Review – M.A.S.K. Condor
In 1985, Kenner launched M.A.S.K., a toy series that blended the best elements of G.I. Joe and the Transformers toy/comic/cartoon lines (both of which were produced by Hasbro). With about ten releases in the first series, the M.A.S.K. toy line took off big (with me and my friends, that is) — the cartoon certainly helped — and we soon started playing with the toys. If Kenner had scaled everything up just a little — the M.A.S.K. figures stand around two inches tall — we would have added the M.A.S.K. toys to our G.I. Joe play sessions, but as they existed the figures just looked stupid next to each other so we either played with our M.A.S.K. toys or our G.I. Joe toys. (It wasn’t until last year that we finally got our hands on a M.A.S.K. figure scaled perfectly with G.I. Joe action figures. Now I want Hasbro to release more of them.)
Condor – Motorcycle Mode
The primary M.A.S.K. gimmick, for those of you unfamiliar with the series, is that the vehicles and playsets all had two modes; a “disguised” mode that blends into normal society and an “attack” mode in which the mundane-looking vehicles changes into something else . . . complete with guns.
Condor’s basic mode is a bright green motorcycle that’s a bit longer — and bulkier — than most motorcycles, but it’s undeniably a motorcycle. My own Condor broke last week when I was transforming it from motorcycle to its helicopter mode (see below); a spring disconnected from a post and now the retracted headlight gun is constantly revealed, so my Condor isn’t quite as “disguised” as it could be.
As a toy motorcycle, Condor works okay (it worked better before the spring issue) and remains fairly well balanced when rolled across the floor. Probably the biggest complaint I have about the Condor’s motorcycle mode is that the driver — Brad Turner — cannot actually sit down in the seat; the design requires that he kinda hunker down on the seat with his ass hovering just over the seat. He looks really dumb that way, but the instructions (and photos) make it pretty clear that this is how the toy was designed to work. Not good enough, Kenner, but not so bad as to kill the toy’s “fun” value. (I can remember having a hell of a lot of fun playing with this over twenty years ago, and I suspect that a kid today would have just as much fun with it now as I did back then.)
Brad Turner
Wearing a bright yellow jumpsuit (no doubt because it made him look awesome when seated on the bright green Condor), M.A.S.K. action figure Brad Turner is fairly standard for figures in the series, with articulation at the hips, shoulders, knees, and neck. He’s mostly cast in bright yellow plastic with a few painted details, and overall isn’t one of the greatest action figures ever produced (not even when compared to other figures from 1985), but he’s adequate and suits his primary purpose (namely, to pilot Condor). To be honest, none of the M.A.S.K. action figures are all that great and no doubt they were all produced as cheaply as possible so that Kenner could put the bulk of the toy’s cost into the vehicle.
That’s fine with me.
Condor – Helicopter Mode
Or, as the instruction sheet calls it, “Helicopter Action Mode.” Condor transforms from motorcycle to helicopter by flipping the prop assembly up, snapping the props up from the frame, and then swinging the rear wheel straight back. Total transformation time is measured in seconds, not minutes, and changing back to motorcycle mode goes about as fast.
In helicopter mode Brad Turner can sit all of the way down in the seat; the instruction sheet even says:
“At this time push action figure into fully seated position.”
So the Kenner designers knew exactly what they were doing. Sad, sad, sad. But that was over twenty years ago so it’s as it is; Hasbro, if you guys ever release this toy again please scale it up to G.I. Joe 3.75-inch and design the seat so that Brad can sit comfortably when the vehicle is in either mode.
As with most of the M.A.S.K. toys, Condor is the most fun in the attack mode.
Closing Thoughts
I can’t remember the Condor’s exact price tag when it came out — after all, that was almost twenty-five years ago — but I do remember that it was pretty cheap (I wanna say $5) and a great buy at the time. Such a great buy, in fact, that not only did I own one but many of my friends also owned one. Is there anything as cool as a swarm of Condor’s attacking Boulder Hill? I don’t think so.
The Condor was a great toy in 1985 and it’s an excellent addition to any M.A.S.K. collection today. It was a high-profile vehicle, seen in several episodes of the M.A.S.K. cartoon where it pulled off all kinds of fun stunts. It’s not the best toy in the series, but it’s an inexpensive piece that looks great on the shelf and — best of all — is still fun to play with on those quiet days when you want to turn off your brain and just push a toy motorcycle around on the floor (and then transform it into a helicopter and attack whatever garbage toy gets to close to you).
For more photos of the Condor visit Albert Penello’s M.A.S.K. site. As I’ve said before, this is easily the best M.A.S.K. site online.
Philip Reed is slowly pulling his M.A.S.K. toys from the closet so that he can take photos, write reviews, and then get them on display with the other toys. Boulder Hill is coming, folks, but first he’s gotta figure out a space to display the thing. It’s a good thing Philip doesn’t own the Flagg.
Nice. Of all my M.A.S.K. toys I had I never owned a Brad Turner….now all I own is my Matt Tracker and Thunderhawk, sold all the rest due to lack of space.
I know you’re not supposed to think too hard about it, but how did the masks work? Some kind of cybernetic connection?
@De — “I know you’re not supposed to think too hard about it, but how did the masks work? Some kind of cybernetic connection?”
Using the exact same technology that Clint Eastwood used to operate the Soviet jet in Firefox. Matt Trakker was part of the government team that reverse-engineered the Firefox.
I use to own this one, in fact it might be buried in my G.I. Joe Trunk downstairs; I’d open it, but it was flooded last year, or so my mom said, and I’ve not been brave enough to look in there.
I enjoyed the MASK stuff, as it was a fun idea.
@Robert – “I’d open it, but it was flooded last year, or so my mom said, and I’ve not been brave enough to look in there.”
Yeah, I think I’d be scared to look. You need to, though, just to get an idea of what’s going on.
I will, soon. *chuckles* It’s odd, but when I moved away, back in 1996, I left the trunk, knowing my Joes would be safe and I’ve not opened it since.
It’s almost like the same fear I have about the movie, even though I’m hopeful, I’m also nervous as all heck.
As it so happened, this was my favorite toy/character from the line. It was my only toy/character from the line, but I was satisfied. Hocus Pocus Hologram was my fave power on the show after all.
This was the only MASK figure/vehicle set i owned. I had a few of the figures that I found at flea markets here and there, but the Condor was the only one I really wanted. Brad Turner was the poo. The bad thing is that, because I flipped the blades up and down so much the little plastic tabs on the hinge eventually gave up the ghost and they wouldn’t stay up anymore.
It became just a motorcycle after that point. 🙁
Great review Philip. I thought that “Is there anything as cool as a swarm of Condor’s attacking Boulder Hill? was very funny and made me laugh. The M.A.S.K toys are some of my absolute favourites along with Star Wars. I didn’t have much of these great toys when I was young because they were pretty expensive. I was lucky enough to have Raven, Bulldoze, Firefly, Bandit, Vamprie and Hurricane though.
Back in 1996 I started getting some M.A.S.K vehicles back, although they were mostly not 100% complete and some of them seen better days. It wasn’t until about 2007 that I started buying them online, and then in 2008 I began buying much more of them on places like eBay. I now have quite a good collection of about 26 vehicles including all the trucks and most of the best cars as well. I still need a few like Gator, Afterburner, Jackal, Fireforce and some others. Do you think you will review any other vehicles like say Thunderhawk, Rhino, Switchblade, Gator or Jackhammer sometime?