Set Review ➟ LEGO® 42140 App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle
The latest addition to the CONTROL+ series – part of the Technic theme – is an App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle. It’s pretty hard to give this vehicle a more fitting name as it doesn’t resemble anything in real life. That is not to say it isn’t a cool set though.
It all starts with the box which has two front sides and no back…. Yes, that’s right. The box comes with 2 different front side illustrations, one of a blue racing tank in a desert-like environment, and the other with an orange rescue truck-like vehicle in a snow landscape. Both sides advertise this is a CONTROL+ set and requires the use of a smart device. They also show that one vehicle will transform into the other when it runs up a wall and turns over.
This concept is probably easier to grasp if you take a look at the instruction booklet
The vehicle has two cabs or driver seats. When the vehicle flips over the cab is pushed up (or down, depending on how you look at it) and it transforms from blue to orange or vice versa.
The mechanism works nicely: If you drive against a will, the vehicle will start to climb until it topples over and “transforms” into its alter ego.
If you try the same trick backwards, the configuration of the treads will result in the vehicle climbing as well, but when it flips over there is not enough pressure on the driving cab to make the flip happen and you will be stuck between the two modes. There are strategically placed small wheels at the highest point of both sides to ensure the structure doesn’t suffer from scraping against the floor when the flip doesn’t happen, but you will have to either manually complete the change or drive up against a wall going forward to force a complete flip.
At the time of writing this review, the CONTROL+ app profile for the App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle wasn’t ready yet, but fortunately the configuration of the motors is simple and the standard control interface from the Powered Up app will work fine. The only drawback to using the simple profile is that when the vehicle flips over, the steering direction also flips over: forwards become backwards and backwards becomes forwards. Since the hub has built-in sensors, it can be programmed to detect the flip and reverse the steering options. I expect this to be part of the CONTROL+ profile for the vehicle, but it is a nice programming challenge for those who want to make a more light weight version in Powered Up.
CONTROL+ sets tend to be quite expensive when you look at the piece count, and this set is no exception. 42140 comes with 772 pieces and a recommended retail price around 130€. Unmotorised sets with this piece count normally cost about half that. However, in this set you get a new (updated) CONTROL+ hub and two large motors. Buying those directly from LEGO would cost more than the price of this set, so you might argue that this is an excellent parts pack to motorise your MOCs and add a bunch of blue and orange elements to your collection. There are indeed a number of interesting elements in this set that we will highlight further down.
The new hub is not actually new. The only difference with the previous hub is that rather than using tabs to close the battery compartment there are now 4 screws. This makes changing batteries a little less convenient, but also somewhat safer for the intended audience of 9+ kids.
New in this set are 2 gears that appear in blue and light blue There were already thick bevelled versions of these gear sizes (20 and 12 teeth respectively) and these versions with straight teeth were likely developed to reduce the amount of friction and wear on the adjacent beams.
Also of interest is a new large but narrow frame
This is the widest LEGO Technic element so far with overall dimensions of 19 x 3 x 1 and two cross bars to ensure the element doesn’t deform as well as providing more attachment points.
Not entirely new, but still interesting is a 3L pin with stop and no ridges. This part was already present in a few 2021 sets, but it is the first time it turns up in a Technic set. The full range of 3L pins is now consists of 6 different types.
In this model the 3L pin with stop is used to hold the shock absorbers in place.
These shock absorbers are not used as suspension elements for the tracks, but rather to flip the cab up and down so the one that is on top any given moment sticks out.
Finally, there are some parts in what I would call fluorescent yellow, a colour that at first glance made almost made me doubt this was in fact a genuine LEGO set and not some copycat product, but to be honest, it works well in combination with the blue elements.
Last, but not least, the tracks, or rather, the inserts for the tracks. Not new, but of great use in this set.
Conclusion
The 42140 App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle uses an original idea for a flip over vehicle that is fun to drive around with for a while, although the flip over trick doesn’t work well when driving in reverse. The rubber track inserts ensure adequate grip on multiple surfaces and the set works well, making it fun to drive around climbing over obstacles and against walls. The challenges that are normally included in CONTROL+ app profiles for the different sets will help to keep kids interested in the vehicle for even longer
# We wish to thank LEGO for providing this set for review. The opinions in this article are neither approved nor endorsed by LEGO.
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