Still not sure what to think about the 8043. The remote control kicks ass, but the scoops and the linear actuators kind of make it hit and miss. They had to figure out remote controlled pneumatics with double-length cylinders! So IMO it's in the shadow of the Unimog, my king of the Technic hill, others say the 8043 is the best ever.
I enjoyed putting the 8043 excavator together more than the Unimog and enjoy messing about with it more. Funnily enough I prefer the linear actuators rather than the pneumatics. With the pneumatics everything is too jerky, the crane drops way to fast unless you get the controls perfect which requires totally small precise movements of the controls. When my kids have a play with it there is no chance of that happening

The other thing with the Unimog is they went to all the trouble of getting the tranmission and engine pistons working when you push it along but no remote control to move it around like with the 8043.
It just does not look right, wrong colour (yellow) and again.... that fugly scoop.... I miss the quality scoops from the past. Same with the new 42009 crane... That one is not right either. Give me the first telescope crane you showed.
haha, I put together all my old technic sets with my son, photographed them and then sold them on EBay. 1 fella bought the lot, got over £160 for those 3 sets
