This set has been with me since my youth, I remember getting it for my birthday once and it has remained in assembled state ever since. Now, nearly 12 years later, I decided it's time to put it in the spotlights once again.

Parts

I wouldn't say this is a great parts pack, but it's not awful. There's a nice amount of plates and yellow panels that build up the trailer, and the cabin has a few useful slopes and brackets. The sticker sheet has LEGO logos in various sizes, but those have become more and more common in recent years. In the end you're still better off passing on this if you don't care about the build.

Build process

I greatly value the building process, and sadly this set did not excite me that much with its building techniques or part usage. The connection of the rearmost wheels to the trailer is mildly interesting, but that's about it.

Unfortunately, the construction of the trailer's cargo area is pretty poor. Before connecting the roof plates, the entire build is incredibly fragile and is easily broken if everything's not perfectly aligned when adding new parts. Fortunately, once the roof is added the build is fully solid and you needn't bother about accidentally breaking it anymore. Because the trailer is a quick build using a lot of large parts, this luckily isn't very bothering in the grand scheme of things.

On a sidenote, rebuilding the set did bring me back to the good 'ol days of City trucks and cars with its wonderfully nostalgic and straight-forward yet effective design.

Features

Aside the obvious features like having spinning wheels and the like, here are some things that I thought to be noteworthy:

- there's a lot of space inside the cabin which has been used to house a driver's area, a bed/couch and a tv. It's slightly tricky to get both figures in comfortably, but it can be done without any major hiccups.

- the trailer hitch is pretty loose, however it won't come off by just riding or displaying it. It also makes attaching and detaching super easy. Just don't expect it to come along if you only hold the cabin while picking it up.

- there's a dead-simple folding mechanism for the trailer's landing gear, but it works very well!

- accessing the spacious interior of the trailer is harder and a bit more frustrating than it should be. There's a couple small doors that work alright, but the small amount of tiny LEGO boxes rattle around easily and will only come out by tilting the trailer until they drop. You can detach the roof plates, but they're firmly connected and if not done carefully you're at risk of breaking off some wall panels as well.

- included is, of course, a pile of minifig-sized LEGO-boxes! There's nine in total, one of which depicts this very set. It's very meta and I thought it was hilarious as a kid. However, compared to the cargo space this is a very minimal amount. I'd love to fill up the truck more, perhaps even with some pallets. Well, that's what Bricklink is for! :)

Appearance

Well, what can I say? It's a big, yellow truck, with an American-styled cabin shape and LEGO logos all over it. But, it's one of the very few depictions LEGO has made of their delivery vehicles and, in my opinion, by far the cleanest-looking one. Additionally, this subject has only been represented once after this set, being the delivery van that came as part of set #60097 Town Square in 2015.

Even though this set is 5 years older than #60097 and is currently approaching its 12th birthday, the aged design doesn't look out of place next to the current lineup of City vehicles. So, all in all, if a LEGO-LEGO delivery truck is what you want, #3221 is still your safest bet!

Verdict

LEGO City Truck is a wonderful example of the timeless nature of LEGO products. Even after a decade, LEGO hasn't remade the subject yet; I like to think it's because with how well #3221 holds up, there's simply no need for an update. The minor flaws don't detract from all the great things that the set has to offer, and I feel that this overall is one of the most successful and memorable LEGO City products in history.

I'll make the opening short; Lego's 3221 'City Truck' is by far and away one of the best City products I've bought since the theme was introduced. I've always been a fan of any branded products because of their cheekiness, and so I was delighted when the Lego Group introduced a new truck.

First off, this truck is definitely inspired by real life American rigs, and is therefore not a completely original design for the Lego city. I read many reviews that stated the main vehicle/cabin was "too sloped" or sluggish, but I think these owners may be forgetting that the Lego group have consistently looked for inspiration from design features all over world - they can't always be european. Despite this, I am actually a fan of the design and feel that it represents an iconic 'truck-look' without being overly pretentious.

This vehicle has some excellent features, including the lid (see the Lego sticker) that opens and closes on a hinge for easy access to the cabin, the big wing mirrors, the nice spacious interior and a wall mounted computer. Plenty of warning/hazard lights are also located around the vehicle just like in real life. Some have suggested that the cabin should have "two seats, so that other man can sit in too". Again this is poor observation, because the man with the cap is working at the depot and it is his job to move the packages in and out of the trailer with the included red trolley. The driver, on the other hand, is a driver! And a serious coffee drinker by the looks of his mug...

If I'm nit picking, the only two changes I can imagine being made had the product been a higher RRP would be larger wheels and a flip up engine lid.

Another area for debate is the 'pin and disc' method used to connect the trailer to the vehicle. I've had a good look (and play about) with this system and I find it hard to judge where the complaints stem from. The pin slots into the 4x4 flat disc so that, once inserted, it has the ability to move about on an axis in order to provide suspension and shock absorption - particularly when turning tight angles. The only way that the pin part can come away from the trailer is if the user, literally, bends the trailer and forces the part to come away. However, if you simply lift the trailer vertically (as you're supposed to), it comes away without breaking. Call me Mr Obvious, but I think this is just common sense.

We then have the trailer itself, which is itself an empty 'shell' composed of nine large yellow facias and various components holding them in place. Because it is empty, the user may put whatever little packages they like inside the trailer through the various doors on either side and rear end, or through removing the roof section which is intentionally held on a bit looser with a mix of flat and studded plates. Aside from the beautiful Lego decals (stickers, sadly), the best component of this build is the wheel housing. Those genius designers made a lovely mini-build that literally suspends on a single pin and allows the trailer to tilt left, right, back and forth.

In this instance, I would partly agree with other reviewers that the trailer is a little on the more fragile side, but that depends on how rough you play with it. For gliding the truck around, this thing just isn't going to break at all, but I imagine that in hands which are too young, then obviously it will come apart. I personally believe however that the 5-12 age category is pushing it a bit for this model, and would definitely more up to the 8-12 region.

The final delight is the selection of 'packages' that come with the product - nine in total. They are only made from 4x4 bricks with flat plates and stickers, but the stickers themselves have cleverly been designed to replicate not only the packaging for this model, but for other City products too. As I said earlier on, it's a cheeky little world these guys have got! It also provides an incentive to make your own little packages and just fill the trailer full of interesting goods.

You don't even have to place all the 'Lego' stickers on the vehicle, as you could keep it to a more universal/open delivery truck that could transport all kinds of components. Given the amazing length of this product (39cm!), it would be great for placing long tiles and 1x8 bricks inside for building site.

How happy am I? Over the moon to say the least. I have always been a fan of simpler builds because they represent their counterpart a lot clearly, and I can't imagine any Lego fan or young boy that could resist this lovely big, bright truck. It has minor draw backs, but these are clearly not enough to even put a purchase in question. It will be discontinued soon too!

Even though there isn't a lot of boxes to fill the ginormous trailor with, this set is still a great City set. You only get two minifigs, but the set looks good and is VERY functional. Everything about this set makes you feel like you're reliving the classics from back in the day with a modern twist. Lego made a good set here.

I just got this baby a while back in Amsterdam during a short trip. This is one of the most notable big truck sets that came in 2010, other than the 3180 Tank Truck and the TRU's version. I always prefer the Lego version instead of the TRU one. The yellow color really emphasizes the size of this truck.

Notable plus points:
- Finally a true "American" long nose six wide trucks, a fresh change from the usual Euro cabovers. Represent the current modern Freightliner or Volvo VN series tractor.
- A true interstate long distance semi tractor with loads of amenities, including a bed for some "brick-backseat luvin" LOL.
- Clever use of rear trailer 'suspension' with a degree of tilting to adapt road surfaces
- Most beautiful truck design in an official set with that clean aerodynamic lines.
- "Grows" in size once assembled. Thanks to that long '48-footer' at the back. A lot longer than "39" cm suggest on the box.
-Yellow. What's better than a big yellow truck is an even bigger yellow truck!

Building tips for AFOLs (and kids too):
If you're an AFOL (like me) this might matter to you. On instruction p.17, is the assembly instruction for the side fuel tank and sideskirts. If you look, the instruction says to build 2 similar sub assemblies. Well that's wrong! If you do so then you will have misligned fuel filler caps left and right when the truck is viewed from above. Just look at p.19. The three rows of Modified 1 x 2 x 1 1/3 Curved brick is in diagonal position left to right. What you need is to reposition them so they're parallel left to right. Easy fix!

Tips for kids, and 'childish AFOLs'
A dab of silicone oil (Mom's cooking oil will work too kids!) on the wheel holder axles before attaching the wheels will eliminate plastic to plastic squeeks when the truck is rolling. And makes then truck rolls smoother and further too :) Don't play on the tables!

Verdict
If you' into automotive designs and heavy transportations in general (like me!), this set is for you..if you're an American car fan, this set IS for you. If you're a Classic Town fan, this thing will seize up the traffic, too big. If you don't like Lego...well what the heck are you doing reading this? Go play with your Playmobil! Hahaha..JK.

Thanks for reading guys.

This is an extremely excellent set. My son just received this today on his 6th b-day and it's currently holding it's own against a newly acquired Nintendo DS.

It's just that good.

When we first saw this item at the store, my son broke out into hysterical laughter at what he considered a nice little joke: "A Lego Truck that is selling Legos and LOOK it has pictures of some of my Lego sets on the boxes!"

Right then and there I knew what he was getting for his Birthday.

The actual build is pretty neat. Not as boring or repetitious as most symmetrical vehicles seem to be. It was almost more a a center to outward build...a very sturdy cab. It has a very spacious trailer that can store the boxes, the red truck/cart that is included and tons more of whatever cargo needs a-transportin. When separated from the cab, the trailer has a hinge-stand to maintain stability. The trailer's wheels are a neat little build in and of themself that reminded me of Optimus Prime's "Roller" vehicle. (cudos to anyone who manages to convert this semi into Optimus Prime by the way)

The cab portion is extremely detailed: The flip-up canopy for driver access (while it breaks off every once in a while) is a beautiful touch. Inside there is a seat for a driver, a bed, dashboard for coffee mug, and television. Normally I'm disappointed that Lego vehicles do not make room for 2 seats, however since there is a bed in there, that's plenty of room for a secondary figure. Outward appearances like 2 sets of side windows and, side gas tanks and clear over orange fornt light/brake and turn signals and roof lights are a plus.

This is a nice long semi which makes for an authentic feel. Lots of stickers (many people on here seem to complain about stickers, but they...) add to the detail of this rig and it's contents.

This is a quasi-expensive set around the $35-40 mark, but I also think this is one of those sleeper sets that is pure gold (or...er...yellow) and collectors may regret not purchasing it while it's easily available.