Super cool little aircraft. Works pretty well for sending out X-pods like 4416 to be air dropped on secret missions, or as an unmanned research aircraft operated by minifigs.

Apparently one of the alternate builds is supposed to be a space shuttle, but it just looks like another jet to me.

Were it all red it would have looked like the Autobot Powerglide.

@MCLegoboy said:
"Oy! That's a military vehicle just painted differently! The integrity of LEGO has forever been sullied! I'm mad! Harrumph!"

Thank GOODNESS they never allowed that blasted osprey set out into the wild...

Reminds me of the good old 5892.

No way! I just finished rewatching Top Gun!

Pretty good set though; I actually own it and I think it’s still on display somewhere.

Wouldn't they also use jets like this for stunt airshows? I always thought that this was what they were going for with this model. The bug one from 2007, and the other larger ones that came later.

Fun set btw. I miss having a range of 4 models this size and price point in the theme each year. Getting to choose which one you'd want was great, because if some were misses, others could still be hits!

The esence of Lego. Just a few basic bricks to create super cute and fun model. And 3 in 1.

Got a very Thunderbirds sort of vibe to it, maybe the red and the curves are making me think of Thunderbird 3

@MeisterDad: It doesn't look at all like Powerglide; he was an A-10.

Reminds me of a small version of 31086: Futuristic Flyer , similar colors except red / darkred, and a different aircraft type.

@Binnekamp:
It gets complicated. This is not a licensed set, and it’s not bristling with weapons, so it gets a pass. Agents, Ultra Agents, and a few other themes have had minifig-based sets that were clearly patterned after real fighter jets, and did have functional shooters built in, but again they are not licensed, so they get a pass. The Osprey sported a Search & Rescue livery that would not be armed in real life (though the troop carrier role would have a heavy machine gun to lay down suppressing fire during drop off/pick up), but it was an official licensed set of a vehicle that is solely operated by four militaries (US Marines, Navy, Air Force; Japan’s Self Defense Force), so it got scrapped. There was an Ideas project for an SR-71 sporting NASA livery (based on a real plane), and it got rejected. There was another based on Brazil’s air show squadron livery for an Embraer Super Tocano, but it is still a combat squadron flying a combat-capable fighter plane, so that got rejected too. The one that, oddly enough, never drew a response during its entire production run was 7198, which features not one, but two actual combat planes from WWII. Unlike Agents planes, they weren’t hidden behind a veil of fantasy. The planes from the movie were intended to be the real deal, as compared to the Flying Wing (based on conceptual designs that never got built) or the tank (heavily modified from a British tank, and never produced as a LEGO set). There was an amphibious vehicle from Crystal Skull that was based on a real Russian combat vehicle as well, but the movie calls it by the wrong name, so that one probably shouldn’t exist either.

Goodness gracious great balls of fire!

@TheOtherMike:
Maybe not an actual A-10, but certainly in the neighborhood. I’m finding a few versions, including one that’s off-white with dark-red trim, where they added extra air intakes below and/or slightly behind the cockpit. You know, for the self-contained turbofan engines that have a whole lotta nothing but air intake in front.

@Butteredwaffles:
You know, they did have a legitimate solution right in front of them. The Osprey was based on a prototype plane originally called Bell/Agusta BA609, then AgustaWestland AW609, and finally Leonardo AW609. AgustaWestland broke their partnership with Bell specifically because they didn’t want to make military aircraft, and that’s exactly who Bell wanted to sell it to. It’s marketed exclusively for civilian use (which may have kept anyone from seeking the Osprey for non-military purposes), so it’s perfectly defensible as a way to salvage the set design. The only problems are that they’d need to sign a new licensing agreement for something they already (mostly) designed, and they would have to tweak the Osprey a bit because they’re not identical. And they’d have to solve that pesky gear problem.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @Formendacil: You can always go to the set's database entry and look at the "More Images" tab, if it has one. Those usually have pictures of the packaging."

Oh, I know that if I want to see it, there are pictures of the packaging to be found.. This was expressing a preference for the default Brickset image.

Put it another way, there's a weird artificial line between "white background sets" and the earlier sets somewhere around 2007 and it doesn't line up with the RSOTD era, and my OCD side doesn't like it.

@PurpleDave: As I have several Powerglides, I'm aware that he's never been a licensed A-10, but all of his toys *look* like one, and my point was that this set's main model doesn't.