LEGO Truck Toy to Off-Road Buggy Technic Monster Jam Grave Digger 7+ years, 212 pieces

Like many people, Lego has been a part of my life since I was a little kid. It had been a long time since I had built any, and the Technic line didn't exist when I was an active builder. I was a little intimidated by it! My first build honestly felt really difficult despite being a small kit, mostly because I didn't know the pieces and expected bricks XD. This was my second Technic build, and I feel so much better about it now. It prompted a third (the skid loader which is really fun) and I'm now eyeballing the excavator, because I love construction equipment and big vehicles. You don't get much bigger than monster trucks! Not in terms of personality and fun factor, at least. I grew up with Bigfoot and Grave Digger on TV and remember them fondly. My partner and I purchased a monster truck each, and we now race them on the sidewalk outside or in the hall of our apartment. The pull-back action on these is fantastic -- you don't get a short pull and then the clicking of it being fully wound. You can give it a really long pull, and the speed and distance it goes is truly impressive! It makes for easy stunts and lots of fun with obstacles like loosely stacked lego/wooden brick walls or sticks and rocks to roll over, and of course it's perfect for ramps. We usually hit the end of the hall before they stop. Honestly, our biggest concern on the sidewalk is losing one into traffic, as it's a really high traffic area and they could easily zoom right across the street, even with parking spots on both sides! We have a ball hockey net up to prevent tragic accidents. I'd love to play with these with my nephew, but our city's been in lockdown for over a year now. We've sent him videos though. He says he doesn't like building the technic kits, but this one interests him, mostly for the finished product. (He's 10, started Lego at 5 or so). My cat is terrified of it. Our dog REALLY wants to chase it and eat it. Since Lego doesn't come in Barium colour, we're not big on the idea. I would actually recommend this kit over the smaller Technic kits! The price point is still good, it's not a long build (I put 2hrs as I listen to audio books while I build so am slower, plus I don't organize the pieces because ADHD brain says it's more fun to hunt for every single one, sigh), but a really satisfying one with a nice big monster truck to show for it. Displays really well on shelves, but thanks to the heavy fenders it also holds up to plenty of crashes into walls, other trucks, flips off ramps, cats, etc. I expect they'll get battered a bit, but they protect the rest of the truck. I added tail lights for safety.