Curiosities about the 8258 Crane Truck

Yesterday TLG announced its Annual Report and Progress Report for the financial year of 2009.
The results increased considerably at all fronts (Sales, Profit, Assest, Cash Flow, Investment, etc...). Just "highly satisfactory results" as stated in the report.

As supplement to both reports, TLG released the 2nd issue from its annual magazine, The Brick.
All this to say that I found inside, an interesting article with some facts & curiosities about the 2009 Technic flagship (8258) and Uwe Wabra who has designed it [1, 2]. Some are not really new to the fans, but still interesting notes.

CRANE TRUCK
IS INSPIRED BY THE REAL THING

"If LEGO Designer Uwe Wabra sees a tough, cool truck driving down the street, he is quite likely to run after it for a closer look. That’s what it’s like being a LEGO® Technic designer. Although most of the inspiration for the big models comes from online illustrations or trade fairs, the designer is always on the lookout for new interesting details.

It took Uwe Wabra eight months to design the big motorised Technic Crane Truck. He built at least 50 different versions before arriving at the finished item. The result is a red truck with a four‑stage gearbox controlling all its functions. The yellow crane unfolds, rises and lowers, and swivels. The
cab can tip open, and four outriggers stabilise the vehicle as it lifts its heavy loads.

While Uwe Wabra is designing a model, he can build it without the building instructions – he could put the crane truck together in 4‑5 hours, whereas other people might spend twice that long. But once the model is finished and he is working on a new design project, within a couple of weeks he’s forgotten the old one.

It looks, by the way, as if Uwe likes the number 1877. The Crane Truck consists of 1877 LEGO pieces – the same number as the black Tow Truck (a US vehicle from 2006) that he also designed."



Again nothing new for us, but still a note on the same page, which is also mentioned at different place in the magazine, to be an actual trend in the Company.
Designers leave fingerprint

"Notice the driver’s name sign on the windscreen, the registration plate and the company name on the door UW Lifting Service – the vehicle carries the designer’s personal touch."