Review : LEGO Technic 42082 Rough Terrain Crane

I had saved the best for last: We finally finished the rapid test cycle of the LEGO Technic novelties of the second half of 2018 with the reference 42082 Rough Terrain Crane (4057 pieces - 249.99 €).

LEGO announces the color in the description of the product, it is a "... immense play and build experience with the LEGO® Technic ™ 42082 All Terrain Crane, the largest and tallest LEGO Technic crane to date ...". And I must admit that I spent a few very long hours there to finally arrive at the final result and be able to take advantage of the different functions offered by this set. Review , it's true, quickly assembled, it's less obvious.

Do not count on me to explain to you why the designer did or not his job by placing such or such gear in such place. I am in the wrong position to have an opinion and that is not the point of this article. Don't get confused either by the number of pieces announced here (4057 in all), this is a product from the LEGO Technic range. We therefore find a little more than 1500 pins of all kinds in this box or more than a third of the total inventory.

If you like the LEGO Technic concept, you'll be in heaven here. As far as I am concerned, I must admit that I went through phases of great weariness in assembling the complex sub-elements which required constant vigilance. A small error even caused me to have to dismantle a whole set by methodically going back over thirty pages via the instructions.

The satisfaction of arriving at the end of the second instruction booklet (nearly 700 pages in all ...) quickly took precedence over the boredom felt during certain sequences of the assembly. The result is really impressive and we are eager to test all the features promised via the ingenious and didactic system of selectors, the function of which is visually indicated explicitly by a drawing (on a sticker).

I would add in passing that if you are not the type to stick the stickers on your sets because you keep them to make jams or that you stack them in a binder that you flip through from time to time while gargling in front of your friends on the impeccable condition of your boards accumulated over the years, you are missing something.

The pictograms that dress the control box are essential for everyone to be able to control this crane, except forcing your children or your passing friends to learn the list of functions by heart. So stick these damn stickers on me, it's for a good cause ...

Then all you have to do is follow the visual indications to put the crane into service and check if this toy lives up to the promises made by the manufacturer. And unlike the content of other boxes which ultimately only offer very limited playability, the crane in this set allows you to have a little fun thanks to the many integrated functions.

We even take the space of a moment for this guy seen in a documentary on Discovery Channel which pilots a huge machine using a small box and about which the voiceover tells us that at the slightest error he will waste a lot of time and money on his boss.

A little regret for me, it's really painfully slow at all levels. It's probably very personal, but it lacks nervousness. Deployment of the stabilizers becomes really annoying, although I'm not sure that in real life the operation will be much faster. If you have a little more than a minute in front of you, I have filmed the sequence below for you:

It's hard to want to repeat the operation beyond the first phase of discovering the thing, especially when you notice that the stabilizers absolutely do not raise the crane by a millimeter. And it's kind of the same very slow punishment for other features like the boom deployment of the crane which "... deploys up to one meter high! ...". It's long, very long.

Some, anxious to find a ready-made excuse, will see a touch of realism in it. I rather see it as something to get bored quickly and put this crane in a corner until I have the courage to take it apart. If the assembly experience will be enough to delight fans of the LEGO Technic universe, I once again find the effort / reward ratio offered by this set a little disappointing.

To weight my reaction, I again make it clear that I'm not the type to marvel at a few well-designed gear sets. When I have a set from the LEGO Technic range in my hands, it is the purpose of the product that interests me even if I am aware that I am missing out on what makes this range so interesting for fans. the most assiduous. That certainly explains that.

I also regret that LEGO did not take advantage of the launch of the ecosystem products Powered Up to offer a product equipped with the latest innovations from the manufacturer in terms of engine.

The control panel placed at the back of the crane is extremely well thought out, but I imagine what it would have been possible to do by having the same controls within an application installed on a smartphone that would act as a remote control. , as with the type of documentary I mentioned above.

We therefore find here a single engine Power Functions L and a battery box which is also easily accessible at the rear of the crane and which incidentally acts as a counterweight. You only have to partially remove a pin and lift the black cover to access the box. It is this single motor which controls all the functions of the set via several gearboxes managed from the control panel. Why not, the designers have done their homework and a single motor is actually enough to put the crane in motion.

360 ° cab rotation, installation of the side stabilizers, lifting of the arm, deployment of the boom, winding and unwinding of the cable, everything is there. This crane will certainly delight fans of complex assemblies and public works machinery of all kinds, but it lacks a bit of fun for me especially since it is impossible to move the machine forward or backward other than manually, a feature that should be provided as a base in sets featuring vehicles.

This is only my opinion, but in 2018, if we want to attract a clientele a little larger than the fan hardcore of LEGO Technic products, we should no longer have to vroom-vroom on a toy at 250 €.

At 249.99 € the crane at LEGO ou 199.99 € at amazon, as elaborate and complex as it is, this big box is reserved for die-hard fans of the LEGO Technic range.

There must be a few kids who will dream of adding this machine to their collection for Christmas, but with the same budget we must be able to do more fun than a red and black public works machine whose fairing conceals most of the mechanisms that are at work during the various phases of operation.

The secondary model proposed by LEGO is even less sexy than the crane, it is about a "pile mast" whose instructions must be downloaded in PDF format, there are no small savings .... Reserved for fans who want to spend their free time pretending to lay a foundation.

For the rest, I have not noticed any obvious problem for the occasional constructor of LEGO Technic sets that I am, apart from perhaps the impossibility of putting the boom completely in the horizontal as on the real cranes of this type. . I rechecked that I hadn't made a mistake while assembling, it looks like it was planned like this.

This LEGO Technic set 42082 Rough Terrain Crane is ultimately not one of those about which one can be satisfied with having a peremptory opinion. Even though it's just a construction crane, it's still a pretty crane packed with features.

If you like complex assemblies, with lots of gears, various and varied gearboxes and pins of all colors, go for it. Otherwise, buy Star Wars or Harry Potter is good too.

I will now tackle the dismantling which promises to be fascinating and I indicate to you that the set presented here is as usual put into play. To participate in the draw, you just have to post a comment on this article before the September 15 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.