I like the look of these old American pick-up trucks and have been toying with creating my own model for a while, so I was quite pleasantly surprised when this got released. My one concern before I built it, however, was that it might be rather fragile with the building techniques required. I needn't have worried, however.

The build comes together nicely in 8 stages, the first being all the seasonal accessories. My advice would be to save bag one until last - I wish I had - otherwise you've a lot of small side builds floating around, and it would have been nicer, for me, to complete these as a finishing touch.

Apart from that, the build is very enjoyable. The truck is built on a largely Technic chassis, with a nice model engine and working steering. The doors have a nice mechanism to hide the hinges, rather like a real car door, with rubber Technic connectors 45590 to add friction and keep the doors closed. The various panels are created using various SNOT techniques. At times, it feels like they will be flimsy but clever positioning of studs means they all come together with satisfying clutch power. Even the clips used for the rear wheel arches snap in nicely.

This set contains, as might be expected, a lot of dark red parts. There are very few other colours hidden away underneath. I'm aware that there have been problems with colour consistency in dark red in the past, but (at least for my copy) there are no such issues here - all the various parts have very high colour consistency, to the point I can't see any differences.

This is not really a play set, but nonetheless contains a host of working features: steering, doors, lifting bonnet (hood) with a proper support stand, tailgate. The robust construction also means it stands up well to handling (as tested by my young daughter) although I don't recommend picking it up by the roof!

At full price it feels a little expensive, but can quite often be found a decent discount. But it is still a great looking model that is fun to build and, if you appreciate the aesthetic of these old trucks, I can thoroughly recommend.

I bought this set to stand as a Chinese temple to add to my display of Lunar New Year sets, but this set offers so much more than just a great looking, solidly built, temple building. It's the first Ninjago set I've built.

The construction starts with the 2 smaller vehicles: a strange looking enemy ram raider and a very nice mech that utilises the new angled joint piece 79846. At this point, with a couple of vehicles and minifigures, there is already what would be a nice little playlet by itself.

Building continues with the temple, working from the ground up, in layers. The many minifigures are interspersed throughout the build process. The entire construction is very solid throughout; no weak spots and it is easy to handle to turn around as the various details are added to the front and back. This, I feel, is one of the advantages of a lower age rating: a much less fragile building.

Throughout there are some nice parts used, and plenty of spares, especially katana swords in many colours. The colour scheme with reddish brown walls with dark green roof and black supports works well, although I did change out the (unique) reddish brown 32932 fence pieces for their red equivalents as I think that looks better.

There is a mix of printed parts and a relatively small sticker sheet for the various decorations.

This set has a lot of playability, as we might expect from one of the main sets from this wave. Throughout the temple are various rooms including training rooms, a shrine, the meditation area across the bridge, mech control station and a breakable wall. I think there are plenty of scenarios that could be created with the range of figures, both hero and villain.

And yet, even without that, the main temple serves as a very nice display piece, too, being the main reason I bought it.

Even for the parts count, this is pretty good value. With the range of figures (only Zane & Jay are missing from the main team), a couple of nice vehicles and good use of the parts throughout, I think it represents excellent value for money and is worthwhile whether being bought for kids just getting into Ninjago (or ninjas in general) or as a nice display piece.

I'd been wanting this set since it was released; I like the novel concept and have recently been more interested in sets I can display. This seemed to hit the mark. But it is so much better overall than I really expected.

The build goes surprisingly quickly. I was expecting a bout 1.5–2 hours of build time but actually got the basic build completed in about 45 minutes. Building is split into 6 phases: pot, tree trunk, soil, green foliage, white foliage and the stand. The pot is quite simple to construct with a lot of repetition, but produces a very pleasing effect of a small lacquered or porcelain pot. The trunk uses quite a few sideways (SNOT) techniques and mixes up brown shades, slopes, wedges etc to create uneven textures. The “soil” effect is composed of 200 loose 1x1 tiles. The stand is again quite repetitive, using a fairly basic construction of reddish brown to produce a pleasing model of a wooden stand. I would suggest completing the relatively straightforward part 6 (the stand) before embarking on the foliage, leaving the best until last.

The fun in building really comes with the foliage. Here there is lots of scope for creative arrangement of the parts to produce a pleasing and unique arrangement. 2 sets of foliage are provided representing spring blossom (pink frogs on 2423 white leaf elements) and summer leaf (built around 2417 green leaf elements). There is plenty of scope, even with this fairly basic set, for quite a lot of creative arrangement. At first, I thought the pink frogs were a bit of a gimmick, and they can seem that way at close range, but stand back and they present a very pleasing blossom effect.

There is a nice selection of parts, some quite rare, for putting the tree together. And with several parts in large quantities, this could feasibly be bought as a parts pack. But that would very much defeat the core purpose — I'm only tempted to buy a second set to be able to expand my tree. It is also interesting that the instructions highlight some unique and rarer parts as you go along, not something I've seen before.

I've scored this high a playable set, even though it is intended for display. It isn't playable in the traditional sense of Lego sets, but there is lots of scope for creative adaptation, addition, rearrangement - a more grown-up play experience. Indeed, at the back of the instruction booklet you are encouraged to adapt and recreate, noting that the true art of a bonsai is that it is never finished. I already have ideas for various other arrangements, including one for each season. I'd encourage anyone buying this to dig into their collection or hit up Bricks & Pieces or BrickLink to create further arrangements.

Overall, I think this represents excellent value for money, not just in the relatively low PPP but also the extended scope for creative expression that I believe is the core of the Lego experience but now updated for an older audience.

It's nice that Lego have released a farm set, with this nicely updated tractor that has lots of play features and scope for expansion.

The build is nice, a bit of a challenge at the lower end of the intended age range, with a number of fiddly parts and some Technic bits, but manageable with a little assistance. The instructions do simplify the whole process a little: the model is fully symmetric and so left and right can be built simultaneously but the instructions start on one side then move to the other. My daughter picked up on the symmetry and was quite happy building both sides together, thus skipping quite a number of the later steps.

The parts are nicely optimised for young builders: each element is only in one colour, and effort has been put into avoiding confusing similarities which is nice for the intended age range. I eventually swapped out some transparent 1x2 plates for solid colours as I have better use for those than buried inside a small model. The wheels and tyres make for a really nice scale, but a little care is required to ensure that the tyres are oriented correctly as they are directional.

The overall model looks a lot more like modern tractors than previous Lego tractors: we live surrounded by farms and see real farm machinery just like this on a daily basis, which adds a nice touch of realism.

For play value, this has a lot going for it. There is obviously the main tractor, the farmer and his daughter plus the nice accessories: cute bunny, various fruits & veggies plus the straw bales. The digger scoop works nicely, with a useful stop just above floor level which actually prevents it sticking into the floor when driving it along.

The scoop could quite easily be removed (some modification to the attachment point would make it even easier), plus there are 3 additional attachment points: an 85943 Technic brick on the front which will accept a variety of connectors for front attachments, a Technic pin hole at the back and a ball socket at the back for trailers. I hope Lego release some polybag tools and accessories for this one.

An additional play factor is introduced if you own the Farmer CMF. That figure is an older farmer than the one that comes with this tractor, so you can have 3 generations at play, plus the extra pig.

Overall, then, this is a nice set. It's reasonable value at full price (plus a decent basket filler at Lego.com) but can often be had a bit cheaper.

Who doesn't like a good dinosaur model? Especially one as well-designed and playable as this one.

The construction overall comes together well. There is a nice mix of techniques and parts; the sideways (SNOT) for the head is well done, as is the choice of ball joints through the model. Each of the 3 models is good to build, but my favourite by far is the T Rex. I also like the techniques used so much, I've used them as the basis for several creatures since. The final model is quite well balanced, enabling it to stand in a range of poses. The 7+ age range seems reasonable for the building involved.

As with most Creator sets, there is a good mix of generically useful parts in reasonable quantities. The larger ball joints for the hind legs work well for both proportion and posing the model. As is common, there are colour-differentiated parts for the inner parts to aid in construction. I liked the parts so much, I bought an extra set as a parts pack.

This is very playable — good poseability and lots of function for play for its intended younger audience. Everything holds together well, too, which means quite a low chance of parts coming off during play.

It's a little pricier than some sets but still represents good value, and can sometimes be found discounted, too.

It's clear to see why this one has lasted so long in the line — a very nice model that I found good as an adult and kids love, too. It's also great for picking up as a present for other young Lego fans you might know.