Tag Archives: Clamp Champ

#3488: Clamp Champ

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

CLAMP CHAMP

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

When Clamp Champ was introduced into the Masters of the Universe toyline in 1987, the brand was winding down.  ’87 was the last year of the vintage run, and the cartoon had wrapped up, leaving poor Clamp Champ with only a few comic appearances, and a rather rare vintage figure.  He was set to join the cast of the 200x show, but it was also cancelled before his inclusion, and in that case he didn’t even get a proper figure, just a “staction” from NECA.  So, it was certainly exciting when good ol’ Raenius finally made his animated debut in Revelation.  It wasn’t a huge role, or anything, but he got to be cool for a bit, and he also managed to net another figure out of the whole deal.  Dope!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clamp Champ was released in Series 10 of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Masterverse line.  He’s officially under the Revelation banner, but his design on the show means that he can also double as a classic Clamp Champ update.  The figure stands a little over 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  Clamp Champ is based on the standard male body, which is pretty much expected for the character.  This far into the line, it’s pretty by the numbers.  The hips seem to have lost the weird sticking they had early on, and everything else works pretty well.  Clamp Champ gets an all-new head sculpt, which matches up pretty nicely to his Revelation animation model.  He’s not quite as battle-hardened as his Classics counterpart, but looks a bit less green than his vintage and Origins releases.  I didn’t care for it in the prototype shots, but in-hand, it turned out very well.  While Clamp Champ typically shares his chest armor with Fisto, that’s not the case this time around; though the two certainly have similar design elements, Champ’s armor is a touch more fitted and ornate, giving him a slightly more unique feel.  Clamp Champ’s color work is pretty solid.  He keeps his classic colors, but gets a little bit of a modernized edge, with his armor all getting a metallic finish.  There’s also some pretty solid accent work on the face, the loincloth, and the boots, which adds some more depth and dimension.  Clamp Champ is packed with two sets of hands (fists and gripping), as well as his signature Techno Clamp.  The clamp is a bit changed up from prior releases; now it’s a two piece assembly, which surrounds the whole forearm, in contrast to the usual hand-held affair.  The actual styling of the clamps is a little different as well.  It doesn’t do the spring forward capture gimmick, instead just being a more conventional springy clamp.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve had a soft spot for Clamp Champ for a while, despite not actually owning any of his figures until the Origins release.  Since I *had* the Origins figure, I didn’t necessarily think I needed to grab this one.  Then I saw him in person, and I had a very hard time passing him up.  I really like how this one turned out. Even after getting the Origins figure, I still felt like I was missing out on the Classics figure I never got, but this guy makes me feel like I don’t even need that one at all.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

2852: Clamp Champ

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

CLAMP CHAMP

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ORIGINS (MATTEL)

“Heroic master of capture”

You’re reading this review in the far-flung future of August, but I’m writing it in the second to last week of July, which means that I just checked out Masters of the Universe: Revelations, which just dropped yesterday, my time.  I quite enjoyed it myself, though it was certainly much more a “Masters” show than it was a “He-Man” show.  It was jam-packed with some fun nods to the franchise’s history, with a lot of cameos and easter eggs worked in.  Notably, it gave the very first animated appearance to today’s focus, Clamp Champ, which is kinda cool, since he’s always just shy of making it into such things.  On top of that, he’s back in the toy world, so let’s take a look at that today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clamp Champ is one of the deluxe Masters of the Universe Origins releases, alongside Battle Armor He-Man and Skeletor, and Ram Man.  This marks Clamp Champ’s third time as a proper action figure, following the vintage and Classics releases.  The figure stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  He maintains the same articulation scheme as the other two figures from the line, which is fine by me, since it’s a pretty good one.  Structurally, he’s quite similar to most of the line, as expected.  He’s built on the standard barbarian style body, with a new head and chest armor.  The new pieces are pretty straight updates on his original parts, and generally look pretty decent.  The chest piece is a slightly softer plastic, like all the new ones, presumably to make it a bit less prone to breaking over time.  Clamp Champ actually gets two different heads (since the Deluxes are all getting that treatment right now), meaning there’s an extra facial expression to be had.  The second one has an almost evil looking grin, which doesn’t quite feel right for the character, but I won’t knock a little bit of extra variety.  Clamp Champ’s paint work isn’t anything crazy, but it’s generally pretty well-applied, and a good match for his vintage counterpart.  He’s bright and colorful, and I dig it.  Clamp Champ is quite well accessorized, including his Techno Clamp, the previously mentioned extra head, an extra left hand in an open pose (rather than the basic grip), and a mini clamp based on the one first used in his intended 200x design.  Not a bad selection at all, and definitely worthy of the higher price point.  The Techno Clamp even has it’s proper spring-loaded feature and everything.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My first introduction to Clamp Champ came in the form of a poll ToyFare magazine ran in the 200x era about who fans wanted to see updated into the new style.  Being still quite a novice in terms of the franchise, I actually had to look most of the choices up, but something about Clamp Champ just really resonated with me, so he was my choice.  He was never got added to that line proper, and I was out by the time that he got the staction release, but I’ve held onto that soft-spot for the character.  Mattel’s decision to make him sub-exclusive in Classics at the last minute was a major factor in why I dropped out of that line, and likewise, his announcement for Origins was a big factor in me jumping in on this one.  This guy’s honestly pretty fun, and adds to my quite eclectic selection from the line.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.