Recommended music: O Fresh – The Champ is Here (Remix)
Happy Monday, MOTU fans! This #MastersMonday post, we’re taking a look at the Mattel Masters of the Universe Masterverse: Clamp Champ!
Clamp Champ, also known as Raenius per his Masters of the Universe Classics bio, appeared in the very first episode of the Netflix Masters of the Universe: Revelation animated series. The character’s design is a very familiar look that we’ve seen since 1986, and it was great to finally see him in animated form.
Unfortunately, his vintage action figure came out a year after the Filmation He-Man animated series ended, so he was limited to comics and newspaper strips in the 1980s. According to the producer of the 2002 Mike Young Productions Masters of the Universe cartoon, he was the next vintage character planned to appear in that series before it was canceled. The character also did not make it into the accompanying ‘200X’ Mattel toy line but did get made in the NECA Toys “staction” line shortly afterward.
Mattel not only nailed the look of the Clamp Champ from the Netflix series for this figure but also provided a modern rendition of the character for fans who missed out on the MOTUC version. The well-painted sculpt contains 31 points of articulation, and Champ comes with an extra set of hands, as well as a redesigned spring-loaded techno clamp. This weapon gets a big upgrade and actually fits all around his hand.
Unfortunately for the character, after protecting the royal family a couple of times, he was basically killed off mid-way through Revelation, as his character became a skeletized minion along with Fisto. There was a chance the characters would have their souls reborn later in the season, but it didn’t happen. Thankfully, Mattel included the figure in Masterverse Wave 10 before moving on to Revolution designs, but I guess I’ll need a second one to make a custom of the skeletized minion. 😜
Masters of the Universe Revelation/Revolution turned four years old this year! I “figure” there’ll be a new figure from this series to share here for the rest of the year!
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