This set has all you could ask for at a low, low price.

- steering from knob above the driving compartment, with a decent turning radius.

- boom operated from knob at the rear. It sticks out a bit, but it's convenient for access.

- angle of fork is adjustable manually

Overall

Pros:

- nice functions

- low price

- nice little secondary build

Cons:

- the pallet is empty, boohoo.

This is the third sub-$15 Technic set I have reviewed this year. The other two are 42147 Dump Truck, and 42148 Snow Groomer. I liked both, but for very different reasons. The Dump Truck has great imaginative power, it has an excellent alternate build, and it looks great. The Snow Groomer has lots of fun little levers, and it's a tremendous parts pack.

I once again fell slightly short of a GWP threshold (it's almost like they designed it this way...), so I decided to try out a third budget-class Technic set. The Telehandler is a little older than the other two sets I reviewed, and LEGO is retiring it at the end of 2023. Despite its age, it compares favorably to the other budget-friendly Technic sets.

Building Experience: Inside the box, you will find two plastic bags, one instruction manual, and a couple of loose parts.

A paper bag is nowhere to be seen, which continues a disappointing trend. LEGO continues to leave its promise of recyling-friendly packaging unfulfilled.

I was pleasantly surprised at the sophistication of the mechanisms in the build. The off-center steering linkage is unique. The worm-driven lift mechanism is also quite clever. For a kid, this set makes a great demonstration of the usefulness and tradeoffs of a worm gear. At 62 pages and 59 steps, the instructions are not ponderous by modern LEGO manual standards.

Parts: I commended 42148 for its excellent part selection, and it indeed includes a high concentration of highly reusable pieces. I am happy to report that 42133 is even better in this regard. Don't let its smaller piece count fool you: the snow groomer's parts count is inflated by 56 tank tracks. Besides a lonely left-panel without a right-handed counterpart, every single piece of the Telehandler set is highly reusable. Everything is liftarms, pins, axles, gears, and garden-variety system pieces. This set makes an excellent parts pack for a kid who is just getting started with Technic.

The Telehandler uses a fun, fancy teal color, but part quality doesn't suffer the way it did with 42147. The tint of each piece is consistent, and there isn't any abnormal waviness in the finish. Some of this can be attributed to the simplicity of 42133's parts: there are no large panels where manufacturing flaws would be immediately apparent.

Playability: Playability should be a given for any age 7+ set, and the Telehandler delivers solid playability for an affordable set. It has three play functions: front wheel steering, raising/lowering of the telehandler arm, and articulating forks.

Even as an adult, it's fun to try to carefully drive the Telehandler's forks under the included pallet. I wish a second pallet were included, but It's easy to make one yourself (one 4x8 plate and two 1x4 bricks). The turning radius is poor, but that's a minor nitpick. The forks can support a surprising amount of weight, easily carrying a sizable stack of bricks on top of the pallet.

Although the Telehandler's play features are good fun, I worry about the durability of this design. The long arm provides a lever with high mechanical advantage, that routes down to a notoriously fragile 8-tooth gear. There's enough slack in the worm gear assembly that it's easy to accidentally turn the gear the wrong way, which can put a lot of tension on the same, small gear. The fork articulation design is clever, but relies entirely on pin friction. It's hard to see how else they could have made this feature work, but it's still concerning for the longevity of the Telehandler (and its parts).

Concept: I didn't know these machines were called "telehandlers" until I saw this set on the shelf at a LEGO store earlier this year. I just thought they were weird forklifts. Brickset's autocorrect feature thinks that "telehandler" isn't a word. This isn't important for the review, I just think it's funny.

Different imaginations require different toys. Much like the Snow Groomer, the telehandler presents great imaginative power for a young mind. The huge arm provides visual feedback that accentuates the work being done. However, unlike the Snow Groomer, many kids have probably seen a telehandler in real life. This might make it a better set for some kids.

When I was in first grade, I was given a writing assignment where I had to talk about what it would be like to have a Giraffe as a pet. My response was that "I wouldn't do that because a Giraffe wouldn't fit in my house." The Telehandler and Dump Truck would have been my kind of LEGO sets: concrete in its use case. I've seen this machine, I know what it does. I shall play with it in the way that is intended. Not all kids are Telehandler kids, though: some might prefer the open-ended nature of the Snow Groomer, a device they have never seen before.

The Telehandler fills the same conceptual niche to the Dump Truck, but it isn't redundant. The Dump Truck is iconic, an essential machine to the imagined construction site spreading across your living room. The Telehandler fills a supporting role conceptually, but it's just as fun to play with.

Appearance: I like the Telehandler's color palette (not to be confused with its tan pallet). A quick search of telehandlers online did not lead me to any that present such a playful combination of teal and white, but this is LEGO: realism isn't (and shouldn't be) the first priority. The dark-tan liftarms inside the cab create the illusion of a driver's seat, which was an unexpected touch of detail. I appreciate that LEGO has put effort into making these budget-friendly sets visually distinct from each other.

Value for Money: I have nothing new to report about the value prospect of these budget-class Technic sets, and that's great news for the Telehandler. All of these sets are a good value, and each of them delivers value in subtly different ways. The Telehandler's $0.09 PPP is unremarkable for a Technic set, but that betrays a great selection of highly-reusable parts in fun colors.

This set presents good value at its MSRP, but you might be able to snag it for even less. Since LEGO is retiring this set, there's a chance you'll find it on clearance, especially after the Christmas season.

Summary: This is yet another lovely little set that finds itself at the bottom of the Technic product stack. When comparing it to the Snow Groomer and Dump Truck, there isn't one thing the Telehandler clearly does better than the other two, but it also isn't notably worse in any way. The Telehandler offers unique play features and an excellent part selection at a reasonable price. Keep an eye on that 8-tooth gear. Four stars.