Review: 42140 App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle
Posted by benbacardi,
The latest in LEGO's line of app-controlled Technic sets is the rather poorly-named 42140 App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle. Reminiscent of RC cars from my childhood, the set builds a tracked vehicle that can drive regardless of which way up it is, and flip itself by being driven at a wall or other vertical surface.
The Powered Up / Control+ platform has so far seen a handful of large expensive licensed vehicles, and a couple of smaller non-licensed models. This "transformation vehicle" represents significantly better value for money than the previous model, with double the number of parts for the same £114.99 / $139.99 price.
Summary
42140 App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle, 772 pieces.
£129.99 / $149.99 / €149.99 | 16.8p/19.4c/19.4c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A unique remote control vehicle with a couple of minor issues with its main functionality.
- Novel concept
- Fun, piece-heavy build
- Fairly good value for money
- Doesn't always flip as intended
- A fairly large space is needed to play
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Parts
There are a handful of new parts in the set, both new designs and old panels and liftarms in new colours. I've included a photo below of some of the more interesting ones, including the new "apostrophe" piece and 19x3 frame. The two gears are particularly interesting; identically-sized 12- and 20-toothed gears exist already, but these new ones don't have the bevelled/tapered teeth. I'm unsure why LEGO felt the need to make this change, as I can see no reason in the construction of the car that the regular gears wouldn't work equally well.
A handful of parts are included in the new fluorescent yellow, which I find a very intriguing colour. It manages to look both fresh and new as well as somewhat cheap compared to LEGO's usual parts!
As is common for Technic sets like these, there's a rather substantial sticker sheet included, which does significantly improve the look of the vehicle. The distinction between the two sides is quite obvious!
The Build
The first few bags are dedicated to constructing the frame of the vehicle around the two motors and the hub. Without the rest of the bodywork it's somewhat rear-heavy! Each motor controls a single drive wheel, one on either side of the car. I particularly like the neat little clips that hold the ribbon cables in place, and the way LEGO have colour-coded each side (with pink and teal), so it's always obvious which way round the model is facing.
The new gears are used to step the motors down to the speed required for the wheels, and you can see them clearly in the photo below.
The next bags construct the main bodywork of the car. One side, shown on top here, is some kind of racer; predominantly blue, and using the fluorescent yellow beams as accent highlights in the form of a pair of go-faster stripes that continue onto the spoiler.
The bodywork is actually attached to the frame using a pair of springs, one on each side, and a small elastic band, shown in the photo below. At first, it wasn't clear what the purpose of these were, but it's actually quite clever. In order to be able to drive either side up, the whole of the body needs to fit within the tracks once they're attached, at least on the underside: otherwise, the car wouldn't be able to move. The springs allow the body to flip up or down within the frame, to ensure that the tracks always have good traction on the ground. Small free-spinning wheels on the top of each vehicle helps push it to the right position when flipped.
The two photos below show the vehicle from the side in both its orientations, with the blue racer on top first, and then the orange truck second. It's clear how the spring-attached mechanism allows the body to sit in the right place so as not to obscure the tracks. The small rubber band is actually responsible for flipping the spoiler into its upright position when the racer is on top.
The other side of the car from the racer is a bright orange flatbed truck. The bottom of the control hub forms the base of the truck bed, which allows easy access to the battery panel without having to dismantle the model at all.
Eight pairs of smaller guide wheels on bogies are also now attached to the frame on each side, to help keep the track in place and provide the necessary traction on the ground.
The Completed Model
Once the tracks have been assembled (a somewhat tedious step, with 48 segments and rubber plugs on each side), the vehicle is complete! The tracks somewhat swamp the racer, which is only just visible above them, although the truck stands out a little more. It's a very imposing looking model.
A side on view of the model in both directions shows, again, how it fits neatly within the ground clearance required by the tracks on the bottom while allowing each design to protrude above them.
The App
The vehicle is controlled using the standard CONTROL+ app that controls all recent Technic sets. When I first built the model, I couldn't actually do anything with it - the app doesn't get updated with the new models until their release date, so I had to wait a few days. I did try pretending it was one of the other models, but it's clever enough to know that the hub peripherals aren't connected in the right positions, and wouldn't let me continue.
(It was happy to pretend to be 42124 Off-Road Buggy, but as one of the motors is instead used to control the small movements required to steer the buggy, it wouldn't run continually, so I was stuck driving in circles.)
When the app finally updated, it connected to the hub and gave me a walkthrough of the various controls. The sliders on the left and right control the tracks independently, and you can tap the arrows to spin the vehicle to face the other direction automatically. I like the tilt and pitch information provided at the top of the screen too, and the design of the interface changes depending on which side of the vehicle is on top.
Drive the car directly at the wall, and as advertised, the front drives up it until it's high enough for gravity to flip it over; at which point, the interface in the app changes colour as the new vehicle pops out the top of the tracks. However, in my testing, the shape and height of my skirting board was enough to sometimes cause the lights on the front of the car between the tracks to get stuck on the wall and stop the car from flipping—not all the time, but enough to be frustrating. Additionally, when it did manage to flip, sometimes the force wouldn't be enough to pop the car's body through to the other side, and it would bump along with tracks half in the air; again, not every time, but frustrating when it did happen.
As with the other models, there's a game inside the app, and it varies depending on which models is on top. For the race car, the aim is to drive through all the virtual gates, which each appear briefly on the radar in the middle of the screen.
For the truck, you need to find and collect the power cells, using only a rudimentary proximity sensor. For both, you need a fairly large amount of space to play in, but they were relatively fun and I appreciate the attempt to make more of the app than just controls.
Conclusion
I don't recall LEGO having produced anything quite like this before, and I think it generally holds up pretty well. It's a substantial build, and much better value for money than its previous sets in the line.
The tracks get some significant traction thanks to the rubber pads, and if I didn't have skirting boards around my walls quite like I do, I think the "transformation action" would work very well. It did improve when I removed the light cluster, and it was fine against the doors.
I think they've hit the right target with the suggested age range of 9 or older; being Technic, it's not as easy to put together as System sets are, and there were some fiddly stages that younger children wouldn't manage. Once built, the controls are simple enough and I think most children would have a lot of fun driving it around.
It's available now at LEGO.com for £114.99 / $139.99.
Video
For some footage of the vehicle (and the app) in action, I recommend checking out Sariel's review on YouTube.
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33 comments on this article
I would have loved to have this as a kid. As a grown-up, I know it's been said so many times before, but I'm so wary of that app control. The fact you can't use it as a reviewer until they unlock it server-side really highlights how dependent the toy is on the app - and we all know it'll disappear one day.
Nice.
It's like they really wanted to build a WWI era tank, but knew weapons of war were not allowed, so they gave it racing stripes and a spoiler.
These app dependent constructions are dead to me. I hope LEGO understands the reaction against them and goes back to the much more reliable and confidence inspiring control systems we had in the past.
I would rather see, and buy, another RC Racer outdoor like 8675 and 8676!
While I do think a touch-screen is a much poorer form of control than a manual joystick, suggestions that an app controlled model will stop working when app support ends are nonsense. No updates just mean it will continue to work the way it did the day support ended, not that the app will be magically removed!
As for this model, like all Technic sets, not worth the RRP, but once it's reduced to £60-£70 I may well get it.
This looks like it would be a lot of fun, but is there any need for so many stickers?
@sjr60 said:
"While I do think a touch-screen is a much poorer form of control than a manual joystick, suggestions that an app controlled model will stop working when app support ends are nonsense. No updates just mean it will continue to work the way it did the day support ended, not that the app will be magically removed!
As for this model, like all Technic sets, not worth the RRP, but once it's reduced to £60-£70 I may well get it."
Operating systems get updated, sometimes unsupported apps stop working.
And what will happen in 20-30 years? RC Lego from the '00s are still usable today. These app-controlled sets, I imagine will not.
I love it! How well does it perform outside?
@Arnoldos said:
" @sjr60 said:
"While I do think a touch-screen is a much poorer form of control than a manual joystick, suggestions that an app controlled model will stop working when app support ends are nonsense. No updates just mean it will continue to work the way it did the day support ended, not that the app will be magically removed!"
Operating systems get updated, sometimes unsupported apps stop working.
And what will happen in 20-30 years? RC Lego from the '00s are still usable today. These app-controlled sets, I imagine will not."
Operating systems only update if you chose to update them. And with the frequency that people get new phones I don't believe keeping an old phone with an old operating system just as a Lego controller is an issue.
I agree that Control+ is crap, just not because it will stop working.
Dare I say this is the best C+ set so far? Interesting concept that is a nice step up from the PF Tracked vehicles that came before. And it just seems like a ton of fun to play with. Even the price doesn't seem that unreasonable, at least by Lego standards. So for the intended audience I think this is a pretty much perfect set.
There are a few things I don't like though. The entire C+ system (especially its reliance on an app), now made even more annoying by the screws in the battery box. Way too many stickers. And did we really need another color in Technic? But I think for the intended audience this all isn't really an issue.
But overall I think they did a good job on this one.
@Arnoldos said:
" @sjr60 said:
"While I do think a touch-screen is a much poorer form of control than a manual joystick, suggestions that an app controlled model will stop working when app support ends are nonsense. No updates just mean it will continue to work the way it did the day support ended, not that the app will be magically removed!
As for this model, like all Technic sets, not worth the RRP, but once it's reduced to £60-£70 I may well get it."
Operating systems get updated, sometimes unsupported apps stop working.
And what will happen in 20-30 years? RC Lego from the '00s are still usable today. These app-controlled sets, I imagine will not."
I personally use c+ setes together with standard lego bt remote and I use pybricks to program the hub. Works perfectly. You can also use brickcontrol app and the ps/xbox pad.
I wonder why the author didn't try to use the powered up app to quickly create own steering panel instead of trying to use the controls designed for the buggy...
I think it's pretty awesome how it flips and trasform. But fells too expensive in euro zone.
TLG should've used Sariel's name for this thing and called it the Flip Tank.
@srj60 @Arnoldos Old apps usually get dropped from phone stores. That is because apps need to be periodically updated to stay compatible with the OS API and other requirements, such as tracking, permissions, etc.
While it is unlikely that TLG will drop the app anytime soon, it is a potential liability.
I am an embedded programmer myself so BT connectivity is not an issue but almost everyone else would be out of their comfort zone.
Pretty neat, LEGO.
Now make a Landmaster with the Lockheed Tri-Star wheels and you can shut up and take my money.
While not much can be said of those license Lego sets in most of the reviews shown lately, this set comes as a nice surprise. I particularly agrees on the statement "Fun, piece-heavy build". This is what I'm looking for in a Lego set, price aside (which can be subjective). I think it's fun to build and play with, and allows further expandability. This is how a Lego should be (and greatly differs to those "lovely" collectible display based models).
@sjr60 said:
"While I do think a touch-screen is a much poorer form of control than a manual joystick, suggestions that an app controlled model will stop working when app support ends are nonsense. No updates just mean it will continue to work the way it did the day support ended, not that the app will be magically removed!
As for this model, like all Technic sets, not worth the RRP, but once it's reduced to £60-£70 I may well get it."
The problem is the app will be required to be updated to match the devices OS and security levels to actually work. There will come a time when the updates stop, and a a OS version or two later it very much likely will refuse to work. They don't need to remove the app.
Unless you keep an old device on an ancient OS version just for this.
Third party apps already exist to provide some support, so hopefully the community can keep these updated.
It’s not too long ago that iOS dropped all support for 32-bit apps. And once an iPhone has been updated and support lost, there’s no way to bring it back. Putting control like this onto a phone is perhaps LEGO’s idea of being cool and forward thinking, and possibly it’s also cheaper than developing and building a dedicated controller unit - let alone a generic one. But as many of these comments have said it destroys the USP of the set in years to come. LEGO has always been proud of its heritage and the ability of its modern bricks to be built together with those of 60 years ago. So I’m hopeful they will do better in the future.
@tomthepirate said:
" @srj60 @Arnoldos Old apps usually get dropped from phone stores. That is because apps need to be periodically updated to stay compatible with the OS API and other requirements, such as tracking, permissions, etc."
Yes, that all goes without saying. The point is that an old phone, running an old O/S, and an old app, not even connected to the internet, won't ever update anything, so won't cease to function until something breaks.
Strong Tyco Rebound vibes.
@sjr60 said:
" @tomthepirate said:
" @srj60 @Arnoldos Old apps usually get dropped from phone stores. That is because apps need to be periodically updated to stay compatible with the OS API and other requirements, such as tracking, permissions, etc."
Yes, that all goes without saying. The point is that an old phone, running an old O/S, and an old app, not even connected to the internet, won't ever update anything, so won't cease to function until something breaks."
And how long are you expecting the non-user-serviceable rechargeable battery in this old phone to last? Hope you don't ever drop that phone on it's glass face as well.
^^^ @sjr60 Hope you can find an old phone, running an old OS, and an old app, not even connected to the internet, to run that vintage Control+ kit when you proudly add it to your collection in thirty years. Now you have to scour secondary markets not only for the cool old Lego Technic set you want, but also for the exact ancient smartphone running the exact ancient app you need to make the Technic set go, unless its previous owner(s) were savvy enough to allocate a dedicated phone to running Control+ and pass it along every time the set is resold without ever letting it connect to the internet, try to update, and bork the app. Good luck!
One of the most unique and interesting technic sets to come out in years. And look at that, they didn't even need a license for it too!
A shame about it using the Control+ system though.
@darkstonegrey said:
"And how long are you expecting the non-user-serviceable rechargeable battery in this old phone to last? Hope you don't ever drop that phone on it's glass face as well."
Or indeed ever break the, now obsolete, power functions remote.
@Thunbear said:
"Strong Tyco Rebound vibes."
Yes! You nailed it.
@iwybs said:
"^^^ @sjr60 Hope you can find an old phone, running an old OS, and an old app, not even connected to the internet, to run that vintage Control+ kit when you proudly add it to your collection in thirty years. Now you have to scour secondary markets not only for the cool old Lego Technic set you want, but also for the exact ancient smartphone running the exact ancient app you need to make the Technic set go, unless its previous owner(s) were savvy enough to allocate a dedicated phone to running Control+ and pass it along every time the set is resold without ever letting it connect to the internet, try to update, and bork the app. Good luck!"
Irrelevant, as the subject was a newly bought set becoming unusable within a few years, where the obvious answer is to hold on to the equipment you already have.
But if you want to bring up the 2052 second hand market, I wouldn't buy a 30 year old set unless I already had a means of control or I aimed on converting it to the power system of the time.
And that's quite enough defence of Control+ which is rubbish in use, irrespective of its longevity or otherwise.
The flipping adds something new and fun that the previous Power function models did not have, and should engage kids more in a club or school setting. Similarly, having two vehicles instead of just one makes the build more interesting, and putting all the parts and gearing together is very educational for kids and may sparkle an interest in more complicated models.
The above app comments have all appeared before. Similar to today's PC emulators of 80's home computers, I'm sure the community would just build there own apps for newer OS if Lego ever stopped supporting.
It's true that eventually apps will fail, but so too will motors, if you use them enough. (Or just have them lying around -- mine from the '80s died sometime in my Dark Ages). I can see how using apps would save costs on manufacturing remote controls, which themselves also break (especially at the hands of kids), and I hope those savings are passed along to the buyer.
It really does seem like the marketing team was out to lunch when this thing was christened. "App-Controlled Transformation Vehicles" just rolls off the tongue onto your shopping wishlist
@benbacardi, You mention that your skirting board sometimes prevented the vehicle from flipping. I believe - but could be wrong - that in the Far East, homes don’t have skirting boards. So while LEGO might not be deliberately excluding certain markets, it might be targeting some where the vehicle should work fine.
The new 12T and 20T spur gears have higher strength due to wider contact pattern and optimized involute geometry. They will also run smoother and mesh with small chain pieces. Still, they should have made them 14T and 18T instead to expand the possible gear ratios.
I think, its terribly expensive