RID 2015 Clampdown

Robot Mode: The new RID cartoon features quite a few out-there designs for its animal-themed Decepticons and Clamdown is pretty far out there, actually. His robot mode looks like a crab – actually, like Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob – and the entire front portion of the car forms his head with eyestalks flipping out from the sides. The sides of the car become huge arms with (sculpted) claws at the ends and tiny little crab legs unfold from the undercarriage. The result is as close a match to the cartoon character as was possible in this size class, I guess, and it looks both incredibly cute and fun.

The small size imposes some limitations, of course. No elbow joints, the sculpted claws don’t open up, and the tiny little legs aren’t exactly the most stable in the world, but those are just details. Overall this little guy here does a good job portraying the Clampdown we saw in the cartoon. Not a perfect job, but a good job. Just make sure to always move him sideways.

Alternate Mode: This hardcore Clampdown warrior figure converts in 5 steps from robot mode to heavy-duty combat vehicle mode ... according to Hasbro Toyshop, at least. Actually this cute little Clampdown figure converts into a cute little toy car, but yeah, five steps, more or less. The resulting car mode is tiny, cute, and about as good as you can do in this size class. No visible robot bits, everything fits together well, so no complaints. Well, apart from the fact that it makes for a very poor ‘heavy-duty combat vehicle mode’.

Remarks: Clampdown was among the prisoners on the Alchemore who were freed when the ship crashed to Earth. He is a coward, a blackmailer, and always looking out for number one, which is how he got on the bad side of Thunderhoof, whom he ratted out to the Autobots. Also, he is very reminiscent of Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob and always walks sideways, which is just too fun for words for some reason.

At this moment in time this Legion class figure of Clampdown seems to be all we’re getting, but it’s a nice little figure and apart from the limitations of the size class, there is very little to complain about here. So while I would have wished for a larger, Warrior class figure of Clampdown, Legion class Clampdown is fun. Recommended to all fans of the RID cartoon and Mr. Krabs.

Rating: B