Head: Thunder
Body: Clutch

Clutch is a figure that I was torn on giving an update to. My first version used a Brawler body with a Bazooka head with a beard painted on. I quickly became unhappy with this because what I really wanted was something that more resembled the original figure and also had a head that had the 5 o'clock shadow as he had in the comic.

Clutch was a figure that was a staple of my childhood collection. The Vamp was one of the first Joe toys I received in 82, and at some point in 83, I acquired a swivel arm Clutch in a trade with friends on the playground to replace the straight arm figure that had so quickly broken. From that point on, Clutch was always there, driving the Vamp or the APC. Because he never really held a weapon, no stress was ever put on his thumbs, and because he was usually sitting in a vehicle, he didn't get a lot of paint wear. As such, my childhood Clutch is still sitting on a shelf, displayed with my original 13 figures as the only figure that survived my childhood unscathed and didn't need to be replaced.

So, for this figure, I wanted to recapture the feel of my childhood figure, but incorporate the comic look. After going through my comics and enjoying Clutch's often comical appearances, I found myself drawn to his portrayal in Special Missions #2, which was anything but funny. The legendary Herb Trimpe drew a more stern Clutch, the design of which instantly reminded me of another head sculpt... Thunder. It was a delightful coincidence to recently discover that all of the original 13 were intended to have unique head sculpts and that unused heads were used on later figures... with Thunder being suspected of having been intended for Clutch.

With the head chosen, I needed to make Clutch look more uniform with the rest of my O13 updates, and so I camo-d his uniform. He came out pretty perfect meeting all of my requirements and exceeding my expectations.