M.A.S.K. Collecting Resources
Whether you are collecting to display in a man cave or to share with your kids, there are ample M.A.S.K. resources on the net that can help you gather all the information you need to get started! As with most toys in the 80s, M.A.S.K. merchandise was everywhere from 1985-88. Of course, the most beloved items nowadays are vehicle and figure toys...
...but there is much more to collect!! Comics, DVD sets, general merchandise, and even original fan art can be found with a quick search on the net. But as a M.A.S.K. collector myself, I thought I'd pass along some resources that helped me determine what is available and what I wanted to add to my collection.
Websites
Our journey to promote our movie script has put us in contact with two websites that have a great comprehensive view of M.A.S.K. collecting and the franchise in general. Boulder-Hill.Net and Matt-Trakker.Com are two websites that I personal visit frequently. Boulder-Hill.Net features a blog for recent news, plus information on M.A.S.K. comics, toys, merchandise, and much more. Matt-Trakker.Com boasts a brand new look in 2012 featuring a blog and information on M.A.S.K. toys, merchandise, cartoon episodes, and a message board to connect with other collectors. Both site creators are always looking to add more photos and information each month to pass along to fans and collectors. I highly recommend exploring both sites for a wealth of M.A.S.K. information.
Vehicle & Figure Toys
The two websites above have great overall information on the vehicle and figure toys, but my personal favorite resource for the toys in particular is AlbertPenello.Com's M.A.S.K. section. As a collector, this is my go-to resource when I want information about vehicles, figures, and accessories from all four M.A.S.K. series toy lines. The main page catalogs what vehicles were released each year and photos of each modes of the vehicle, figures, accessories, instruction sheets, and boxes. There is also a section dedicated to the European variations of the toys. This is truly an online toy guide that gives you everything you need to know.
Cartoon
There have been multiple releases of the cartoon over the years in multiple countries. Depending on where you live, there is a M.A.S.K. DVD set for you. For us here in the USA, the most recent Shout Factory set includes the 65 episodes that made up the first season. You'll need to look to the UK or Australian release if you want the 10 racing episodes, which sometimes can be found on eBay. (Just be certain the DVDs are the correct region to be compatible with your DVD player.) For general information about the cartoon, Matt-Trakker.Com has a nice section including agent profiles. Episode guides can also be found there and on Wikipedia.
Comics
For you comic collectors, M.A.S.K. had a short 2-series run in the USA through DC Comics. Each of the aforementioned websites have a section on the comics. AlbertPenello.Com shows the covers for both the 4-part series and 9-part series. Boulder-Hill.Net features a page-by-page chronicle of the 3 mini-comics that were included with the vehicles toys. These comics have been readily available on eBay for collectors to buy. If you are a real comic book geek, Comicvine.Com touts a few covers from the 80 comics released in the UK from 1986-88. ComicVine also features covers from Eagle magazine that merged with M.A.S.K. over a 22 episode stretch that followed the UK comics.
Merchandise
AlbertPenello.Com, Boulder-Hill.Net, and Matt-Trakker.Com all feature great general merchandise sections with photos of everything from lunchboxes to Play-Doh sets. As with most franchises of the time, M.A.S.K. was featured on just about anything kids would want to buy or wear. There is much to explore, so visit each site and see what they have cataloged. There are unique items, for instance a Rhino AM radio, that look great in collections. Many general merchandise items show up on eBay to purchase from time-to-time, so it's always beneficial to do a search for "M.A.S.K." every couple weeks.
Originals and Fan Art
There are some very creative M.A.S.K. fans that have posted original concept art on the web, often that you can purchase. Paul at Swivelarms.Com, a guest on our MASKast podcast, has put out some posters of the Spectrum and Viper masks. A great site to look is DeviantArt.Com, in which a simple search can put you in touch with many artists that have posted M.A.S.K. originals. We also try to post art to the M.A.S.K. Movie Facebook page from time to time.MASKast 22
Coming up this week on MASKast, Wyatt and I plus special guest Bill from Matt-Trakker.Com will be talking about collecting M.A.S.K. in general. We'll give an overview of M.A.S.K. collecting in general, discuss our personal collections, and give a few tips to maybe help you save some money along the way. We invite you to join us!
