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This great looking figure first hit our radar courtesy of Mat Brouillard who posted an image of the sculpt for Clutch on his Facebook page.  Everyone kind of wondered whether it was a canceled concept, or merely something still to come.

I had an opportunity to speak with John Warden at the G.I. Joe Convention, and he confirmed to me that this version of Clutch was initially slated to come with the Pursuit of Cobra VAMP, while the updated HISS Driver was going to come packaged with the HISS in the same assortment.  Unfortunately, due to cost reasons, the new figures were dropped, and kit-bashes were put in their place.

If you don’t know which figure I’m talking about by now… here’s the official run down:

8 – G.I. Joe: The Pursuit of Cobra Clutch

Clutch was always a tough character for me to get my head around.  He had such a great personality in the comic books, and seemed to be one of those guys that you love to hate.  He smooth talks you, and goes out for beers with you, then waits until your passed out drunk and hits on your girlfriend.  He’s a guys guy, a grease monkey, and seems to be one of the more popular characters in the G.I. Joe mythos.

What is so great about this figure is they take a guy like Clutch and really turn him into something unique and interesting.  He has the familiar bearded head sculpt, but the whole rest of the figure is something dramatically new.  The armored vest with pouches are awesome, the bulky gauntlets look great, and he’s got all sorts of that terrific Pursuit of Cobra pseudo-futuristic design from head to toe.  I would have loved to have seen him behind the wheel of the VAMP, but alas it was not to be.

Perhaps all is not lost, though.  If enough fans clamor for him, perhaps his appearance in the Concept Case will get him a second life.  If you want to see this guy at retail, don’t forget to vote!

For now, just take a peek at the images below.

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