LEGO Technic Heavy-Duty Tow Truck 42128 with Crane Toy Model Building Set, Engineering for Kids Series

This is a spectacular kit from just about every aspect. It's a joy to build, looks great as a display piece and is fun to play with as it's very functional. The first time I built it took almost 15 hours but I was going pretty slowly. I also made a few small mistakes (since I was watching movies) which meant I had to backtrack, disassemble and continue. There are a few small details that can easily be missed if you aren't paying close attention. Overall this is a terrific model, especially if you can get it on sale.

My four year old son LOVED building this set. I was pleasantly surprised that it worked for such a young child: with guidance and quality control, he was able to perform the vast majority of the steps on his own. I wanted him to have the experience of taking on a bigger, longer project and this was just the ticket. We worked up to this set first putting together the small Technics excavator and then the Jeep. This build took him about a month and a half building for an hour or so every other day. To be clear, he did have to be monitored, and he did get frustrated at moments, but he also so engaged as to ask every day to keep going. For a young child, a set like this also provides training in patience, thinking before doing, observation, counting and sequence, spatial awareness and manipulation, and dexterity. Thanks for a great product LEGO!

Loved it

I ordered this because it looked cool, and it doesn't disappoint. As you put the truck together step by step, it teaches your lad how rack & pinion steering works, how a transmission works, and the basics of hydraulics using pneumatics. I have read reviews that say the steering and drive train get cross linked, making the truck either impossible to drive, or when it drives it tears the engine apart. I experienced this problem, but found that the difference was 1/8th of an inch clearance on one side of a block rather than the other. I noticed that my build was not >precisely< like the image shown in the instructions, and when I adjusted the cog to match >exactly< the image shown, the steering and drive train work perfectly. I also noticed that I got to the end of the build and needed two grey pieces, but instead had two black pieces. Upon closer inspection (and reviewing the firs 540 steps, I found that I had used the two grey pieces where the black ones were supposed to be. Thank goodness the error occurred on the outside of the truck, because it is nearly impossible to get to the insides of the truck without total disassembly and starting over. The obvious lesson here: pay close attention to the instructions! Great product overall!

Absolutely worth it's cost. For high stress people to learn to relax