REVIEW: 30090 Desert Glider

[InArchitect]

Hello Eurobricks members and administrators! Today I will be conducting my first review on the site. I am starting small so feel free to comment, criticise and generally give lots of feedback. I am saying sorry in advance if any of the photos may be too big or out of focus at all. So here goes:

Set Name: Desert Glider

Set Number: 30090

Theme: Pharaoh's Quest

Released: May 2011

Minifigures: 1

Price: N/A (Came free with the 'News of the World' newspaper

Bring on the pictures.

Packaging

So you've picked up your newspaper, ripped out the voucher, chucked your newspaper in the bin and walked to your WHSmiths or Toys R Us and handed your voucher in.

You are presented with a neat little polybag which shows a picture of the little plane, the age rating and the set number. Oddly enough though, there is no set name. I had to look it up on brickset.

Bag front

Bag Back

The back of the polybag has the usual stuff like where the parts were made, the barcode and a 1:1 image of the plane propeller.

Inside the bag

Let's open it up shall we?

Instruction manual front

The front of the manual boasts the same image as the polybag and shows the set number.

Manual back

The back just shows a picture of the minifigure.

Manual front (when unfolded)

The manual is a foldout one, which is very common for these small promos. The front shows how to put the minifig together and steps 1-6.

Manual back (when unfolded)

This side shows steps 7-9 and a Pharaoh's Quest advertisement.

Advertisement

This just shows the other sets in the line (not including the other PQ promo).

The pieces

The set only has a small amount of pieces. I haven't counted, but I think it might be around 33 including the spare parts.

In a pile

Not very much to see there.

All set out

There are 5 black pieces, 12 dark grey pieces, 5 light grey pieces, 6 dark red pieces, 1 trans-grey piece and 4 minifig pieces. There aren't really any new or special pieces here and this set could easily be built out of a builder's collection.

The minifig

The minifigure that we receive with this set is Jake Raines with an aviator helmet and jacket.

Front

Some nice printing on the front of the jacket has been added. The zip printing is also metallic silver, so it shines a little in the light.

Side

Back

Again there's some nice printing of an eagle head and the letters 'SMH'. I have no idea what that means so I would be grateful if anyone could tell me in the comments.

Jake's goggles do swing up and down and fit nicely over the helmet. If I'm not mistaken, the same minifigure also appears in the 'Flying Mummy Attack' set.

The build

I found the build incredibly easy and not at all challenging, but that's what you would expect for a promotional set of this size.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Finished. The built takes about 2-3 minutes.

The Set

Now that it's complete, we can critique the set

Front view

Side view

From this angle you can see how simplistic the set is. You can also see the chibified look to the set.

3/4 view

Close-up

I really like the use of the binocular piece here. It really looks like the machine guns that you might have had on the old planes.

Take off! (and yes those are my fingers you can see)

Final ratings

Design: 7/10 This is a neat little set, just a little simple.

Playability: 8/10 Give this to a kid around 6 years old and he'll be happy enough to have it zooming around his room. I know this. I was almost tempted to do so myself.

Price: 10/10 This was free. You can't get a better price than that.

Overall: 8.3/10 I really enjoyed this set. If you didn't pick it up while you could, then you might have to pay quite a bit in the future. People are starting to sell it for around £5 already.

Please leave comments, criticism and questions in the comments below.

[Aanchir]

Thanks for the review! I like this set better than the other Pharaoh's Quest promo/impulse (30091 Desert Rover) because this set is cute and ridiculous-looking, whereas IMO the Desert Rover is just ridiculous looking. I think it may have to do with how this set is smaller all around, while the Desert Rover has features like the distance between its headlights or the size of its front grille that could easily be kept the same on a minifigure-scale car.

The initials on his jacket could very easily be the initials of a Pharaoh's Quest model designer. They like throwing those sorts of things into print and sticker designs.

[Big Cam]

I'm the opposite of Aanchir, I think this is cute, but the Desert Rover is more appealing to me, I just like the look of it, where this looks like a Mcdonalds promo from 15 years ago.

[Aanchir]

I'm the opposite of Aanchir, I think this is cute, but the Desert Rover is more appealing to me, I just like the look of it, where this looks like a Mcdonalds promo from 15 years ago.

A McDonalds promo from 15 years ago wouldn't have had wedge plates, and certainly wouldn't have had binoculars or similarly small detail pieces. And it almost certainly would not have had a minifigure This is from a person who got McDonalds promo sets for years.

Admittedly, a McDonalds promo from 15 years ago would probably be better-designed than a more recent one, since McDonalds is so irrational these days with their policy of wanting toys with "no assembly required".

[lightningtiger]

Thanks for the review 'InArchitect', cute set....though a little out-of-proportional eh ?

Plane is cute, need to make it bigger.....scratch-build time !

But it's the minfig that makes it worth it especially the torso.

Brick On and keep looking for those mummies !

[XimenaPaulina]

Yay, another PQ polybagged set! I'm really liking this and the previous Desert Rover one. The mini-glider is definitely cute and a nice way to get that minifig, especially the cool-looking jacket torso. Thanks for sharing this review InArchitect!