Back in the 1980’s one of my favourite toy lines was Kenner’s MASK. I had a few transformers which were fun but for me Kenner MASK Toys took the transforming toy angle to a place that better suited my imagination. I loved my Star Wars toys in the 80’s having lots of figures, vehicles and spaceships. For me, the Kenner MASK toys continued this style of play that I loved by mixing figure with vehicles, but normal vehicles that transformed into a wild array of armoured vehicle to battle their enemies, VENOM.
What is M.A.S.K?
MASK is a team of crime fighters led by Matt Trakker (a wealthy philanthropist) who battle Myles Mayhem’s evil VENOM team.
If you do not know what M.A.S.K stands for it is: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand.
M.A.S.K of course battle V.E.N.O.M which in turn stands for: Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem
A Brief History of Kenner MASK Toys & the Cartoon
Kenner first released MASK in 1985 and I personally was hooked as I first discovered the toys and of course the animated cartoon series too. Alongside the first and second series of vehicles Kenner also released action figure double packs and adventure packs which would feature one character with specific accessories for land, sea or air.
The popularity of the third and especially the fourth wave waned considerably in the United States although the toy line held on stronger in Europe. However, by the end of the 1980’s Kenner was done with releasing MASK toys although they would try something very similar with the 1996 Vor-Tech toy line and animated series.
The M.A.S.K animated series ran across 75 episodes over 2 seasons and was originally broadcast in 1985 and 1986. The first season consisted of a massive 65 episode with only 10 for the second season which was themed more around racing than crime fighting. The second season was also bolted together and released as M.A.S.K the movie in some regions as a straight to video title.
More on Retro Toys:
- Vintage Star Wars Mini Rigs Guide
- The Best Vintage Star Wars Vehicles
- Toy Collecting is Cool
- Action Figure Collecting
- 80s Doctor Who Tardis Playhouse
Will MASK Toys Make a Comeback?
Following the success of many nostalgia driven toy line releases such as Masters of the Universe, Star Wars and The Real Ghostbusters (to name just a few) we have yet to see anything MASK related other than comics and Matt Trakker featuring in GI Joe Figure lines in 2008 and 2017. This is a shame as it is a much-loved toy line for adults of a similar age to myself. In todays adult oriented market MASK should be a considerable success for HASBRO who now owns the rights for the property.
I will breakdown the complete Kenner MASK Toy range at the end of this post so you can take a look at all that the toy line offered during it’s mid to late 80’s run.
Collecting Kenner MASK Toys with Paul the Toy Scavenger
I have always wanted to pick up a few Kenner MASK Toys for my man cave but have never been quite sure where to start. I have even found MASK vehicles for sale at boot fairs but with pieces missing I was unsure how easy it would be to replace them. Not having a personal selection to share with you myself I decided to reach out to a friend who I knew could spoil us with his Knowledge of Kenner MASK toys and his own wonderful collection. That person is Paul the Toy Scavenger.
Let take a look at Paul’s history with MASK and his collection too…
What are your first Memories of MASK – did you see the cartoon before getting the toys?
So as much as I loved mask as a kid, I can’t actually pin point the first time I ever saw Mask but I have a lot of memories about it, I don’t remember seeing the cartoon on TV at all, I have a vague memory of seeing the end of one episode when I was at Centre Parcs as a kid ( as they had sky and I didn’t) and being shocked as it was on TV.
By that point I had been bought the VHS’s and some of the Toys. I can remember getting each toy, and where they came from, most from Car boot sales, but the ones from the shops were the Split Seconds as I was late to the game I think, it must have been around 89/90, I was lucky as I had a group of friends that liked them too and had many of the ones I didn’t. I think I ended up buying theirs at some point and adding them to my collection.
Do you still watch the M.A.S.K cartoon now – if so, what is your favourite episode?
I do have it on DVD, I play the Intro all the time to my Little boy who loves the song, we can’t get enough of that and I still have my original VHS tape. The one I would say is my favourite is a combination of episodes and they marketed it as M.A.S.K the Movie, I got that from good old Woolworths with some pick n mix. It was a mix of racing series episodes all made to follow as one film. I watched that over and over again.
You have an awesome collection of MASK toys, when did you start collecting them?
Thank you, it’s a combination of my original toys and new ones once I started up again.
So, I never got rid of my Mask toys and always said I would keep them for my children, so they went up into the loft and got forgotten about. About 15 years ago I got made redundant and started going through the loft and decided to sell a few to make some cash, I sold a Some rare ones which I regret now for low prices, and after a little bit I decided to stop and just sit on them for a bit. Then around 8 years ago my father passed away so again went up in the loft and just thought I need to have all of these, so I started buying when I had a chance and upgrading bit by bit, a mask here, a door there, soon I would have complete vehicles, then boxed ones, then sealed ones, then graded, it did not stop!
How long has it taken you to build your MASK toy collection, was it difficult?
I always say it’s taken my whole life really to get to this point because without the original toys from my childhood I wouldn’t of even started.
It’s not been difficult because now you can just pop onto eBay and buy the whole thing in the condition you want be it loose, or sealed, but I did put some rules in place for myself, Never pay over the odds unless its super rare, never buy loads in one go, and only stop if it is no longer is fun or I’m not enjoying it. The tough bits are the sealed items because they usually pop up at a ridiculous price from dealers, MASK toys are very hard to price for a collector, so when someone selling that doesn’t know too much about the line when they lists things it can look a bit silly.
I have never understood why MASK has not made a comeback over recent years what with all the other retro toy line releases. Do you think we could see MASK toys make a comeback?
It’s a great property, with lots of potential, closest we have at the moment is Paw Patrol! (seriously it is shockingly similar concept). So I think it will come back, but if it’s going to they have to do it soon, because the people that are interested in it are getting older and the time frame is shrinking, the property is actually owned by Hasbro now, and they have had a test of the water a couple of times, they released a GI Joe Matter Trakker, and they also then included it into a Revolutions Comic, that wasn’t that popular because the changed too much detail and they should have kept it simple. There are rumours of GI Joe movies of the future having the MASK team turn up.
The only way a movie will work in my opinion is that if they keep the original characters and story’s set in the 80s/90s, like they did with Bumblebee, or have a new team, that joins the original team and there are some of the older characters. But the thing that makes mask great is the Vehicles, and just doing what Michael Bay did to transformers to mask would not work with the fan base I don’t think.
I would love to pick up some MASK toys for my man cave. What tips would you give to anyone thinking about starting a MASK collection?
So, don’t rush into anything, Condition is key with MASK toys and their value, decide what you want to look at, do you want sealed? Boxed but mint, loose used? Stick to what you want them for, display loose is great, but that the values on that varies a lot, due to tiny pieces, masks breaking, boxes, inner tray, sticker sheets, you name it, it will affect the value, so set a budget. Then I always start with the more expensive rarer pieces first, as they don’t come up often and by the time you come to them after collecting the cheaper bits, the values are sure to have doubled.
Last year I foolishly did not buy a Rhino with missing parts that I found at a car boot sale. Are parts easy to find online for MASK?
That’s the thing with mask, it’s great to collect as you can pick up a complete item and you are done, easy, but it’s more fun to pick up a incomplete one, clean it up, and slowly find the accessories, eBay again is good for this and Facebook groups, but you shouldn’t just buy the first price you see, do research on that part, like a Wolf beast is about £200 used and boxed, but only when the helmets are included, when it’s not you can pick it up the whole thing up for half the price. The slightest piece changes the value massively!
What would you consider to be the rarest MASK Toy to find nowadays?
The rarest now for me are the carded figure sets and the variants that people don’t know about, there was a big find in china a few years back of Dynamos, and single adventure pack cards which flooded the market, but the rarer ones are the euro double packs, especially ones with different masks to the standard design like Miles Mayhem and Collider. A lot of people will say vehicle wise Laser Command is the rarest but you can pick one up any day of the week on eBay.
Playful from Argentina cards and vehicles are quite rare, those do pop up but can be expensive.
really the highest priced pieces are the graded bits now days.
Who are your favourite MASK characters?
I always get asked this, and I have quite a few, but he ones that stick out are Boris Buskin, he’s just cool as in the cartoon he was double agent, I always like that, the figure looks cool too. And then I think Brad Turner would be the other, he was always doing something fun like playing in a band when Trakker called him up. Plus, his figure from Razorback has the best colours, really 80s, and he also drives a Bike Helicopter, who wouldn’t want that!
Finally, what are your favourite MASK toys of all time?
This changes so much also, I think the best made ones are the originals, and racing series, they kind of went a bit weird with the split seconds, but they are still cool looking, especially Wolf beast.
But I think my favourite Venom vehicle is Manta, really loved that as a kid, and Mask agent vehicle was Bulldog. Overall, my favourite piece that own is a Goliath Mint in Box unused.
Big thanks to Paul for sharing his history, memories and MASK toy collecting story. You can find Paul the Toy Scavenger on all of his social media channels below:
Be sure to give him a follow if you don’t already.
The Full Kenner MASK Toy Line Overview
As promised let’s take a look at the full range of MASK Toys released by Kenner from the mid to late 1980’s. How many of these did you have?
MASK Series 1 Vehicles (1985)
The first series of M.A.S.K toys includes some really memorable vehicles and probably the most widely recognised ones such as Rhino, Thunderhawk, Switchblade and Condor. Series 1 was a very strong start for Kenner.
M.A.S.K Series 1 Vehicles
Condor (with Brad Turner)
Firecracker (with Hondo Maclean)
Gator (with Dusty Hayes)
Rhino (with Matt Trakker and Bruce Sato)
Thunderhawk (with Matt Trakker)
V.E.N.O.M Series 1 Vehicles
Jackhammer (with Cliff Dagger)
Piranha (with Sly Rax)
Switchblade (with Miles Mayhem)
MASK Series 2 Vehicles (1986)
The series 2 line follows on with what made the original releases a success. At this point Kenner knew they had a winning formula and there was no need to change it other than widening the range of transforming vehicles.
M.A.S.K Series 2 Vehicles
Hurricane (with Hondo Maclean)
Slingshot (with Ace Riker)
Volcano (with Matt Trakker and Jaques LaFleur)
V.E.N.O.M Series 2 Vehicles
Vampire (with Floyd Malloy)
Outlaw (with Miles Mayhem and Nash Gorey)
MASK Series 3 Vehicles (1987)
The third series of toys focussed on racing and stunt style vehicles along with the more less conventional sets that had billboards, pitstops and toll points transforming into weapons.
M.A.S.K Series 3 Vehicles
Billboard Blast (with Dusty Hayes)
Goliath (with Nevada Rushmore and Matt Trakker)
The Collector (with Alex Sector)
Wildcat (with Clutch Hawks)
V.E.N.O.M Series 3 Vehicles
Buzzard (with Miles Mayhem and Maximus Mayhem)
Manta (with Vanessa Warfield)
Pit Stop Catapult (with Sly Rax)
MASK Series 4 Vehicles – Split Seconds (1988)
The split second series of vehicles tried something a little different with each vehicle splitting into two battle mode vehicles and each character having a hologram clone figure that could pilot the second vehicle. Sadly this would be the final series of M.A.S.K toys from Kenner.
M.A.S.K Series 4 Vehicles
Afterburner (with Dusty Hayes and a Dusty Hayes clone)
Detonator (with Jacques LaFleur and a Jaques LaFleur clone)
Dynamo (with Bruce Sato and a Bruce Sato Clone)
Fireforce (with Julio Lopez and a julio Lopez Clone)
Skybolt (with Matt Trakker and a Matt Trakker Clone)
Stiletto (with Gloria Baker and a Gloria Baker Clone)
V.E.N.O.M Series 4 Vehicles
Barracuda (with Bruno Sheppard and a Bruno Sheppard Clone)
Vandal (with Floyd Malloy and a Floyd Malloy Clone)
Wolfbeast (with Miles Mayhem and a Miles Mayhem Clone)
MASK Playsets
Boulder Hill (1985 – with Buddy Hawks and Alex Sector)
Laser Command (1987 -with Miles Mayhem and Matt Trakker)
MASK Adventure Packs
Arctic Assault (1987 – with Calhoun Burns)
Europe Exclusive
Coast Patrol (1986 – with Matt Trakker)
Glider Strike (1987 – with Jaques LaFleur)
Europe Exclusive
Jungle Challenge (1986 – with Matt Trakker)
Racing Arena (1987 – with Bruno Sheppard)
Europe Exclusive
Rescue Mission (1986 – with Bruce Sato)
Sea Attack (1987 – with Hondo Maclean)
Europe Exclusive
Venom’s Revenge (1986 – Miles Mayhem)
MASK Figure Packs
Ace Riker and Hondo MacLean (1987)
Europe Exclusive
Alex Sector and Buddie Hawks (1986)
Bruce Sato and Brad Turner (1986)
Floyd Malloy and Vanessa Warfield (1987)
Europe Exclusive
Julio Lopez and Calhoun Burns (1987)
Europe Exclusive
Matt Trakker and Hondo MacLean (1986)
Matt Trakker and Jaques LaFleur (1987)
Europe Exclusive
Matt Trakker and Miles Mayhem (1986)
Miles Mayhem and Nash Gorey (1987)
Europe Exclusive
Cliff Dagger and Sly Rax (1986)
T-Bob and Scott Trakker (1985)
My Personal Top 5 Kenner MASK Toys
As I stated earlier in this post, I loved M.A.S.K toys for their mixture of characters, vehicles and playsets that allowed my imagination to run wild when I played with them. Below you will find my personal Top 5 MASK toys. These are the ones that I would love to own again.
5. Vampire
If you read my article on the Best 80’s Arcade Racing games you will know that as a kid I had a fascination with motorcycles. Vampire isn’t my favourite M.A.S.K motorcycle but it was a great opponent for Condor. It also had a cool red look transforming from touring bike to Turbo Jet. Being a smaller vehicle too made it more affordable and I think it was one of the first MASK toys I owned.
4. Thunderhawk
An obvious choice but it was Matt Trakker’s flying car which made it a must have vehicle. It is one of the iconic MASK vehicles and once I had it I loved it.
3. Condor
Condor was my very first MASK toy and I can remember getting it from a local Argos. Again like Vampire it was a motorcycle but what kid isn’t going to want a motorcycle that transforms into helicopter. If I am going to add some MASK toys to my mancave Condor will be the first vehicle I buy.
2. Boulder Hill
Christmas 1987 was all about Boulder Hill. I had asked for it for what felt like months and when the day finally came my parents delivered. I loved it and it added a new dimension to playing M.A.S.K now that I had this playset. Like Castle Grayskull that I had got for Christmas years before this gave Matt Trakker’s men a base to battle V.E.N.O.M from.
1. Rhino
Rhino was such a cool vehicle, and it is my clear favourite MASK toy. I loved that you could do so much with Rhino, it was a cool truck, but you could use it as a command center with its rocket launcher to battle V.E.N.O.M and of course the cool little all-terrain scout vehicle that would detach from the back of the truck. It had other cool weapons too such as the smokestacks becoming cannons and the front grill popping forward to become a battering ram. Rhino was the all rounder and one of my favourite toys growing up. I would put it up there with the Millennium Falcon.
If you grew up in the 80s did you collect Garbage Pail Kids Cards?
MASK was a great toy line from a time when we were spoilt for great toy lines. With so many toy lines coming back to tempt us Toy Collectors it is such a shame HASBRO has yet to fully unleash MASK to us 80s kids who now have our own money to spend on this great toy line.
You can find more 1980s memories below:
Can You Remember the Ninja Turtle Names?
80’s Handheld and Electronic Games
Star Wars the Arcade Game (1983)
Ghostbusters the Video Game (1984)
Keep it Retro MASK Crusaders.
Daz
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