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Dear Hasbro, What’s Up with MASK?

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Dear Hasbro,

It’s been a while, but can we talk? I should begin by telling you that MASK is my second-favorite toy of all time. Kenner’s original Star Wars toys and action figures were, are, and forever will be my #1, but MASK? It comes in a really close second.

I adored the toys as a kid (still have them all, including the mega-awesome Boulder Hill), loved the cartoon (and still do, despite its flaws), and collected the few comics that DC put out back in the day. And I also enjoyed the heck out of IDW’s comic run.

Yeah, OK, even as a kid, I knew the erroneous K in “Mobile Armored Strike Kommand” was a bit forced, but I didn’t care because everything about MASK was just pure awesome.

So a few years ago, when you announced that you were creating a cohesive cross-property film universe populated by MASK, G.I. Joe, Micronauts, Visionaries, and Rom got me pretty excited. The fact that you lined up a surprisingly talented creative crew to support those films had me hopeful. Seriously, the thought of people like Michael Chabon, Nicole Perlman, and Brian K. Vaughan all working on these properties? Geeky tingles up and down my spine.

Then, about a year ago, we got word that MASK and Rom were abruptly dumped from the lineup. It was as if a million nerd’s hearts suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

But here we are, three years later, and there are STILL no MASK toys. What gives?

The fine folks at Hasbro have never let something as trivial as the existence of a film stop them from putting out toys and action figures, right? Why do we have about a dozen Star Wars and Transformers lines, pumping out the same characters in endless variations, but not even a single Matt Trakker, Miles Mayhem, or T-Bob?

MASK toys shaped so many of my childhood days, and the mere prospect of new MASK toys has excited both the 8-year-old and the adult in me far more than is probably reasonable.

I get it. Nostalgia for the 80s is hot right now. We 30- and 40-something nerds have deeper pockets than ever before, and we’re willing to spend our money on some seriously questionable things. But you know what? Many of us are also parents who – plot twist! – would like some awesome toys for our kids.

I say all this because I really want to see toys from my childhood, Star Wars notwithstanding, once again made into toys that are meant to be played with. Sure, I went through my collector’s phase where I saw toys as an investment and kept the packaging pristine, but my kids now have free reign over all of my old toys (including all of my vintage MASK toys), current eBay prices be damned. Did the Toy Story trilogy teach us nothing?

Please don’t do what Mattel and Matty Collector did with Masters of the Universe. Please don’t do what so many companies (including other segments of Hasbro) have done. Don’t go the “collector’s market” route.

If MASK toys make a comeback as an exclusive, high-end product, then I’m afraid you’ve missed the point. The entire charm of MASK is that the vehicles transform. Push a button, and that jet turns into a helicopter or that motorcycle sidecar launches off as a submarine. And the action figures? They wear super awesome masks that are meant to be popped on and off.

Yes, in the hands of kids, the vehicles will probably break, and yes, the masks will probably go missing – but that’s absolutely fine! It means they’ve been loved. And as a parent, it means that was money well spent.

None of the vehicles will transform if they’re so precious they remain inside a box. And they won’t bring joy to an entire generation or ignite a love affair that continues 30 years later (I’m Exhibit A) if they’re so expensive that no child will ever touch one.

There are plenty of toys for adults – plenty of limited edition action figures and statues that cost an arm and a leg and are never meant to actually be played with. So line the toy aisles with the stuff, and make them affordable. Take a cue from Fisher-Price and their Imaginext brand. Those toys dominate an entire aisle! And have you noticed how relatively inexpensive they are? That’s what I’m talking about.

Give me toys my kids can not only build worlds with but also destroy and play with outside. I don’t want to feel guilty about letting them actually play with their toys. And I certainly don’t want to feel like I’m dipping into their college fund just so Matt Trakker can fight VENOM.

But in the end, I just want to see MASK live on.

Thanks for listening! Hugs and kisses,

Jamie (and Jamie’s kids)

mask-team

Jamie Greene
Jamie is a publishing/book nerd who makes a living by wrangling words together into some sense of coherence. Away from The Roarbots, Jamie is a road trip aficionado and an obsessed traveler who has made his way through 33 countries (and counting). Elsewhere on the interwebs, he's a contributor to SYFY Wire and StarWars.com and hosted The Great Big Beautiful Podcast for more than five years. Watch The Roarbots on Youtube

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5 Comments

  1. Great article. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve wondered if I could tell my 8-year-old self how much those gi joes will be in 30 years would I? and the answer is no, I wouldn’t have the same love for them that I do now. Toys are meant to be played with.

  2. If Hasbro were smart they would just release the classic MASK stuff with better paint applications instead of stickers and repainted figures. The detailing on the original toys and figured were ahead of their time when you think about it.

    Hasbro tried pushing that “reimagined” SJW MASK stuff from the IDW “Hasbroverse” comics and it didn’t go over well at all. I think once Hasbro learns not to mess with a winning formula and the characters people have loved for 30 plus years MASK and their other toy properties will do better on the market.

  3. Has anybody started a petition?

  4. I just stumbled across your post and couldn’t agree more with everything you have said.

    Having managed to reacquire some of these toys from my childhood recently and have joined other online communities for people who still enjoy M.A.S.K. (Some amazing folks are 3D printing their own customer play sets and vehicles)… as such it had me asking why this toy-line has never reappeared..?

    As I see it M.A.S.K. toys definitely have much better play appeal than most of the toys that are currently on the market. Current toy lines are focused on imagination play, of which I cant think of a toy-line that better facilitated this than M.A.S.K. (easier to switch modes unlike Transformers, no rebuilding like Lego, small enough for kids to take on the go and sturdily built.

    Also the original cartoon series isn’t entirely unwatchable either and surely if M.A.S.H. can get syndicated every few years M.A.S.K. should be an easy pitch.

    Have you (or anyone) reached out to HASBRO directly for comment? Perhaps we should start a petition as David Carpenter suggested.

  5. My grandson is now playing with his Daddy’s M.A.S.K toys. They don’t work quite they way they did 30 yrs ago. lol.. my son loved to play with the men in his swimming pool ( walmart plastic one lol ).. and sometime the vehicles . The 18 wheeler won’t stay closed, the spring broke. This was his favorite show, along with ThunderCats!! He would love to share all things about M.A.S.K.. will have to show him this post

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