The History of MASK: The 1985 Cartoon and Toyline
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- Опубліковано 6 лис 2019
- Join us as we explore the history of "MASK," the 1985 animated series and toyline created by Kenner Products.
Follow along as we trace the roots of "Mobile Armored Strike Kommand," from its conception by Bob Forward and Tom DeSanto to its production by DIC Enterprises and eventual airing on television.
Meet beloved characters like Matt Trakker, Miles Mayhem and the Vicious Vultures, and join them on thrilling adventures in vehicles like Thunderhawk and Outlaw.
We'll also discuss the lasting impact of "MASK" on pop culture and its influence on other properties, such as "Dino-Riders." Whether you're a long-time fan of the series or just want to learn more about this classic piece of animation and toy history, this video has something for you!
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It was good to be a kid in the 80s. So many amazing toy lines.
Agreed. Toys, Nintendo and we STILL played outside! And we had the best cereal. If I could travel back to the 80s for a week I would.
@@shuaduahOh I dunno. That new stuffed Cinnamon Toast Crunch is better than anything we had for cereal in the 80s. ;)
@@shadowfaxcrx5141 I'm gonna have to try that out then 🤔😂
M.A.S.K. was the last toy line I was into as a kid. Then I grew up, realized adult stuff kinda sucked and started collecting toys again. M.A.S.K. was like a mashup of the two biggest toylines of its time; G.I. Joe and Transformers, proving the old axiom "If you can't beat 'em, cobble together their best bits into something just original enough to avoid lawsuit.". Alas, Hasbro would have the last laugh.
He-Man bigger than all 3 but gi joe cheaper
When you combine adulthood with childhood....thats when magic happens....
kinda had high hopes for the M.A.S.K./Transformers G I Joe crossover from IDW, maybe it will come back later in cartoon or game form
@@michaellarnach4161 I think that, in the IDW version of MASK, they were an agency created to counter the Transformers and any other invader. Their masks and transforming vehicles were created from stolen cybertronian technology.
@@Raziel312 i have some of those issues, They used blitzwings body if i remember correctly - he may or may not have been dead but the idea was a really really good way to explain the formation of M.A.S.K.
That show featured one of the greatest theme songs of the ‘80’s.
1985 was literally one of the best years ever
Except for the psychic squid attack on 11/2.
I second that statement
@Terminator You're back!
I was 6, with my limited memory of that time-I agree
I was molested by my uncle in 1985, thanks for glamorizing the worst year of my life.
The 1980's were just the BEST time to be a kid. So many awesome toys and toylines everywhere!
Nowadays, toy companies just don't even bother trying.
Yeah it was great. So many awesome games, toys, and cartoons came out in the 80's. It really was a different time back then, and as a kid it was easy to take for granted.
Yep 🥲I miss the 80s man they had some 80s was a cool decade of movies and TV toys they had so many different lines even really bad movie cult movies are bad B-movie like Hollywood movies even have a toy line so it’s a different decade
MASK had a kick ass theme song loved the show
Transformers G1 season 2, Voltron, M.A.S.K. and Robotech had my favorite intros, all of them are so catchy.
The cover versions are pretty decent, too.
@@unlimitedrabbit they are
The 80's were the best toys for collecting, amazing times
Long live Saturday Morning and After-school cartoons!
Actually they died long ago
yeaaa.. its right.. always saturday morning i wtch this series!!!
In my area sometimes they would add Friday morning cartoons when they knew kids were off school for Christmas/Easter break. I remember being so excited when that would happen.
MASK was also mentioned in Transformers:Prime when Optimus was scanning his new ‘Battle Truck’ form which came from the military’s MASK division.
MASK is one of the most under rated cartoons of the 80's. Period.
Agreed and indeed
So true
Loved the toys. Watched the TV show recently, and it's horrible.
It was very highly rated where i lived.
I only had one toy, the green motorcycle/helicopter, but i loved playing with it.
I thought your display pic was a hair on my screen, I was trying to wipe it off for like 5 mins till I scrolled down lool
I remember having Condor, Switchblade, Gator and Thunderhawk out of this toy series.
Good Times back in the 80's.
Didn't have the longest run in the world, but definitely one of my favorite cartoons as a kid. And the toys were freakin' awesome.
Was I the only person that wished the A-Team van was secretly a M.A.S.K. vehicle!?
I have a toy version of the van which has numerous pop out weapons very much like a MASK vehicle.
Nameless Jedi I never had the A-Team van (other than the Hot wheels version). But I had K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider. The A-Team van was cooler to me though.
I did think the same thing too!!
Isn't that a Turtle Van?
What about face man's vette?
I spit my drink out at "the power of plot contrivance." You guys owe me a new keyboard.
I'm usually smiling throughout these videos, but I legitimately laughed out loud at that one
Loved the show, even 30+ years later, I still know the entire theme song word for word
Thats how i am with The Nanny
Cool post it up.
Same. That theme song was tight.
5 year old me used to rock out to that song when the show started. Then again, I did the same thing with TMNT and Denver the Last Dinosaur.
Denver was a great show
"Enough thrust to make it fly in the face of every known law of physics" 🤣👍
I just love the Re-Animator running gag, never fails to make me laugh
Agreed. It's such a cognitive disconnect, I can't help but laugh.
I swallowed one of helmets when I was 4. Took a 2 day hospital visit to prize claw it out of my throat. I will always remember this toyline. And no, they didn't give me back the helmet.
In the UK the helmets had a goofy extra moulding around the shoulders and chest. They didnt have those on the pictures, so I cut them all off with a craft knife!
I laughed out load for real.. amazing story. Whahahaa
🤣🤣🤣🤣 #give_it_back
I'm from Costa Rica, I loved watching the series as a child and they showed it on Saturday mornings in the 90's, I didn't miss it for anything.
“A car becomes a car with its door opened”
We were all thinking it, and he said it!
*then it becomes a car with its doors open, funniest shit I ever seen*
No it don’t, thats blasphemous!!! It becomes a Super badass flying...jet..rocket car thing!
I so agree, I was about to say that lmao
This franchise deserves a reboot in toys and cartoons.
It also needs a live action movie as well! Maybe the next cartoon series should be a CGI project!!!
@@johnnymason2460 Will love that but the way hollywood is doing things right now, more than likely they will mess it up.
@@omisokaomisokas5095 You are spot on! However, I believe someone should at least try to get this done!!!
@@johnnymason2460 Agreed
I had Condor, Rhino, Thunder Hawk & Switchblade... the quality of the toys was of the chart!
I was 10 years old in 1985 and it was one of the best summers of my life. I had so much fun that summer with those toys, tv shows, movies and friends. Going to Toys R Us was like Christmas because all of the good toys were out and you could find them also. 1985 was great!
I have a memory of seeing Centurions outfits big enough for a kid to wear but for the life of me can't find any mention of it.
"Optimism is a hell of a drug" 🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂
Indeed, still hoping for a movie and updated toyline, fingers crossed. 😂
As long as we're being optimistic, how much longer until medical science figure out how temporarily to make us KIDS again?
:)
It wasn't just optimism they were sniffing in 1985
"I'm Rick James."
MASK was a treasure of childhood. Thank you for the memory.
1985-1988 were truly fun years to be a kid. I was 5, 6, and 7. I had several of the original MASK toys. 80s also gave us awesome movies, cool cartoons, and amazing music. Inspirational, creative, funny, spirited, and clever times. Also Blockbuster video was born. I think Peacemaker may have ripped off the helmet and the different powers a helmet provides from MASK. Each MASK character had a badass vehicle and Mask. So dope. And the movies that came out such as Rocky 4, Back to the Future, The Goonies...and the toy shelves were stocked with GI Joe's and transformers and He-Man and Star Wars! Damn!
My favorite underrated toy line of all time. Bummed it didn’t make the Season 3 cut (coming 11/15) for The Toys That Made Us, but hoping it gets it’s episode in the future.
Great video as always. Thank you.
Loved MASK, the opening song, the characters - still a little sad they didn’t last longer or have a well earned comeback
Maybe Gabe Newell (Gaben) was in charge of it, he doesn't believe in three...
My favourite underrated toy line of the 80s is Starcom
@JOE SELF MASK just wasn't in the same league as the toy lines that The Toys That Made Us has covered. Hell the only reason Star Trek got in season 2 is that the creators are huge trekkies and didn't know if they would get anymore episodes outside of the initial order of 8 and while Trek's toylines where never GI Joe huge the franchise is.
@@Ushio01 I think they made a good case for ST merchandizing's impact on pop culture and toylines that followed
I always thought the leader of Venom Mr. Mayhem looked awfully similar to tv’s favorite sitcom butler Mr. Belvedere ......
Kinda looks like Stalin lol.
And a little like Victor Kiriakis from Days of our Lives
frobafett
Check out the James Bond movie Moonraker; Michael Lonsdale as Sir Hugo Drax really resembled Miles Mayhem.
Probably vice versa
;-)
Just bought some 80's toys this year , including
-MASK: Rhino ,Raven,Condor
-Masters of the Universe: He-man+BattleCat , Skeletor +Panthor,Triclops , Ramman
-GI-Joe - StormShadow , Cobra Commander
This video hit upon a key point -- 1985 was a kick-ass year for toys, cartoons and pop culture in general! It makes me all the more grateful I got to be a kid during this time.
MASK was my jam. My fav as a kid. One of my fondest memories is bringing home boulder hill. My son (now -1yr) loves to watch the show with me, he gets super pumped at the theme song. Excited to break out the toys in a few years with him. My wife calls it “smut”, I tell her, “he’s gotta learn about terrorism and international intrigue at some point!” Really enjoyed the vid, thanks for your great work. ✌️
This toy line is the reason I got bullied in my class for the duration of my 3rd grade, just because I don't own a MASK toy. Couple years later my Mom finally bought me The Condor (a motorcycle transform into a helicopter-vehicle) but it was two years too late. The damage has been done.
Otis Almato Yet here you are, wiser than all them bustaz now. Respect!
@@whoopdattrick23 haha yes, since then I became to know and love this toy and its cartoon series. 80s toys are the best!
This was my favorite show around that time. I had Boulder Hill, and pretty close to all the vehicles minus the racetrack season. The big Snake Oil tanker VENOM truck was awesome.
M.A.S.K. is criminally underrated.
I was 4 in 1985 and remember A LOT of this years pop culture. It all makes sense now!
Oh, heck yeah! This is the episode I've been waiting on ever since I found this channel a 2 or 3 years ago!
Bring back MASK, WHEELED WARRIORS, & AIR RAIDERS.
that would be my trifecta
Robotech, Voltron and Thundercats
I worked at my family's Beer Store when I was 12 and one week I spent my whole pay check on Air Raider toys.
Unfortunately, Air Raiders never had an animated series! It would have been interesting!!!
MASKs toys was a dream back when i was a child, its like the GOD tier toys
The "We Didn't Start The Fire" reference and the "power of plot contrivance" were hilarious! Like the way you inject humor in your videos about my childhood favorites! 🤘⭐🍺👍🏼
Guess this reinforces something I already knew: I'm not interested in cars unless they turn into a robot.
Subscribed. This was great. I loved my MASK stuff as a kid. I had no idea there was that much thought and money put in to the making and marketing of these toys. Great video!!!
M.A.S.K was far and away one of my favorites. The cartoon and the toys. Also, I still remember the disappointment that was finding the “mask” listing in the satellite guide, flipping to that channel and discovering it was actually a movie about a horribly deformed teenager and not the cartoon. Oh man I was one mad 6 year old.
Don't get me started on Jim Carrey...
Thank you so much for revisiting/revamping this topic! My nostalgia ramped up to 11!
They should have been called H.E.L.M.E.T
Highly
Elite
Legion of
Mobile
Espionage
Troopers
Lord Dark Helmet: "You didn't see that!"
Col. Sanders: "No I did no see you playing with your dolls, sir!"
*rimshot*
You are a genius. 😎
Doesn't quite roll off the tongue but good effort though
H-H-H-H-HELMET!
Is the mighty power that can save the day?
No. The acronym works, but I'll never give up that awesome theme song!
When I was a kid in the early 90's, I had 2" action figure in a yellow and red suit with sunglasses. I knew it came from a set my older cousin had, but that was it. It ended up being a Brad Turner figure, that I believe he got with the Condor and Switchblade sets. I think my cousin was probably a bigger fan of Voltron and TMNT, as those are the only toys I remember him actually keeping.
JuiceJive Rad!
Dan, you're awesome. Thank you for bringing my childhood out of obscurity.
This is the best UA-cam channel in the world. I get to relive my childhood. And learn some new and interesting facts about my favorite cartoons, and you have a Centurions episode.
Oh man! The one series I hope would get revived or a six inch series 🥺
Great video Mr Larson, Producer Greg 👍🏽✌🏽
They should teach this in schools, primarily so my complete collection retains its value in the future.
MY MOST FAVORITE CARTOON FROM MY CHILDHOOD :D Thank you !!
Star Wars, GI Joe, Transformers, Starcom & M.A.S.K. were my absolute favorite toy lines of the 80's. Awesome video!
This show was my jam. I loved this show my kids love it. It’s awesome.
Nah the show was crap.
The theme song was good but it’s not good,
The voice acting was hilariously bad, action was cheesy, Plotlines were cheesy, animation was well drawn but really stiff, The kid and his stupid robot was annoying, etc… It really wasn’t a good show.
Great round up of MASK!! This show was so important to me. I especially loved the UK comics. The stories and art were excellent. But I didn't realise the holiday specials were made by a different company! They were such a treat to find on the shelves in the summer. They were THICC! Wow, did you need to throw shade at my trusty Commodore 64 though 😅
my mum used to go to the shops and come back with my comic! I'd ruffle through the bag to see if she'd got it each month, felt like an eternity to get it; now 4 weeks goes by like 3 damn days.....a time machine would be very welcome right now!! :D
It's your writing and delivery that makes you guys shine.
I had the truck and my brother had the car and Miles Mayhem and copter. Great fun. I remember getting the truck for my birthday from Bentals dept store in Kingston June '86...
Thanks for this one, Dan! MASK is one of my fave cartoons in the 1980s. My fave characters were Matt Trakker, Gloria Baker*, Hondo McLane, Miles Mayhem, Vanessa Warfield, & Sly Rax.
Also, the toys had a plus in that they used actual Goodyear tires.
Also, Matt Trakker was later made the High Tech Specialist of G. I. Joe, essentially he became G. I. Joe's Tony Stark and Cobra's Destro.
Wish they added Gloria Baker; she could supplant (and even outright Replace) Lady J had it been possible IMHO.
* Gloria Baker's MASK Shark seemed inspired by James Bond's modified Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me.
Back in grade school, I had a SERIOUS crush on Gloria.
And during the 10 racing episodes, my friends and I really liked the guy who drove Bulldog. We never actually learned his name, though.
We just called him "Russian Bear."
:P
Gran Torino
Can't blame you about Gloria. She is very pretty. 👍
The Bulldog's driver was Boris Bullski, if I recall correctly.
"Why do we call these masks by the way? This is a helmet, not a mask"
- Matt Trakker, Robot Chicken
Cuz who would watch "H.E.L.M.E.T."?
Mind blown😂
😂
What? You went over my helmet!
-Dark Helmet 1987
You obviously didn't watch the video because he broke down the acronym for MASK.
I remember asking my mom to get me the Mask VHS from Blockbuster. She came home with that movie with Cher and the dude with a big face. Lol
Oh, this is one I've really been waiting for!
I always liked tiny action figures, because when you played with them alongside big creatures from other collections, then it made those creatures seem even bigger!
Hey...
I actually had a ROM figure back in the day. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, thank you very much!
I still want those, 30 years later!
Love seeing a new video buy Toy Galaxy! You guys are comfort food for my eyes, ears, and heart:-)
MASK and Wheeled Warriors had the best theme song intros for the 80s. Hands down.
Nope. Gummy Bears is the best. They're great though. 😎
“A car becomes a car with its doors open...” 😂
I now heard this in Frank Caliendo doing his John Madden voice.
OMG! Thank you for that throwback commercial, childhood nostalgia @ it's best! Lol! 🤩
Born in 74 I was obsessed with m.a.s.k. Voltron and transformers great toys amazing memories
*What a great show and toy line...I feel sorry for kids today*
I miss having these toys. By far my favorite 80s toy line along with GI Joe and Transformers. I had Boulder Hill Gas Station, I still have the boulder somewhere. ^_^
I loved Mask and my mom bought me Boulder Hill when the series must have been on decline because it was in the clearance section for super cheap. I loved causing mayhem with that boulder. None of my friends were into Mask, but it didn't matter because we could combine it with GI Joe.
Nice video Dan & Toy galaxy !!
Billy Joel call back - totally just cracked me up thanks Dan 😄🤘
I had MASK figures. My mom told me that the Eagles were hard to find a Toys R Us
whoah clean shaven bro!
Not exactly a clean shave 😂😂 but ok
I still remember in Christmas in 1985 opening my Mask gift. It was Thunder Hawk!! I always wanted Rino but it was to expensive.
Same story here, only it was Jackhammer.... Still, I loved that black Ford Bronco and how it shapeshifted.
Awesome video for my favorite toy line from childhood.
2:47 something tells me you really like Re-Animater.
Same gag was used in Top 10 things about MASK too.
As you should.
What gave u that idea?
That's Producer Greg's doing. He...REALLY likes that movie.
If Jeffery Coombs is in it, it's worth watching.
Jim Carrey’s Mask versus Tom Hardy’s Venom: Who Wins?
Everyone
@@WhiskeyBrewer Preach
Not the audience...
When I was about 8, I once saw that this show was on TV for 2 hours in the tv guide around noon. Let's just say I've never been so disappointed to see Cher and Eric Stoltz in my life.
5:55 This ad features the most British children I've seen since Dr. Who and I love it.
I only had the green bike chopper thing as a kid from this line.
Yeah I had five or six when I was a kid, and still have some of the figures. My kids play with them now lol. The outlaw tanker was my favorite.
That one was my favorite, and the first one I ever had. That would be Condor, driven / piloted by Brad Turner, wearer of Hocus-Pocus, a holography mask.
Same here & it was my favorite and the driver was my favorite character, so I really didn’t need anyone else.
Condor with Brad Turner and his Mask Hocus Pocus. Don't ask me how I know that.
I dont know about you guys, but Matt Trakker looks a whole lot like Herbert West to me.
The GI Joe version of Matt Trakker looks like Stephen Colbert.
Thanks for the vid sir.👍🏼👍🏼
MASK was one of my favourites so many good memories with those toys.
M.A.S.K. beat MK in using the letter "K" where the letter "C" would be used.
If there's a god in heaven please bring back M.A.S.K 🙏
It wont be as cool
IDW has a MASK comicbook, and it isn't, even though they made Matt a black guy and Gloria a tattooed Indian who likes skimpy clothes.
@@scottandrewhutchins yeah it was really weird. I wish they would stop changing everything around just to be woke.
One of my absolute favorites.
Great review guys! Love learning the history of toys👍😁
Bill
My fav was when they would select team members for the mission
And they would down tools immediately, or hand everything to the nearest person.
Supercut: ua-cam.com/video/7x5B3nzYixo/v-deo.html
7:07 I'd really love a combined continuity for Transformers and MASK.
I think the advanced technologies in vehicle transformation could easily be a by-product of human/Autobot collab.
I really really loved the MASK cartoon and toys in the 1980s, but had to priortise Transformers and therefore only have a mini-novelisation of the cartoon ep1 - "The Deathstone. One of my friends had a few of the toys and they were fantastic - much better than any Transformers from after 1985 (i.e.any original non-Diaclone, non-Micro-change Transformers).
Check out the IDW comics. Not the best adaptation of MASK possible, but the premise of MASK being humanity's (Mayhem's) reaction to the cybertronian threat is spot on! Revolution did a great job tying all these properties together...and ROM...
Seriously though, ROM felt more tacked on, like they were building the Dire Wraiths in to something, but didn't get there. Not quite sure what happened to the shared universe behind the scenes but it definitely felt like someone pulled the plug and IDW had to go "oh crap! uh...Unicron attacks and uh...reboot..."
Great video. I loved all the highlights of 1985, I recall Ulysses 31 being aired in Aust on the ABC. It was a great year. Robotech, Back to the Future, Goonies, you named the best.
I loved the figurines, i bought heaps of the twin packs and customised them so I could have an army.
For the life of me I couldn't work out why no one else had done a action figure in that size since, I guess MegaConstrux comes close .
Great look at one of my favorite 80s toy lines...and Rom.
Optimism is one hell of a drug indeed xD
I would shapeshift into Herbert West and reanimate the MASK toyline.
The theme tune was the best theme tune in the world history of TV.
Awesome work guys - you really show you know you're stuff!
Seems like they missed an opportunity for a roll play line. I would’ve killed for a wearable Spectrum when I was a kid. Or you know... now.
Seriously a show where half the gymic was wearable. That would be like if Power Rangers hadn't released morpher toys
It just wasn't done back then. Nobody made masks for anything but Halloween. The only role play toys were things worn on a belt, like walkie-talkies, handcuffs, binoculars, knives, etc. or hand-held items like guns and lightsabers or hats/helmets for soldiers, firemen and the police. I've no idea why this was the case, but it was.
Kenner did a beetlejuice mask. And they did a few batman masks.
Cost was probably too high.
Oh and they did a robocop helmet
Jay Woodley not to mention all of the Ghostbuster “role play” items from back in the day.
M.A.S.K. was referenced in Transformers: Prime.
yup
It's included in the IDW Transformers comic.
@@OtakuUnitedStudio oh yea
I always like the intro. it was spinning in my head this entire video
Gosh, I loved MASK. Great episode...and ROM.