Clampdown (RID)
| The name or term "Clampdown" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Clampdown (disambiguation). |
- Clampdown is a Decepticon from the Robots in Disguise portion of the Aligned continuity family.
The skittering scumbag Clampdown is always looking to make a deal to save his own shell. Despite his impressive claw strength, he's a massive coward, always ready to run (sideways) for the hills, or failing that, squeal on others to the authorities in the hopes of weaseling out of punishment. He's not a warrior in any sense of the word and tends to panic when things go wrong. Unfortunately, he's been pressganged into working with Steeljaw's gang after they saved his hide from the Autobots. To make things worse, he's now forced to work alongside Thunderhoof, a fellow Alchemor escapee and a victim of Clampdown's big mouth.
Yeah, this is gonna go over real well.
Fiction
2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon
- Voice actor: Jim Cummings (English), Setsuji Satō (Japanese), Francesco Orlando (Italian)
On Cybertron, Clampdown reported Thunderhoof's criminal enterprises to the authorities, leading to his arrest. Clampdown later tried to blackmail a member of the High Council, which didn't go over as well. He was arrested and imprisoned on the Alchemor and eventually escaped after the ship crashed on Earth. He went into hiding in the storm drains under Crown City. One night, he accidentally encountered a pair of human street racers, but frightened them off by trashing one of their cars from the shadows.
Bumblebee's team attempted to arrest him in his sewer hideout, but the panicked crab managed to escape by tearing apart a main pipe, washing the Autobots away. As he left the sewer, he was approached by Steeljaw, who had been watching him a while and invited him to his group. Returning to Steeljaw's hideout, Clampdown failed to impress fellow refugees Underbite and Fracture... and then Thunderhoof arrived. Uh-oh. Though Steeljaw tried to cut the hostilities short, Thunderhoof was having none of that and charged after the snitch. Clampdown fled with Thunderhoof in pursuit, Steeljaw chasing them both, and Underbite and Fracture following along (possibly out of morbid curiosity).
Both the Autobots and Decepticons found Clampdown hiding in a garbage dump, leading to a massive brawl. All of the Autobots were occupied by Steeljaw's gang, leaving Clampdown free to book it... and Thunderhoof free to chase. Clampdown was finally cornered in a water-drenched sinkhole, and in the struggle with Thunderhoof, they both slipped, bashing their heads together and knocking them both offline.
The entire gang was put into stasis cuffs, but Steeljaw was able to free himself and the others. Returning to their hideout, the other Decepticons were still very dubious about accepting Clampdown into their number, but Steeljaw assured them he'd convinced Clampdown to stay and stay loyal... because otherwise, he "wouldn't rest until I'd made him eat his own claws". Sideways
Clampdown joined the rest of the gang in spying on the scrapyard, then watched as Steeljaw recruited Kickback into the gang to serve as bait. With the Autobots distracted, the Decepticons broke into the Autobot base, intending to free the other Decepticons from their stasis pods. Unfortunately, Steeljaw didn't count on their hostages Denny and Russell Clay slipping free, and ordered Thunderhoof and Clampdown to go after them. The dysfunctional pair chased the humans through the scrapyard, and were tricked into riding a half-completed roller coaster. Clampdown managed to steer both Decepticons to safety at the last moment, and managed to recapture Denny. Before the Decepticons could complete their goal, the Autobots managed to retake the base, and Clampdown received a humiliating tail-thrashing from Grimlock. When the Decepticons reconvened at their base, Clampdown hid from a furious Steeljaw. Lockout
Since Steeljaw had paid lip service to a mysterious entity, the gang worked to scavenge materials and construct a "gateway". Clampdown was tortured by the being and made to telekinetically pinch his own arm, much to Thunderhoof's amusement. Along with the other Decepticons and their Autobot hostages, he travelled to the Crown City Colossus. Clampdown managed to prevent Grimlock from destroying the archway early, allowing Steeljaw to activate the gate and summon Megatronus. Battlegrounds, Part 1 While Megatronus dueled with Optimus Prime, the Decepticons decided to run for it, only to have their escape blocked by the other Autobots. In the ensuing melee, Clampdown was tackled and brought down by Slipstream and Jetstorm. After Megatronus was defeated, Clampdown was re-captured and placed inside a stasis pod. Battlegrounds, Part 2
Toys
Robots in Disguise (2015)
- Clampdown (Legion Class, 2016)
- Part of the new wave of the Robots in Disguise Legion Class lineup, Clampdown transforms from robot to hatchback and back in several easy steps.
Hero Mashers
- Clampdown (2015)
- Pieces: 8
- Part of the third wave of Transformers Hero Mashers —and the first of the Robots in Disguise-themed product— Clampdown is a non-transforming action figure with ratchet-joints, about five inches tall. He has multiple peg-holes all over that can be used to mount any Hero Mashers accessory.
- He is designed with a removable head (well, top of his head, at least), biceps, claw-arms, and legs, all of which use the same clip-peg/hole joint. This means his pieces can be swapped around in any order, as well as swapped with any other Hero Mashers figure... which includes figures from Marvel Comics, Star Wars and Jurassic World, meaning you can make some pretty freaky combinations.
- Clampdown's normal construction differs from all the humanoids in the entire line, in that his arms use two removable parts each instead of just one, and his legs only have a single piece each instead of two. This has confused the hell out of the Hero Mashers product photography team.
- The Robots in Disguise-branded Hero Mashers did not see release in the US.
Kre-O
- Bumblebee Disc Demolisher (2015)
- Set number: B0949'
- Pieces: 186
- Kreons: Bisk, Bumblebee, Clampdown
- Part of the Robots in Disguise-branded Kre-O product, Kreon Clampdown is a normal Kreon with a Hound-style helmet and claw-hands... riding a big four-legged contraption. He comes in the "Bumblebee Disc Demolisher" set, which includes a large disc-firing vehicle, a stasis cell, and Kreons of Bumblebee and fellow crustacean-bot Bisk.
- Despite his short stature in the cartoon, Kreon Clampdown's leg-assembly thing makes him the tallest of the Kreons in the line.
- This set originally only appeared in Canadian and Asian-market stores. By late 2015 however, it had turned up in large numbers at TJ Maxx stores in the US.
Merchandise
- Clampdown (McDonald's Happpy Meal toy, 2015)
- McNumber: 8
- Part of the 2015 McDonald's Transformers/My Little Pony Happy Meal promotion, Clampdown is a non-transforming action figure. His left claw is actually a spring-loaded missile tied to his arm by a string. The claw itself also has a spring-loaded gimmick, clamping shut when the trigger panel between the claw-blades is struck.
- Amusingly, this version of Clampdown is pretty much to proper scale with the normal Robots in Disguise Warrior-class figures.
- The bag he comes in and instruction sheet have a scan-badge that unlocks a random amount of Energon "currency" and a randomized bonus power-up item in the Robots in Disguise mobile game. This badge is the same for all of the Robots in Disguise Happy Meal bags and instructions.
- Clampdown can also be scanned into the McDonald's McPlay app, which recognizes the toy's silhouette. Doing so unlocks Clampdown's version of the "Stasis Pod Battle" game.
- Clampdown (Tiny Titans, 2015)
- Number: ??
Notes
Foreign names
- Japanese: Clampdown (クランプダウン Kuranpudaun)
- Mandarin: Dàzhìcái (China, 大制裁, "Big Punishment")
