square base than JK's original design and the proper til on the Earth too. And the Earth and Sun are brick-built too.
The only thing with CaDa's is it slightly 'tilt/droops' a bit on the long arm due to the weight.
Not noticeable unless you look perfectly sideways on it.
And when you rotate it, it doesn't come aprt obviously but the arch where the crank is
slightly lifts, doesn't come off. Just need to push down once you finish cranking.
This one I plan on getting. Want to compare both and I love the look of orrery's.
I don’t think I’ve disagreed more with a Brickset review ever.
I love it! I built it over the weekend with my son and we both enjoyed putting it together. I really like the fact that you can see the mechanism working. Covering it might have improve the set appearance, but it would have hidden what is interesting about it: looking at gears do their magic is always fun especially if you’re like me and have no idea how gear ratios work. We even convinced my wife to put it on display next to our television.
A couple years ago I built a similar set from another brand that was based on a model by JKbrickworks. It did not work well and was disappointing in many regards.
I think it’s a great set, but that may just be me.
@legoDad42 said:
"It looks great.
I have the CaDA JK Brickworks licensed one. It's excellent. The movement is precise, 365 turns for each day gets you one year rotation.
Works flawlessly for an 'off' brand. The brick technic quality was close to Lego's. Has a wider square base than JK's original design and the proper til on the Earth too. And the Earth and Sun are brick-built too.
The only thing with CaDa's is it slightly 'tilt/droops' a bit on the long arm due to the weight.
Not noticeable unless you look perfectly sideways on it.
And when you rotate it, it doesn't come aprt obviously but the arch where the crank is
slightly lifts, doesn't come off. Just need to push down once you finish cranking.
This one I plan on getting. Want to compare both and I love the look of orrery's.
"
I was talking about the same Cada model. It never worked for me. I still have it so I’ll try building it again, to see.
@johleth
"I think I would like it more if it actually did have a steampunk design."
The CaDA Masters JK Brickworks orrery does have a more steampunk look.
it's interesting to read your comments and different points of view, thank you.
The thing I dislike most about it is that it looks bulky and unwieldy, but that does not seem to bother all of you.
I instantly disqualify anyone who uses gloves when handling their toys as high snobbery.
I think it would have looked good in total darkness with some sort of light kit to light up the sun, moon and Earth. Or make them glow in the dark.
I like it. For me Technic is all about the mechanisms and although this set only seems to have one main mechanism it is a pretty interesting one- the whole thing is driven from one single crank (it would also be interesting to see it motorised).
Also, I like Technic sets that look industrial and chunky. I do like those classical orreries that are made of shiny brass and so on, but this is Lego and I don't have any problem with it looking like Lego.
I do share the video review's opinion that there should be more background detail in the instructions. Also, I do think that the set is just a little bit overpriced, so although I will probably get one, I will wait for a special offer or discount first.
Hopefully this is the forerunner of a series of non-typical Technic sets. Those old Control Centre sets (8094 mentioned in the review and also 8485) were awesome.
I like it. It may look a bit bulky and clunky, but in fairness, so do I.
But that price, man. I like this a lot, but I don't like it 80 Euros much.
Despite this nicely thorough review, and Sariel's useful video, I'm not buying any LEGO this year for reasons of budegetary constraint, as well as an exercise in restraint, but if this is still available on the 1st of January 2025, I'll bite; should give me enough time to save up!
Yes, it's bulky, ugly (subjective), expensive (subjective), and has too many (i.e. any) stickers, but it's just so different from and much better (subjective) than YET ANOTHER identical "super"car that costs £300 and does nothing.
So I'll be putting my money where my musings are and support LEGO in making TECHNIC sets that aren't just more cars. It's the only way they'll get the message.
I'm surprised this review overlooked any aspect related to the mathematics and accuracy. The highlight of this set is the gearing and the ratios that approximate the movement of the sun, earth, and moon. It's not just a set that spins around for no reason.
I think what throws me off is the proportions. It looks like the goal was to have the mechanism be a background feature. Not hidden, but secondary to the spheres. Black components designed to fade into the background behind the white and red-orange base, and the brightly colored earth, sun, and moon.
But all of those colorful elements are overwhelmed by the scale of the mechanism. If the white panels were larger, and all of the spheres at least 50% wider, I think this would look a lot more balanced, visually.
Based on the wheels, I wonder if there was a plan for this year's Technic sets to have 2-in-1 alternate builds.
Or maybe I'm overthinking it and the wheels (well, their friction) are just the best option for a static display piece like this. (A building on a baseplate can shift a little, no big deal.)
Edit/update: Looking closely, I assumed the wheels had rubber tires, but they don't. I suppose they worked better than other stand options.
Mixed feelings. I really, really like the concept. But it's the execution that could and should have been better. In that regard I fully agree with the review.
To make this set better I think Lego could have gone two ways:
1) Make it a proper display model, nicely finished with much more System pieces. And as a result obviously a bit pricier.
2) Keep it even simpler, as a pure, kinda old-school Technic set that's all about function. And for what we get it should either be quite a bit cheaper, or even better, they should have turned it into a more educational set, with more explanation, and maybe even a couple of alternate builds?
@Lance_McCormick said:
"Edit/update: Looking closely, I assumed the wheels had rubber tires, but they don't. I suppose they worked better than other stand options."
They are the dual-moulded ones that debuted in Spike Prime/Mindstorms, with a hard inner and rubbery outer, designed to give robots good grip on hard surfaces.
I kind of love it. Sure, it's not designed to look pretty. But it just shows how much goes into the movement of these celestial bodies. The multiple ways things will spin around relative to each other is embodies well in its design, and that's something highly commendable!
Unfortunately I won't be able to spend 80 euro on something like this anytime soon, but I'd say this is one of the BEST technic set in decades!
@Huw said:
"Unless I am mistaken, the last time LEGO made a retail Technic set that was not a vehicle of some sort was in 1990 when it released 8094 Control Centre. (*)"
5218: Pneumatic Pack from 2000! There's also the Honda Asimo (1237) from 2001 but that one was a promo.
@Binnekamp said:
"I kind of love it. Sure, it's not designed to look pretty. But it just shows how much goes into the movement of these celestial bodies. The multiple ways things will spin around relative to each other is embodies well in its design, and that's something highly commendable!
Unfortunately I won't be able to spend 80 euro on something like this anytime soon, but I'd say this is one of the BEST technic set in decades!"
I agree. I'm not finding the appearance as repulsive as a lot if others. It makes me question myself. Definitely going to wait for a sale. But, I do that with everything now anyway.
@Huw said:
" @Lance_McCormick said:
"Edit/update: Looking closely, I assumed the wheels had rubber tires, but they don't. I suppose they worked better than other stand options."
They are the dual-moulded ones that debuted in Spike Prime/Mindstorms, with a hard inner and rubbery outer, designed to give robots good grip on hard surfaces.
"
Ah, okay. Then that's probably all it is, then. I was just disappointed that this year's Technic sets weren't 2-in-1. This set especially IMO would benefit.
I understand the concept behind it, but there have been more elegant examples made out of other materials, with additional planets and less mechanised parts.
It might have better to try and hide the technic parts, dress it up a bit, like a zoetrope, maybe.
Lego could do another 'challenge' or 'contest' just like they did with 9398. Contestant would have to 'dress' the orrery, then there would be a voting phase and the resulting winner would be made into a set just like 41999.
This thing also poses a problems. Since a bunch of people claim the earth is flat, this orrery comes as a serious misrepresentation of their reality.
It is ugly - I won't deny that. But I like it for the educational purpose of it (if the gears are visible even better - I will also have to do the calculations of all the gears to see how they managed to achieve 1/365.25 and 1/29.5) and, in all likelihood, I will get it. I will also probably spend quite a bit more to 'dress it' to my taste.
Note: as of now, the big circles are only available in lime-green and the new orange-red. The smaller circles are available in white, yellow and dark blueish gray. All black would be an improvement and colours could be placed elsewhere for details (IMO).
Note 2: One day, hopefully before we are all dead, Lego will have to understand that black pins are necessary. 'Adult Welcome' should mean: we are making this presentable because we know you will expose this in your house. 'Adult welcome' should not mean: we are taking your adult money but our product still look like a mess built by a 3 years old that still do not understand the concept of colour composition. As Sariel points out, there are 10 colours in this set where there should be only 4-5 (2-3 colours for the frame and gears, the sun, the earth, done)
I think it'd be neat to have for the educational value, so hopefully it'll go on deep-discount somewhere.
@HOBBES said:
"This thing also poses a problems. Since a bunch of people claim the earth is flat, this orrery comes as a serious misrepresentation of their reality."
Those people have got bigger problems, and we're not here to fix them.
Have to say I'm in the "totally disagree with this review" side too.
Minute I saw this set I knew I wanted it. And I got it. I think its a fantastic set!
Finally, a Technic set that doesn't hide all the mechanics! My biggest gripe is the decorative ring gears aren't more stable/securely fastened. I also wish the two sun pieces fit a little more precisely.
It could do with a bit more elegance & the land mass printing is....not good.
Throw in what the pin does to Antarctica & I really don't like this
The pure fact that this set achieves a near perfect orbital period of the Earth (365,5 days) and Moon (27 days) without complicated differentials and worm gears while working so smoothly is a work of genius. I have the CaDA model and yes that one gets the prize for display value, but it works a bit wonky due to the much heavier brick-built Earth. I think it's really great to finally have something different than vehicles and for once a truly function focused set in the Technic theme. It just looks ugly because of the different coloured parts which can be easily replaced (e.g. Ornithopter). Since we have no panels covering up everything, it's far more noticeable than in other Technic sets.
What bothers me more is trying to align 4 separate stickers on a curved ring twice and the quality control on the Earth print which was also split into 4 pads, so it will never be perfect.
Swap Earth for Yavin IV and the sun for its moon and then our moon for the Death star and you can re-create the scene where the Death star tries to blow up Yavin IV!
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Swap Earth for Yavin IV and the sun for its moon and then our moon for the Death star and you can re-create the scene where the Death star tries to blow up Yavin IV!"
"You're all clear, kid!"
I also love everything about the set. Sure, I'd always like to pay less, but in this case I don't feel bad paying retail. I'm happy the gears are visible and not covered by panels and/or system pieces. It's soothing to watch them in motion.
@eiffel006 said:
" @legoDad42 said:
"It looks great.
I have the CaDA JK Brickworks licensed one. It's excellent. The movement is precise, 365 turns for each day gets you one year rotation.
Works flawlessly for an 'off' brand. The brick technic quality was close to Lego's. Has a wider square base than JK's original design and the proper til on the Earth too. And the Earth and Sun are brick-built too.
The only thing with CaDa's is it slightly 'tilt/droops' a bit on the long arm due to the weight.
Not noticeable unless you look perfectly sideways on it.
And when you rotate it, it doesn't come aprt obviously but the arch where the crank is
slightly lifts, doesn't come off. Just need to push down once you finish cranking.
This one I plan on getting. Want to compare both and I love the look of orrery's.
"
I was talking about the same Cada model. It never worked for me. I still have it so I’ll try building it again, to see."
Yeah, mine works great. I still have it on display.
Just be mindful lining up the gears. Like really double check with the instructions. Sometimes those instructions are printed too dark.
JK as far as I know worked together with them on the model.
P.S. The CaDA model uses 360:1 ratio for the Earth, so less accurate than the LEGO model.
When I was a kid of 10 years, I would have killed for this set (maybe not exactly). Now I'm grown up, I just pre-ordered it two weeks before release.
I built the original JKbrickworks design in 2016, using all black gears and black and gold parts for the base. A picture with both models in comparison is here on flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_kleinstein/53581477906/in/dateposted-public/
While I can understand most of the arguments above, the most obvious fact seems to have been missed so far: The set needs to tie in with the new Technic Space series! This explains the colour choice (bright red and white highlights). Compared to the other models in the range, it is still mostly black (or very, very dark gray).
As a model which has no predecessor in the Technic range, it couldn't tie in with anything else - thank goodness not even the Star Wars universe.
I love historic orreries. The best ones work like clockworks with a calendar-like accuracy.
Lego have ventured to make one, and have gone where they have never gone before. The working of the model is smooth, it comprises more functions than the JKbrickworks one (say ecliptic, moon phases, and calendar), and it is bigger, too. As a designer of Lego mechanisms, I express my most sincere respect for the result.
The look is not too far away from the established Technic look (like it or not), and still supports the label "space" (what else?).
I love it.
I already used it to teach my kids about the seasons and the moon phases. It is sitting next to the Ideas Globe. I want to link it to my mechanical clock. Currently it is powered with a pneumatic engine, but, alas, that's not accurate enough.
Yet.
Mr_Kleinstein
My main reason for which I won't be buying it is not printed Sun. The biggest part in the middle - an orange ugly ball. Really? TLG printed the earth.. but not the bigger sun? It would add so much to the aesthethics.
@NathanR2015 said:
"I'm probably in a minority here, but I find the model to be quite beautiful. It's elegant, functional, and I love how the mechanism is clearly visible. Even the pin holes in the Earth/Sun spheres don't bother me, because it highlights the model's Lego technic DNA, and shows how a children's toy can be used to create a very sophisticated piece of machinery. I am really looking forward to buying one of these!"
Agree 100%!
There do seem to be some folks who don't like Lego to look like Lego, and even more so, Technic to look like Technic. Personally I love it... even the blue pins - an essential part of the Technic style.
Thanks @Racingbrick for
https://youtu.be/abAfPpRejDM?si=0ZrFgVIl0C7-eUjt
Sorry, I can't watch the creepy axe murderer gloves of Sariel's videos!
@legoDad42 said:
" @eiffel006 said:
" @legoDad42 said:
"It looks great.
I have the CaDA JK Brickworks licensed one. It's excellent. The movement is precise, 365 turns for each day gets you one year rotation.
Works flawlessly for an 'off' brand. The brick technic quality was close to Lego's. Has a wider square base than JK's original design and the proper til on the Earth too. And the Earth and Sun are brick-built too.
The only thing with CaDa's is it slightly 'tilt/droops' a bit on the long arm due to the weight.
Not noticeable unless you look perfectly sideways on it.
And when you rotate it, it doesn't come aprt obviously but the arch where the crank is
slightly lifts, doesn't come off. Just need to push down once you finish cranking.
This one I plan on getting. Want to compare both and I love the look of orrery's.
"
I was talking about the same Cada model. It never worked for me. I still have it so I’ll try building it again, to see."
Yeah, mine works great. I still have it on display.
Just be mindful lining up the gears. Like really double check with the instructions. Sometimes those instructions are printed too dark.
JK as far as I know worked together with them on the model. "
I think my son and will have something to do next weekend...
@sjr60 said:
"Thanks @Racingbrick for
https://youtu.be/abAfPpRejDM?si=0ZrFgVIl0C7-eUjt
Sorry, I can't watch the creepy axe murderer gloves of Sariel's videos!"
I like the conciseness of his videos but, yes, the gloves are offputting and totally unnecessary. I just wash my hands regualrly when building sets that are to be photographed.
disambiguation:
The sidereal moon rotation is 27.3 days. This is the time it takes the moon to make one full rotation around the earth. It has limited application in day-to-day life - (so to speak).
The synodic moon rotation is 29.5 days. This is the time it take for the moon to return to the same place it was in the sky (full-moon to full-moon and new-moon to new-moon).
Basically, after 27,3 days, the moon has done its thing around earth but for an observer on the planet, earth has also moved relative to the sun - it has moved 365.25/27.3 = 13.38 degrees. It takes the moon another 2.2 days to cover the difference (again during the 2.2 days the earth will move slightly as well etc, etc, but after 29.5 days the moon is roughly at the same place in the sky as the prior month - hence the 29-30 days moon period).
HTH
@Mr_Kleinstein said:
"When I was a kid of 10 years, I would have killed for this set (maybe not exactly). Now I'm grown up, I just pre-ordered it two weeks before release.
I built the original JKbrickworks design in 2016, using all black gears and black and gold parts for the base. A picture with both models in comparison is here on flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_kleinstein/53581477906/in/dateposted-public/
While I can understand most of the arguments above, the most obvious fact seems to have been missed so far: The set needs to tie in with the new Technic Space series! This explains the colour choice (bright red and white highlights). Compared to the other models in the range, it is still mostly black (or very, very dark gray).
As a model which has no predecessor in the Technic range, it couldn't tie in with anything else - thank goodness not even the Star Wars universe.
I love historic orreries. The best ones work like clockworks with a calendar-like accuracy.
Lego have ventured to make one, and have gone where they have never gone before. The working of the model is smooth, it comprises more functions than the JKbrickworks one (say ecliptic, moon phases, and calendar), and it is bigger, too. As a designer of Lego mechanisms, I express my most sincere respect for the result.
The look is not too far away from the established Technic look (like it or not), and still supports the label "space" (what else?).
I love it.
I already used it to teach my kids about the seasons and the moon phases. It is sitting next to the Ideas Globe. I want to link it to my mechanical clock. Currently it is powered with a pneumatic engine, but, alas, that's not accurate enough.
Yet.
Mr_Kleinstein"
Thanks a lot for your comments and comparison picture. I agree with you that it's a great set for educational purposes!
@Huw said:
" @sjr60 said:
"Thanks @Racingbrick for
https://youtu.be/abAfPpRejDM?si=0ZrFgVIl0C7-eUjt
Sorry, I can't watch the creepy axe murderer gloves of Sariel's videos!"
I like the conciseness of his videos but, yes, the gloves are offputting and totally unnecessary. I just wash my hands regualrly when building sets that are to be photographed.
"
Aren't the gloves because they don't want their hands to be seen rather than having greasy hands that make the LEGO dirty? Quite a lot of crafters and scratch builders do something similar.
Except for colour choices, I like this set.
I prefer to see the mechanisms: I didn’t buy the Chiron, Sian, etc. since I would prefer to display the transmission alone- there is something beautiful about it! I’m not even sure we see enough the gears in this set.
I’m impressed mostly by the gear ratios and the earth tilting.
The sun parts: i prefer without printing, so the parts can be used for other projects.
And thank Hobbes for your explanation about the moon!
About the gloves:
Maybe he is 10 years in advance about cybersecurity. Some government and companies will no longer only track/spy citizens with cameras+ facial recognition softwares, but with finger recognition softwares?
I will surely buy this set, because I love orreries and of course Technic! I think this is a good start of upcoming kinetic models, so I'm eagerly waiting for them.
As for the gloves I also build in them, because even washing hands doesn't help me with my sweaty palms, and they give a good gripe in dismantling.
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Swap Earth for Yavin IV and the sun for its moon and then our moon for the Death star and you can re-create the scene where the Death star tries to blow up Yavin IV!"
It is my responsibility as a Star Wars pedant to mention that Yavin 4 is the moon. The planet is Yavin Prime.
I am sorry :o)
@CapnRex101 said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Swap Earth for Yavin IV and the sun for its moon and then our moon for the Death star and you can re-create the scene where the Death star tries to blow up Yavin IV!"
It is my responsibility as a Star Wars pedant to mention that Yavin 4 is the moon. The planet is Yavin Prime.
I am sorry :o)"
Don't be sorry! Somebody had to say it, and you did it! I bet a lot of other people ere thinking it anyway. (I certainly was!)
Competition sets like 3038, 8269 and 8257 weren't vehicles but weren't exactly static either, and there were the Slizers in 1999/ 2000. Star Wars had a few Technic models but they weren't released under the Technic brand...
Anyway, I do like this. Yes it's a little bulky and pricy... As others have said, the bulk gives it a sort of Lego charm and the price is a matter of patience ;-)
@HOBBES said:
"disambiguation:
The sidereal moon rotation is 27.3 days. This is the time it takes the moon to make one full rotation around the earth. It has limited application in day-to-day life - (so to speak).
The synodic moon rotation is 29.5 days. This is the time it take for the moon to return to the same place it was in the sky (full-moon to full-moon and new-moon to new-moon).
Basically, after 27,3 days, the moon has done its thing around earth but for an observer on the planet, earth has also moved relative to the sun - it has moved 365.25/27.3 = 13.38 degrees. It takes the moon another 2.2 days to cover the difference (again during the 2.2 days the earth will move slightly as well etc, etc, but after 29.5 days the moon is roughly at the same place in the sky as the prior month - hence the 29-30 days moon period).
HTH
"
Replying to my own post, sorry.
I was rereading this and I figured: if the earth would progress by less than 15 degrees around the sun for a full rotation of the moon, this mean we would get more than 20 moons per year. Clearly the calculations were wrong. The number of degrees is 27.3/365.25*360=26.9 degrees. To this, you have to add the number of degrees done during the extra 2.2 days which is 2.2/365.25*360 = 2.17 degrees. So, in total, each moon correspond to an arc of the earth of roughly 29.07 degrees around the sun - this is more in accordance with the 12 moons per year. The reasoning remains the same but the angles were just plain wrong.
I had this on my wanted list, but I'm not so sure anymore. It's not that I think the model is ugly, nor that it's overpriced (after all, there's a difference between "I want to own this model" and "I want to pay MSRP for this model"), part of it is those stickers for the months and the phases of the moon. I don't think it's ugly or anything, I do think this review disillusioned me in some way that I can't quite put my finger on. The sun not being printed doesn't bother me; I wonder if they're planning to use those sphere halves in some other model, and that's why they were left plain. Could just be because the designer didn't have enough "frames" left, and felt it was more important that the Earth be printed.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Swap Earth for Yavin IV and the sun for its moon and then our moon for the Death star and you can re-create the scene where the Death star tries to blow up Yavin IV!"
It is my responsibility as a Star Wars pedant to mention that Yavin 4 is the moon. The planet is Yavin Prime.
I am sorry :o)"
Never apologize for Star Wars pedantry.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Swap Earth for Yavin IV and the sun for its moon and then our moon for the Death star and you can re-create the scene where the Death star tries to blow up Yavin IV!"
It is my responsibility as a Star Wars pedant to mention that Yavin 4 is the moon. The planet is Yavin Prime.
I am sorry :o)"
My mistake. I was meant to say that Yavin IV was the moon and that Yavin prime was in the way but I posted it in the morning and I was still half-asleep.
Add me to the list of "Strongly Disagrees With The Review."
But what I really wanted to say has to do with Huw's reminder about the set's scale. It got me thinking. A true scale representation is out of the question. But just how small would a piece representing the Earth need to be, if scaled to the Sun used in the set?
Roughly half the diameter of an accessory peg/minipeg, it turns out! .806 mm is the number we reached.
Note: I had a fair bit of assistance, so I can't take too much credit for working it out. At times I can be annoyingly slow to process even simple equations. Think of a stubborn motor with a pull-cord.
Glad to see Australia and all the countries that exist in the world beside North America did get a mention, your pictures had me a bit worried there for a while!
Good review, this set is a great idea but executed horribly. If this was on Lego Masters the designer would get ripped for how poorly this is presented.
I bought it as an interactive teaching toy for my 5y old son and have not been disappointed so far. He loves it and can now recognize the seasons and moon phases without looking at the stickers by looking at the earth-moon-sun locations and the earth axis angle. It would have been a lot harder to achieve without this !
Even if the Moon plane angle is not accurate, it is still possible to explain solar eclipses as long as you don't discuss periodicity.
My only disappointment (but it would have make the mechanism much more bulkier) is that the Moon does not rotate on itself therefore it's not possible to explain tidal locking. Nor why Vega is hidden on the far side of the Moon !
I totally love the idea behind this set.
I also love the execution of the function itself.
But my god is the end result an ugly mess, and needlessly so.
Had this been built with all black pins and axles it would immediately have looked less random. And if they wanted to add colour why not do all the accent pieces in flat silver or warm gold, to give it more of a "metal" look?
As it stands this to me is one of the ugliest sets LEGO have ever produced and will definitely not find a way into my collection.
This may be more popular as one of the builds from a general Technic 'space' building set, together with say a moon exploration robotic rover, rotating space station etc., but either way really need to add a motor to make more animated and save hand fatigue although would just make even more expensive.
@Huw or someone else who's built this: with the parts available in the set, could you build this so the Sun, Moon and Earth and the rotating parts can all be placed upside down in reverse, so when you spin the model you're looking at it from a Southern Hemisphere perspective?
@Skut said:
" @Huw or someone else who's built this: with the parts available in the set, could you build this so the Sun, Moon and Earth and the rotating parts can all be placed upside down in reverse, so when you spin the model you're looking at it from a Southern Hemisphere perspective? "
The earth can clearly be placed upside down as it consists of the same two parts with different print. Why would you need to invert the sun or moon? They are plain parts.
This is the only technic set I’ve been excited for in maybe 15 years! …(since the big Unimog) - I hope LEGO goes more in this direction. Similarly to the Botanical collection, I think this set will pull people back in to collecting and building with Technic and really paints a picture of what can be made without motors.
LEGO, please: More models like this and perhaps some automatons in the Technic line.
I like to find MOCs that aren't made from a scratch, but are an improvement or an extension of existing sets. I wonder if it would be difficult to make this set prettier by adding some coverings and ornaments.
When so many System sets use technic parts they should have rather used the Star Wars planets pieces and created a smaller variant of it for Earth. Usually these gimmick sublines include garbage pieces like the much too large Video Game Arcade machine in Ninjagos Prime Empire line but the Star Wars planets are great display pieces and getting our real planets in the same format would make for a great set. Though I have to admit, I got Naboo or Yavin IV, Coruscant and the Death Star for 1,60 or so each and that's good enough for me.
@CCC said:
" @Skut said:
" @Huw or someone else who's built this: with the parts available in the set, could you build this so the Sun, Moon and Earth and the rotating parts can all be placed upside down in reverse, so when you spin the model you're looking at it from a Southern Hemisphere perspective? "
The earth can clearly be placed upside down as it consists of the same two parts with different print. Why would you need to invert the sun or moon? They are plain parts."
Thanks for the clarification re the plain parts, my question also relates to the gears etc - I think it would just be a question of whether the mechanism can turn in reverse. And I'm guessing you might have to rotate the month labels through 180 degrees for it to be accurate from "upside down".
Or maybe next year @Huw?
Given that he first Technic Control Center had a Mobile Crane as one of it's models and that the most iconic model of the second Technic Control Center was a T-rex, I'd say that line can be pushed to 1995 :) Also the Giant Model Building Set from1997 is more a robot-type thing than a vehicle as well (one model even seems to be a cat).
It's not really a question of whether or not you can motorise this - the real question is, which motor and how many gears am I going to need to slow it down to the point where the orrery's earth moves around the sun at the same pace of our own planet?
I'm a little late to the party here, but I have to agree with some of the criticism. It is overpriced, and the colour scheme isn't exactly brilliant. However, this was the most excited I've been for a technic set in years and I was going to buy it regardless. It's actually the first time I've ever bought a set on release day! I'd seen enough of the mechanics to appreciate the accuracy, which was my only real concern, and I can alter the looks to make it somewhat more of a display piece (it's Lego after all).
So whilst it is overpriced and somewhat unattractive out of the box, I'm very pleased that TLG has released anything like this instead of yet another licensed functionless car, and my only way to show that appreciation is to buy it!
I'm also very much looking forward to teaching my kids about the seasons with this.