LEGO 42144 Technic Material Handler, Mechanical Model Crane Toy, with Manual and Pneumatic Functions, Construction Vehicle Building Set, Educational Toys

My son and grandson are enjoying playing with this now assembled.

A brilliant bit of kit

Half way through building it and found out it had piece missing!

As far as LEGO is concerned my 6 year old is a connoisseur, this was an exciting build but sadly is not fun to play with. It had made our shelf but is so difficult to pump and move it takes away from the fun of it.

When I was a child, Lego used to be pretty basic. The most I ever managed to build was a square Lego house. Some walls had a few bricks missing, or poking out somewhat askew. However, I was extremely proud of successfully fitting both a front door and a window with shutters. In those days you didn't get the likes of Lego Batman or Lego Indiana Jones to involve. I just had one generic Lego man to live inside the house, and a second generic Lego man to portray a Jehovah's witness, knocking upon the front door. After the lack of response , he then also knocked upon the window and opened the shutters- thus revealing the other Lego man hiding inside. Even back then, you could potentially argue that technology had come too far for its own good.Nowadays, you can build a massive grappling crane, complete with pneumatic mechanisms to control. You'll need to put plenty of man hours (or "person hours" as they're now known) into the construction process, but it does end in a rather formidable result. In order to make full use of it however, you'll also want to pick up a Lego sedan, complete with a Lego man corpse to go into the back, plus a Lego car crusher. It really is a timeless way to dispose of a dead body- whether that should be a Steve Buscemi Lego figure, or just a generic Lego man (to represent a Jehovah's Witness whose persistance resulted in a little more than he had bargained for).

According to the Lego website the Lego Technic range is aimed at those “seeking a more challenging LEGO building experience” and the Lego technic Material Handler (42144) is a great example of this. It is a reasonably large set which took us about 4-5 hours to put together spread over a couple of days and I think the 10+ age rating is probably about right, as younger child might struggle or lose interest. Like most Lego sets, following the instructions closely it was very straightforward and satisfying to build. Once built it is a solid construction that moves on its wheels as expected. The stabilisers fold down simply to give stability. It is brightly coloured and comes with some stickers to put on, and overall is a smart looking model. The body can be rotated through a control wheel and the pneumatic parts work well, although perhaps a little bit fiddly. It is satisfying to see the pneumatic parts working as intended. This is a fun and educational Lego kit, particularly good for those interested in the mechanics.

My son enjoyed constructing this crane. He needed help a few times as some of the parts are very tricky to align. We are very pleased with the large amount of articulation possible in the finished vehicle. Understanding how the parts interact together to achievement movement, is useful education. To operate the pneumatics you need to continuously thumb a pump. This is quite a nuisance and it makes the entire structure wobble. The movement of the grabber is erratic, so it is hit and miss as to whether you manage to grab what you are aiming for.I would recommend this kit for it educational value, but it is disappointing as a play toy. At the discounted price, the set is good value.

As per one of my other reviews, I have a love-hate relationship with Technic. They look amazing. They are amazing. The engineering to design and build these is amazing. But there are so many small intricate parts and it takes ages to put together.I recruited my two kids to help with this monster. Three main bags with smaller bags inside of those. You start off with the base frame then main body and then the grabber and arm. Think we did about a packet every couple of days. At this level these are STEM type educational toys in my opinion. You get a real grasp of how these machines would operate in real life.This particular model has no motorised functions but does have some unique and cool pneumatic components that help the arm extend and the grabber open and close.A great gift for any child/adult interested in engineering and understanding how things work. Price wise I think this is worth the money. Not so expensive that it's prohibitive to buy but enough to justify the effort that the Lego creators have gone to make this.