LEGO 60324 City Mobile Crane

Initially I had chosen the Lego helicopter but was informed by family member that my great nephew already had that one! Fortunately his mother suggested the crane. Although I wondered if the age on box might indicate technical problems: on the contrary it went down very well!Lego is one of his favourite toys and I am always happy to purchase toys from JL because there is always a good selection of 'old- fashioned' toys together with the very latest trend. I remember buying the Lego toy box for one of my granddaughters and it always makes me smile when I see it in their playroom.Satisfaction all round!

This is one of the best sets for its size/piece count in the Lego City line in a long time. Great colors and building techniques. I can see this being one of those iconic Lego sets that is sought-after a couple of years after it gets discontinued. This build just does more stuff as a single vehicle than most other Lego City vehicles, and none of it feels like a cheesy add-on, such as the "water" projectiles that a lot of the fire trucks have lately. It's a modern version of the Lego I remember growing up with.

As a crane enthusiast, I find this model highly outstanding in reproducing the impression of the original: shape, proportions, character. Truly a breakthrough in the City series.Since I built it, I can't stop looking at it.Meanwhile, I wish it could have spent just a few more hours in the planning phase, to smoothen a few details:- The lifting capacity is hardly more than symbolic. Under any meaningful load, the thing - through minuscule distortions throughout several components - gives in and just flattens out, while a feeling of imminent breakage threatens. The main culprit in this regard seems to be a joining element - applied only on one side, asymmetrically - between the boom and its actuator cylinder.- There is no guide to align the lifting cable as it ... MoreAs a crane enthusiast, I find this model highly outstanding in reproducing the impression of the original: shape, proportions, character. Truly a breakthrough in the City series.Since I built it, I can't stop looking at it.Meanwhile, I wish it could have spent just a few more hours in the planning phase, to smoothen a few details:- The lifting capacity is hardly more than symbolic. Under any meaningful load, the thing - through minuscule distortions throughout several components - gives in and just flattens out, while a feeling of imminent breakage threatens. The main culprit in this regard seems to be a joining element - applied only on one side, asymmetrically - between the boom and its actuator cylinder.- There is no guide to align the lifting cable as it leaves the winch, and as a result, in the crane's road configuration (while driving between job sites), the cable just awkwardly lays across the top of the boom, eventually ending up deviating to one side. Adding some simple guide near the winch-end of the boom could have sorted this out.- A single additional pin could have improved the joining of the lifting cable with the hook block.- The outriggers (the extendable side stabilizators), while being brilliantly engineered and are fully capable of holding the weight of the entire structure, could have enjoyed massively increased authenticity if weight spreader plates would have been supplied for them.- The shape and positioning of the counterweight is quite satisfactory; if only one or two additional stackable counterweight blocks were designed / included, that really could have been the bees' knees.Bonus info: when the operators occupy the front cabin, they each need an additional seat cushion, so that their arms have sufficient room to fit in the cabin. These seat cushions are included in the set, but appear to be missing from the building instructions; luckily it's quite self-evident to figure out from the leftover pieces.