Review: #7249 XXL Mobile Crane

[Moose]

For my second review:

Set Name: XXL Mobile Crane

Set Number: 7249

Theme: City

Year: 2005

Pieces: 524

Minifigs: 2

Price: $50 U.S.

Box front:

Box with flap up:

Back of box:

Box contents (2 smaller boxes, and 3 bags with pics):

Four instruction manuals

Extra pieces of paper (a mini poster of the set and instruction corrections):

Random instruction page:

The workers:

The cab of the mobile crane:

Head on view:

Interior of the cab:

The workers' equipment (3 cones, blockade, shovel, and beam):

No spot was shown to store the equipment, but in the back of the cab there is a large empty space, if you put the blockade in diagonally, you can lay the cones and shovel in without them bouncing around:

The crane part of the vehicle:

The crane with supports out, arm up, and control cockpit forward:

The crane fully extended:

Cab and crane connected:

About to start the day's work:

The leftovers:

*Price: 10/10. While it seems expensive, the price per part ratio is actually 2 dollars less.

*Figs: 5.75/10. The figs arent particularly bad, but theyre nothing special. Theyre your average construction workers, and for such a big vehicle there should have been at least 4 minifigs, preferably 5.

*Pieces: 9/10. Theres a nice number of pieces, although some of them are quite large. You may feel as though they are <insert that tiresome argument>, but if the parts of the vehicle utilizing the large pieces were constructed any other way, the integrity of the vehicle would be compromised. I would have like some more beams or something to be constructed.

*Build: 10/10. The build was very fun. Straight forward, nothing too confusing that I remember. The vehicle is designed very well. When the pin is inserted to keep the cab and crane together, you can hold the back of the vehicle with one hand without worrying about it falling apart. The vehicle looks very realistic, and its much nicer than the one coming out in a 2009 set.

*Playability: 10/10. For the first couple days after I bought it, I couldnt stop playing with it. Its so much fun to roll around (while air vehicles have great swooshability, this has great roll ability) and extend the cranes arm. The string goes a full six feet or so, which is very fun to test out if you have somewhere high enough. The only problem with that is as the string extends further, it tends to get twisted.

*Overall: 44.75/50 = 89.5 This set only loses major points for the minifigs. Aside from that negative, this is a great set, and I recommend it to anyone!

Edited November 17, 2008 by Moose

[WhiteFang]

Hi Moose,

Thanks for sharing this review with us. Perhaps, you could deeplink your images from Brickshelf. Furthermore, please ensure that your images are within 640x480 dimensions. These are the tutorials which could be of use to you. Hope you find it helpful.

Apply the same to your first review as well. Thanks.

How to Deeplink and Post Images

How to resize using MS Paint

WhiteFang

[Moose]

I fixed it so you dont have to click links all the time, but do i still have to fix the size since its already reduced to 80% of the original size? Ill do that tomorrow, I'm going to update my first review and then go to bed...its late, but thanks for the heads up whitefang

[Siegfried]

Thanks for the review. This set is important to me, as it was the set that I just had to have and thus was the first full-price set that I bought since I was a kid. It just seemed so great at the time... I made loads of mods to it and prior to me breaking it it looked like this;

Why did I break if if I liked it so much? It's wide. Very wide. Six wide is good, 8 wide is big, 10 wide is huge and 12 wide is just plain silly. I could ignore the problems when I first bought it as I didn't have much Lego, but after a year of collecting it didn't fit in anymore. I'm actually considering re-building it as a 8 or 10 wide model.

[WhiteFang]

I fixed it so you dont have to click links all the time, but do i still have to fix the size since its already reduced to 80% of the original size? Ill do that tomorrow, I'm going to update my first review and then go to bed...its late, but thanks for the heads up whitefang

Thanks Moose! It's very nice of you to deeplink these images. A pictoral review is supposed to be supported with images. If a review allow the user to click on indivdual images, this might ruin the interest level for the readers and move on to other topics. A good review like this, certainly deserved some attention and by deeplinking it. It will create the neccessary attraction. If you are keen to review, sign up for Reviewers Academy. You will learn more interesting techniques and skills in reviews.

[Dennimator]

Thanks for the review. This set is important to me, as it was the set that I just had to have and thus was the first full-price set that I bought since I was a kid. It just seemed so great at the time... I made loads of mods to it and prior to me breaking it it looked like this;

Why did I break if if I liked it so much? It's wide. Very wide. Six wide is good, 8 wide is big, 10 wide is huge and 12 wide is just plain silly. I could ignore the problems when I first bought it as I didn't have much Lego, but after a year of collecting it didn't fit in anymore. I'm actually considering re-building it as a 8 or 10 wide model.

You don´t have to re-build it, just wait until 2009 and buy this set:

Edited November 16, 2008 by Dennimator

[Asuka]

Thank you for that fine review of a really impressive and well detailed set, Moose.

Although the new version looks indeed much better in size, that older behemoth looks by far more splendid, though...

[Dennimator]

The crane fully extended:

Hey! You have the new pirate shipwreck set!

Expect to be missing some lego in the near future...