I think this set is all about expectations. By modern standards it probably sits in the larger end of medium-sized models, at €100 and roughly 1300 pieces. Do not expect a flagship here, or even a set competing for a spot in today's large category. But, this is clearly well-designed throughout to give you as much as possible for a very carefully selected and limited budget.

This set includes all the basic functions of a mobile crane;

• It's a rolling vehicle with steering (on all axles).
• Extending outriggers.
• Boom that raises and extends.
• Rotating superstructure (360 degrees).
• Winch for the hook.

It does not have any transmission or piston engine. But two reasons in particular made me think this could be worth buying. First, the general appearance of the model with that low overhanging cab at the front and a very prominent but yet rather sleek boom on top. Nicely detailed, it looks like a mobile crane should. Secondly, the dimensions indicated on the box, especially the 78cm height with extended boom. Is that even reasonable, given the size of the box is less than half of that?

Parts

When first seeing the contents inside, I was a bit disappointed by the relatively low number of gear pieces and such. I like mechanical stuff with moving parts, but this set only have the bare minimum to get the job done. But there are plenty of other useful stuff. Including for example eight tyres, a XL linear actuator, 11 bowed panels, a total of 12 angular panels (four each in yellow, blue, black), 10 toothed bars in black, and a variety of different beam frames. Most of the part count unsurprisingly consist of small connectors though, including no less than 223 regular friction pins and 106 3-long friction pins. Needless to say, it's held together very well.

Build

The building experience was OK but not spectacular, and a few things stood out to me personally. The boom lives up to the dimensions promised on the box, even before adding the last pair of panels to the first stage it's definitely lengthy. The overall design clearly emphasises the actual crane, which I think is great use of resources.

The construction of the steering racks early in the build is such that their function relies on the natural play between pieces. It works, but me still being more used to old style Technic of the 80's and 90's, I'm almost surprised that this made it to the final product. When the racks are pushed sideways by the gears they have no extra longitudinal room required for the arc of motion. The result is a lack of a clear stop on full lock, and added friction.

Functions

When steering, using any of the two orange lights on top of the cabin, it kind of just gets harder and harder to turn until you feel that you are twisting plastic rather than getting any more actual turning out of it. Overall the feel of the turning is a bit tough, but I think the resulting turning radius is respectable relative to the size of the vehicle.

Most disappointing to me is the lack of remote actuation of the superstructure rotation, it's just held in place by a large turntable and rotates freely. There's no knob or crank to operate it, you just have to grab it directly and swing it around. For me that feels more like a City set thing. The same is true for the outriggers. It can be seen from pictures that they are small, but deploying them would have been much more satisfying with one single motion from a knob somewhere. As they are, you just have to get your fingers in there and flip them out one by one directly. With that said, they do "cam-over" nicely and sort of clicks into position, lifting all tyres off the ground.

The remaining three functions (lifting the boom, extending the boom, and winching the hook) are all operated with separate knobs on the sides of the superstructure. I think they are integrated into the design fairly well, camouflaged by a stripe in the colour scheme and other black detailing. They have a generally nice feel to them, making good use of textured round bricks for a good grip and finger-friendly size. I'm glad they went for this approach, even though it can look bulky from some angles.

Raising the boom can feel a little slow, but there's also quite some load to overcome. Especially when you just start to raise it from its horizontal resting position, it eases once it gets a little higher. If you like it to be faster, a simple fix would be to replace a set of 12:20 gears with a 16:16 combination instead, provided you have a couple lying around. Reversing the included gears would probably be a step too far.

There are also two one-way ratchets made from 24-tooth gears, preventing the boom extension from collapsing and the hook from falling down. These have release levers in red for some reason. They could easily have been disguised more neatly like all the other knobs.

Aesthetics

I really like the string used for the winch. It has a grey, slightly metallic look, very nicely mimicking the steel wire that would be used on a real crane.

There are plenty of 1x1 round tiles used all around for details such as head-, tail- and hazard lights. And some small interior assemblies purely for the sake of looks, including a dash with steering wheel in the front and a cleverly angled control panel in the operators cabin.

A fairly large sticker sheet is provided, but mostly just for additional details since the build itself is quite nicely colour-blocked. So if you don't like stickers you can easily leave them off and still have a decent looking model. Or, use only the ones you like. Most striking are probably the red/white hazard stripes on the outriggers and the back of the superstructure. Those do add a lot, including somewhat camouflaging the red levers mentioned earlier by bringing in some more of the same colour.

Final Thoughts

This crane reaches impressively high. The first time I extended the full boom I was smiling as it just kept going and going. It's that tall! It does mean that the whole thing becomes a bit unstable though, you don't want to try and lift anything heavy with it. Neither do you want to have the boom fully extended unless it's quite upright, particularly when facing it sideways. But hey, all cranes have to consider loads and stability when operating. This crane works, but it's more of a technical display piece than a toy to be played with I would say.

Having expected a mid-range set I am very happy with what I got, and what I paid for it (~10% off RRP). But those that saw pictures without looking closer and expected a high-end crane would be disappointed. I would also not be as happy if I had paid much more for it.

When folded down, this model is comparable in size (not scale) with one of my all-time classic favourites 8868, which was a flagship set back in its day. Not being a flagship there's a lack of refinement. If you care to look a little closer, I think signs of budget restrictions are shining through in many aspects. There could, simply put, have been more.

But for me, it hits a sweet-spot. It's affordable for a lot more people than today's huge flagship sets, yet offers a good-looking model of impressive stature and boasting at least decent functions.

In summary: the overall crane looks good, the 4 wheel steering is nicely executed but the crane isn't very stable and can even topple under its own weight. A nice parts pack for yellow panels.

The build goes together nicely, working through the various sections of the crane. The steering comes together nicely and in a way that it's clear how it's all working. Both cab structures look nice and the panelling creates nice form. The boom extends quite well, but is a little slow to raise. I like the use of the warning lights as the hand-of-God steering.

There's a good range of parts: plenty of frame parts and yellow panels, together with all the gubbins for the boom mechanism. 8 matching wheels will also be nice for MoC vehicles. The parts use for the build is quite straightforward, nothing to fancy or unusual.

Playability is where this model really falls down (pun intended). The outriggers are just too short to provide adequate lateral support and the whole model can topple with the boom extended sideways. Even with more modest reach, it takes very little load for the crane to fall, which really limits to play value of the primary function. Even a modification to lengthen the outriggers (which is quite tricky as there is very little space to work with) didn't really help. it's a shame a nice model is let down by this basic problem.

At full price, I think this is a little expensive, especially given the functional failings, but on discount (which is how I bought it) it can be good value as a parts pack.

Remark (200216): I have reviewed my original review that was heavily biased: I didn't (and still don't) like the carrier part of the vehicle.

(200218): Set pictures added.

First Impressions

(I estimate that the box ist ca. 3/4 filled.)

Since 855 I am a fan of Technic cranes. Therefore, this set got my attention as soon as first pictures were released in November 2019:
- We would get a four axle crane similar to 8053 as all four axles are steered but no driven axles or 'fake' engine could be seen.
- Scale appeared to be similar also to set 8460 (= 8431 = 8438).
- Colour scheme is black-and-yellow which I prefer on any construction machine.
- From pictures it was obvious that outriggers of the new set would be purely manual and do not involve any transmission between any of them.
- I liked the slender shape of the one-stage boom.

Rating

The set has the following functions:
- steering on all four axles, controlled from the two beacon lights
- manually deployed outriggers (just folding out, no transmission)
- rotation of superstructure (manually, just turning)
- boom raising/lowering
- boom extension
- winch

The last two functions are locked both by a ratchet and a friction pin. This setup works fine for the boom extension. But I don't like it for the winch. Giving out and reeling in the rope isn't as easy as I would like.

Building

Instructions seem to be created to deliver a diversified building process. Focus changes several times between the different sections of the model.

Carrier

The chassis is built from technic frames and "H pieces" resulting in a sturdy, rigid vehicle. But on the other hand, only four axle steering can be realised with this setup. There is no way of putting any more functions (central outrigger control, turntable, ...) through the chassis.
Steering angles on inner and outer axles are realised using different lengths of steering levers. These are complex builds as the set designer has included means to align all four axles.
The radius of turning cycle is as large as any other recent technic vehicle: You cannot perform a U-turn on a (typical) table.
The second function on the chassis are the outriggers to stabilise the crane. These only got minimal number of pieces to setup.

Crane

The boom has got the most slender setup I have seen. Some simple transmission are covered inside the housing together with the frame that solidly holds the boom. However the whole thing appears too wide (with respect to the width of the carrier) because a lot of empty space is included.

If you chose to omit the friction part of winch and boom extension and rely on the ratchet only, I found both operations very responsive.
Because of the XL linear actuator and an effective 1:1 transmission (12:20:20:12) raising and lowering of the boom is tedious.

All three functions are operated from three knobs made by 2x2 cylinders and not from 12 or 20 teeth cogwheels.

Conclusion

42108 could nowadays be considered as medium sized set. It is comparable to previous 8053 crane. However, it does not provide any new or interesting features. I would rate it as a play set where the 'technic' functions are realised by simple mechanics.

If you want something challenging, this is probably not the set to assemble. Buy it to build something that you like: you can never have enough yellow and black parts.

There is one big bonus of the crane: It's height is comparable to the larger predecessors 8421 and 42009:

(Chassis has been redesigned for better steering and simultaneous outrigger operation but scale remains -approximately- the same.)