Here's a long nose tow truck with underlift. Measures just under 10 1/2 inches long with the underlift fully extended. Lots of detail like exhaust pipes, mirrors, and lovely blue / white color scheme with orange accenting. The swiveling under lift used a blue friction pin which makes it hard for the vehicle in tow to turn with the truck. Replaced it with a non friction tan pin and works great.

Pros

• New tow truck that is not a cab over
  
• Lovely color combo.
  
• twin "hydraulic" actuators can hold a lot of weight.
  

Cons

• Stickers, and small stickers
  
• Friction pin used instead of non friction pin
• The sides could of used some kind of tool bin, but im really nitpicking here.

Overall you will not be disappointed in this tow truck. Its a great add on to your city collection. The truck will fit nicely in lots of MOCs. Make a tow truck yard, mechanic shop, wreck scene, etc.

This is one of those sets I "just had to have" the minute i saw the pictures.

Box/Instructions: The box & instructions are both standard for Lego City. The back of the box shows some features of the set, as most sets do now. Some other vehicles from the City line are also shown.

Parts: This set has a variety of pieces. There are many small pieces used just for added detail. There is also a selection of Technic pieces that are used to construct the boom.

Minifigures: You get one minifig in this set, the tow truck driver of course. He has a blue sweater with orange overalls. He has a bearded and smiling face. He also has a new style blue cap.

The build: The build did not challenge me but there are a lot of pieces for a tow truck (227).

The completed model: As I mentioned before, there are lots of details.The front end features a large grill, headlights, blinkers, and a stickered bumper. The side mirrors are 1 x 2 hinge plates with double cheese slopes on top. Opening car doors are present but the roof comes off for easy access to the cab. There is a City towing sticker on the roof along with air horns to tell economy car drivers to get out of the way. Before I forget, I should mention there are steps and handles to help minifigs get inside the cab. Other side details include a gas tank on each side, spots for a wrench and a broom, double smoke stacks, 24-7 service stickers and tow truck stickers. There are also two antenna and a light bar up top. There are tail lights and another sticker in the back. The boom works good, not too loose, and has a spot to set cars along with the hook and string.

Overall opinion: Overall I like the look of the tow truck with all of the details and all. But i do wish a stranded vehicle was included in the set so that you have something to tow. That would have raised the price though. This might not be a problem if you have other vehicles in your collection. Overall this is a good looking tow truck.

This year Lego come up with really long tow truck or appropriately known as 'wreckers' in some part of the world. The overall design is similar to those Peterbilt/other long nosed wreckers typically found on US highways, fresh change from the usual cabover design.

The build

The box contains two bags, which correspond with 2 instruction booklet. The first bag covers the main chassis and attachment of the friction element, the second one covers the body/cab/bed and the towing boom assembly. Some interesting part is the 0,5 thick modified L plate with studs, which attaches the lower part of the front grill assembly. The boom and the underlift bar are built out of (as expected) basic Technic parts, but very effective nevertheless.

Minifig (without 's'!)

Yes, you get just one fig to operate this huge wrecker. I guess labor cost are really expensive these days, so the City Towing company employs just one operator per truck ..LOL. The fig itself is nothing extraordinary with the usual construction worker orange legs and blue printed torso.

Coffee table impressions

Being a US type wrecker, it's naturally long...really long. Some might have problem fitting it in an existing City diorama. But man...as expected with US wreckers, kinda 'majestic' with it's long imposing size, and a nice blue over white scheme complimented with orange stripe. The utilization of Technic parts, makes it 'workable' and less toy-ish, something AFOL would love in their display. The friction elements which hold the boom is strong enough to carry the weight of any 6 wide trucks. Look pretty realistic too, like those hydraulic actuators on the real thing. The reel also has enough friction to hoist a considerable weight. Stickers, well I don't hate them, since they add more 'purpose' and details to a given brick. Design and function wise, Lego did a splendid job on this set.

MOC possibilities

The size of this set means there's quite some room for those who would like modify this set or add some enhancements. I see possibilities to add ground anchor/plow at the back which is found on some wreckers, a pivoting boom for sidelifts duty (and side stabilizers), additional third axle on the rear for even heavier duty, sleeper cabs and some custom chrome plated parts for that authentic wrecker 'blings'.

Overall

4.5/5..love it!