So I’ve dipped my toe in the pool of M.A.S.K. collecting. I blame this on the guys on the Triple Takeover podcast. My brother and I both had M.A.S.K. toys when we were kids, but they are long gone. Since the toys we had are among the most sought after, and thus expensive, I decided to start anew with a more economical purchase. This black Corvette with the rad stripes is Raven!

Raven’s driver is Calhoun “Stonewall” Burns. He’s an escape artist, demolitions, and construction expert. A real Renaissance type, eh? His mask is code named Lilliput, and I bet you can guess what special powers it has. Love the bright, neon colors popping off that dark blue suit. The figure isn’t quite as articulated as, say, a GI Joe, but it’s more than enough.

BUT WAIT! Raven is no ordinary Corvette! (Is there such a thing?) Press a button and the spoiler pops up, revealing turbo thrusters! Press another and the entire front half of the car rotates 180 degrees! The noises the toy makes when you activate these mechanisms is very satisfying.

Rotate the tires around, and flip out particle blasters that can shoot in any direction! There are two blasters on top, plus two underneath. Underneath? What? Why would there be guns UNDERNEATH a car?

Because this is a FLYING CAR! Flip out the gull wing doors, and voila! That’s no Corvette, it’s a heavily armed super-fast seaplane! I love how the wings are reminiscent of the wing/doors on the Thunderhawk toy, just upside down. That pink/red interior looks great against the black, too, don’t you think?

“Stonewall” fits nicely inside, but for the life of me I couldn’t get the seat belt to latch with his mask on. How awesome is this toy? Everything about the transformation is very satisfying. Pushing buttons that release parts to move on their own is a wonderful feature. Also wonderful is Raven’s weapon: press a button on top and it shoots an “immobilizer disk” from the front bumper. (I forgot to take a pic of this, unfortunately).

I’m totally hooked on M.A.S.K. now, and giving serious thought to liquidating some Masterpiece Transformers to free up the funds and display space for more M.A.S.K. Will I buy every M.A.S.K. toy? Of course not. But four or five nice pieces would be a good representation of a toy line I enjoyed as a kid, and still have fond memories of as an adult. The hard part will be budgeting, as these toys have not been rereleased like more popular 80s toy lines like Transformers, Masters of the Universe, etc. So off I go, on a new toy-collecting quest, one I’m quite excited for.