Random set of the day: Desert Glider
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 30090 Desert Glider, released during 2011. It's one of 9 Pharaoh's Quest sets produced that year. It contains 29 pieces and 1 minifig.
It's owned by 1,496 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $6.50, or eBay.
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32 comments on this article
There must be an invisible seatbelt of something, it can't just be glute strength holding him down.
RIP Pharaoh's Quest. They so need to bring back Pharaoh's Quest and Adventurers.
@MCLegoboy said:
"There must be an invisible seatbelt of something, it can't just be glute strength holding him down."
I don't know that I've seen any evidence on the existence of seatbelts in any Lego product. So they must all be using glute strength no matter the vehicle.
His aircraft has shrunk in the wash!
Gliders with propellers do exist, but they're capable of retracting the propeller once they have sufficient speed and altitude to glide. The propeller on this thing would just windmill if it were to glide, producing additional drag. Conclusion: not actually a glider.
Pharaoh's Quest is top tier for LEGO "action" original IPs.
Such an underrated theme.
I have all of them, they're excellent, brings back those Adventurer and Indy feels and fun!
Bring it back lego! Dangit!!! ;)
Close enough, welcome back 3039 Adventurers Plane.
@MCLegoboy said:
"There must be an invisible seatbelt of something, it can't just be glute strength holding him down."
He must be taking lessons from Disney's Tarzan.
But..it's...it's NOT a 'glider'; it's a POWERED AIRCRAFT, a PLANE if you will...yesh:|
The sets from this theme always make me want to ride Lost Kingdom Adventure at LEGOLAND again.
@MCLegoboy said:
"There must be an invisible seatbelt of something, it can't just be glute strength holding him down."
It's his buttocks' exceptional clutch powers that holds him in place.
We need smaller/short termed themes to come back from time to time. Pharaoh's Quest sets are a good reminder of that. For example, I loved the space themed sets of last year, but we need more factions in space. Lego used to be so creative with the names too, like Futuron, Unitron, Exploriens, Spyrius etc. The last Space Police was gold. I started collecting aliens minifigures after that.
@MCLegoboy said:
"There must be an invisible seatbelt of something, it can't just be glute strength holding him down."
I don't know what you mean, he's clearly got a fine grasp of that lever, it's all completely safe
@ecleme11 said:
"His aircraft has shrunk in the wash! "
HEY!
Bootleg Adventurers. Kinda redundant when they already have such a great IP, if you ask me. Still, I wouldn't mind a theme like this nowadays.
It is a SW microfighter spinoff!
This was a newspaper free giveaway, well you still had to buy the paper and throw in bin outside newsagents, but still unlikely to be repeated and Jack Raines only appeared in one other set 7307.
True to the spirit of Adventurers, this is a fun-sized package made for adventures!
For what is, I think it does it quite well. Those binoculars do a lot to help sell that it's a chibi version of something larger and more detailed.
Together with the revolver they also continue the proud tradition of providing loads of tools!
Is it?
I learnt in one of these powered gliders:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingsby_Falke
The glider I flew at 613VGS had an engine (see above), but the prop didn’t retract, you just switched it off…
"[UK] Promotional set given away with The News of The World newspaper in the UK on 22nd May 2011."
...less than two months before said rag was (rightly) shut down over the phone hacking scandal.
Pharaohs Quest was so obviously an Adventurers reboot I wonder why they didn't go full on and keep the same characters? I guess the supernatural elements where perhaps secondary to the adventure aspect in the original theme, whereas they are front and centre here battling mummies etc.
And I agree with @lego_lord that it would be great to see Lego do some shorter term action themes. No hate to the ninjago sets, but I feel the themes continuation has basically kept any other action theme from being developed, and when you have them sitting alongside the Monkey Kid line as well... it feels like it would be great to mix things up a bit (creatively... I assuming financially it would make no sense to end those lines).
2025 remake : 60459 Airplane vs. Hospital Bed Race Car Pack
@MonsterFighter said:
"The glider I flew at 613VGS had an engine (see above), but the prop didn’t retract, you just switched it off…"
Okay, I take back what I said earlier about the prop windmilling, but this thing still doesn't have the wingspan to glide very far.
@brick_r said:
"But..it's...it's NOT a 'glider'; it's a POWERED AIRCRAFT, a PLANE if you will...yesh:|"
Indeed, it seems physically incapable of gliding. It’s like the bumblebee of the aerospace industry.
@Elcascador said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"There must be an invisible seatbelt of something, it can't just be glute strength holding him down."
It's his buttocks' exceptional clutch powers that holds him in place."
Like I said, he’s taking lessons from Disney’s Tarzan:
https://www.reddit.com/r/theydidthemath/comments/c588mm/request_how_hard_tarzan_have_to_clench_his/lightbox
@classicstylecastle:
Power Miners was clearly a repackaging of Rock Raiders, and Ultra Agents was the same for Agents, but both did a hard reset on the cast. Either someone decided the old characters didn’t test as well as the new ones, or the designers just wanted to put their own stamp on the theme instead of reusing someone else’s work.
@TheOtherMike:
As far as I know, all prop planes are capable of gliding, if only because engines sometimes stop working when you’re off the ground. When an engine cuts out on a plane with two or more props, the pilot just has to “feather” the blades. This involves turning them so they’re going edge-forward, which presents minimal drag on the side that’s already underpowered. Boat props and screws don’t have the same ability, but they also tend to present much less surface area than a plane prop.
He's also holding the control, so it isn't all brute glute force
I guess my Pharaoh's Quest collection isn't complete. I have all the main sets, but apparently not this (and the other) polybag nor the battle pack.
Not going to worry about hunting them down, though.
I do wish Lego would bring back this theme or do something similar. Pharaoh's Quest was just a single wave iirc. Not every original IP needs to be a multi year epic. Something small and cool would be most welcome!
It's like an updated version of 3022
@PurpleDave: I'm not sure that that propeller is capable of feathering.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave: I'm not sure that that propeller is capable of feathering."
I’m not sure it’s capable of keeping that thing in the air.
@PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave: I'm not sure that that propeller is capable of feathering."
I’m not sure it’s capable of keeping that thing in the air."
Honestly, that's probably true of most minifigure-scale planes that used that propeller.