When I bought this, I was looking for the cheapest, sturdiest, _slowest_ and most stable remote-operated vehicle I could find, and this one fit the bill perfectly! (More on this below, if you are interested.)

First things first: in my opinion, this is a toy for adults or older kids, and I would never even _think_ of putting this in the hands of small children: there are so many minuscule, easily breakable, dangerous plastic parts, threads and gears, that a small child might break and swallow them in an instant... (as a matter of fact, this is for ages 8 and above).

The quality is what you can expect below 15 pounds... The steering is erratic and often needs adjustments (which are easily done by a small graduated lever underneath the truck); the speed is limited, and is even reduced when you steer, since there is clearly only one driving motor, but at least the remote control is responsive and error-free (even if REALLY cheap in component quality); the worst part, unfortunately, is the forklift mechanism, which is actually more powerful that you would expect, but works thorugh a series of simple _threads_, small pulleys, pistons and just one small motorized gear: needless to say, after very few up/down operations, there is a high chance that the lower thread - used as a sort of lift braking mechanism - will disengage itself from the gear (but the forklift will still operate, though), and you will end up with a loose wire under the truck, as it happened to me... Moreover, the threads in the up/down gear tend to jam easily, so you should really be careful to avoid operating the forklift too often...

As regards the batteries, the truck needs 4 AAA (not included) and the remote one 9V battery (included), and even if the instructions - obviously enough, for performance reasons - require to use non-rechargeable batteries, I would strongly suggest to use them at least in the truck, instead (unless you want to end up mortgaging your house to buy batteries...): this thing is really power-hungry...

By the way, please note that, although there are separate on/off controls for the remote and the truck, and the remote has 2 big red leds to show when it's on, the truck itself does NOT have any lights or leds to show whether it is actually on or off, so you need to always check the on/off switch under it, to avoid draining the batteries uselessly...

The tires are really nice and made from real rubber, not hard plastic, so the movement is smooth and steady on any surface, and the footprint is large enough to allow to carry a _relatively_ large load (compared to the truck) without tipping off the truck. You can even use a small included plastic pallet, to avoid breaking the not-too-sturdy forks, and in order to have a more stable surface (you might want to stick some anti-slip rubber over it, for better grip, if you want to lift heavier/larger objects).

All things considered, and notwithstanding the obvious quality issues, the truck is _really_ fun to operate: it can lift objects (remote controls, for instance) and carry them (rather slowly, luckily; if this was as fast as the typical remote-controlled vehicles loved by children, it would just be useful to toss things around and break them...), and even if the remote controls are very basic (forward/backward, left/right, forklift up/down), and there is no speed control of any sort, you can easily "drive" the truck even through relatively complex paths (as a matter of fact, the box also includes 4 plastic traffic cones that can be used to create a small obstacle course).

But the real reason why I ordered it, and for which it proved to be almost perfect, is that this small, unremarkable cheap toy can become, with some little modifications, a perfect ROV (remotely-operated-vehicle) base for my light, portable Full HD camera (the _brilliant_ Kodak Zi8: see my review, if you are interested...), in order to shoot Full-HD "dolly-like" sequences even in the most unreachable places!

I just took my small GorillaPod for cel phones (another brilliant gizmo, IMHO), "grabbed" safely the roof of the truck with its articulated legs, put my Zi8 camera on the standard camera attachment over the GorillaPod, and... voilà: instant motion-controlled camera!

The result, to be more clear, is somewhat like a "poor-man Steadicam Shining POV sequence", the one with the little boy on the trike pedalling down the corridor of the hotel, remember? (You could not possibly have forgotten _that_ shot, if you ever saw it... it was one of the first Steadicam shots in movie history!)

Unfortunately, the Gorillapod is way too "elastic" and wobbly, and the weight of the camera way too low, to produce actually _steady_ results, and my shots so far look more like a Parkinson-induced nightmare, but I am confident that I will be able to find the right weight/support combination to produce less shaky shots, especially if I put my small contraption on a large smooth table, and not on the floor tiles...

Oh, and by the way, this might also be a perfect idea to spend hours playing with your cats (or scaring them a lot...), and taking really interesting footage at their height level: it is a whole new world, I assure you! (At least, until the cats will rip your mini-dolly apart, of course!)

So, I really think that, especially given the almost negligible price, the possible uses of this little toy are definitely more interesting that you might think at first!

Experiment safely at your own risk!

I was surprised at the good quality of this product for the price (£14.96 & free p&p with Amazon). It is small (4.5 inches high) but has some intricate detail which makes it very real. The rear tyres control the direction and the forks go up and down, just like the real thing.

Its radio controlled. The control has 2 red lights when switched on.

I bought it as a demonstration attraction for a Fork Lift course offered at my work but my boys (age 12 & 16) had fun with it. I wouldn't recommend it for young children though because the forks are a little delicate (and a few other parts are sophisticated and delicate such as the small steering wheel). Good practice for the older child with poor coordination.

It's currently sat on my desk in my office waiting for our display....but everyone keeps having a play!! It really tests their coordination/directional skills.

Perfect tool for moving cake the difficult distances across a wide expanse of desk space, and funny. well built up ,down, and steering, good fun REMEMBER THIS IS A TOY AND SHOULD NOT BE USED AS PART OF A LOGISTICS OPERATION.............. enjoy