Review – M.A.S.K. Venom’s Revenge
Back in March we took a look at the M.A.S.K. Jungle Challenge set (review here). March? Wow, that was a long time ago. How did I let so many months go by without looking at another M.A.S.K. toy? You guys need to kick me sometimes, to make sure I don’t neglect the oldies.
Anyway, we’re here now. And we’re all set to open up a poor excuse for a M.A.S.K. toy that survived about 24 years before I shredded the blister and unleashed the evil Miles Meyhem on the world.
Packaging
You know, maybe if I start an online petition I can get some of the toy companies to start using painted artwork on their packages. As lame as this toy actually is (I’m getting ahead of myself), the packaging design and artwork is superior to almost every new action figure on shelves today. And it’s not even that the artwork is spectacular or overwhelmingly awesome. No, it’s the fact that Kenner put some work into the packaging design and went so far as to use original artwork — showing the toy in action — for the card front.
The card back shows photos of the toy, and while I would have rather seen drawings for the instructions what we have here works. I’m tossing the clear plastic blister, but the card back itself is going right in the display case with the toys. Nice design!
Miles Meyhem
Using the basic Miles Meyhem sculpt from the figure that was included with Switchblade (see Albert Penello’s M.A.S.K. site), the action figure included in this set is just a simple repaint. And it’s not even a cool color or anything. Tan? Tan? Yeah, that’s an evil color. Sheesh.
Miles gears up with a mask (I don’t recognize it, but I assume it’s a repaint of an existing mask), a backpack that has pop-out wings and engine, two weapons that attach to his arms, a couple of missiles that mount on the weapons, and hoses that connect the backpack to the weapons. It’s not a great selection of accessories, but it’s enough to at least change Miles’ appearance and make him less of an old man and more of a warrior.
Miles, like all M.A.S.K. action figures, has minimal articulation at the head, shoulders, hips, and knees, and the paint job isn’t anything special. It’s a clean job, sure, but there’s very little in the way of exciting details. Not too shocking, since it was actually the vehicles and not the figures that were the stars of this toy line.
Closing Thoughts
These packs were created solely to have something at a lower price point, but any kid back in 1985 or 1986 (including me!) would have been better off saving a little more money for a vehicle and just skip buying this thing. It was a noble attempt at giving kids another action figure for the line, but in the end this is more trash than treasure and it’s not worth searching for.
If you spot this figure (with his accessories) for a few bucks then he might be worth grabbing, but make sure to avoid this if it’s over $5.
Philip Reed promises that the next time he reviews a M.A.S.K. toy it will be a vehicle.
I had the original Miles, I don’t remember this tan one but he’s pretty cool. He always reminded me of Boss Hogg.
I always thought MASK was the lamest cartoon and toy ever. I had the MASK motorcycle that turned into a helicopter. The vehicle was cool but the figure was tiny so he was always the evil midget. But I did my best to shove GI Joes into the copter…didnt work so well.