Random set of the day: Glider
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 1187 Glider, released in 1999. It's one of 15 Castle sets produced that year. It contains 23 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$2.
It's owned by 869 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
Help me come to life! If you like the set I've chosen for you today, please pledge your support for me on LEGO Ideas so I have a chance of becoming an official LEGO set!
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23 comments on this article
Clearly this set makes no sense based upon its content, image, and title, but $2? That would have been a good impulse buy even in 1999.
@Schmopiesdad said:
"
Clearly this set makes no sense based upon its content, image, and title, but $2? That would have been a good impulse buy even in 1999."
I thought the same thing! $2 is a steal!
Amazing little set!
Behold the stealth of what is basically an airborne section of wall
The Pinnacle of Aerodynamics.
@Schmopiesdad said:
"
Clearly this set makes no sense based upon its content, image, and title, but $2? That would have been a good impulse buy even in 1999."
The title makes complete sense. It has the capacity to glide.
It’s a raft with bat wings.
Could you imagine a set like that today for army building? CMF is at $5, but $2!!!
Granted only a handful of army builder figures in CMF, but at $5, that is a thing of the past for me.
Forget the green Ninja kids. The grey Ninja is here, and he's got a glider.
Hmmm, I wonder if this set had any influence on 30140 ...?
Or is that method of minifig-attachment more common than I realise?
EDIT: in a bizarre twist, 30140 is also the code for:
https://brickset.com/parts/design-30140
In the mainline sets for Ninja released in 1998, the ninjas could glide through the air on large winged backpacks in which the "wing" components were recolored surf sails with a gray or black feather pattern. This impulse buy clearly cannot accommodate such large wing pieces, so they threw in the old dragon wing parts.
In universe, you can imagine that this poor guy, not having been a particularly martially adept ninja, must have been the inventor of the technique, and so we see here him testing his first prototype of the glider attachment. He realizes, as he peers over the edge, that maybe he should've worked on having a much wider wingspan.
But, sadly, gravity makes the next move...
The Temple of Airjitzu set from Ninjago also had a Glider side build which looked exactly the same as this one. So clearly, Ninja 1998 did have some influence on Ninjago more or less, even though the two are vastly different.
I loved this set, as a kid. I thought it was so cute. Look at the glider? Dawww.
It’s Proto-Zane! There’s a white Ninja from this era, but as a female she seems more like Proto-Nya. YouTuber LEGOFIRST’s ideas, not mine, but I like them.
They are running on fumes for Ninjago I see.
OH wait, it's the random set.
I had a mini-renaissance with this theme, I acquired all of the sets made available in Australia, before descending into another dark age
This is a great set. Feels a bit like GI Joe from the eighties.
Are those wings printed?
Nice little set.
Compared to the other gliders in the Ninja sets, this is quite hilarious.
But for a 2$ set, this is a great deal.
@Schmopiesdad said:
"
Clearly this set makes no sense based upon its content, image, and title, but $2? That would have been a good impulse buy even in 1999."
Why do you think a flying raft with a grey ninja make no sense?
CLASSIC NINJA! CLASSIC NINJA! CLASSIC NINJA! :D
My attachment to this theme is, perhaps, unreasonable, seeing as I only own one set from it, and that one doesn't even have a ninja in (I didn't get one of those cool head-wrap pieces until Dengar in 2006's Slave I); but it was also my first introduction to Lego story-based themes and, as such, I honestly love just about everything about it.
From what I knew at the time, the grey ninjas were the 'good guys', on the payroll of the Shogun, while the black ninjas were allied with the robbers to try and steal his treasure. Not 100% sure how 1999's red and white ninjas fit into that dynamic, and even *less* sure how the green ninjas from that one minifigure pack in 2000 ( 3346 ) relate to any of the others; but it was certainly neat to see the world expanded on, even in such small ways ^^
@Brickodillo said:
"This is a great set. Feels a bit like GI Joe from the eighties.
Are those wings printed?"
No. The light areas are simply where the shiny plastic is catching the light.
I have this ninja from set 4805 ( https://brickset.com/sets/4805-1/Ninja-Knights ). The 1999 ninja were the first done by LEGO and remain the best. Still have the black and grey ones as well as a red one from another set in my display collection.
It takes some serious nostalgia to claim that the Classic Ninjas line was better than Ninjago City.
Cool, I think I had that set as a kid