Review: #298
Name: Clampdown
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Year of Release: 2016
Size Class: Legion (Wave 6)
Mold Status: new
CAR MODE:
Clampdown transforms into a orange and purple hatchback. The color scheme is good, with some good paint applications such as the silver grill and headlights, purple bumper and black windows.
The rear of the vehicle disappoints with the enormous gap. Wish that they could have filled that up and it is not impossible. The black unpainted sides are also detracting when viewed close up but you don't notice it from afar.
Being a Legions classed toy, he is very small. He even feels a little bit smaller than previous Legions.
Nonetheless, this is a great little vehicle. The zigzag split of the grill is a bit detracting, especially if you know what the robot mode look like but still a nice mode.
TRANSFORMATION:
As you'd expect, it's simple but works well. It's surprising at how well the designer managed the two distinct modes so well. The transformation is elegant with most of the front of the car forming the face, and then the sides forming the claws/arms. The tiny robot legs store in an ingenious place underneath the roof of the car.
ROBOT MODE:
Clampdown's robot mode is very... unique. The Decepticons of Robots in Disguise (2015) each have an animal theme and Clampdown's is a crab.
The designer has managed to translate the cartoon character model surprisingly well at this small scale, it's very impressive, especially with the lack of any significant kibble.
While from head on, it's obvious that his arms are awkwardly straight and that they're parts of the vehicle. From the side though, you can see crab claws molded in. The left claw has the scannable insignia for the game app.
Most of the robot mode is the face, which is also comprised of the vehicle's front. It works well here, and the lower part of the grill separates to create the mouth. The eyes are adjustment but they don't actually lock into place.
Due to the way he is designed, Clampdown is extremely short for a Legion classed figure. He feels pretty light and small in this mode.
Poseability is very limited, not only because he only has hip joints and shoulder joints, but because his legs ends in points, meaning you need at least one claw on the ground in order to keep him standing.
It's not as bad as it sounds, you can still get some dynamic poses out of him.
A decent robot mode and considering that this may be one of the only figures we'll get of Clampdown, it does a wonderful job.
OVERALL:
This is a fantastic figure, made all the more impressive from his small size. For the relatively inexpensive price, Clampdown has a lot of charm and character. Sure, he might be ugly to some but you cannot deny that the designer did an amazing job translating the character model into toy form, and allowing it to convert.
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