Unreleased original head for Breaker. PICS.

Wowboy · **Joined:** Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:19 am

Gyre-Viper wrote:

One theory is Thunder is Clutch (since they are both vehicle drivers). Another is that he is Grand Slam (since they are both listed as artillery).

How about Hawk? He is also a pack in with a vehicle/playset, and his primary MOS is Artillery. Thunder's face is also rather no-nonsense and mature looking. While I did use Thunder as Clutch myself in a custom because I saw a resemblance between the head sculpt and Clutch's rendition in the comics (most notably the last panel of GI Joe special missions #2,) one thing that gave me pause was the stern visage of Thunder didn't really relay Clutch's harmlessly sleazy attitude. But, based on looks alone, I can see Thunder having been intended to be a Westpoint graduate.

Jay · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2014 5:49 am

Going by how the heads looked in the comic I'd say Clutch would've been Thunder, they both had the middle part.
Hawk had a buzzcut look going.

Wowboy · **Joined:** Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:19 am

Jay wrote:

Going by how the heads looked in the comic I'd say Clutch would've been Thunder, they both had the middle part.
Hawk had a buzzcut look going.

If that is true (and it probably is) that would mean the artist on those early issues would have had access to more than just the package art and may have been privy to these prototypes.

Does anyone know what Herb Trimpe is up to these days? He might have some info on this subject. Interestingly, he was also the artist on Special Missions.

Wowboy · **Joined:** Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:19 am

Gyre-Viper wrote:

I am pretty sure that most of the '81 for '82 sculpts were done by Jim Toatley who unfortunately passed away in 1986 so all I have to go on are the memories of his former co-workers. His sculpts were described as having "asymmetrical characteristics" which apparently drove some people nuts who thought that the heads should be identical on both sides as much as possible. Meaning no hair sculpted more on one side etc. Probably more symmetry in the hair-lines as well. Toatley is the one who did the first 3 3/4" GI JOE prototype by sculpted clay onto a Buck Rogers figure. The prototype that is responsible for the articulation and detail of ARAH figures.

I also wanted to throw out there that refusing to sculpt with symmetry was a thing of genius. Real people aren't symmetrical, and this was one of many things that gave the early Joes an "authentic" feel.

kHAoS · **Joined:** Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:58 am **Location:** SoCal

Wowboy wrote:

Jay wrote:

Going by how the heads looked in the comic I'd say Clutch would've been Thunder, they both had the middle part.
Hawk had a buzzcut look going.

If that is true (and it probably is) that would mean the artist on those early issues would have had access to more than just the package art and may have been privy to these prototypes.

Does anyone know what Herb Trimpe is up to these days? He might have some info on this subject. Interestingly, he was also the artist on Special Missions.

Herb Trimpe and Larry Hama are probably hitting the convention circuit. They're probably all over the country on any given weekend these days. From speaking with Herb in the past, it seems like he drew the book, but didn't have much direct involvement with Hasbro. Larry Hama seemed more engaged on the toy side of things. Jim Shooter posted an awesome blog regarding Marvel kicking-off the comic here:

http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/07/secret-parts-of-origin-of-gi-joe.html

Wowboy · **Joined:** Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:19 am

kHAoS wrote:

Herb Trimpe and Larry Hama are probably hitting the convention circuit. They're probably all over the country on any given weekend these days. From speaking with Herb in the past, it seems like he drew the book, but didn't have much direct involvement with Hasbro. Larry Hama seemed more engaged on the toy side of things. Jim Shooter posted an awesome blog regarding Marvel kicking-off the comic here:

http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/07/secret-parts-of-origin-of-gi-joe.html

Great article... and hammers home just how much of himself Larry Hama put into the Joe line. Is it known if he made character sketches based on the action figure prototypes he was looking at when he met with Hasbro to pass along to the artist for the comic? Or did he simply pass along the action figures to Trimpe?

In any event, they might be the people to ask about the thirteen unique heads for the original 13 Joes.

Unreleased original head for Breaker. PICS.

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