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INKTOBER 52 2023 Day #22: MASK.

This one is a bit of a childhood deep cut, referencing another favorite cartoon/toy franchise from the 1980s: M.A.S.K. It was a standard team of good guys vs. team of bad guys, but with two unique “hooks”. The first was each character drove or piloted a common vehicle that could transform into a fighting vehicle, ready for battle. The doors on cars became wings, a secret second vehicle could be launched, lasers and rocket launchers popping out everywhere. You know, because 80s. The other notable feature of the show was that every character wore a mask (go figure) that was honestly more helmet than mask. Each mask had a unique special ability, like telekinesis, generating holograms to deceive, or shooting lasers, because 80s. The toys were very cool and well made for the time, with lots of spring loaded features and missiles that actually fired (before kids started hurting themselves with such things and toy companies had to either use weaker springs or remove that feature all together). The figures were small-ish, with just five points of articulation, but the sculpts were nicely detailed and the masks themselves just looked cool.

PMD is decked out as Dusty Hayes, because growing up, I thought his mask not only looked the coolest, but had the coolest power: lasers. Because 80s. He drove a Jeep (I think it was called the Gator?), which-in addition to the gun that would flip up on top-would completely open up and launch a jet boat with a depth charge on the back (which you could launch catapult-style a pretty good distance with its little lever mechanism). That one wasn’t my favorite vehicle, though. It was a toss-up between the Raven, which was a black Trans Am kind of vehicle (I don’t really know, I’m not a car guy) that turned into a hover jet thing and launched saw blades, and the Hurricane, which was a ’57 Chevy (I only know that because it said so on the box in the picture I found) that jacked itself up, exposed another set of wheels, and the whole cab could rotate while sporting a canon, essentially becoming a tank.
Looking through images online, I’m realizing my brother and I had a pretty substantial collection of M.A.S.K. toys. We were very spoiled. 80s toys were the best.