YES! Someone else knows what VORTECH is!!!! I had every one of them, and pretended they were MASK TNG or 2.0; in my cannon, this generation was led by Scott Tracker, the driver of the red car
So just a few notes 1) there are a few episodes floating around UA-cam, just type in Vor-Tech cartoon and look for the videos close to 30 minutes long, the quality isn't great, but they are still interesting to watch. 2) you are both correct and Incorrect about the Vor-Tech figures althought most of the figures in the line didn't have knee joints, the figure of Jason King from road heat was to my knowledge the only figure that did. 3) although Kenner was still around in the 90's it was mostly in name alone Hasbro called the shots and is one of the major contributing factors in why Vor-Tech toys seemed so cheap.
I bought the entire Vortech line on clearance from a KayBee Toys in like 98 for less than 30 bucks lol. My girlfriend's little brother (who was like my bro) had a fun Christmas that year and I got to relive some M.A.S.K. memories.
I enjoyed this! I vaguely remember something about a MASK knockoff from years gone by, so the side-by-side was pretty cool to see just how cheap and uninspired Vor-Tech actually was. Count me as one watching intently to see what Loyal Subjects produces. I'd love to relive that part of my childhood in adult collector form. ✌😎
I have a feeling that the The Loyal Subjects offerings may just turn out to be M.A.S.K themed bobbleheads or something similar, rather than a full on revival of the vehicles and figures. I hope I'm wrong though.
I have the Green Truck since I wasn't able to get Wildcat as a kid, and I had the chance to get the others from Kaybee for cheap, but passed, and regret it to this day! MASK was my favorite toyline as a kid, and I still got some of the vehicles later in my teen years when I was able to find them at thrift shops and clearance. I did pickup the Laser Command on clearance from Children's Palace before that place closed down fully.
I've experienced QC issues with the BST AXN lines on both TMNT, for myself, and Avatar for my kiddo. Things like loose joints and pegs that unfortunately affected the figure. I'm excited to hear MASK getting a reboot, but I hope they figure out QC issues before then. Also, great comparison and little history towards the end I wasn't aware of. Thanks!
I loved Vor-Tech as a kid. I feel like if they had a spring gimmick over a manual transformation it would have given older fans of MASK more allure into trying them out.
Great review and comparison. Again, your dedication to producing informative videos is second to none. Very impressive. I never had the Firefly, I always thought the Vor-tech line reused the Firefly tooling to make their version. It is totally different. I remember seeing the Vor-tech cartoon while I was in college. I honestly don't remember much about it and the toyline except that they "exist." I guess the best show and line of that block won out.
It would be fun to see a comparison between M.A.S.K Thunderhawk and Vor-Tech Sonic Stinger. I always saw the Sonic Stinger as a spiritual successor to the Thunderhawk!
there's one episode of VorTech "The Hunger" that someone uploaded to youtube from a VHS tape recording from TV...low quality. only one. I have wanted to see this show ever since I bought the toys on clearance from Toys R Us back in the 1990s. It involves a bad guy girl who wants to go good.. Kinda sad. It reminds me of Spiral Zone, where the bad guys are all infected and look like Borg-Punk Rockers and are angrier/malicious versions of what they once were. As Bio-Mechs they see themselves as higher evolutions of Humans. I think the designer of the Bio-Mech loved Star Trek TNG and Bubblegum Crisis.
Gator! My brothers and I had a pretty good collection. Of the first year's toys we had all but Rhino, Boulder Hill and Firecracker. My favourite was year two's Stinger, the Orange Pontiac with Bruno Shepard.
Loved MASK but the other 😢 never heard of. Could they spin MASk movie out of the Transformer franchise. Link the tech somehow, saying the humans wanted to have their own advantages and not rely solely on the Autobots.
Man , I frikin' LOVED MASK even though it was so cheesy. The TV show theme song was the jam. It rocked in the way the '80s-'90s Disney shows theme songs did. Like Gummy Bears, Tale Spin , Darkwing Duck, all were ftrikin' bangers. Those people singing, sang the sh*t out of those songs. Disney wasn't just a stepping stone to a better job, the singers treated it like this WAS the big show. Mask crusaders working overtime , fighting crime(fighting crime). The Vortex toy looked like a parts bash from left over parts. The arms are from Shocker, a C-tier DC villan. The hands are way to big for the figure. The head looks like a Mr.Sinster or Colossus.
Of all the cartoons at the time like mask, centurions, and spiral zone, spiral zone was my favorite. Mask was my least favorite. The show never hit the mark to me even though I could follow it. Great job though 👍👌❤️
By the mid 90’ I was in my early 20’s I guess that’s why I didn’t remember and toys was last thing on my mind. But do remember MASK I had majority of the toys at the time. The new revamp of MASK sounds odd though they joining up with G.I. Joe that makes no sense to me but hay whatever I’ll stick to the original continuity of MASK that’s what I know.
Classic corporation tactic - Make similar toys but repackage it as something else to seem new. MASK was out so lets make a "new" series to be cool again!
I think they may have thought it was too soon to try and capitalise on nostalgia. All of the kids who knew the M.A.S.K toys were in their teens or early twenties in the mid nineties. Hasbro was trying to appeal to a new audience of 7 to 12 year olds who didn't remember M.A.S.K.
I could swear there was another knock off toy line in the mid 90s that was mask vehicles but done in clear plastic... and the story was supposed to be like shrunk down to microscopic scale or inside the internet or something???
IDW MASK doesn't count. Trash reboot. GI Joe figure is actually really good, comes with a Condor inspired backpack, taken from another figure but fits the theme. I recommend finding it, quite why they never did a Miles Mayhem to go with it I don't know, they could have gave him the Venom's Revenge loadout. Cannot wait to see the Loyal subjects product, they say it's gonna be 1:1 size the same, so it's either reissues or remaking the toys as they were. I hope they are excellent as I only need Switchblade to complete the series 1 poster selection - a personal collecting goal of mine.
Vor-tech suffers in comparison to M.A.S.K in various ways. The packaging doesn't look as good, the colour and liveries of the vehicles isn't as appealing, and even the name 'Vor-tech' is not as catchy. They might have had more success if they had just kept the M.A.S.K branding, though the mid nineties may have been too soon for a reboot, since fans of the original (like me) had grown too old for toys, but not old enough to have the nostalgia and disposable income to start a new collection. The mid 2000s would have been ideal. The Transformers Masterpiece series being an example of well timed adult-oriented collectibles. Hasbro should have taken the gamble on a new M.A.S.K line years ago. There's a big dormant fanbase out there. But were pushing fifty now and us fans aren't gonna live forever!
I will not be supporting a MASK line if it includes Vortech, I hated those figures. It's the first 2 MASK waves at original scale or nothing at all. I also will not support any crossover world stuff.
YES! Someone else knows what VORTECH is!!!! I had every one of them, and pretended they were MASK TNG or 2.0; in my cannon, this generation was led by Scott Tracker, the driver of the red car
So just a few notes
1) there are a few episodes floating around UA-cam, just type in Vor-Tech cartoon and look for the videos close to 30 minutes long, the quality isn't great, but they are still interesting to watch.
2) you are both correct and Incorrect about the Vor-Tech figures althought most of the figures in the line didn't have knee joints, the figure of Jason King from road heat was to my knowledge the only figure that did.
3) although Kenner was still around in the 90's it was mostly in name alone Hasbro called the shots and is one of the major contributing factors in why Vor-Tech toys seemed so cheap.
These commercials were my Saturdays lol I remember the little view masters where you had the little disks inside .
They were great! We had ViewMaster reels for Scooby Doo, Transformers, and others I don't recall.
Great video. I have some Vortech also and that’s only because of how much I like the MASK toys. Thanx for this dive into them both.
I bought the entire Vortech line on clearance from a KayBee Toys in like 98 for less than 30 bucks lol. My girlfriend's little brother (who was like my bro) had a fun Christmas that year and I got to relive some M.A.S.K. memories.
I enjoyed this! I vaguely remember something about a MASK knockoff from years gone by, so the side-by-side was pretty cool to see just how cheap and uninspired Vor-Tech actually was. Count me as one watching intently to see what Loyal Subjects produces. I'd love to relive that part of my childhood in adult collector form. ✌😎
I have a feeling that the The Loyal Subjects offerings may just turn out to be M.A.S.K themed bobbleheads or something similar, rather than a full on revival of the vehicles and figures.
I hope I'm wrong though.
I have the Green Truck since I wasn't able to get Wildcat as a kid, and I had the chance to get the others from Kaybee for cheap, but passed, and regret it to this day! MASK was my favorite toyline as a kid, and I still got some of the vehicles later in my teen years when I was able to find them at thrift shops and clearance. I did pickup the Laser Command on clearance from Children's Palace before that place closed down fully.
I've experienced QC issues with the BST AXN lines on both TMNT, for myself, and Avatar for my kiddo. Things like loose joints and pegs that unfortunately affected the figure. I'm excited to hear MASK getting a reboot, but I hope they figure out QC issues before then. Also, great comparison and little history towards the end I wasn't aware of. Thanks!
Yup. Never heard of Vor Tech before watching this
Excellent video! God bless you and yours! Praying for you
At least G.I. Joe Extreme is well remembered. but what happened to Transformers Beast Wars?
I loved Vor-Tech as a kid. I feel like if they had a spring gimmick over a manual transformation it would have given older fans of MASK more allure into trying them out.
Excellent video. You know you got my interest even more with M.A.S.K. 👍 also enjoyed the Vortech history. M.A.S.K. gets the win for me too😉
Great review and comparison. Again, your dedication to producing informative videos is second to none. Very impressive.
I never had the Firefly, I always thought the Vor-tech line reused the Firefly tooling to make their version. It is totally different. I remember seeing the Vor-tech cartoon while I was in college. I honestly don't remember much about it and the toyline except that they "exist." I guess the best show and line of that block won out.
It would be fun to see a comparison between M.A.S.K Thunderhawk and Vor-Tech Sonic Stinger. I always saw the Sonic Stinger as a spiritual successor to the Thunderhawk!
Good stuff! I had never heard of Vor-Tech before. Time to do some hunting 🧐
you'd think that, with a name like "Miles MAYHEM", that he was not to be trusted.
I like to think that his real surname is "Mayhew", and he just tweaked it to make himself sound more sinister.
@@drewlovelyhell4892 interesting.
Use a low temp heat gun on the stress marks to get rid of them and restore plastic strength.
there's one episode of VorTech "The Hunger" that someone uploaded to youtube from a VHS tape recording from TV...low quality. only one. I have wanted to see this show ever since I bought the toys on clearance from Toys R Us back in the 1990s. It involves a bad guy girl who wants to go good.. Kinda sad. It reminds me of Spiral Zone, where the bad guys are all infected and look like Borg-Punk Rockers and are angrier/malicious versions of what they once were. As Bio-Mechs they see themselves as higher evolutions of Humans. I think the designer of the Bio-Mech loved Star Trek TNG and Bubblegum Crisis.
Dont remember my son hade vor-tech but my daugther loved the mask cartoon and asked for thunderbird
I had the mask jeep, a jet-ski came out of it, yes, yes, it was awesome. 1st flex in 40yrs... hahaha cheers!
Gator!
My brothers and I had a pretty good collection. Of the first year's toys we had all but Rhino, Boulder Hill and Firecracker. My favourite was year two's Stinger, the Orange Pontiac with Bruno Shepard.
Loved MASK but the other 😢 never heard of. Could they spin MASk movie out of the Transformer franchise. Link the tech somehow, saying the humans wanted to have their own advantages and not rely solely on the Autobots.
Hey kids collect the mighty A.X.L. and remember to use your illusion!
I had no buying power for mask😢,but vortex that was a different story 😊.
I wish they would make the new MASK figures 1/18.
Man , I frikin' LOVED MASK even though it was so cheesy. The TV show theme song was the jam. It rocked in the way the '80s-'90s Disney shows theme songs did. Like Gummy Bears, Tale Spin , Darkwing Duck, all were ftrikin' bangers. Those people singing, sang the sh*t out of those songs. Disney wasn't just a stepping stone to a better job, the singers treated it like this WAS the big show. Mask crusaders working overtime , fighting crime(fighting crime). The Vortex toy looked like a parts bash from left over parts. The arms are from Shocker, a C-tier DC villan. The hands are way to big for the figure. The head looks like a Mr.Sinster or Colossus.
Of all the cartoons at the time like mask, centurions, and spiral zone, spiral zone was my favorite. Mask was my least favorite. The show never hit the mark to me even though I could follow it. Great job though 👍👌❤️
Oh man i had all.... er ah none of these. Ever. I think kids in the less
Poor neighborhoods had em, as none of my friends had them either.
By the mid 90’ I was in my early 20’s I guess that’s why I didn’t remember and toys was last thing on my mind. But do remember MASK I had majority of the toys at the time. The new revamp of MASK sounds odd though they joining up with G.I. Joe that makes no sense to me but hay whatever I’ll stick to the original continuity of MASK that’s what I know.
Why didn’t they just name it MASK II?
Classic corporation tactic - Make similar toys but repackage it as something else to seem new.
MASK was out so lets make a "new" series to be cool again!
I think they may have thought it was too soon to try and capitalise on nostalgia. All of the kids who knew the M.A.S.K toys were in their teens or early twenties in the mid nineties. Hasbro was trying to appeal to a new audience of 7 to 12 year olds who didn't remember M.A.S.K.
I could swear there was another knock off toy line in the mid 90s that was mask vehicles but done in clear plastic... and the story was supposed to be like shrunk down to microscopic scale or inside the internet or something???
IDW MASK doesn't count. Trash reboot.
GI Joe figure is actually really good, comes with a Condor inspired backpack, taken from another figure but fits the theme. I recommend finding it, quite why they never did a Miles Mayhem to go with it I don't know, they could have gave him the Venom's Revenge loadout.
Cannot wait to see the Loyal subjects product, they say it's gonna be 1:1 size the same, so it's either reissues or remaking the toys as they were. I hope they are excellent as I only need Switchblade to complete the series 1 poster selection - a personal collecting goal of mine.
Vor-tech suffers in comparison to M.A.S.K in various ways. The packaging doesn't look as good, the colour and liveries of the vehicles isn't as appealing, and even the name 'Vor-tech' is not as catchy.
They might have had more success if they had just kept the M.A.S.K branding, though the mid nineties may have been too soon for a reboot, since fans of the original (like me) had grown too old for toys, but not old enough to have the nostalgia and disposable income to start a new collection.
The mid 2000s would have been ideal. The Transformers Masterpiece series being an example of well timed adult-oriented collectibles.
Hasbro should have taken the gamble on a new M.A.S.K line years ago. There's a big dormant fanbase out there. But were pushing fifty now and us fans aren't gonna live forever!
Mask is so vastly, vastly better. Vortech is so cheap, it’s like a knock off brand.
I will not be supporting a MASK line if it includes Vortech, I hated those figures. It's the first 2 MASK waves at original scale or nothing at all. I also will not support any crossover world stuff.
2:51 "Transform into a new form" is kinda redundant. 😏
@@drewlovelyhell4892 This comment is kinda pedantic. 🙄
@@Gojitron1 Well, pedantry is the most precise form of criticism.