Okay, this little set charmed the pants off me.

Today’s set, 30090 Desert Glider, was a newspaper promotional polybag from the UK. All you had to do was get a newspaper that had a voucher inside, and then take the voucher to a participating toy store and exchange it for this set. So it was essentially getting LEGO for free. I am fortunate enough to have a friend there who traded this set to me along with a few others. This set is based on the short-lived Pharaoh’s Quest theme.

It comes with a small airplane and a Jake Raines minifigure. The minifigure is not unique, but it only appeared in other set. The torso detail falls in the Goldilocks territory, with the silver printing really making some of the details pop. The head is not double-sided. The mutton chops have these style lines making him look a little Pharaoh-like. I don’t know the story of Pharaoh’s Quest but maybe that was intentional? Is Jake Raines a descendent of a famous Pharaoh? It would be a neat little story twist but I doubt LEGO put that much thought into this one-and-done theme. That being said, I find the face a bit off-putting as the density of the amount of detail is far greater than the torso.

The back of the torso has a print of the SMH logo of a bald eagle’s head. I don’t know what SMH stands for. Super Mummy Hunters?

The minifig is great and all, but the real star of the show is the little airplane. The polybag says glider but glider’s don’t have propellers so I’m going with airplane. It’s a very Chibi-fied version of a plane. You might even use it as a basis for a Merry Go-Round. There’s no cockpit of any kind, just an area for the minifig to sit. But everything else about it is an airplane: control stick, tail fin, wings, propeller, landing gear. Also, there are binoculars on each wing. To me they look like pew-pew guns, or maybe even lights?

In the interest of full disclosure, I had a dark red 1×2 plate crack on me as I snapped it onto the build (LEGO’s fault). Also, while unfolding the instructions, I was a bit too vigorous and ripped it along one of the fold lines (user error).

Does It Suck or Does It Rock?

This set rocks! It’s a super cute little airplane that when you pick it up you just want to swoosh it around while making whiny propeller noises and wobble it in the air. Pharaoh’s Quest may not have lasted long, but at least we got this cool little promotional polybag set.

Sponsorship

There’s no sponsor this week, and with sponsorships lasting a whole week, you can get plenty of exposure for mere pennies. Pennies I say! Want to sponsor a review? Send me a message to admin@fbtb.net or hit me up on discord of the polybag set you have that you want me to review. If selected, in exchange for the set you’ll get a mention right here in the review post and a link to your website or social media account or just about anything else.. Nearly free advertising, so what’s stopping you?

You Can Win This And Every Other Polybag I Review This Year

I’ll be raffling every polybag I review this year in one big lot, all 260 sets (with the possibility of more). Each set will be individually stored in a ziploc baggie complete with the extra pieces, instructions, and the actual polybag bag it came in. The cost of a raffle ticket is just $1 USD and you can enter as many times as you want. Send a PayPal payment to paypal@fbtb.net for $1 USD for every ticket you want to purchase. DO NOT send one payment for multiple entries i.e. do not send one $5 USD payment for five tickets; five $1 USD payments must be made instead. Raffle is open to everyone in the world except where raffles are illegal. Be sure to put “POLYBAG RAFFLE” in the notes section of the payment in order to be entered successfully. Winner will be drawn sometime early January 2023 and contacted at the PayPal email address the payment was sent from to arrange for delivery. For a running list of all the sets that you can win, check this Google spreadsheet.