Toy Ads That Time Forgot Tuesday! 11/07/2006
For this week’s Toy Ads That Time Forgot! We’ll whip out a goodie that certain lucky children of the 80s will remember: Mask.
Mask toys were pretty kickass and they were one of the few toys that my cousins had that I didn’t. This, of course, made me visit them more often. Don’t blame me, blame the toys. Mask’s gimmick was that a vehicle could be altered from one mode into another, such as a regular car that could travel underwater. It was simple, but rather neat.
This ad comes from an inside cover, so the print and color selection is a lot better than the average comic book ad. As you can see, the flying Camaro is being chased by the vehicle called Switchblade in some super fun excitement action. Perhaps the coolest looking of the vehicles is the Switchblade, which also has one of the lamest transformations in the line. It alternates from a helicopter to a jet. Whoop-de-do, what a stretch. The second thing that you may notice in the ad is that the driver of the super Camero has nothing stopping him from falling out of his IROC and plunging to his death, except for a seat belt. Reason number 305 why I can’t be a toy action hero.
All in all this is a great ad for a great, but sadly short lived toy line. Let’s all mourn by pouring some malt liquor on Mask’s grave. This one’s for you, Homey.
November 7th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Word.
I loved the show as well. At the time I thought this is the culmination of all coolness. I might as well die because it can’t get any better than this. of course I was wrong, but it was indeed very cool.
November 7th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
The one thing I didn’t like about the show was teh transforming scooter thing. That was in the show right?
November 15th, 2006 at 12:13 am
I love Mask. I even still have a couple of the toys. One is an RV with a grill that flips over to reveal two guns, and the whole thing splits open and it has a jet inside with a rotating gun turret. I also had a motorcycle with a side car that could be launched. Whe I was a kid the commercials always made the toys look so good because they built elaborate sets to play with the toys on. When you played with them at home it was never the same.
-Bill