LEGO Technic Land Rover Defender 42110

This is my first ever Technic set (and my first LEGO set in many years) and I will say: I had great fun building it. Don't listen to the people saying stuff doesn't work or the instructions are bad. If you pay attention and follow said instructions carefully, there will be no problems with the final result. My only gripe is that because of the long links between the engine and wheels it takes a few wheel rotations before the pistons start moving, but all in all, it's a great set. I don't really have a point of reference, this being my first Technic, but I feel like the price is pretty good considering how much more expensive the Chiron and Sian are.

I'm a Lego parent that has witnessed greater than 50 sets coming into our household since my last set, the old Millennium Falcon maybe ten plus years ago. I was becoming a little jealous of how much fun my kids were having so wanted a piece of the action. I was drawn to the Technic (never owned or built before) and in particular the Land Rover Defender primarily to experience something challenging (I suppose I'm a novice to intermediate builder) but also loved the overall design. The reviews and apparent value considering the piece count sealed the deal. I was super excited when it arrived and really wanted to take my time and enjoy the build experience. I really hit the jackpot with this set. The packaging and presentation was sublime. Instruction book and the number of bags (bags within bags) were a little over-whelming but again this was the challenge I wanted. It took me 7 days spread out with an hour on weekdays after work in the evenings and 4/5 hours on each of the weekend days. I honestly enjoyed every minute of the build and even caught myself smiling on numerous occasions where I sat back and reflected on what a great decision it was to invest in this set. Seeing every element come together was excellent. When it was completed I was like my kids calling every family member in to look at my creation to show off all the features, gears and engine. Everything was smooth and working well with one exception; the pistons of the engine were not working. I know some other reviewers were frustrated after such investment of time but I was actually delighted as it gave me a new project to root cause the error. After twisting and turning the vehicle upside and down trying all the different cogs, reviewing videos and learning a lot more about the build, I was systematically able to root cause the issue all the way back to step 11 (out of 800+ steps), wow, right at the start of the build – which makes perfect sense… I was so rusty and eye sight not what it used to be! Perhaps lucky (although I didn't mind ‘starting over') I was able to remove ca. 20 pieces and get to the fault and rectify. Oh the joy when I saw those pistons go up and down and all my efforts being paid off. Pros: + Challenging + Time to Build + Design & Appearance + Engine & Gears + Features Cons: None. Thank you Lego, I can't emphasise how much I enjoyed this and really well done to all involved in this design.