Random set of the day: Research Glider
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 5921 Research Glider, released during 2000. It's one of 17 Adventurers sets produced that year. It contains 57 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$6.
It's owned by 2,771 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 $30.30, or eBay.
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23 comments on this article
LEGO Pterosaurs have come a long way.
how are you meant to pilot an aircraft with a steering wheel??
and on that note, the thing looks like its seen better days...
One of the only Dino Island sets I got when I was younger. It's a bit simplistic, but the wings were cool, having only come in Ninja sets.
Such a Goofy vehicle.
In this era, all Lego sets were just parts to add to the Great Sorting. Official sets often landing in large quantities at deep discount. The main model was rarely worth building.
“Day one - I have determined that this glider is not even remotely airworthy. Have a long hike ahead of me to get back to my car at the top of the cliff.”
“Day two - AAAAAH! T-Rex!”
@Worrissey said:
"how are you meant to pilot an aircraft with a steering wheel??
and on that note, the thing looks like its seen better days..."
Turn the wheel to roll, push and pull for elevation. Plenty of aircraft have control yokes.
Don't get me wrong, I loved Adventurers (didn't we all?) and enjoyed Dino Island.
But looking at the sets when they came out, I always thought that, the problems with Lego in a general wider sense were starting to bleed through here. A lot of the scenery, background builds were just piles of blocks, which didn't really look like anything part from piles of nondescript blocks.
For the most part, I think it worked for Dinosaur Island, because the island was meant to be long-since abandoned by human habitation, so the sets were deliberately aiming for a rubble-y, run-down vibe.
It has sort of a classic look, but the glider and the plant/rock build is very weak. I think 5912 is a better mini build and has the dino bird, too.
Never quite understood why they'd put the overhead wing on a hinge like that. Tilting it back just gets in the way of the propellor and if it was considered too close to the piloting minifig's head why not just make it a bit taller? It's what I did when I got the set
I think this theme - like Power Miners after it - comes across as a bit sinister when you really scrutinise it. I mean, in what is presumably the mid-1930s, these dinosaurs aren’t going to be captured for anything good.
Christmas Day 2000 - I remember this set well.
It's funy how those wings are actually from Bonsai's glider of the Ninja theme in 1998.
Also the only set to come with the tan pteranosaur (the next larger set in the line had the red one and quite a few had a dark orange one). The box and instructions show a prototype version of that piece, with slightly different foot clips and working clips on the "hands" too it seems.
The light grey chain is a bit unusual too, as is Mike's brown cavalry cap.
Probably not the most interesting set in the line, but still a few interesting pieces. And yes, the tree looks really awkward, but it's made out of useful parts in colors useful for building "nature stuff".
There's a round tan tile on top of the tree as well - is that supposed to be a nest? Somewhat annoying though, since you cant put the pteranosaur on there securely...
Fun little set with a surprising focus on the terrain. Which is good, as it allows the pterosaur (which are not 'dinosaurs' btw, just related and living in the mesozoic as well) to perch on a high place.
As others said, its pretty clearly hit by the general trends of the era that made it rather rough. I remember even thinking so as a kid. It's why Dino Island is my least favourite Adventurers subtheme.
But the glider itself looks decent for the time, and the slope o the rockwork helps to make it less blocky.
@Worrissey said:
"how are you meant to pilot an aircraft with a steering wheel??"
In the olden days that was rather the norm than the exception.
Just one example:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBznddHskc-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Oh man, I loved this thing as a kid. Somehow got 3 copies, but that's probably because I wanted to have the set, but kept breaking it down to make something else I didn't want to take apart. I was doing what LEGO wanted me to, but a small part that's turned me more into the collector than creator I am today was present as a kid. And now all 3 of these things are in the loose parts bins or being used in unfinished MOCs that have sat for too long. *sigh*
Yes, how this glider flies needs research.
Look, it's very telling that this set remains one of the small handful of my childhood LEGO sets that hasn't been rebuilt yet--as designs go, it's down there.
But it has an epic place in my LEGO history because for a couple years (ca.2002), the minifig here--Mike--was disproportionately way too important to me and my brother. He was OBNOXIOUS--the bane of Johnny Thunder's existence, a wee bit oblivious, and an utterly self-absorbed fan of terrible comic books. After Anakin Skywalker, Mike was the first kid in my LEGO collection and... well, he was childish.
The real fun came from playing him off Johnny Thunder, who was already THE hero of my LEGO stories, and who was thus Very Serious™. Mike, dumped on him and Dr. Lightning by Johnny's much less capable brother (Mike's father), was a thorn in his side and a source of way too much juvenile humour comic relief.
My youngest brother was shocked to learn, some time around 2019, that Mike is NOT actually Johnny's nephew in any official source material. Us older brothers concocted this ourselves, mostly to explain why a kid was tagging along with these serious adults and why Johnny couldn't get rid of him--much though he wanted to.
@Mister_Jonny said:
"I think this theme - like Power Miners after it - comes across as a bit sinister when you really scrutinise it. I mean, in what is presumably the mid-1930s, these dinosaurs aren’t going to be captured for anything good."
It belongs in a museum!...wait...
@Rob42 and @AustinPowers
I stand corrected, and a beautiful example that was!
@Mister_Jonny said:
"I think this theme - like Power Miners after it - comes across as a bit sinister when you really scrutinise it. I mean, in what is presumably the mid-1930s, these dinosaurs aren’t going to be captured for anything good."
You may be pleased to know that in LEGO Adventurers, the heroes' goal is actually to stop the villains from capturing the dinosaurs. Mr. Baron Samuel von Sinister Barron Hates' evil goal this time around is to capture the dinosaurs so he can make loads of money profiting off a dinosaur theme park, and it's up to Johnny Thunder and his friends to thwart the poachers. On the rare occasions where the heroic adventurers are capturing the dinosaurs, it's only to transport them to safety (such as away from a volcanic eruption in the 5975 comic). No moral qualms here!
@SJPLego said:"Baron Samuel von Sinister Barron Hates"
Is that something you came up with, or is that something from an official source?
@TheOtherMike said:
"Is that something you came up with, or is that something from an official source?"
This particular mashup is just a joke and isn't directly from an official source, but it is inspired by the lore of 10273 canonically mashing up his 1998-2000 "Baron von Barron" and 2000-2003 "Sam Sinister" names as "Samuel von Barron". I'm just taking the idea a step further to its (il)logical conclusion by throwing his original Danish/international name "Mr. Hates" into the mess too, since all three names saw use during Dino Island.