Compact Crawler Crane

I bought this for my son for his twelfth birthday. I thought it would be a bit of a stretch for him to build by himself; he wanted the challenge. He finished it within several hours on his own. It's a nice looking set with a lot of features such as retractable legs, extending crane, and moving tracks. My son loves it. more less

My son is only 8 and he built it by himself. I only helped once. He likes the tracks and that it can lift really heavy things. He likes putting it on a table and lift things from the floor. Overall he is happy with it. more less

There's nothing complex, technically impressive about it so I suspect it'll be a set that most Technic fans will overlook, particularly as it will be overshadowed by other far more compelling models released at the same time or later this year, which introduce us to Control+. more less

The fact that this is a Technic set that has never been done before should pique the interest of some fans but perhaps doesn't offer enough of a challenge to appeal to everyone. It is still fun to play with and younger fans will no doubt get a kick out of all the moving parts – but it feels a lot flimsier than it should and it is hard to shake the feeling that this is a set that feels somewhat lacking. more less

This is a love-it-or-hate-it set, depending on what you intend to do with it. If you want it for parts, you'll like it: it has many unusual and useful elements for its size and in a “regular", plentiful colour. The lack of sprockets, though, is a disappointment. You won't like it if, on the other hand, you want it to play with it: you'll have to fiddle with a cluster of controls to operate. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the stabilisers are rather flimsily affixed to the chassis, which makes them unsuitable to support the crane when lifting heavy loads. more less