SUMMARY:
Clawful, the "warrior with the grip of evil!", was produced in Hong Kong, Mexico (Aurimat), Argentina, Venezuela, France, Spain, and India.
The Rotoplast Clawful is identified by its soft (or hard) rubber arms, dark blue belt and boots, and dark green, rigid mace.
The figure is marked © MATTEL. INC. 1981, the armor is marked simply with serials and a batch number, and the mace is marked with a single digit-batch number, either 1, 2, 3 or 4.
The arm consistency can vary significantly. Both arms can be very soft and rubbery, both arms can be hard rubber, or you can find one arm to be rubbery and the other arm hard. The arms can be matte (most common and usually associated with softer arms), or glossy (usually harder arms). The head consistency can also vary significantly. The head can be very soft, semi-hard, or hard rubber. They can also be smaller or larger.
The blue paint can vary as well. You can find them with lighter or darker boots, and lighter or darker belts.
While the armor is marked with the same numbers as Hong Kong armor, the color is more opaque, and darker. In fact, it uniquely glows vibrant orange if lit with a black light.
While the standard Rotoplast Clawful has Buzz-Off style legs, there’s a rare variant that uses the Zodac leg mold. The leg skin tones are very light, lighter than the rest of the figure’s skin tones. The legs are Zodac leg mold and color, with dark blue Clawful paint. The shorts are dark red.
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:
1. Rubber arms (or hard arms)
2. Dark blue belt and boots
3. Dark green, rigid mace.
MARKED: © MATTEL. INC. 1981
ARMOR MARKED: 7016-2049 (Front) / 7016-2059 (Back)
MACE MARKED: 1,2,3 or 4.
VARIANTS:
1. Clawful with Buzz-Off style leg mold. Both arm and head consistency vary considerably. Boots can be light or dark.
2. Clawful with Zodac leg mold, and dark red shorts.
