A Little Confusing At First!
584980
This little fire truck is an impressive toy, but can be somewhat confusing at first, as the instructions (and box) is in Japanese.  I eventually figured on my own how to fold the crash tender into the ladder truck.

The truck is three and a half inches long, small, but still an impressive little toy. Packaging, unlike many modern toys this size sold over here in the States, is a mostly yellow cardstock box, on side there's a fold-out hanger (for putting on pegs like Matchbox cars are sold on).  On each box flap, there's a little cutout accessory.  On one side, there's a street and fire station on the flaps, on the other is a tree and road sign.  I bought this to collect, so I don't think I'll remove them.

Now, on to the actual product.

The first side is the crash tender, which is the one shown in the main product image.  The water cannon (monitor, as I call it) doesn't move.  It has full around detailing of hose hookups headlights, ladders, and hoses, as well as taillights.  This side of the  base identifies it has the crash tender.

The second is a ladder truck.  To change to the ladder truck, pull the sides apart, then flip the back and top (they're one piece) and the front around, then fold under the end pieces, snap them together, then snap that into the slots on the sides.  then, flip the top part of the back sides around to form the diamond-plate base of the ladder, then fold the ladder out.

It too, has full detailing. Unlike the water cannon, the ladder actually moves up and down, and the section moves in and out.  This other side of the base identifies the model of the ladder truck instead of a crash tender.

Changing it back can be a little bit of a hassle.  The side of the diamond plate with the ladder should be tucked in first, otherwise it won't go together right.

To me, though, the $8 I paid, given the seller was one of the few US sellers with toys that are hard to find outside of Japan , was worth it.  It seems expensive, but according to the Bandai Voov site, these retail for 756 yen, which is about $7.56. If you want a model of the Morita crash tender, this is the cheapest way to go, as apparently, the one that used to be the cheapest, which was made by Tomica, has been retired and one should expect to pay upwards of $15 for it.

I bought it to collect, not play with, as I'm 18.  But, it is interesting to see that this toy is actually two-in-one, and apparently, Japanese kids are smarter than American adults, as it took me about 15 minutes just to figure out how to change it to the ladder truck. And secondly, I'm going to take Japanese so I can understand the instructions next time!

I look forward to adding more Bandai Voovs to my collection and figuring them out!
1816780
Wow.  I just completed my first read and I kept marking spots!  I can't believe it made so much sense!  I am planning to read again to see what I missed the first time through.
1097008
The first few chapters of this book are a bit daunting but worth getting through!  This actually turned into a quick read just as I was about to give up on it.  I thought that the story (and the twist at the end) was great.  Some of the British slang can be tough to decipher but anyone who has read other books in this genre should be able to keep up with most of it.  Overall, a fun read!
673654
I had difficulty following the characters and the plot. But when I just kept reading the story would smooth out and start to make sense. Then it would get choppy again.

It smoothed out enough in the end that I think I got a decent sense if the plot. I'm still unclear on all the characters. Something was missing ... Or maybe it was just me.  You decide and give it a read.
456544
Slow going at first, it was initially very confusing. About 60% through, I could see where it was going.
4971889
I wasn't sure I was going to like this book.  It took me a while to understand what was going on, but when I finally caught on, I enjoyed it after all.
472864
When I started this book I thought it was slow and seemed to drag on. The further I got into it the more I liked it. However at times it was dragged on and I had a hard time staying interested. The ending to this book shocked me a little and now because Im invested in the characters, I need to know what will happen!
3281173
Confusing at first, but good story & writing.
3553455
I liked it okay but it was somewhat hard to follow.  Some of it just didn't make sense to me.  I have mixed feelings about this book all around.
579990
I found the book initially confusing because of both the use of ancient Irish and Northumberland phrases and place names, but eventually I feel into it's cadence. In my Kindle edition the Foreword of the book was placed at the END...it would have been most helpful to have read this first!
3125718
A little confusing in the beginning but I kept with it.  The middle was interesting and then the ending was unexpected.  Everyone is going to have a different take on this book.
773313
I liked it, but the beginning confused me since I felt like there was a lot going on that I should already know.  I felt as if I dropped in on a movie half-way.  But once I got over that, this was a highly enjoyable read!
797253
Good book but a little confusing in spots.  I'm still not sure what really happened
4038537
This book was really good.

But some of it was a little bit confusing. I think it started getting a little confusing a little after the middle, and was especially confusing more towards the end. Despite a little confusion I continued reading and it paid off. I LOVED the very end.
2897976
pretty good story, i did get confused with some of the back and forth, but it all did come together....
762950
I will say the first part of the book had a blip in it. There is an issue with the initial introduction to the world and characters. I was a bit confused as to what was happening. However if you stick with it you will get an awesome world building experience with this author! I found myself lost amongst these characters and their situations.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
1473396
The book starts out super weird and slow. It's seems out of order at first and is had to get into. But if you power through that part it gets so good!