Joe Cool

I never really got into G.I. Joe when I was a kid. I watched the cartoon and had friends who were crazy about them, but I only had a couple G.I. Joe toys myself: one was a birthday present - the foam glider that could attach to a Joe and that flew marvelously (but did not withstand the rigors of being constantly hurled from a second story deck for very long) - the Joe frogman "Torpedo" which I found in a vacant lot after the neighborhood Joe-heads had left for dinner (finders keepers etc etc) - and the Jeep that upon opening the box revealed a dismembered Joe (it was returned to the store and replaced with a Transformer.)

Now G.I. Joe is seeing a resurgence with it's 25th Anniversary line, and although countless trips down the toy aisle have had me considering grabbing one or two or three or four (the new Torpedo and the Cobra Para-Viper are exceptionally tempting,) I have yet to feel the primal call of "Yo Joe" or "Cobraaaaa" in my soul.

Until now.

Sort of.

Okay okay - pictures!

Wha?!?! That's not a Joe, that's a M.A.S.K.!

That's right kids, it's Matt Tracker, leader of the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, aka M.A.S.K.


Could this figure be a harbinger of a M.A.S.K. resurgence, or just a one-off nod to the eighties? Only time will tell. And yeah, it appears I have him holding the gun backwards. But in my defense, it appears Mr. Trakker mounted his scope backwards!

I actually knew a few months ago about the upcoming release of this figure, and I was pretty sure I'd flip when I saw him. I was right. So much for the noble plan to pick up a couple Christmas gifts for others today.


He comes, not surprisingly, with a removable mask...

...and a helicopter slash swiss-army-knife backpack. Because they couldn't squeeze a flying Camaro into the blister.

Trakker actually has a "Boba Fett" vibe going on here. Maybe he's got a Fett-ish.

His heli-backpack looks to be an homage to the Condor motorcycle - the only M.A.S.K. vehicle I had as a kid. I got it at a garage sale, and it's a mystery to me why I didn't have more M.A.S.K. toys. I loved the cartoon and thought the toys were extremely groovy. But I guess with the awesome toy abundance of the eighties a few toylines were bound to slip through my grasp.




The blade also folds down for low ceilings and to minimize back sweat.


I don't know if the hardcore Joe-philes dig this guy as much as I do, but I'd love to see more M.A.S.K. figures and a vehicle or two in this line - or as a sub line - or as a whole new line!

As if there weren't enough toys out now (and upcoming) to keep me busy!

This one's for Chunky B:

G.I. JOE: 0
COBRA: 0
M.A.S.K.: 1

;)