MASK - where illusion is the ultimate weapon.  Catchy phrase to sell a rather interesting toyline that hit the stores in the mid eighties, together with two seasons of cartoons.

The original offering had eight toys - seven of them vehicles and one playset (Boulder Hill).  Of the seven vehicles, four were good guys MASK vehicles (Thunderhawk, Rhino, Gator and Condor) and three were from the adversaries - VENOM, or the Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem (Switchblade, Jackhammer and Piranha).  Boulder Hill was the headquarters of MASK.  These eight were soon joined by others of the second series including the motorised Volcano, the huge Outlaw and the tiny Vampire.

The third series that was released near the end of 1986 had the catchy title of "Racing Team".  The boxes of these toys had a chequered flag below the logo.  This series had more vehicles, affiliated to both MASK and Venom and included mainly racing vehicles like Razorback, a rally car, Buzzard, a F1 racing car.  This series also saw three small playsets in the form of Billboard Blast, Pit Stop Catapult and The Collector.

The fourth series never made it into the cartoons.  This was the Split Seconds series and it was a huge revamp of the line complete with a new MASK logo.  There were 9 vehicles and 2 playsets in this series, although the 2 playsets were never sold commercially.

What set this toyline apart perhaps was the idea of transforming vehicles - vehicles that transformed into even interesting vehicles instead of robots ala Transformers or Gobots.  This was probably the first time that a toyline took this concept, although the concept itself was not new, because it has been done to death in various James Bond movies of the 70s.  This concept has been reused later in the nineties in lines such as the VorTech, Key Force and Air Vectors, but these never found the fame that MASK did.

One of the interesting thing about the first series were the adventure packs - packs that included repainted figures and other accessories.  The first series also had T-bob and Scott Trakker - a spin off from the cartoon series.  Sadly though, Gloria Baker's vehicle in the cartoons, the Shark, never made it as a toy, although it is rumoured that prototyes of the vehicle exists.

One thing apparent about MASK and Venom are the racial diversities of the characters in the toys and in the show.  Bruce Sato, the co-driver of Rhino and later Dynamo, is of ethnic Japanese origin.

In an era where ladies in toys targetted at guys were rare, MASK had two - Vanessa Warfield, piloted Manta in the Racing Team while later Gloria Baker had Stiletto in Split seconds.

For a full list of the toys and other merchandise, head over to Albert Penello's The MASK site which is one of the easier sites to navigate.  There you can see the laser figures some prototyes and catch up on the rumours.  Other good MASK sites include Slicks MASK Fan Page and Boulder Hill.

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