Customer Reviews

LEGO Technic Power Function Accessory box (8293)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Power Functions kit #8293 is a must have for the 8294 Excavator. The kit transforms the excavator into a real scale functioning excavator (I own real heavy equipment myself), which can actually dig dry sand, sifted loam, and we attached a small jewelry chain to it and it can lift things like Transfomers Bumblebee and some surprisingly heavy objects just like a real excavator does! So dont hesitate to get one of these. The motor is tiny, but is surprisingly powerful and also this kit has a nice quality switch that replicates a real hydraulic lever and also comes with accessory LED lights which snap right on easily and look sano. The Design of the battery box and the excavator is well done, it mounts underneath the tracked undercarriage and it lowers the center of gravity of the excavator, which increases its stability. Expensive, but worth the dough.

For $30 you get an engine, battery pack, lights, and switch which is very cool. Unfortunately if you don't have spare Lego technic pieces and don't quite know how to apply the motor to create a functioning machine, than it can be a let down. I got this for my six year old son who can mostly do every Star Wars Lego kit he's come across by himself. One of the recent ones was the motorized AT-AT #10178 which has the same motor and battery pack. From that kit we both got an introduction on how this motor could be applied.

I got this Power kit knowing I'd likely have to put something together for him. You'll gain a greater appreciation for what your car's transmission does after playing with this kit. I used the following two Lego sets that we already had to put together a functioning car:

1. Lego Crazyaction Contraptions. This is more of a book with a small collection of gears and technic pieces you can build hand and rubber band powered machines with.

2. Lego Creator Cool Convertible #4993. Fortunately my son had recently crashed this car so that only the chassis was left intact with the axles and wheels.

By tinkering around I was able to mount the engine and battery pack onto the chassis. By playing around with different sized gears I was able to get that engine to drive the wheels. My son and I loved watching our electric car run for the first time. He took over and mounted the lights and a stick shift. You can than build a custom body over your engine and chassis. Next project is trying to figure out how to build a two speed transmission. So you can see how fun and education this power kit can be if you have the right parts to go with it. If you have a lego store nearby, than check to see if they have loose technic pieces available. We just went to legoland and I scooped a bag full of gears and other hard to find loose parts for only $8. For the price this really is a 5 star kit.

I bought this Lego Power Function Accessory set from Amazon in Aug'09 for my 7 year old son. Like most kids my son loves Legos. He took a Lego class over the summer where they learned to build with motors and gears so I've been adding those types of Legos to his collection in case he wants to be a budding engineer. There didn't seem to be alot of motor options for purchase so I ended up buying this set.

In a nutshell, my son did like this Accessory set until it the motor stopped working 4 days after purchase. Not sure why the motor stopped working, I haven't fiddled with it yet other than making sure it wasn't dead batteries.

What I did not like about this set:
-Battery Pack. I thought the battery pack was ridiculously big and heavy...who needs 4 AA batteries to power a small Lego motor? The battery pack is so heavy and the connection cord to the actual motor so short that it is very cumbersome to find a way to attach this battery pack to your Lego creation. I would like to see at least a separate option for smaller battery pack (such as 2 AAA) in the event someone only wants to power a small Lego car and not an actual life-size car.
-Motor durability. Mine broke after 4 days of light use. It was not dead batteries because I tried a fresh set of batteries and still no luck.

I do like the concept of kids taking their Legos to the next level by adding motors and gears. Would I buy this product again? The answer is no if I could find an alternative that better met my needs (smaller battery pack, more durable, etc).

I hope you found my review helpful.

My son is really into LEGOS and likes to build his own creations. This kit comes with no booklets to tell you how to put things together so if that's what you are wanting you probably shouldn't buy it. If your child is young, and can't make things on their own.....also probably not for you. My son has had this for 2 weeks and has already made several working machines! He is 10 yrs old.

The idea of a power functions kit is wonderful. My son was really excited to get this. But it was pretty disappointing because of the very few options on the motor to connect it to anything he built. It really made it hard to use. After using the Mindstorm kits, we really expected better of this. As it is, it could have been cool but is rarely used.

I prefer not to motorize my Lego sets, but in the case of the Lego linear actuators that come with a number of new Technic sets (e.g., the red excavator, the front-end loader), I think the Power Functions accessory set is a necessity. Without motors, the linear actuators require a lot of tiresome winding. You can also add this to the new Lego pneumatic log loader such that it turns one of the air pumps into a compressor.

Please note, this is not the set of PF accessories that you would need to motorize a train. Please check my Amazon guide "So you want to buy a Lego train for your kids," to see which items you need and where to get them.

This kit is a great way to become familiar with Power Functions, especially if you are used to the old 9V motors. The motor itself is the so-called "medium" motor. It's a little more powerful than a mini motor and takes up less space. It is a bit difficult to attach to your model, however. The battery pack is nice, and I like that it lights up when the power's on. The polarity switch is handy, and the LED lights are really nice. My general complaint with the kit is that it comes with only a few extra parts and basically no instructions. I would add a whole compliment of gears and an instruction book like 8721 and 8735 had. It'd also be nice if it came with an extension cable. But it does come with a few of those new 3-stud UV joints, and they're nifty. Overall, this is a good product if you already have lots of gears on hand and can use them well.

I got this for my son to help him bring his Lego building to life. We keep finding more and more things to motorize, I should have got 4 motors. The only complaint I have is the limited ways to mount the battery box. It would be easier if it had a mounting pad on the bottom and top to make it part of a vehicle.

I'm sure that this bundle is going to kick-up Lego play in our house to a whole new level. At least I hope it does. However, without user instruction or suggestions it is hard to tell. We didn't expect instruction on how to build a vehicle, just a little help for an excited 9-year old boy.

This is a very good experience for teenagers, even though I'm not a teenager anymore. It does have some good experience for people that like to build stuffs. I really satisfy with this purchase