About This Figure
Hasbro, 2008. A G.I. Joe figure, not a M.A.S.K. line toy: the card names him Advanced Vehicle Specialist, code name Specialist Trakker. Release timing is stated as scheduled for November 2008 in a September 2008 report; we have not seen a dated retail confirmation. Accessories were not read from a primary source.
Specialist Trakker is the first time Hasbro, which owned Kenner’s catalogue by then, used M.A.S.K. in a G.I. Joe product. The 3 3/4-inch figure of Matt Trakker was announced in September 2008 for the eleventh wave of the 25th Anniversary line at a suggested price of $6.99, and the toy is carded as Advanced Vehicle Specialist with the code name Specialist Trakker.
The file card on the back is the useful primary source. It lists his file name as Trakker, Matt, a primary specialty of vehicle designer and a secondary specialty of advanced technology, and it says he leads a secret unit that develops ordinary-looking vehicles that convert into advanced combat vehicles. It also places M.A.S.K. alongside the G.I. Joe team against V.E.N.O.M., and V.E.N.O.M. is described as the unit Cobra formed to build its own converting vehicles. TFWiki records that the package bio is what established M.A.S.K. and V.E.N.O.M. as sub-divisions of G.I. Joe and Cobra. The figure wears a helmet in the card art and not the Spectrum mask of the 1985 toy.
Sources: The Blot Says, 2008-09-29 (announcement, wave and price); card front and back photographs on eBay listings (file card text read from the card); Wikipedia, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero 25th Anniversary (figure listed); TFWiki M.A.S.K. (franchise). Photos: eBay seller listings, retrieved through the eBay Browse API.
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