Lego Technic 9390 - Mini Tow Truck

I’ve never built a Technic kit before. In fact, before this set, I hadn’t built any Lego at all for 30 years! So this review isn’t going to have any useful information as to whether 9390 contains unique parts, or unusual building techniques.

Because I don’t have a clue!

This is just the impressions of a 40-something rediscovering the simple joys of building a Lego set.

I picked the 9390 Mini Tow truck - known by some as the Mini-Mog because of it’s similarity to the considerably larger #8110 Unimog - simply because I wanted to start small. Thanks to Father Christmas, or more specifically my wife, I have some large Technic sets to build, but not having dipped a toe in this particular pool for some time, I figured I’d start at the shallow end.

9390 comes in a small cardboard box and contains two plastic bags with 130-odd pieces. And odd pieces is right. I think out of the whole set there were two (count ‘em!) parts that I actually recognised as the Lego of my childhood. They were the two 2 x 1 clear plates that serve as headlights. Everything else…

Well everything else looks like a colourful, shiny hybrid of regular Lego and another construction toy from my younger days - Meccano. Girders, axles, rods, and those little short, black, cylinder things that clip pieces together and almost certainly have a proper name, but I haven’t got the faintest what it is!

Also in the box are three instruction manuals : two for building the ‘A’ model, the Tow Truck, and a third manual for the ‘B’ model, a Racing Car. I separated the parts into piles, sat down at the kitchen table and started building.

Some time (and a few choice words after I realised I’d missed a step and had to do some emergency deconstruction) later I sat back to admire my handiwork.

What a great little truck!

As far as complex moving parts go, you’ll need to look elsewhere. The front wheels steer, the crane hook raises and lowers, and that’s about it. But that’s not the point. For a truck that’s small enough to sit in the palm of your hand it’s chock full of clever stuff!

I love the way that something so small can be instantly recognisable. I love the fact that it has a feeling of solidity about it. But most of all I love the ingenious engineering that the Lego designers have used.

Back when I played with toy cars, there was no steering. And on the few rare occasions that there was, it was a simple fixed axle that pivoted around a central point. You steered, and the whole axle moved.

But this little truck, with a couple of dozen plastic pieces, has an amazing replica of real steering! The axle is fixed, and the wheels pivot on the ends. The designers have come up with a Lego solution to a real world engineering problem.

And this is one of the smallest Technic sets you can buy!

The other thing that impressed me is how the ‘B’ model uses almost all the same parts to build something completely different. Do the designers sit down with a deconstructed truck and think ‘What else can we do with these pieces?’, or do they already have something else in mind, and both models have to be compromised in order to save on parts?

There certainly didn’t feel like any compromise - the Racing Car looked like a proper model in its own right, not ‘something that we managed to bodge together out of the parts we had’.

I thought that for a small kit, costing only a few pounds, it’s a tremendous introduction to the world of Lego Technic. I’d thoroughly recommend it.

I can’t wait to get to the big stuff!

When I saw the release info on this set, I knew it would be in my collection for a lot of reasons. First, and foremost, it is a mini-Unimog. That for me is a great thing because I can actually afford this mini Technic Set! Second, this set returns to the classic technic wheel without the protruding hub - Yay! For what I do, these wheels are much more fun and interesting to work with. Third, the 9390 might be one of the first Technic Mini-Sets to actually offer two functions! I can't remember a set that did that before, so for me, this is actually a really cool feature for the 9390! Kudos to Lego's designers for pulling off a new experience.

In building the A-model, it was yet another experience for me in learning a new way to put together a steering linkage system. And I had to spend a few minutes marveling at how well it works in spite of the very unusual design. Assembling the A-model was enjoyable and well worth the $12USD price tag. The creative solution for adding the second function to this kit, which is a working hoist, was really neat to see done, and build, as well. The lift is not super strong, but with a Mini Technic Model, compromises have to be made. And I think all of the right compromises were made in delivering this mini-Unimog model with two working functions in a mini kit for less than $12USD. What a fun building experience. There are lots of opportunities to customize this model into a Unimog with different configurations, and I'm going to have a lot of fun designing those other fun items (a trailer comes to mind!).

The B-model for this kit builds a more artistic looking car design that also features functioning steering. Now, when it comes to a B-model in the mini-Technic line, I'm always very open-minded towards the effort on the Lego designers to come up with a second build. And I was surprised at how well this vehicle design stretches the small parts of the 9390 kits into a longer car body. Nicely done, Lego designers.

Pros

• Pro 1 - A surprising two functions in a mini Technic Kit! Wow! I'm impressed!
  
• Pro 2 - The A - model looks great, and the B - model looks interesting
  
• …

Cons

• Con 1 - Could use a few more parts to really make the A-model look complete (rear bumper would have been really nice.).
  
• Con 2 - Orange is a great color, but a red, blue, or yellow version would have been much more useful parts-wise for me.
  
• …

Overall, I think the Lego Technic 9390 is a great kit. I will be picking up a few extra 9390 Kits throughout the year given the awesome price and the useful parts. As a collector, I think the Lego Technic 9390 is a very unique mini-Technic Set because it offers a great looking A-model with two functions. Given that unique feature, I had no reservations in adding it to my collection!

i picked this set up yesterday along with some other new 2012 sets and started building it as soon as i got home. It was very easy to build and took about 20-30 mins to complete. The front is a bright orange color ( i have never bought a technic set with orange pieces so i was pleased with it) with a small piece representing the light there were blue seats (not mini figure size) and 1x2 transparent plates used as headlights.
The backside is red with a couple of grey elements.

Pros

• nice orange pieces
  
• good price
• some spare pieces
• cute
  
• 
  

Cons

nothing much really, it is very easy to build and on the back-end of the truck, there is a gear and next to it there is and empty space on the axle, it looks unfinished so maybe they could have added a piece there or something. But other than that, the tow truck is pretty AWESOME!

Overall, this is a nice 2012 set and it is only 7 pounds! great for kids and it is a good beginners set! highly recomended!

At just £7, this was hard to resist - so I didn't...

A handsome little thing, it provides a baby brother for the 8110. Steers better than that model, too.

It's a quick, fun build but I do have to ask why the instructions for the main model are split into 2 tiny books when the B model instructions are one, larger and much better, book. Strange...

The model itself looks good for the size and it has a cleverly done steering linkage which works unusually well. The rear part, however, could stand some improvement. The tow hook is operated by the simplest means possible, and there's too much friction to use it easily. There's space back there to give it a proper worm gear driven mechanism. Still, a set this small having two functions of any kind is pretty good; it's just that the towing hook feels like a bit of an afterthought.

The B model - a race car of some kind - makes good use of the pieces to build something very different, and I like the way you use what looks like the driver's head to steer it. A nice touch.

Overall, it's a sweet little thing and a good enough way to spend those VIP points.

This is my first review due to the fact that i do not write well.
this is a good mini technic set for the money i love to collect trucks and this was a easy buy. the biggest thing i didn't like is the fact the winch is only supported on one side. i am going to look and see if i have any spare parts to correct this flaw. other than that i really like to orange cab. for me i like the color. the steering is very well thought out other than i feel that the turning radius on most lego's is to large. i hope that people find this helpful. thanks.