LEGOCity 3221: Big Truck

My eight year old is Autistic & loves Lego - as long as someone else builds it for him. Which is not a problem as I enjoy building Lego also. What normally happens is that Izaak will find something on You Tube & point excitedly while saying "that one" - at which point he'll be put off & we'll make a note of it.He was in Tesco with us (Blue Shop as he calls it) - which can be a stressful experience, especially if he takes a fancy to something. But hey, you have to keep trying. He saw this one on the shelf & would not put it down, so used some of his Xmas money to buy it for him.Took it home & he insisted I start straight away which is normal - however this time he started looking at the instruction book so I started to pass him the pieces over in order. To my surprise, he started to put them together. Eventually, he was finding the pieces himself & followed the instructions to the end - I may have had to help him occasionally, but he did a good 65 - 70% himself. You probably won't understand, but it was such an amazing thing to witness that I had to tell everyone at work. It now forms part of the Lego City scene he has set up on his play table in his bedroom.It's a good sized piece, the instructions are a doddle to follow & it's fairly sturdy when completed. You get the two characters along with the sack truck & several blue boxes which fit inside the trailer (then promptly slide to the end where you can't reach them, meaning the removal of the roof or the tipping up of the whole trailer). The cab is an American styled cab with a nice sloping bonnet & a very generous sized coffee mug. The one slight gripe is the bottom piece of fold-down legs at the front tend to fall off - although I ended up just supergluing them on - problem solved!!All in all, a fantastic Lego kit, although I see it's doubled in price in the last year since I bought it

I'll make the opening short; Lego's 3221 'City Truck' is by far and away one of the best City products I've bought since the theme was introduced. I've always been a fan of any branded products because of their cheekiness, and so I was delighted when the Lego Group introduced a new truck.First off, this truck is definitely inspired by real life American rigs, and is therefore not a completely original design for the Lego city. I read many reviews that stated the main vehicle/cabin was "too sloped" or sluggish, but I think these owners may be forgetting that the Lego group have consistently looked for inspiration from design features all over world - they can't always be european. Despite this, I am actually a fan of the design and feel that it represents an iconic 'truck-look' without being overly pretentious.This vehicle has some excellent features, including the lid (see the Lego sticker) that opens and closes on a hinge for easy access to the cabin, the big wing mirrors, the nice spacious interior and a wall mounted computer. Plenty of warning/hazard lights are also located around the vehicle just like in real life. Some have suggested that the cabin should have "two seats, so that other man can sit in too". Again this is poor observation, because the man with the cap is working at the depot and it is his job to move the packages in and out of the trailer with the included red trolley. The driver, on the other hand, is a driver! And a serious coffee drinker by the looks of his mug...If I'm nit picking, the only two changes I can imagine being made had the product been a higher RRP would be larger wheels and a flip up engine lid.Another area for debate is the 'pin and disc' method used to connect the trailer to the vehicle. I've had a good look (and play about) with this system and I find it hard to judge where the complaints stem from. The pin slots into the 4x4 flat disc so that, once inserted, it has the ability to move about on an axis in order to provide suspension and shock absorption - particularly when turning tight angles. The only way that the pin part can come away from the trailer is if the user, literally, bends the trailer and forces the part to come away. However, if you simply lift the trailer vertically (as you're supposed to), it comes away without breaking. Call me Mr Obvious, but I think this is just common sense.We then have the trailer itself, which is itself an empty 'shell' composed of nine large yellow facias and various components holding them in place. Because it is empty, the user may put whatever little packages they like inside the trailer through the various doors on either side and rear end, or through removing the roof section which is intentionally held on a bit looser with a mix of flat and studded plates. Aside from the beautiful Lego decals (stickers, sadly), the best component of this build is the wheel housing. Those genius designers made a lovely mini-build that literally suspends on a single pin and allows the trailer to tilt left, right, back and forth.In this instance, I would partly agree with other reviewers that the trailer is a little on the more fragile side, but that depends on how rough you play with it. For gliding the truck around, this thing just isn't going to break at all, but I imagine that in hands which are too young, then obviously it will come apart. I personally believe however that the 5-12 age category is pushing it a bit for this model, and would definitely more up to the 8-12 region.The final delight is the selection of 'packages' that come with the product - nine in total. They are only made from 4x4 bricks with flat plates and stickers, but the stickers themselves have cleverly been designed to replicate not only the packaging for this model, but for other City products too. As I said earlier on, it's a cheeky little world these guys have got! It also provides an incentive to make your own little packages and just fill the trailer full of interesting goods.You don't even have to place all the 'Lego' stickers on the vehicle, as you could keep it to a more universal/open delivery truck that could transport all kinds of components. Given the amazing length of this product (39cm!), it would be great for placing long tiles and 1x8 bricks inside for building site.How happy am I? Over the moon to say the least. I have always been a fan of simpler builds because they represent their counterpart a lot clearly, and I can't imagine any Lego fan or young boy that could resist this lovely big, bright truck. It has minor draw backs, but these are clearly not enough to even put a purchase in question. It will be discontinued soon too!

Good price. Good product. Big enough to keep entertained for a while but not complicated to make. It is Lego - what else is there to say?

We love every LEGO Product because the level of motor skills like focus, concentration and brain-teasers every LEGO Product is amazing. This toy is also the same.Each piece itself is so durable. You can assemble and disassemble the pieces any number of times. Still, they will retain their freshness without loosening the joints. It is amazing durability considering the small size of the pieces.My only complaint is:Like many other LEGO advanced products, it internally has 3 groups of pieces which have to be assembled to prepare the final big truck. Unfortunately, the pieces are not numbered with their group numbers. So, I had to number each piece with its group number before start assembling. Otherwise, it is easy to mix the pieces across groups. Once, they are mixed, it is not easier to identify them any more.I understand LEGO's problem that they prepare similar pieces to use across different products and so, they cannot number per each product. But, as a customer, I would like LEGO to offer the customer the best experience because they are innovative. Their innovation only makes us so happier, isn't it?But, I like this product a lot still. That happiness only reflects in my rating.