Review:1293 by Dorek
By Dorek
Review: 1293 Swamp Craft
The last of the RoboRider promotional sets, and the only one to share a name with its older relative, 8509 Swamp, 1293 Swamp Craft (also released as 8006 in an identical set) certainly looks different, but is that enough to set it apart from the pack?
The Box
I've raved about the packaging in the other reviews, but its many cool facets still bear mentioning. On the back of the box itself are some combiners, an expected feature of the "constraction" world at this point, but these particular sets go the extra mile by having individual paired combiners along with a super combiner of all four.
But the real star is something that might otherwise go unnoticed; printed on the actual inside of the packaging are instructions for said combiner models, which is just the brilliant (and environmentally friendly) kind of thing I love. There are even some small perforations on the box so you know where to pull it apart. In one of my reviews of the 2016 BIONICLE sets, I lamented how having relatively flimsy cardboard boxes felt like a waste compared to the functional canister sets. While this isn't exactly what I had in mind, it certainly fits the spirit.
The Bits
Swamp Craft has relatively few pieces, to be expected from a promotional set, but a bit disappointing when compared to the other Kabaya RoboRiders. Of the pieces we have, there's the Swamp RoboRider head, but there is also two black crossbars of sorts that I didn't immediately recognize from the era, (though we have seen it in 8995 Thornatus). Swamp Craft is also the only promotional to feature the collectible wheels that the RoboRiders used, though unprinted (which actually makes them more useful!).
The Build
Swamp Craft's build is ultimately pretty simple. The crossbars stick to the head piece (and some rubber wheels to those) and the large wheels attach to a floating double-pin connector. This creates the sets "function", a charitable description at best. The set can roll pretty much irrespective of the wheel's position, but that's it. The whole thing is practically two-dimensional.
The Brass Tacks
Did we like this set? No |
What We Liked: • Interesting parts |
| What We Didn't Like: • Lackluster function and design • Low piece count | |
| Other Comments: |
Swamp Craft certainly looks different, but that's about the best that can be said for it. There's no real function to speak of (or even any actual feature beyond some movable wheels), so its playability is pretty minimal. It almost feels like Swamp Craft should be parts fodder for the combiners, but even those don't make much proper use of the crossbars, so Swamp Craft occupies a sad space of half-baked ideas.
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