What’s up everybody, I’m back again this month to showcase another item from my vintage toy collection, and this time I’m sticking with two themes: Regret and M.A.S.K.
Last month I told a tale of a garage sale gone sideways and the hubris of a teenager who thought it was a good idea to sell some of his friends. Wait did I say friends? Well, that’s awkward…..and sadly accurate.
This month features another victim of that fateful garage sale. Dusty Hayes.
Dusty Hayes w/Gator
Company: Kenner
Acquisition Year: 1985
Acquired via: Birthday gift
Years In Possession: 35
As with Sly Rax last month, my original Dusty Hayes was lost to the great Garage Sale Incident and I recently replaced him thanks to eBay. His jeep (codenamed Gator) however, is my original from 85.
Believe it or not in the cartoon this guy’s day job was pizza cook/delivery driver. What? It was the 80s, we had 3 channels.
Usually when the “call” went out from Bolder Hill to assemble the team, Dusty would be mid-delivery and have to dump some poor sap’s dinner and high tail it HQ.
His jeep, Gator, was equipped with a roll bar mounted canon, which sadly was lost to the ages. I could swear that I saw it not long ago mixed in with other bits somewhere but alas I can’t seem to find it now.
In case you’re wondering, no that isn’t a beer keg (or is it?) in the trunk of that jeep. No, it’s a depth charge.
A what?
A depth charge.
Why would a land vehicle need a weapon to battle water based enemies you ask?
Because this is M.A.S.K. and no vehicle is what it seems. This jeep is also a boat!
Boom!
With the flick of a slide mechanism, the body of the jeep opens up funny car style and ejects a speedboat armed with a machine gun and the aforementioned depth charge.
Curiously, they never showed in the cartoon how the boat gets back IN to the jeep…but I never questioned it. Hey it was the 80s…we had 3 channels.
I always liked this set’s color scheme. From the florescent orange jeep to the striking (gaudy?) blue and red jumpsuit that Dusty wears, this toy screams 1985.
Dusty’s mask, code named Backlash, is one of the bulkier masks and always looked way more uncomfortable to wear that some of the others.
Overall this was one of my favorite toys in the line. Now if I could just find that roll bar cannon…
Anyway, that’s all for this month kids. I promise next month we’ll delve into something from a different franchise. Possibly something completely NEW to the Toy Chest….hmmm….
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When I first started reading this, I was kind of surprised I didn’t remember this vehicle. A keep? No way! But then when I saw the boat, I remembered having that! For some odd reason, I don’t remember the main Jeep part. This was a good read! Keep em coming!
That’s one thing about all of these, they’re pretty mundane until you see their alt-forms, that’s where they get really creative and unique
I really liked the green motorcycle…wait now it’s a helicopter! I really liked the guy that came with it too. That was my most cherished one. The paint job of the old Chevy was sweet too.
Yeah! The light blue one, Hurricane with Hondo McClain and his weird monster looking mask