Random set of the day: Swampfire
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 8410 Swampfire, released during 2010. It's one of 6 Ben 10: Alien Force sets produced that year. It contains 22 pieces, and its retail price was US$14.99/£12.99.
It's owned by 1,054 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $42.60, or eBay.
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46 comments on this article
From that one off licence that failed miserably
Is this the first Ben 10 RSotD?
I feel like I knew that this theme was a failure even as an uninformed ten-year-old, not sure why I knew that though lol
Nobody remembers the Ben 10 sets because nobody wants to remember the Ben 10 sets (also I was literally 4 years old)
I don't know why I'm thinking of this right now, but Swampfire is confirmed to smell terrible, and now all I can think about is how bad it must be to constantly smell like a hot, wet fart that's also being set on fire from time to time. What a strange combination for an alien species. He's just Heatblast and Wildvine from the original show in one, which kind of makes the other two a bit obsolete, but he's probably not anywhere near as strong as either individually since half of his powerset would be swamp or fire based.
Ohhhh, but they look like an elemental ballet dancer!
@MCLegoboy said:
"I don't know why I'm thinking of this right now, but Swampfire is confirmed to smell terrible, and now all I can think about is how bad it must be to constantly smell like a hot, wet fart that's also being set on fire from time to time."
How does the alien with no nose smell?
Bad.
As a kid who actually got to play with some Ben 10 sets, they weren't as bad as adults like to say today LOL.
This could have been great, but Bionicle had more character to the builds.
Ben 10*!
* limited to six.
@PetesBricks said:
"As a kid who actually got to play with some Ben 10 sets, they weren't as bad as adults like to say today LOL. "
I don't think anyone's saying that they look bad, they just have no appeal. (>.-.)>
I think it's interesting that Lego produced a Ben 10 range ... but that was it. These 6 sets that came out one year, and then the whole thing was quietly forgotten about.
@Robot99 said:"Is this the first Ben 10 RSotD?"
No, 8409 and 8519 have been here before. This isn't even the first time something called "Swampfire" has been a Random Thing of the Day, as a piece only appearing in this set and named for it was RPotD: https://brickset.com/article/106933/random-part-of-the-day-flame-%C3%B83-2-swampfire
@Nuclearxpotato said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"I don't know why I'm thinking of this right now, but Swampfire is confirmed to smell terrible, and now all I can think about is how bad it must be to constantly smell like a hot, wet fart that's also being set on fire from time to time."
How does the alien with no nose smell?
Bad."
What do you call a dog with no legs?
Doesn't matter, it won't come when called.
\
What do you do with a dog with no legs?
Take it out every morning for a drag.
As someone who enjoyed Ben 10 as a kid, this line was a letdown. For starters, why constraction figures? There were plenty of options for full-on playsets that were ignored. Also, the lack of any aliens from the original TV show, nor any villain characters, made these sets totally unappealing. Even just Vilgax and Fourarms could have convinced me to pick up a couple sets.
Why does this remind me of GALIDOR
The Ben 10 line was certainly an odd one.
It came out around the same time as Alien Force, which while not totally nonsensical, did make it feel a bit late to the party given how much of a juggernaut the original show was.
They only made 6 action figures, despite the entire gimmick of the show being he's got 10 transformations.
They had these combiner models on the backs of the boxes that were just... horrendous. Don't get my wrong, some of the Bonk and HF combis were odd, but not a single Ben 10 one is remotely good.
And it came out during the odd transition period from BIONICLE into Hero Factory, taking up some of the unused slots leftover with how small BIONICLE Stars was. Despite this the figures feel really poor quality compared to either line. They have the more simplified build similar to what you'd find on the HERO sets, but were the same size as and more expensive than the villain sets (or your typical BIONICLE set) while coming with less pieces. They also had a lot less molded in greebling on their parts making them less visually compelling. Like compare this dude to 7148 Meltdown for three dollars less and it's clear who the better toy is!
That said I did get Big Chill back in the day 'cause he was one of my favorite aliens, and his custom wing piece was pretty awesome! But I missed out on the Spider Monkey set and they never made one for my boy Echo Echo.
Dang I love some of these pieces. Probably one of the better Ben 10 sets in general.
Shame we never got minifigure-based sets... I was a massive Ben-10 fan and even as a kid these sets didn't really do anything for me.
@GSR_MataNui said:
"The Ben 10 line was certainly an odd one.
It came out around the same time as Alien Force, which while not totally nonsensical, did make it feel a bit late to the party given how much of a juggernaut the original show was.
They only made 6 action figures, despite the entire gimmick of the show being he's got 10 transformations.
They had these combiner models on the backs of the boxes that were just... horrendous. Don't get my wrong, some of the Bonk and HF combis were odd, but not a single Ben 10 one is remotely good.
And it came out during the odd transition period from BIONICLE into Hero Factory, taking up some of the unused slots leftover with how small BIONICLE Stars was. Despite this the figures feel really poor quality compared to either line. They have the more simplified build similar to what you'd find on the HERO sets, but were the same size as and more expensive than the villain sets (or your typical BIONICLE set) while coming with less pieces. They also had a lot less molded in greebling on their parts making them less visually compelling. Like compare this dude to 7148 Meltdown for three dollars less and it's clear who the better toy is!
That said I did get Big Chill back in the day 'cause he was one of my favorite aliens, and his custom wing piece was pretty awesome! But I missed out on the Spider Monkey set and they never made one for my boy Echo Echo."
That may be the longest post of yours I’ve ever seen without a bit of in-universe theme lore.
@GSR_MataNui said:
"Like compare this dude to 7148 Meltdown for three dollars less and it's clear who the better toy is!"
I always wanted Meltdown as a kid, so I can second that! Never ended up getting it though, which I still kind of regret.
Ben 10 holds a bit of a fascination for me; caught the first series (and remember seeing these sets as well, but...'Dark Period'). And then the second series...then third, and so on...each series: different aliens, different powers, some new enemies, some old; always interesting. Plus, building the characters and world, better than many can do now...If fact, one of the best/funniest 'forms' Ben had in the 'last' (classically, before the reboot) series was a character called 'Bloxx'...basically: he was built out of LEGO, and could rapidly build structures and things out of the stuff...fun times:D
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
"Nobody remembers the Ben 10 sets because nobody wants to remember the Ben 10 sets (also I was literally 4 years old)"
Ha! Ha! I'm just about to emancipate one of you out of my house. I'll miss 'im.... a bit.... after awhile... I mean, I'm sure I will... a bit. But, sweet, sweet freedom is at hand! (hand reaches instinctively for his nog)
After the dumpster fire that is today's RMotD, this guy is actually refreshing. He undoubtedly stinks, but refreshing nonetheless.
Before I read the article I thought this was a Bionicle set.
Then again, to me all these weird monster/alien type constraction figures look alike anyway.
I liked the sculpted body parts. Some accessories might have helped though, alone the figures mean very little.
These Ben 10 figs always seemed a bit overly simplified to me but I guess the show was aimed at generations younger than me so maybe they thought that was the appropriate difficulty level for that age. Then again the Bionicle figs of roughly that time we’re just as simple so maybe that was just the turn constraction had taken
@PurpleDave said:
"Ben 10*!
* limited to six."
Ben 6.
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
"Nobody remembers the Ben 10 sets because nobody wants to remember the Ben 10 sets (also I was literally 4 years old)"
I was 2.
These seemed to fill in the short space while they prepared for the 'Hero Factory' take-over. Although these all appear to be expensive one-off molds, they did re-use some of the body part connectors with ball cups etc. in the later theme.
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
"Nobody remembers the Ben 10 sets because nobody wants to remember the Ben 10 sets (also I was literally 4 years old)"
They are somewhat impressively unpopular. Generally neither the Bionicle nor the Hero Factory/CCBS fans like them.
@AustinPowers said:
"Before I read the article I thought this was a Bionicle set.
Then again, to me all these weird monster/alien type constraction figures look alike anyway. "
The strange thing is that the Ben 10 sets were like a weird inbetween of Bionicle and CCBS pieces. Wave 1 of Hero Factory reused that style of piece.
@Brickalili said:
"These Ben 10 figs always seemed a bit overly simplified to me but I guess the show was aimed at generations younger than me so maybe they thought that was the appropriate difficulty level for that age. Then again the Bionicle figs of roughly that time we’re just as simple so maybe that was just the turn constraction had taken"
The Bionicle's sets released that year (2010) only happened because the designers basically begged Lego to give them the chance to release a final wave. I'd assume there were some rather big budget restrains due to that, resulting in the Bionicle Stars being what they are. It might be nostalgia giving me a certain bias, but I'd argue Bionicle was fairly good in 2009 still. They still were giving each Canister Set an Unique build and silhouette. As sadly frail as the pieces had become. I still got a almost fully assembled 8890 somewhere in my closet since the dark red legpiece broke and I yet couldn't have been bothered to buy a new replacement part. Same thing happened to 8920 already on building, but for that one I eventually atleast got 2005 versions of the frail 2007 lime pieces.
Somewhat impressively, Ben 10 to this day is the absolute low point of constraction - not even misguided ccbs attempts made later could reach that level - mostly thinking of all the human characters they attempted in Star Wars and the circa 2012? Super Heroes CCBS line.
I've seen stores that still had 75119 in stock *just this year*
@PurpleDave said:
"Ben 10*!
* limited to six."
Force 10 from Navarone?
Too soon?
@blueshift said:
"As someone who enjoyed Ben 10 as a kid, this line was a letdown. For starters, why constraction figures? There were plenty of options for full-on playsets that were ignored. Also, the lack of any aliens from the original TV show, nor any villain characters, made these sets totally unappealing. Even just Vilgax and Fourarms could have convinced me to pick up a couple sets."
I imagine it was because constraction figures had been very popular and the demographic these were aimed at were thought to be into larger action figures. But they weren't really of interest to many kids, and weren't of interest to people into the in-house constraction figures. It was repeated with SW figures later on, although at least there the SW market is substantially bigger and so poor demand compared to other style sets is masked a bit.
I was never into the theme, but it always struck me as odd that there was no Ben figure. It seemed an odd thing to miss out, but maybe that is just because I don't know the source material at all.
These never even released in my country. I saw them in a small store abroad once, marvelled at the relatively rare boxes, saw the price and left.
I got Series 1 and 2 of the CMFs instead. Now that was a good decision!
But yeah, these were and are hated. Looking at them now, they aren't as misguided as the system constraction figures we get now that are astronomically expensive compared to anything that came before because lego hates parts that are not tiny and specialized now. Well, not 'astronomical' but still not prices you can just buy one for your kids. Let alone two or three.
Seeing anything like this that prioritizes giving you a character action figure that's lightweight and relatively inexpensive is nice to see regardless of anything else.
That's another thing with this line though. I never watched Ben10... but there are no other characters to interact with? All sets are one guy's forms.
@WemWem said:
"Why does this remind me of GALIDOR"
Well, the figures *can* "glinch."
@StyleCounselor said:"After the dumpster fire that is today's RMotD, this guy is actually refreshing. He undoubtedly stinks, but refreshing nonetheless."
Hey, after seeing all the commenters talking about how young they were when the Ben10 line came out, I need something that makes me feel like a kid again, and today's RMotD does that!
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Robot99 said:"Is this the first Ben 10 RSotD?"
No, 8409 and 8519 have been here before. This isn't even the first time something called "Swampfire" has been a Random Thing of the Day, as a piece only appearing in this set and named for it was RPotD: https://brickset.com/article/106933/random-part-of-the-day-flame-%C3%B83-2-swampfire
@Nuclearxpotato said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"I don't know why I'm thinking of this right now, but Swampfire is confirmed to smell terrible, and now all I can think about is how bad it must be to constantly smell like a hot, wet fart that's also being set on fire from time to time."
How does the alien with no nose smell?
Bad."
What do you call a dog with no legs?
Doesn't matter, it won't come when called.
\
What do you do with a dog with no legs?
Take it out every morning for a drag."
What do you call a cow with no legs?
Ground beef.
What do you call a cow with only two legs?
Lean beef.
@ @Brickalili said:
"These Ben 10 figs always seemed a bit overly simplified to me but I guess the show was aimed at generations younger than me so maybe they thought that was the appropriate difficulty level for that age. Then again the Bionicle figs of roughly that time we’re just as simple so maybe that was just the turn constraction had taken"
The trap Bionicle fell into is that, when you’re outselling every other theme, they can afford to crank out tons of new molds annually. And as the fandom starts to taper off, the new parts stop paying for themselves unless you pare back on the variety. And as you do that, the theme gets more same-y, and popularity drops. So you have to trim the number of new parts, etc.
@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
[[Nobody remembers the Ben 10 sets because nobody wants to remember the Ben 10 sets (also I was literally 4 years old)]]
I was 2.]]
My god. I just aged into dust.
We're now halfway there to get all sets from Ben 10 to appear in a random set of the day article.
The remaining sets are 8411, 8517 and 8518.
I remember seeing photos of these guys in the Lego club magazine. They had some cool pictures of these guys running amok in a house. This partially inspired my Lego/toy photography ideas that I still like to do sometimes. The only one from this line I ever owned was 8517. I was (and still am) a massive fan of dinosaurs and hero factory so someone thought it would make the perfect Christmas present.... the thought was appreciated, but eventually this set would be donated to another kid who would enjoy it more. None of the parts really meshed well with my hero factory parts.
Failed theme :skull:
More like Dumpsterfire
(that said, the claw/hand pieces are probably the only good thing to come from the theme)
@Murdoch17 said:
[[ @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
[[Nobody remembers the Ben 10 sets because nobody wants to remember the Ben 10 sets (also I was literally 4 years old)]]
I was 2.]]
My god. I just aged into dust.]]
I know what you mean, fellow dustpile. I feel as if I drank from the wrong Grail.
I'm not sure it was necessarily a "failed theme" because that would imply they had plans for it beyond the one wave... do we have any evidence of that? In terms of reception, yeah, it's unremarkable, an odd licensed wave between Bionicle and Hero Factory with only a tiny few molds being reused in later sets.
Part of me thinks that the line was moreso meant as a test run for the redesigned CCBS joint sockets than for its own sake. I never watched the show and didn't own this set, but my brother owned 8409 and that thing could survive being chucked across a room. I still haven't had a CCBS cup break on me, though I have heard many people assert that they're not invincible and some have broken on them; maybe different atmospheric conditions.
@tne328 said:
"What do you call a cow with no legs?
Ground beef.
What do you call a cow with only two legs?
Lean beef."
What do you call a cow with only three legs?
Tri-tip steak.
@SearchlightRG said:
"That may be the longest post of yours I’ve ever seen without a bit of in-universe theme lore."
You know what, it's been forever since I watched this show, it came out when I was 10 and I haven't watched since I was like 12, but yeah let's do some lore!
The Ben 10 franchise focuses on this object known as the Omnitrix. It's a watch-like device loaded with the DNA of every sapient alien race in the galaxy, and it allows it's user to freely switch between any of those forms.
The Omnitrix had over 10,000 aliens to choose from. However, in order to not overwhelm its user and teach them it's mechanics easier it would not unlock all aliens at once. It's intended use was it would give the user 10 aliens to start with, and unlock more in batches of 10 as they proved themselves. It also had a bit of a mind of its own, giving its user different aliens if it thought they could handle a task better or limiting the amount of time someone could use it.
The Omnitrix ended up finding its way to Earth where it was found by 10 year old Ben Tennison while he was on summer vacation with his grandpa Max and cousin Gwen. The Omnitrix was damaged in the fall and while it did give Ben a starting deck of 10 it would now only unlock new aliens 1 at a time. It also gave the incorrect alien chosen more often than intended, making it much harder to use.
Even still this essentially turned this young boy into 10 superheroes in one. But the Omnitrix didn't come to Earth alone, it was trailed by the sinister Villgax (creative name I know) who wanted to use it's power for evil. During the original show Ben, Gwen, and Max continued their summer road trip while having constant run-ins with alien bounty hunters and secret societies determined to steal the watch.
Alien Force was the second Ben Ten series, set 5 (I think?) years after the original. After Vilgax's defeat Ben retired the Omnitrix to try to return to a normal life. But Earth becomes threatened again by a new foe, the High Breed, who are staging a mysterious invasion of Earth. Ben dons the alien watch again, but because he hadn't used it for so long it's reset! He's given a new batch of 10 aliens to use and has to start unlocking them all over again.
Swampfire was one of the 10 starter aliens in Alien Force. He was essentially a combination of Heatblast and Wildvine, one of the starters and later unlocks from the OG series respectively. He had Heatblast's ability to shoot explosive fireballs (and I think he could still fly? Don't quote me on that) alongside Wildvine's ability to stretch and grow plant-like tentacles and regrow damaged body parts.
A lot of the Alien Force starters were kind of rehashes of older aliens (Echo Echo is just Ditto, Chromastone is just Diamond Head) and IMIO Swampfire is one of the weaker ones, but similar to Heatblast before him he was a bit of a poster boy for the show.
@PetesBricks said:
"As a kid who actually got to play with some Ben 10 sets, they weren't as bad as adults like to say today LOL. "
Yeah, my boys were the exact right age to love Ben 10 and love these sets. I do understand why they were generally unpopular, though.