LEGO Introduces Liebherr R 9800 Excavator

The LEGO® company has released some great crane and heavy equipment replica kits over the last few years including the Technic™ Rough Terrain Crane, Compact Crawler Crane, and 6x6 All Terrain Tow Truck. Now comes their biggest LEGO® Technic™ construction kit to date: the Liebherr R 9800 Excavator, just in time for Christmas!

Crane Network News & Updates recently featured a story about this remarkable kit on their website. Liebherr spent months collaborating with designers from LEGO to develop a replica of Liebherr’s 882-ton, 4,000-horsepower mining excavator. The LEGO team had full access to the full-size machine, logistical support and even customer contact. “We wanted to give fans an even more authentic experience when they build for real with LEGO Technic elements. This new way of controlling your LEGO Technic set bridges the physical and digital world and gets you even closer to the real-life model replicas that you build,” said Niels Henrik Horsted, Marketing Director at the LEGO Group.

This could take a while

With over four thousand pieces, you’d better brew a pot of coffee because it will take a while to assemble. Features include the following:

• 4,108 pieces.
• Seven motors and 2 Bluetooth-controlled Smart Hubs.
• When assembled, measures 25” long x 10” wide x over 15” high.
• Operation controls via smart device, including multi-function: Drive forward, reverse, steer, rotate the superstructure, extend, raise and lower the boom, open and tilt the bucket and get model feedback, such as boom and superstructure position, power usage and drive distance.
• User can select a drag pattern on their screen and watch the excavator respond accordingly, as well as record actions to create complex sequences.
• Challenges can be achieved to unlock badges on the app.
• Recommended for ages 12 and over, MSRP $449.00.

This is LEGO’s first kit to be connected to a smart device, and the LEGO Technic Control+ app gives you complete control of the model. It accurately reproduces operations and applications of its full-size counterpart.

Liebherr’s R 9800 Excavator requires 28 trucks for shipping to the work sites and 12 weeks to assemble. The LEGO model comes in one box, though you may need a few evenings to put it together.

Click here to learn more about this fabulous gift idea for the heavy machinery enthusiast. Photo above courtesy of Crane Network News & Updates and LEGO.