John Deere 9700 Forage Harvester — C+ · The Brick Drop Score
C+
The Drop Score
John Deere 9700 Forage Harvester
42168-1 · Technic
Early read · 0 reviews
The John Deere 9700 is the kind of licensed Technic set that looks better in the field than it performs on a scorecard — functional harvester drum, recognizable silhouette, but $40 for 559 pieces in a niche theme leaves you wanting just a little more.
Is the price fair?C+Fair-ish for a licensed set, but the badge is doing heavy lifting at $40.
Will you love it?C-The drum mechanism is the highlight — everything else is forgettable fast.
Holds its value?CLicensed Technic at this scale rarely moves the needle after retirement.
True ValueC+
$34
Street price
$49
Parts value
143%
Ratio
The parts alone are worth about 143% of the street price — the basis for this C+ price read.
What you get
Plain bricks
$5
Functional piecescalc
$44
BargainThe parts alone are worth more than you pay — $49 of parts for $34.
The Full Take
Green and yellow licensing cuts both ways: the John Deere branding makes this immediately recognizable on a shelf, but it also signals that you're paying a premium for the badge over the build. The forage harvester form factor is genuinely interesting — it's not a tractor, not a combine, something in between — and LEGO® does capture that silhouette with the rotating drum mechanism doing real work. The problem is that at $40, the build wraps up fast and the playability story is thin without a working cab or meaningful functions beyond the drum. Technic at this price point usually delivers a build session worth the afternoon; this one's closer to an hour. It's not a bad set, just one that never quite justifies why it needed to exist beyond the licensing deal. C+ overall: fine if you love the brand or the machine, but nobody's rushing back to buy a second one.
