M.A.S.K.

M.A.S.K.

M.A.S.K crusaders working overtime fighting crime, fighting crime! Now that we have gotten that out of the way we can talk about a toy line and animated series that in a just world would be every bit as loved, remembered and have a multimillion dollar CG filled movie based on it. We are talking about M.A.S.K.

M.A.S.K was a toy line and animated series that for whatever reason while popular only had a short run. The first line of action figures were released in 1985 by Kenner. The series would be all wrapped up by 1988. Kenner were very smart in that right at the same time they also had an animated series ready to roll out in order to help push the toy line. The idea of M.A.S.K was very interesting each character would come with either a play set or a vehicle and of course a Mask which would see them change from a regular guy to a soldier ready to stop the evil Venom organization. The first line of figures captured the look of the show very well, but the later release made the masks larger than they were on the TV show. An official reason for this has never been given, but it has been rumored for years that they were worried about a kid choking on the masks.

The first series was just stacked a few of the most notable pieces were the Boulder Hill play set. This was a gas station that came with two characters in Jackrabbit and Penetrator. This is a pretty sought after piece and finding one with all its accessories can be quite tough. As well as this play set the first line of figures would have Spectrum and his iconic Thunderhawk vehicle. The Thunderhawk was a red Camaro that would open up its doors and fly. If you had to pick a signature toy from the whole M.A.S.K line then it would be Spectrum and his Thunderhawk. As well as having the good guys from the M.A.S.K team. This first series would also have three villains the most notable being the Venom leader Viper with his Switchblade vehicle that could change from a helicopter to a high speed jet.

The M.A.S.K figures are some of the most well made figures of the 80's. Kenner knew that kids would abuse these toys in recreating the exciting action scenes that they would see on the TV show. So as a result they made sure that these were very well built. And despite there only being a few series of figures (four in total) they managed to capture pretty much everyone who was on the show. For many die hard collectors though it is the first series that is the most sought after as these figures captured the look of the show with their smaller masks far more than the later releases.

M.A.S.K is a very interesting toy line to collect. As these were very well made toys its fairly easy to pick them up loose and in pretty good condition. It is getting one with all the pieces that can be tricky. But some things such as The Thunderhawk can be picked up very cheaply and in many cases you will still get the Spectrum figure with it. Boxed M.A.S.K items are great because like many of the 80's toy lines they have amazing art work on them. But these will set you back obviously far more.

Any toy room gets a few more cool points for having a M.A.S.K Thunderhawk on the shelf.