1993 Clutch (Mega Marines)

It’s often portrayed as a fixture of modern toys that Hasbro hammers the same classic characters from ‘82 to ‘86 over and over without end, though interestingly you really started to see Hasbro fall back on the classic ARAH cast as far back as ‘89. If you were introduced to GI Joe in ‘91, you could have a new toy for 8 of the first 13 Joes by ‘93. Mega Marines Clutch is among those updates, and like many of them, he’s a lot different from the original.

I think it’s not unfair to say Clutch is one of the most popular members of the ‘82 Joe lineup. He’s got a fun, likable personality and a real presence in the comics even after the point his toy was gone from store shelves. Speaking of the comics, I find it curious he was brought back rather prominently for a story arc that introduced us to Rock&Roll in his ‘89 costume. Perhaps Clutch had been on the drawing board at one point too, but didnt’ materialize. Skidmark and Hot Seat seem like they could pass for a new Clutch with a different head, but maybe that’s just me.

A new Clutch wouldn’t show up again until ‘93 in the Mega Marines. One could suppose with how different he looks that the figure became Clutch just as a lazy way for Hasbro to retain a trademark, though it’s pretty well in line with other characters that got redesigned up to that point. The redesign probably also seems a little more exaggerated just for the fact that now Clutch is a totally unique toy, and not some guy made from a small and repetitive library of parts.

Still, it’s a lot to take in. Clutch has gone from a nondescript bearded soldier to a clean-shaven guy in neon orange sci-fi armor. I feel like if he hadn’t been a Mega Marine, he’d have a little more identity of his own, but sadly this is a fairly homogeneous group of toys, so Clutch doesn’t stand out too much. I like his colors and the look of his outfit, but it’s very hard for me to see this as Clutch.

Clutch comes with almost the exact same accessories as Mega-Marines Gung-Ho and several other figures, which includes Muskrat’s shotgun and machete, Tracker’s MP5K, ‘91 Grunt’s rifle, a missile launcher, two missiles, stand and moldable bio-armor (playdoh and a mold for it). As generic parts, it’s an okay runner especially for being in black, but also pretty lame since it was used so much. At the very least, most of these weapons are realistic, easy to hold and look good, so having a surplus of them was a pretty okay thing.

You can get a mint complete Clutch for around $15, and he isn’t too hard to find. Sacrifice the generic accessories and you can save a few bucks, though overall they don’t seem to add much to his value either. As an obscurity this Clutch is a kind of neat figure, but I’m also pretty sure he’s no one’s favorite Clutch. He’s very 90‘s and looks decent in his own way, but also has nothing especially fun or unique going for him. In other words: he’s mediocre.

1993 Gung-Ho (Mega Marines)

The Mega Marines are a vexing subgoup within what was offered in the 90‘s GI Joe line. Given the fact they were dropped faster than both DEF and certainly Sonic Fighters, I’ll go ahead and assume they probably weren’t a hit, even when they were released. Still, taken for what they are, they’re a cool little group of figures, and I’d go as far as to say this is one of my favorite Gung-Ho figures.

It took me a long time to come around on the Mega Marines, and to be frank, probably too long. For most of my time collecting I’ve had a disdain for silly things and neon colors, both of which the Mega Marines are, heavily. Beyond that, it’s basically an un-licensed crossover with Aliens, and that too, didn’t really appeal to me. They come across as being somewhere in-between Star Brigade and Battle Corps in such a way that it doesn’t really feel like they have a strong niche or identity.

Despite that, this Gung-Ho looks pretty nice. There’s a lot of fluorescent yellow on his armor, but also features some nice dark greens and blacks on the base plastic underneath. If I’m not mistaken, I believe this was Hasbro’s first usage of marbled plastic, which gives the figures a somewhat interesting look. Does anyone know why there’s a sculpted number on every Mega Marine? Gung-Ho’s number 1, while Blast-Off, Clutch and Mirage are number 2, 3, and 4 respectively. It’s sort of distracting.

Oddly, this figure comes across to me as the most combat-ready looking Gung-Ho ever made. He’s packing body armor from head to toe and looks like he could take a few hits. At the same time, he doesn’t look very much like Gung-Ho, but I really don’t mind that, since I was never a big fan of Gung-Ho anyways. The futuristic look is a little hammy, though it fits nicely with the overall esthetic that was being built in ‘93 and ‘94.

The accessories for the Mega Marines are where things got a little more interesting. Included is the same shotgun, MP5K, laser rifle and machete runner seen with several other figures (Duke, Frostbite, Stalker, Ozone, ect) cast in black. Nice parts for filling your armory. He has a unique orange helmet; it’s sorta goofy looking. You also get the standard missile-launcher, missiles and a figure stand, in addition to another gimmick part: moldable bio-armor.

Moldable bio-armor was the core gimmick introduced with the Mega Marines. Included with each figure was a tub of play-doh, and a mold that fit around the figure’s chest and included missiles. While playing, you could tear and damage the figure’s armor, and when you’re done, tear it off and cast it again later. Part of me wants to say it seems kind of cool, but I also realize this really was just a lame and inexpensive way for Hasbro to bloat the price of this assortment. It’s slightly creative, but I won’t give it a pass on that alone. Also, good luck standing a figure up with a heavy-ass mound of play-doh on his chest: that’s too much even with a figure stand!

Dealers will sell complete figures, sometimes with the play-doh, for around $35. At auction though, figures will often go for around $20, though, it’s not so often you see these in a truly complete state. With that said, I think it’s safe to say the Mega Marines are least desirable figures to have complete. There’s really no point in buying the crunchy old play-doh tub, which like wise, renders the included mold useless too. Also, while his guns are nice, they’re also terribly generic. Meaning, the only thing you really need for this guy is his helmet. Pretty astounding, since not too many GI Joes come with parts that irrelevant to the figure.