In Pakistan every excavator on a building site gets called a JCB, and this is the toy version children ask for by that name: a big yellow digger on black crawler tracks that they drive and dig with from a remote control. It is the M5200 Power Excavator from the MACHINERY remote control engineering vehicle series, in 1:20 scale.

The remote does the driving and the digging. Push forward and back, turn left and right, and the excavator crawls across the floor on its tracks; the remote also works the long arm and the bucket, so the digger can scoop, lift and tip like the real machine. The remote is yellow, shaped like a game controller, with an aerial on top.

The detail is what makes children stop and look. The arm carries chrome-look hydraulic rams and M5200 printed in black and red, the cab has dark tinted windows and an exhaust stack behind it, POWER EXCAVATOR is printed along the side, and the toothed black bucket hangs at the end of the arm.

The excavator runs on a rechargeable battery that comes in the box with a USB charging cable, so there are no cells to buy for the machine itself. The remote takes its own AA cells, which are not included; keep a set ready before the box is opened on a birthday.

It is a natural partner for sand, soil and a tray of dry rice or lentils indoors: children dig a trench, load a pile and move it from one end of the room to the other. Brothers and sisters take turns driving and digging, and the building-site game lasts far longer than with a push-along truck. The box is marked 3+.

The price is Rs. 3,999 with Cash on Delivery across Pakistan, from Karachi and Lahore to Islamabad, Faisalabad and Peshawar. Stock, your city and the delivery charge are confirmed on WhatsApp before dispatch.

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