Review: 42108 Mobile Crane
Posted by Huw,
Cranes provide plenty of scope for playability and functionality so it's no wonder that they have been a staple of the Technic assortment since the early years of the theme.
42108 Mobile Crane is the latest. It's a mid-priced set that looks realistic but not overly-complicated. Let's find out if that's the case...
Parts and stickers
The set contains 1292 pieces that are packaged in numbered bags. There are no new parts but a few re-colours. Now that LEGO has published the inventory you can view them in this table by sorting on the 'elements in sets' column.
There is a sticker sheet, as there tends to be in all Technic sets nowadays, but I would argue that in the case of this one, applying them is optional because it does not rely on them for its overall aesthetic: they merely add extra details.
Construction
There's no gearbox or engine in the model so the chassis is relatively simple.
Proportional steering has been implemented so the inner two axles turn less than the outer two when the gear on the left hand end is rotated.
The chassis is completed with the addition of the outriggers which are individually manually operated. It's easy enough to do so them now but not so much when the vehicle is complete.
The cab assembly and the bulk of the base of the jib are added from parts in bags #2
The completed model
With the jib fully retracted it's about 48cm long and 12cm wide. The stickers certainly enhance the appearance but it would look perfectly acceptable without them.
The blue seats provide some welcome contrast to the body colour, as indeed they have in nearly every yellow crane released.
The sleek appearance is marred slightly by the ugly great control knobs protruding from the sides but they could be replaced with something more discreet should you wish.
There's not a lot of detail in the cab, and the steering wheel -- moved to the correct side of the vehicle -- is non-functional. The control panel has a sticker on it but can't really be seen once the model is built.
There's also one in the jib operator's cab, which is cleverly angled in the corner.
Operation
The model offers the following controls:
Steering -- the vehicle is steered using either of the orange lights on top of the cab.
Jib operation -- The three wheels poking out the side of the jib body operate the boom. The lone one on the left extends it, the front right one is geared to the linear actuator and raises and lowers it. The rear right one winds the string in and out to raise and lower the hook.
That, and the one to extend the boom have ratchets to prevent the string being pulled out and the boom from retracting on its own. The latter is totally superfluous: it just gets in the way and makes operation difficult, and the one on the string isn't really necessary either because there's enough friction there already.
The control points are big and ugly but they need to be quite chunky to enable you to get enough purchase to apply the force needed to turn them..
The four outriggers are operated independently. Those at the back via small gears.
Those at the front have to be pulled out manually using the red ball pin. It's not easy for big fingers to get in the hole to do so, though!
Verdict
It looks great and does everything a model of a crane should. The functions work fairly well, with the exception of the front outriggers, which are a bit fiddly. It would have been nice to have them controlled from a single point but I concede that the model is not big enough to fit the required mechanism in.
For the size of the model, £90 seems like a reasonable price, too.
Is it as good as the seminal 8460 Pneumatic Crane Truck released 25 years ago? Read my comparison article to find out!
42108 Mobile Crane is now available at LEGO.com, for £89.99 / $99.99 / 99.99€.
Thanks to LEGO for providing the set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
68 likes
15 comments on this article
I appreciate your Anglo-saxon stubbornness but there's a reason they call it the right side of the road ;).
But seriously: great review, thanks!
I'm don't think the real crane has as many stickers as the Lego version...
I like it. It looks great, but the outriggers are too small. But at that price point, it’s very nice.
Sets like this are crying out for the reintroduction of the Technic figure
Looks awesome, and the crane operator's control panel angling is a nice touch.
Those yellow 3x11 panels are going to be popular!
Someone put the steering wheel on the wrong side :P
In all seriousness, how is the gearing/ratios for the linear actuator? One of my biggest gripes with the Mack Anthem/LR 42708 and the Container Truck 42024 is that it takes a painful number of turns to make any appreciable progress. That's one of my biggest reasons for preferring the pneumatics.
Is £90 classed as 'mid-priced' now? Yikes.
Also am I going mad or is this the second time this review has been posted?
@Andhe said:
"Is £90 classed as 'mid-priced' now? Yikes.
Also am I going mad or is this the second time this review has been posted?"
That was a comparison article between this and 8460. With the top of the Technic range costing £400 perhaps I should have said low-priced!
@DaBigE said:
"how is the gearing/ratios for the linear actuator?"
This one too needs a painful number of turns, almost literally, because quite a force is needed to overcome the weight of the boom.
I had hoped that they made so that it could either come with electronics (maybe a new powered up piece like a XL motor or L battery box) or come with the new powered up system. Although they are different in price and size, I still prefer the 42009 set from before.
where is the B-model? LEGO is becomming more and more lazy and greedy
"the steering wheel -- moved to the correct side of the vehicle"
Glad I'm not the only one who does this! I forgot until it was too late on my T1 Camper Van so I just finished the build as it was. Now it annoys me every time I look at it! I'll get time to fix it eventually I'm sure...
Great review, this looks, aesthetically, to be a great set. Great to see the comparison of old and new, too. The thing that I like most about the older 'studded' Technic releases was the suggestion of looking at a working engineering 'cutaway' model or drawing. There is much less of a sense of this with the newer releases with the tendency to 'cover' and 'smooth'. That said, I think this is a great set in its own right.
I would rate this set as easy / simple setup: I think the requiered experience level can be rated as easy (for a technic set).
On the other hand it is big enough to provide proper amount of technic functions for play fun.
Personally I consider this set as motivation to modify and improve. What I already like is the clean boom setup. The rest of the superstructure feels rather empty considering that turning knobs are connected alomst directly.
I see no reaseon to buy this set to build.. If you own some technic sets, you probably would have enough parts to build it..